"As long as I can win."
Celestial Weave's voice was soft, but it cut through the soothing piano music of the coffee shop like a sharp blade.
Isami Mai's fingers unconsciously tightened around the handle of her coffee cup, her knuckles turning white from the force. A flash of pain crossed her purple eyes, which were so much like Saint-King Halo's, but it was quickly hidden in the shadows cast by her long eyelashes.
"I don't care."
She took a sip of her iced Americano. The unbearable bitterness spread across her tongue, but her expression didn't change. This was the path she had chosen. No matter how bitter, she had to swallow it.
The air between them was heavy and viscous, as if this small space had been detached from the world.
"You're just like you were when you were a child... always so stubborn."
"If only I had been a little earlier..." Isami Mai shook her head self-deprecatingly, her brown hair swaying with the movement. "No, with your personality, it wouldn't have mattered. No amount of stopping you would have worked."
"Once you set a goal, you will move forward, no matter the cost."
"I've known that for a long time," she whispered, more to herself than to her daughter. She took a sip of her cappuccino. Even with the sugar cube, it tasted bitter now.
"You're different from Halo."
"She wants to be a first-class horse girl, half out of admiration for me, and half out of her own pride."
"Although she's been on a losing streak lately, with her ability, she will eventually have a chance to win a G1."
"Even without me, she can rely on her own strength to come to terms with herself."
Hearing her ramble, Celestial Weave raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit cruel to her?"
"Halo's spirit is stretched so taut right now that it's about to snap. You and I are both responsible for that."
"I will prove to her with my own actions that you can win a G1 without talent. As her mother, don't you think you should also make an effort?"
Isami Mai's brow furrowed, but she managed a strained smile. The sunlight from the side illuminated the fine lines on her face, making them particularly noticeable. "You're just winning races. Must you take on this responsibility too? You're too mature."
"Consider it compensation. If I hadn't been so focused on racing, maybe I would have noticed Halo's condition sooner."
Isami Mai looked into her daughter's eyes. There was no fluctuation of emotion in those dark orbs. "And if you were given another chance?" she asked, her voice suddenly very soft, almost drowned out by the background music.
After a moment of silence, Celestial Weave finally spoke, her voice as firm as it was the first time she stepped onto the track. "I would still choose the same path. I have a reason I cannot lose."
"That's why I pay more attention to you." Isami Mai's shoulders slumped slightly. She let out a long sigh, her voice laced with an indescribable fatigue. "In a way, someone like you is the most fragile."
"Fragile? Me?" Celestial Weave tilted her head, confused.
"You say you're going to train, and you really do it, from childhood until now, without a trace of laziness. Even though you know your talent is inferior to Halo's, you can still calmly hone your abilities."
"People would normally call this resilience. But as your mother, having lived with you for so many years, I've long since seen the truth of it."
"It's as if there's a goal at the end of the road, forcing you to work hard, forcing you to fight desperately. You will give up everything for that ethereal purpose." Isami Mai's voice became exceptionally soft. She paused for a moment before continuing, "And that is precisely what I don't want to see."
Seeing her mother like this, Celestial Weave's voice also softened unconsciously. "Why?"
"Because I am your mother."
"Is it so hard to understand that I want my child to live a healthy life?" she said, her voice now almost a whisper. "I don't expect you to become a first-class horse girl. I don't demand any achievements from you. I know your talent. I know what you would have to give up to pursue those things."
"It's okay not to race. It's okay not to strive for brilliance. All I want is to watch you live a healthy life." Her voice suddenly cracked. She took a sharp breath, forcibly suppressing her emotions.
"Perhaps this is my selfishness as a mother." After saying that, she laughed self-deprecatingly again. "But I know clearly that I can't stop you, no matter what."
"Should I use my resources to forcibly prevent you from competing? A person who would do that doesn't deserve to be a mother."
"So, I chose to run away. To watch you walk to this point, and only muster the courage to come see you after hearing the news."
"It's laughable, isn't it? A world-class horse girl, yet so cowardly." Her voice grew softer and softer, becoming almost inaudible.
Celestial Weave looked at her mother's downcast face. She had never seen her so vulnerable. No one would believe that this person was a world-class horse girl. In her eyes, the woman who had almost buried her entire face in her hair strangely overlapped with the image of Saint-King Halo.
After a long while, she finally spoke, a subtle softness in her voice. "You're a lot like Halo."
"We are mother and daughter, after all," her mother replied softly.
Another silence. She couldn't give up the main mission, so the only thing she could say in response to her mother's vulnerability was, "Besides being a daughter, I am also a horse girl."
"..." Isami Mai's lips trembled, but no sound came out. She looked down at the now-cold coffee in her cup, the dark brown liquid reflecting her complicated expression.
"And besides being a mother, you are also a horse girl."
"Even a world-class horse girl."
"..."
"The gentle breeze on the turf, the roar of the crowd, the battlefield created by all the horse girls who step onto the track, the resolve to voluntarily step into it to seize that brilliance." Celestial Weave's voice grew firmer with each word, carrying an unshakable determination.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting fine specks of light in her eyes, making them look exceptionally bright. For a moment, Isami Mai saw the little girl who had stepped onto the track for the first time.
"You must understand. Because you have also experienced all of this. Even after so many years, that passion must still be in your heart."
"So, please come to the Satsuki Sho."
"Not as a mother, but as a horse girl."
"Come and witness, with your own eyes, my brilliance."
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