Horseback Riding is a Maid’s Basic Virtue (1)

Lilith, Ethan’s exclusive maid, was given a rather long break every day after lunch.

Usually, after breakfast, there was an awkward amount of time left due to cleaning Ethan’s room, and after dinner, similarly, time tended to float strangely due to preparing for bed.

This floating time after lunch could be considered my personal free time, unless something special came up.

Unlike regular maids, an exclusive maid is exempt from other duties in the mansion, so it’s a kind of privilege.

Of course, the downside was that if the master called, I had to drop everything and respond quickly, but Ethan wasn’t the type of character to call me constantly.

Since that incident three years ago, the number of times Ethan had called me personally could be counted on one hand. Except for a few cases where we needed to discuss truly important matters, like asking about Seraphine’s attendance at the Masquerade Ball.

That meant the waiting time from after lunch until dinner was entirely my personal time to use.

I usually invested this time in efforts to survive as Lilith in this world.

For instance, I would steadily save up Lilith’s independence funds through knitting, or gradually accumulate knowledge of this world with books borrowed from Ethan’s room.

The skill I started learning today was also closely related to this survival.

It was horsemanship, one of the skills that an adventurer would never lose out on having.

Today, I was out in the stable with Head Butler Dietmeyer to learn horseback riding.

“Be careful, Lilith-yang.”

“Ah, I know….”

Dietmeyer, in charge of my education, warned me, looking at me with a slightly uneasy expression.

I, too, met the eyes of the white horse in front of me, unable to shake off my nervousness.

…How do I get close to a horse? Should I make eye contact and pet it?

“Oh, please take care of me today, Jeraon….”

‘Heeheehing!’

“Ugh, uhiik…?!”

Jeraon whinnied loudly in response just from me making eye contact and greeting it.

It was a huge relief that it didn’t seem to be acting aggressively, but it was still enough to startle me.

Seeing that it wasn’t snorting at me or anything, it was probably just one of its expressions of affection.

“Are you alright, Lilith-yang?”

“Yes, yes…. This much is fine…”

“I came to assist you since you wished to learn horsemanship, but if it’s too difficult for you, Lilith-yang, you don’t have to force yourself to learn it. Just because you are Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid doesn’t mean you absolutely need to learn horsemanship.”

“Ah, no. I will learn properly, so please teach me thoroughly, Head Butler-nim.”

“…Understood. If you truly wish.”

Dietmeyer, who didn’t take my words lightly, immediately approached Jeraon and gripped the reins hanging on its back with one hand.

After stroking Jeraon’s neck a couple of times, he handed me the reins he was holding.

“Please take them, Lilith-yang.”

“…Aren’t you going to show me a demonstration or something?”

“Horseback riding is much easier to learn by doing it yourself. And horses tend to get tired if riders change frequently.”

“I… see….”

“And haven’t you ridden in the carriage I drove a few times?”

“Y-yes, I have….”

“Basically, horseback riding and driving operate on the same principle. Since you have basic athletic ability, Lilith-yang, simply observing my carriage driving yesterday should be sufficient for preliminary learning.”

…Actually, I was so tired I was sleeping, so I barely saw anything.

How hard is it to force yourself to stay awake when your mana is completely depleted? There’s no way I could have watched.

Well, I’ve seen characters ride horses many times before. Though, that was always the protagonist character riding a horse in my previous life.

If I just imitate something similar to that, it should work out somehow.

After receiving the reins from Dietmeyer, I stroked Jeraon’s neck a couple of times.

With a brief greeting, I kicked off the ground and mounted the horse.

“Please take care of me, Jeraon.”

“Ah, by the way, that child’s name is Lucina….”

-Taak!

“…….”

Thanks to a rather high jump, I fortunately didn’t make a clumsy spectacle of myself in front of Dietmeyer.

…I just tried to imitate what I saw in the game, and it actually worked.

It seems it’s possible because my basic physical abilities aren’t too weak, given that I’m currently level 9.

