Rebecca looked up and saw Sebastian. Her eyes lit up.She lowered her head unnaturally and bowed in Sebastian and Asher's direction.Everyone except Roxy also bowed down.Roxy had grouped Asher and Sebastian as part of Victoria's entourage.She had taken a long time to force a smile on her face. However, her smile immediately dropped when she saw them.Asher looked at Roxy's dark expression. He intentionally asked, "Ms. Bennett, what's wrong with your face? Why do you look like you've just been poisoned?"Roxy glared at Asher.Asher's gleeful smile made Roxy want to rip his face to shreds."Mr. Chadler is lucky today. Not only did you gain twin horses, you've managed to win all our gold."With the gold from all the different families here, the gold you've earned today must be larger than your family vault!"Asher had a poisonous smile. Roxy did not see the need to play nice.She twisted her words to make the situation seem like a ploy Asher had carried out. It would direct e

Murmurs erupted among the onlookers. Feeling crossed about her suggestion, someone shouted, "500 thousand gold coins? That's daylight robbery!""The horse belongs to Mr. Chadler, and you paid nothing for it. You've won hundreds of times more than your initial wager—around 200 thousand gold coins, and still you aren't satisfied."Now you're blatantly asking for 500 thousand? You should just call yourself a robber!""Yeah! That's too greedy of you!""The horse is worth that price, though. I'd be willing to spend a million gold coins on it if I could afford it. But I can't. Asher must be an idiot for giving away a horse like this!"Victoria ignored them and looked at Roxy, whose pupils constricted. She was glowering as her face twisted.She could still explain to her family if she spent 500 thousand silver coins on a whim without informing them.But 500 thousand gold coins? The Bennett family might not even own that huge a sum. Even if they did, her parents would never agree for he

"Were you trying to kill Onyx just now? Someone who intends to kill just because something trivial went wrong isn't befitting of the Holy Maiden. And I'm talking about you, Roxy Bennett!"Roxy trembled with anger and was even more terrified. She bit her lips.Then, she retorted, "You don't have a say in that. Are you challenging the decision the four elders and the three noble families made?"Victoria laughed, unfazed. "That makes me wonder how you were chosen in the first place.""It's because I've got what it takes, of course. Besides, it's not like I want to kill that horse."That brute held ill will toward me. It almost trampled me to death."I'm the Holy Maiden. Is its life more precious than mine?"She continued, "Did you command it to do that to me? After all, no one can stand in your way if I'm dead. Naturally, you'll have the highest authority in the Hughes clan then!"Victoria smiled with satisfaction as she looked at Roxy, who spoke without thinking. "You think too h

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound. It was a teenager who was around 15 years old. Not bothering to keep up his image, he sat on the floor and clung to Sebastian's leg.Besides him, many others were standing around Sebastian. They all looked at Sebastian pitifully.Asher loudly asked the one kneeling, "Just look at you, Troy Lancaster! What happened to your enthusiasm?"It's only a meager sum. Do you really have to react this way?"Troy Lancaster? He was the Lancaster family's youngest son, Sebastian's younger maternal cousin.Victoria had a photographic memory. She saw his name when she skimmed through the log book earlier.He had bet 500 silver coins, which wasn't the least of all. It wasn't a hefty sum either, considering who he was.The Lancasters had very conflicting approaches in his upbringing. His mother pampered him, while his father was very strict toward him because he thought he was spoiled.Judging from his reaction, he must've been greedy and impulsivel

Asher felt his heart shatter. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I've already gifted it to someone else!"The person in charge felt his heart ache, too. "I wanted to inform you when you arrived, but you told me to talk to you after the race."You've always said that horse has a character and that you like it, no? I never expected you to give it away."Who did you give it to? Could you, perhaps, buy it back from him?"Asher was dispirited. "I can't."He waved it off and continued, "Forget about it. It belongs to someone else now."I'd been obliging to its every wish for all the time it had been here. Still, it never obeyed me."It's intelligent and chooses its own master. I can't tame it. It's no better than an average horse to me."Tell those who witnessed that incident that they shouldn't talk about it to anyone. You may leave."The person in charge glanced at him. Bowing, he acknowledged the instruction he received and left.Asher looked toward Sebastian and sighed dejectedly