Honey, I Believe That’s Your Misunderstanding

Chapter 22

The black horse ran briskly through the rain.

Splat, splat!

Every time the massive horse stepped across the ground, drenched soil would get dug out.

Bhrrr…!

At the horse’s rough exhale, a white puff of breath could be seen.

Its eyes shone brightly in the dark and through the rain, giving off an even more vicious atmosphere than any wild animal.

As if it was wearing a pair of blinders right now, it ran straight towards a clear destination.

And soon enough, the horse arrived at where it wanted to be after going at a destructive speed that was incomparable to how slow any elegant carriage would have taken.

Bhrrr!

The horse paced back and forth in front of the loose iron gates, as if it could not overcome its anger.

Then, he turned around and aimed its hind leg viciously.

Crash— Clang!

Accompanied by a sharp sound, one swift movement was all it took to rip off the iron gate.

However, as if it was not enough, the horse aimed its hind leg once more, then kicked the pillar that was supporting the iron gate.

CLANG!

And so, with that one kick, the thick, heavy wall guarding the mansion collapsed at once.

In that state, the horse ran towards the entrance of the mansion, which was not far away.

Looking around the mansion, the horse soon reached one point.

Hiiiiing!

But at the sound of its loud whinny, the sleeping head maid, Alia, was the first to wake up.

‘What was that sound?’

Alia shot up from her bed, eyes wide open.

At the same time, she was perplexed. She thought that she just might have heard a lightning strike wrong.

However, the horse’s cry came once again from afar.

She looked straight at the direction where the sound came from.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the cry had not been that far from her room.

Something black moved in the darkness… Just outside Norman O’Ellin’s bedroom window.

‘…A horse?’

It took some time for her to recognize the silhouette of the black horse. After all, the surroundings were so dark due to the rain.

Alia rubbed her eyes several times, then she muttered unconsciously.

“That… What in the world is that?”

What kind of horse was that huge and bulky?

She had been working in an aristocratic household for the longest time, but she had never once seen such an unusual horse.

Without realizing it, she merely stood still in that spot, blankly staring through the rain and at the black horse.

Then, the horse’s bright blue eyes glanced at Alia.

Yet, as if it did not care about her, it reared its head and stared directly at Norman O’Ellin’s window.

It’s strange.

The horse was acting like it was aware—as if it was thinking on its own.

Perhaps, even if it were to suddenly have horns or wings, it wouldn’t have been strange at all.

The black horse was showing such mystifying behavior.

“No, I have to wake up. Milord… No, no. The butler first…”

As the horse cried out once more, its heavy voice whinnying for a long time, Alia scrambled for her robe.

Rather than the cry of a horse, it sounded like the cry of a mountain beast.

She was in such a hurry, scrambling to think about who she should call first.

But then, at that moment.

“What the hell is making that racket?”

Norman nervously opened the window, looking out to see what’s making the noise that woke him up.

As if it was a trick of fate, the torrential rain stopped right then.

The droplets of rain over the fiery horse’s body started dissipating.

The sight of the horse was enigmatic, and it’s as if it was now covered by a fog.

When Norman finally spotted the black horse—

“N-No, what the hell…?”

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and once again looked at the black horse that was looking back up at him from beneath the window of his room.

The horse’s mysterious eyes glared fiercely at the young man.

And the moment Norman’s eyes met the horse’s glare, he felt his heart leap from its cage.

It was like the mythical creature from the myths during the country’s founding had materialized right in front of him.

The horse blew through its mouth, then shook its head.

As though it was challenging Norman to come down right this instant.

‘Have… Have I been chosen?’

A possible legend then unfolded in his mind—this black horse must have come to meet a great man who could be its master, and it would lead the man to become the next king of the country.

With this imagination swirling in his mind, Norman hurried to answer the horse’s call, trying to control his trembling breath.

His steps were entirely filled with excitement as he ran down the stairs.

‘As expected, just look at this. I knew I had some great potential…! I’m about to become a great man! Bwahaha!’

No, as a matter of fact, Norman O’Ellin couldn’t even compare to someone like Grace.

Even so, the delusional Norman jumped out into the light drizzle, and he was already swelling with pride.

“Oh!”

He found the black horse there, standing still as it looked at Norman. It must be waiting for its master.

Its mysterious blue eyes stared at him.

“You! You must be my horse…!”

The black horse began to trot towards Norman, who started running towards the horse.

Worked up as it was, the black horse’s mouth started huffing out white steam.

Honestly speaking, this mythical horse looked a bit strange.