Or it could be the influence of Lilith’s inherent abilities as a character.

In 『Luminor Academy』, she was one of the three main heroines, along with Seraphine and Natalie, who could ride a horse independently.

For reference, characters like Agnes can’t even mount a horse by themselves, let alone ride independently. They don’t even look like they’d be good at such things in the first place.

“You have good athletic ability, Lilith-yang.”

“Th-thank you.”

“While holding the reins tightly, slowly…”

“Holding the reins tightly… Ugh, uwaaak?!”

-Chalsak!

‘Heeheeheehing!’

As soon as I gripped the straps with both hands and brought them down on its back once, Jeraon suddenly galloped off with a loud whinny.

Thanks to that, I had to experience an unexpected sense of speed while clinging to Jeraon’s back.

“Ughkyaak! Ack! Uyaak!”

“Li-Lilith-yang! Pull the reins! Pulling them means stop!”

“P-pull them?! Like this?!”

-Chalsak!

‘Heeheeheehing!!’

“That’s acceleration! You shouldn’t pull too quickly…”

Dietmeyer, who was desperately chasing after me to stop me but quickly falling behind, and Jeraon, who suddenly started galloping across the Blackwood Mansion’s yard with me.

The sudden sensation of speed, which I was experiencing for the first time since coming to this world, made me feel dizzy.

In those few seconds of disorientation, Jeraon was galloping towards the wall at the end of the Blackwood Mansion’s yard, as if to crash into it.

“Ughkyaak! St-stop!”

‘Heeheehing!’

“Ah, or at least turn!”

With the thought that I had to survive somehow, I pulled the reins as far right as possible and leaned my body.

Fortunately, Jeraon, understanding my gesture, also leaned to the right, and with a 90-degree drift, somehow managed to turn the corner.

Wait, but this is the training ground on the right side of the mansion. The people there right now must surely be….

“Ughkyaaaak?!”

“M-maid?!”

“What are you doing right now…?”

“P-please move aside for a moment! Master-nim! Young Master-nim!”

The Blackwood father and son, who had been clashing swords, saw me approaching and frantically dodged out of the way.

Fortunately, with the agile movements befitting a Sword Master and his son, they managed to avoid the charging horse.

On my very first day of horseback riding, the misfortune of a hit-and-run involving the mansion’s master or his son did not occur.

“Maid?! What are you doing right now?!”

“I-it’s fine! This is nothing…!”

“What on earth are you suddenly…”

Ah, no. This isn’t the time for me to say I’m fine.

Seeing this sight of a debt maid suddenly galloping on a horse, Harold or Ethan might get the wrong idea.

Just before turning the next corner with Jeraon, I desperately appealed my innocence to the two of them.

“I-I’m not trying to ride away and escape~!!”

…The fact that I had almost caused a strange misunderstanding by saying something unnecessary was something I only realized after finally managing to stop the horse.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Ttogak. Ttogak.

“…….”

-Ttogak, ttogak, ttogak.

“St-stop.”

‘Heeheehing!’

As soon as I gently pulled the reins and spoke to it, Jeraon stopped quietly in its tracks with a single whinny.

Seeing it obey so meekly, making the previous gallop seem meaningless, I quietly sighed in relief.

“You’re doing well, Lilith-yang.”

“W-was it okay…?”

“Being able to walk (horse gait) on your first day is a remarkable talent. At this rate, you’ll be able to manage a canter within a few days.”

“…….”

That’s a relief, at least. I was worried what I’d do if I possessed Lilith but had no talent for riding horses.

It’s certainly thanks to Dietmeyer’s skill, having risen to Head Butler at a young age, that his teaching method was easy to understand from the start.

The way he taught me things like the correct posture to maintain while on the horse, or how the horse would react to certain signals, was clear enough for even me, a beginner at horseback riding, to understand.

By the way, it was none other than this Head Butler who put an end to Jeraon’s earlier gallop.

