Sold to a Prince!

As soon as the flash of lightning descended, Priscella instantly acted and her horse shook his head, neighing with power and strength. The animal blasted off with an incredible speed, leaving behind huge dust clouds.

Sylvia on the other hand took her own sweet time and slowly and steadily patted the animal. Her horse was busily munching something in its mouth while it happily trotted taking its own sweet time.

After a few seconds, it gradually increased its pace making sure Sylvia was comfortable first. 

If a stranger witnessed this scene, they would think that the horse belonged to Sylvia and she had tended the beast personally all its life.

The two of them, though lagging behind, slowly increased their pace and without caring about the race, Sylvia thoroughly enjoyed herself.

She leaned forward, holding the reins tightly and she could almost feel all the movements of the animal.

Her long silver hair whipped in the wind and there was a calm and serenity on her face as if she was one with the beast that was galloping.

Others probably were unable to see her expression up close, because of the cloud of dust hovering in the dry racing ground, but Sylvia's eyes were tightly shut, a warmth seeping from her hands to the horse.

As more time went by, the beast felt invigorated and its pace as well increased accordingly, the gap between Sylvia and Priscella, gradually closing.

Almost everyone gasped in surprise because the capabilities of horses usually never varied this much. It was almost impossible for one beast to be faster than the other by such a big margin.

From the start to the finish line, if the animals were not close, to begin with, it was inevitable that one would be a winner and the other would be a loser. Overtaking after such a slow start was rarely seen if ever.

Only beast tamers and people with an extraordinary affinity to mana and beasts were capable of achieving such a feat. And those kinds of talents were rare and most of them had important positions in the mage high council.

"Hmmm… It looks like my son indeed has a good eye. He didn't just pick anyone to be his mistress. Ha Ha." The Queen chuckled as she chatted with the other ladies.

Everyone was excitedly discussing the race, with only Isabella's face awkwardly contorted. It was tough enough to compete with just her looks but she was also this skilled. 

She could now see why Priscella's brother Gabriel was very interested in the damned slave, but now she was no longer her problem. She was Priscella's problem and that made her subconsciously sigh in relief.

It only took a couple of minutes and before anyone could realize what was happening, Sylvia had already caught up to Priscella, the two of them now riding side by side.

It was a full course ride and the castle grounds were huge, so the race lasted for quite a few minutes. However, no one doubted the outcome any longer as it was glaringly obvious.

As soon as Sylvia had caught up to Priscella, she almost immediately overtook her and swept past her at an incredible speed, making everyone wonder if perhaps the horse she was riding on was in fact a special breed.

Only when the Queen personally confirmed that there were no real differences between the two breeds, the other women accepted the result, most of them casting sympathetic looks toward Priscella.

Bang! Soon another bolt of lightning flashed as Sylvia cruised through the rest of the course and reached the endpoint of the race track, clinching first place in a domineering manner.

Sylvia came to her senses only after hearing the referee announce the results and she lovingly patted the horse. "Are you alright?"

Nyahaha… The horse cooed and responded to her shaking its head, revealing its big white teeth comically.

Sylvia chuckled as she slowly got down. She didn't think that she would enjoy riding so much, let alone win this race. 

She was only trying to feel the beast's movements and somehow she had already reached the ending point. Time had flown by so fast.

"Congrats, Lady Sylvia." The Queen smiled and waved at her from a distance. Sylvia smiled and then bowed in response. 

She handed the reins of the horse to the maid after patting the cute beast one more time and walked over to the Queen. 

She was glad that this day was almost over, but she also knew that she was not going to go back just yet. 

Unlike others, Sylvia knew something which she probably was not expected to know and all she had to do now was wait for the show to unravel.

"Miss Sylvia, that was simply superb."

"Wow! You put my riding skills to shame dear."

"Who was your personal trainer? I am searching for a tutor for my daughter at the moment."

As soon as she walked over, the women started showering praises on Sylvia one by one. The Queen as well smiled and nodded at her approvingly.

Sylvia was surprised at this change in the woman's behavior as she fully expected to be treated with prejudice irrespective of the results of the race, but perhaps she hadn't given enough credits to one of the most powerful women in the entire Kingdom.

Perhaps not everyone was as petty and scheming as Priscella. Sylvia pondered inwardly as she maintained a calm expression and politely responded to everyone.

She didn't put on any air or act arrogantly just because she had beaten her opponent in the race.

Meanwhile, her opponent was still at the three-fourth mark. Priscella slowly galloped towards the endpoint, taking her sweet time.

From afar, she watched the slave enjoy the accolades and praises showered on her, but her eyes didn't waver in the least. Rather, she seemed extremely happy as if only what she had expected had happened.

In reality, Priscella did not expect Sylvia to win. Nevertheless, it mattered little to her as the real race was starting now. 

After crossing the end mark, she hopped off her horse as well and walked over to the gathering with a smile on her face.

"Aha ha ha. That was an embarrassing laugh." Priscella smiled, her face blushing red.

"Ha ha. Please don't joke, Lady Priscella, your riding skills are excellent."

"You are being too humble, dear."

"We all know that you were not being serious, my Lady."

Everyone cheered her up, making her feel better instantly. Priscella as well smiled and sat down, sipping the cup of tea in front of her leisurely. 

She did not look like someone who had completely lost their face. Rather she was happily chatting and laughing with the others.

Sylvia saw the harmonious scene and chuckled inwardly. She knew that the other shoe was about to drop any second now and just as she expected…

A couple of minutes later, a maid came rushing towards the group of ladies, especially towards the Queen.

"Your highness. Your highness. Something terrible has happened." The maid blurted out in panic. "Your black arrow is coughing up blood without stopping. His eyes are turning milky and even his urine has blood.

"What? What are you talking about?" The Queen stood up in shock. "Call for the royal physician immediately!" She commanded.

Though she had allowed other strangers to ride her horses on many occasions, these were still her prized possessions and she had taken very good care of them, spending a lot of gold and resources, sometimes even medicinal herbs. So she was not in the least pleased that this had happened.

"Bring the horse over here. Let me also take a look." Queen Anastasia sighed and sat down, her brows furrowed together.

There was pin-drop silence and no one dared to say anything else. The maid left in a hurry and slowly helped the horse walk towards the Queen. She didn't bring the animal too close to her and stood at a distance, holding the reins.

"Ah… The animal indeed looks ill." Someone commented.

The Queen squinted her eyes and looked at the beast, the frown on her face showing that she was clearly not happy. She sat silently, while the others made their own observations.

"How could this be? Wasn't the beast fine just now?"

"Yes. Yes. Indeed. Miss Sylvia had ridden it very well and the beast looked fine. So what happened?"

Every one started murmuring and discussing and amidst this low murmur, someone suddenly commented. "I think perhaps the horse had been sick and its condition worsened because of the race?"

"Oh. You might be right. I have heard that sick beasts need a lot of rest and should not be stressed with riding at least for a month."

"Ah… but Miss Sylvia…"

Suddenly, everyone became quiet as things were now completely obvious to them.

The Queen turned to look at Sylvia sternly. "Did you perhaps notice that my horse was sick and still decided to continue riding it anyways?"