The atmosphere surrounding it was also bizarre and vicious… but Norman did not notice this at all.

‘My horse! A special horse for the special me!’

He was already anticipating that he would be the talk of the town. Today’s event would be written down in the history books.

Everyone would suck up to him just to get the chance to see this horse.

Merely imagining what’s to come was enough to completely push aside Norman’s rationality.

All he could think of was one single objective: he must catch the horse.

“Now, come! Come to me!”

Alia, now finally back after bringing the butler, belatedly shouted towards the young man in shock.

“Young Master! NOOO!”

Hearing the woman’s desperate shout, Norman stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

But before Alia could catch even her breath, this time, the black horse began to approach Norman.

Bhrrr—

A strong breath was let out through its nostrils.

Arms wide open, Norman welcomed the approaching horse. And just as he was about to laugh,

“……!”

THUD!

“Y-Young Master!!”

“Kyaaah!”

In one fluid motion, the horse kicked Norman squarely.

The resounding thud that the kick made, along with the sharp screams of the maid and butler, echoed all throughout House O’Ellin’s garden.

With terribly immense force, Norman was flung right off the ground.

The shock that had hit Norman’s body was far too much to say that an animal only hit him with its head.

Rather, it felt as if he had just been hit by a carriage that was running at full speed. His breath was knocked right out of him, and his head went completely blank.

After getting flung through the air, Norman’s body eventually hit a nearby tree.

SMACK!

Crack, crack, crack!

“…Huuuk! K-Keugh, huk!”

There went the sound of something breaking.

And Alia was certain.

That horrific sound pointed to none other than Norman’s broken bones.

She brought both hands up to cover her mouth, then as she turned as white as a sheet, she turned to look at the butler.

The butler’s face was no different than hers.

Thud— Norman’s body hit the ground.

There were two possibilities.

One, he fainted. Two, he died.

‘W-W-What do we do!’

Alia could barely keep standing on her trembling legs.

Fortunately enough, Norman’s mouth cracked open and let out a groan.

He’s not dead, thankfully.

However, even after the young man was already incapacitated like this, the horse still did not seem to be satisfied. It even looked indignant.

Just what was it so angry about?

And why on earth was it taking it out here?

The horse frighteningly and viciously stomped its front hooves on the ground, and it once again let out a cry that was as heavy as thunder.

Hiiiiing—!

Could a horst be this frightening?

Surrounding the horse was such brutal energy that would suit a savage beast, or perhaps a beast that was residing deep in the mountains.

Its overwhelming presence terrified both Alia and the butler.

With its blue eyes glinting, the black horse stomped towards where Norman had fallen after he hit the tree.

“S-Stop right there!”

The petrified butler and Alia gasped at the same time.

As it huffed out through its nostrils, the horse raised its front legs up high in the air.

Kyaaah!

Not even aware of it herself, Alia screamed through her covered mouth.

THWACK!

And they heard something breaking again.

Mercifully, what broke wasn’t any of Norman’s bones.

The horse had kicked the thick trunk of the tree, and it was immediately split in half.

Weakly teetering, the tree’s leaves left their branches.

And the leaves fell directly down the unconscious Norman.

Huff!

The horse huffed and puffed, kicking more wet leaves and soil onto Norman.

Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!

Norman’s body was now utterly covered in dirt and leaves, and it was only after the horse confirmed this that it pulled back.

It could almost be said that Norman had gotten buried in the ground.

Hu, hiing!

Watching the horse huff like that at Norman… made Alia feel a bout of dissonance.

How should she put this?

It’s as if she could read the horse’s intentions. As if it’s saying—

Mess with me, and I will bury you.

…Something like that.

‘Oh my goodness, what nonsense am I imagining right now?’

Alia shook her head, but at that moment, the horse stomped loudly and bolted from the scene.

Each leap allowed it to move several meters in just a heartbeat.

It ran at such a breathtaking speed that it had already crossed the span of the residence before she could even finish blinking.

As the black horse galloped away, the light drizzle of the rain became thicker once again.

Alia, dazedly watching as the black horse disappeared into the distance, belatedly snapped out of it. She turned to the butler and hit him on the side.

“Sir Butler! L-Let’s go to the Young Master first!”

“Oh, yes, yes. I was so surprised that I…! Good gracious, Young Master…! Alia, go inside and wake up the other servants. This is bad. Master will be coming back tomorrow— he’ll be furious if he sees the Young Master like this!”

At the verge of dawn.

The rising sun’s glow brightened up the O’Ellin mansion, in which its residents had otherwise been fast asleep only moments ago.