Dietmeyer had mounted behind me as I circled back around the Blackwood Mansion yard, taken the reins from me, and simultaneously stopped Jeraon.

I’d often seen cutscenes of people mounting a running horse in games, but I never imagined Dietmeyer could actually do it.

Because of his image as a Head Butler who rose to the position at a young age, in my original world, he felt like a very intellectual character, but it seems he’s surprisingly good at physical tasks too.

Indeed, in this era, it would be difficult to rise quickly just by being intelligent and knowledgeable.

Considering he can drive a carriage for hours from the Blackwood Territory to the Imperial Capital without getting tired, he probably isn’t a character lacking in stamina or physical strength.

Anyway, once I was safe, I practiced the stable walk for about 30 more minutes according to Dietmeyer’s lesson.

Feeling a bit physically exhausted, I dismounted the horse and collapsed onto the ground to rest.

“Haaah….”

“Are you tired, Lilith-yang?”

“…A little, yes. I didn’t expect it to be this difficult.”

“Many people think that way at first. From the outside, it just looks like the horse is running and the person is sitting comfortably, but that’s not actually the case.”

“…You’re right. I truly realized it with my whole body.”

Even so, I never imagined I’d have to do squats in time with the horse’s movements.

Still, thanks to Dietmeyer correcting my posture from start to finish, I was able to endure it to some extent from the middle onwards.

Of course, I’m still not used to it at all, to the point where I’d rather just run.

“Today’s lesson ends here, but will you continue learning next week, Lilith-yang?”

“…Why do you ask? Is it perhaps a burden for you, Head Butler-nim, that I asked to be taught horsemanship?”

“It’s not that, but I was wondering if you might have lost interest in horseback riding, Lilith-yang. Horsemanship itself is a physically demanding activity, and it takes a long time to learn enough to properly utilize it.”

“Ah.”

So he was just asking out of politeness, wondering if I was tired after a one-day trial.

Indeed, after experiencing it once, I was exhausted in many ways. To the point where I wondered if practicing running during this time wouldn’t be a faster way to get around.

But that only applies when Lilith is traveling alone.

When I consider my future life as an adventurer, horses would be essential for long-term activities.

Like carrying luggage when moving residences, or transporting people on my back during escort or rescue missions.

Or, thinking about when I might be able to drive a carriage later on.

The difficulty of learning it also meant that it required a lot of time and money to learn properly.

In other words, it’s not a skill I could just learn whenever I wanted once I left the mansion.

Therefore, it was undoubtedly the right decision to learn how to ride, even a little, right now.

After all, taking lessons from Dietmeyer at the Blackwood Mansion was practically free.

Of course, if I expressed my true thoughts, he would obviously never teach me again, so I had to phrase it appropriately.

“Since I’ve started learning, it would be good to learn it all the way through. After all, as an exclusive maid, it’s a skill that can’t hurt to have, isn’t it?”

“Of course, Lilith-yang.”

“If I can drive a carriage, Head Butler-nim will also be a bit more comfortable, won’t he? After all, you can’t accompany Young Master Ethan and me everywhere we go.”

“That’s an excellent mindset, Lilith-yang.”

“And besides, I’ve finally gotten close to Jeraon, so it would be a shame to part ways after just one day, wouldn’t it, Jeraon?”

‘Heeheehing!’

“So, that child’s name is Lucina, not Jeraon…”

I casually ignored Dietmeyer’s rigid conversation and ended the discussion by stroking Jeraon’s mane.

It was almost the end of my afternoon free time, and I needed to change clothes and prepare for dinner.

Even for an exclusive maid with flexible time management, it was a rule to always attend the three meal times a day.

With that thought, as I held Jeraon’s reins and moved to take it back to the stable, a figure suddenly appeared from the mansion’s eastern training ground.

That familiar figure hurriedly called out to me and began running towards me.

“M-maid! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!”

“Young Master-nim?”

…It might sound funny coming from me, but he really came to worry quickly.