Life Counselling : Horse Style
“That put me in a bad mood… damn it.”
Malong stepped outside, muttered a few words, and then took a deep breath. He inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, as if to release all the dark haze swirling within his heart. The blowing night breeze was cold and clear. That cold breeze was so comforting that Malong closed his eyes and stood still for a while. Then, when he opened his eyes, the image of Rafina standing stock-still in a daze suddenly appeared before him.
“Hmm? Is that Miss Rafina?”
He felt a strange uneasiness when he saw her in that state. Rafina had a blank expression on her face and her eyes were cast downward. Her profile looked extremely ephemeral, as if she she would melt away and disappear if he left her alone.
“Miss Rafina, what’s wrong?”
The moment he called out to her, she was startled and her slender shoulders trembled as if in fear. However, the moment she saw Malong, she looked relieved.
“Ah, Malong-san…”
Malong noticed something strange about the situation. Somehow, Rafina had ended up outside without an escort. Even though they were in the Southern Capital, this behaviour was unusual for Rafina, who was well aware of her status and position..
‘No, actually, looking back, I feel like Miss Rafina has not been acting like her usual self, even before coming here. She did not seem to be in good spirits and appeared lost in thought quite often.’
“If I remember correctly, you went out to dinner with Miss Mia, right?”
“Yes. I was feeling a little sick, so I came out for some fresh air.”
“Without an escort?”
“That is…”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Rafina hesitated to speak and looked down once again.
‘Normally, she would have easily come up with one or two plausible reasons. It’s just not like her at all. I can’t leave her alone. Good grief.’
Malong scratched his head, thinking it was quite troublesome. However, he suddenly smiled wryly.
‘No, actually, it’s not just her. Even I am not acting like my usual self. We are the same in this regard.’
‘If I were my usual self, I would have insisted that she share her circumstances, even if it was troublesome or required me to be forceful. The thought of ignoring her wouldn’t have even crossed my mind.’
“Good grief! Honestly, it’s unlike you to be so worried and hesitant. Okay.”
Malong slapped his cheeks, determined to start acting like himself. With a broad smile on his face, he said, “Miss, let’s ride a horse for a while! Come with me.”
“Huh?”
“I have also been feeling a little frustrated about a lot of things. Let’s go for a ride together.”
Malong said to Rafina, who had tilted her head in confusion.
Then, Malong sounded a whistle and his beloved horse came galloping out of seemingly nowhere.
“No, but… ”
Rafina looked confused, and amidst her sighs, Malong picked her up.
“Eek!”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Excuse me, sorry about this,” he said, putting one hand on her back for support and the other under her knee, doing the so-called princess carry!
“Oh, uh…huh?”
Rafina gasped, staring at Malong in bewilderment. Without hesitation, he lifted her onto the horse’s back and then mounted behind her.
‘An escort? It didn’t matter, it didn’t matter at all.’
As long as he was riding a horse, Malong felt free and unconstrained.
“Hold on tight.”
After confirming that Rafina, who was sitting sideways in front of him, was holding on firmly, Malong gave instructions to the horse. And that’s how the secret late-night ride began.
The pale, shining moon illuminated the sky, which was filled with twinkling stars. A single horse galloped across, its carefree steps echoing through the city in the night.
“How are you feeling? Horses have a way of lifting the spirits, don’t they? Are you feeling a little better now?”
“Uh… yes.”
Rafina’s response was accompanied by a strange noise. When Malong looked at her, he found her stiff, staring down.
“Hahaha, don’t worry. There’s no need to be so tense. If you start to fall, I’ll make sure to support you properly.”
As Malong said this and laughed, Rafina glared at him with a pouty face.
“Well, it’s not particularly scary…”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Although she protested loudly, she quickly gave up and let out a sigh.
Maybe the twinkling stars in the silent night opened up Rafina’s heart, or perhaps it was because of Malong’s unconventional behaviour that she simply didn’t care what happened anymore. Rafina began to speak, hesitantly at first.
“I can’t believe in myself…”
“Huh?”
“I came here to solve the problems of the Equestrian Kingdom as the Holy Saint of Belluga. However, I got caught up in Mia-san calling Aima-san her friend and felt jealous.”
Rafina continued to look down as she spoke.
“As the daughter of Belluga, this is not the time to be distracted by something like this. It’s no good. When I thought about it, I realised that my feelings were shaken because I became friends with Mia-san. If that’s the case, I thought that maybe I should stop being friends with Mia-san. It’s not becoming of a Saint to be worried about such things. Even though I think so, even though I understand that, I can’t bring myself to want to stop being friends with Mia-san. I don’t even want to think about it…”
As she said that, Rafina suddenly choked up, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Rafina’s eyes flickered with confusion. She did not wear the expression of a decisive leader making decisions, nor the countenance of the Saint revered by so many.
“What should I do? … I don’t understand.”
Rafina whispered softly, her voice trembled with conflicting emotions. She sounded like an ordinary girl, struggling with thoughts about friendship and feeling lost.
“Isn’t that perfectly normal? That’s just how humans are. Thinking about friends, wanting to be important to them, these are natural feelings. It is fine to want to be friends forever with people you like.”
Despite his words, Rafina still kept her head down, murmuring, “Hmm, I see.”
Malong groaned and pondered. Eventually, he concluded that instead of encouraging her with generic phrases like ‘This is unlike you,’ he should speak to her in his own words.
Therefore!
“You know, among the people who ride horses, there are some who are quite awful.”
“Huh?”
Rafina’s eyes widened in confusion at the sudden shift to a discussion about horses. Malong chose to ignore her reaction and continued speaking.
“Honestly, there are times when I’ve felt sorry for horses, thinking that they might be happier without humans around. But then I realised that might not be the case.”
“What do you mean?”
“This land was shaped by God. The people as well as the creatures that inhabit this land were also created by God. In our Equestrian Kingdom, horses were bestowed upon us by the Holy Messenger of God. It means that humans were created to raise horses, and horses were created to carry people. Therefore, the happiness and welfare of horses lie in living together with people. If you wish for your horse’s happiness, wouldn’t it be great to let them run wild? It means that we have to think about how we can be good partners to our horses. It’s the same idea.”
“…Eh, huh?”
Rafina had a blank look on her face and shook her head in confusion. This was uncharacteristic of an astute girl like her.
Malong laughed at her somewhat childlike and innocent expression.
“It means that God probably placed the Saint as a person in order to guide people. If that’s the case, then I think the Saint is meant to live as a human. Just as humans were created to lead horses, Miss Rafina should continue to be a human and also be a Saint in a human-like way. Not worrying about your friends and thinking of cutting off ties with them because they might affect your judgement, I think those are not the ways of a human.”
Malong said that and then he looked up at the sky.
“That’s why Miss Rafina is fine the way she is. Isn’t that better? Properly thinking about things, worrying, grieving, and laughing together with good friends. Whether you are the Saint or an ordinary person, isn’t that a good thing?”
And then Malong smiled teasingly.
“At least, I like you being that way.”
“Eh, ah…”
For some reason Rafina’s eyes widened in surprise.
Malong then wiped away the tears that welled up at the corner of her eyes with his index finger.
“Hahaha, I think it’s cute and fitting your age to worry about and cry over friends.”
“Please don’t treat me like a child.” Rafina glared defiantly at Malong. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
‘Did I upset her enough to make her face change colour…? Good grief, this is challenging.’
Malong chuckled wryly, shrugged his shoulders, and then said,
“Well, in any case, I don’t think Miss Mia will be too bothered by it. I’m sure she will accept all your worries as well.”
Malong shook his head slightly.
“After all, Miss Mia is a person who understands the hearts of horses. She is free-spirited, unfettered, doing whatever she likes and has a heart that is free from all constraints. Honestly, I’m quite jealous of her.”
By the way, speaking of Mia, at that time…
“Hmm. This dish called Banizia is quite amazing. Although it looks like bread, cheese has been kneaded into the crispy pie batter. It goes perfectly with the vegetables on top. Oh, traditionally, it is eaten with salted meat? Hmm, but I wonder if it would also go well with sweet yoghurt? Let’s try some other combinations.”
She was enjoying her freedom and eating to her heart’s content!
Free-spirited, unfettered, a food pioneer adding new concepts to traditional eating and discovering new ways of enjoying food.
That was who Mia was.
Author’s Notes:
I don’t think it’s as simple as just bringing out Mia at the end for the punchline. That’s a misunderstanding.
Does protecting nature mean that humans should not interfere with the environment at all? Or should humans recognise themselves as a part of nature and play their part? I am thinking about this as I write. It seems that Malong believes the latter to be correct.
