To this day, Mejiro Ardan finally understood what Dream Weaver had forced her to swallow that day.
It was the perfect limiter, the culmination of generations of the Northern family's exhaustive research.
She was supposed to be the fuel, the final catalyst to propel the Northern family's last hope to greater heights. Yet, this very boost had been personally handed to Mejiro Ardan by that hope itself.
After the Autumn Tenno Sho, Dream Weaver collapsed on the track due to her injuries. Zaizen Shuuji, who was present, practically leaped down from the stands and rushed to her side.
After a brief examination, he, along with Narita Brian, carried Dream Weaver to the medical room backstage.
A professional examination told the doctor, who was deeply involved in the limiter research, everything.
No wonder Mejiro Ardan's condition had been steadily improving ever since Dream Weaver's visit to the hospital a month before the Tenno Sho.
Zaizen Shuuji didn't know how Dream Weaver had managed to preserve that limiter so perfectly, nor why it had manifested such an astounding effect.
That limiter was nothing short of a miracle, healing Mejiro Ardan, who had been physically frail for years, restoring her to the peak condition she was always meant to achieve.
All he knew was that now, with the original research team scattered and the data rendered incomprehensible, replicating this miracle was an impossibility.
Confronted with this reality, Zaizen Shuuji left the Tokyo Racecourse medical room without a word.
Further examinations were pointless now; Dream Weaver's condition was beyond conventional treatment.
The next day, funded by Mejiro Asama, he took the lead once more, assembling a new team and restarting the limiter research from scratch.
This time, they lacked the accumulated experience of the Northern family's generations of study. All they had were stacks of indecipherable data and fragmented memories.
But Zaizen Shuuji showed no hesitation. Even if it meant starting over, even if it would consume untold effort, he was determined to work day and night until the limiter was completed again.
Before sequestering himself in the laboratory, he sought out Mejiro Ardan.
He told her everything.
The curse in the Northern family's bloodline, the grudges and dramas of three generations surrounding the Tenno Sho… he laid it all out for Mejiro Ardan, who was still in the hospital undergoing checks to understand the changes in her body.
In that instant, Mejiro Ardan finally understood everything.
Before, she had only grasped fragments of the truth from media reports. But only now did she realize how little she had truly known about Dream Weaver. Her sister was hundreds of times stronger than she had ever imagined.
And so, Mejiro Ardan broke.
She was already wrought with worry after witnessing Dream Weaver's collapse on television days prior.
After several days of silence, receiving such news was enough to shatter anyone.
More importantly, Mejiro Ardan knew, almost instantly, who was truly responsible for Dream Weaver's fall.
Herself.
If she hadn't existed, Dream Weaver would have used the limiter herself.
Freed from the Northern family's curse, she would never have collapsed on the track of the Autumn Tenno Sho. Perhaps even today, Mejiro Ardan would still be watching her brilliant performances on the track.
In Mejiro Ardan's eyes, Dream Weaver was the Uma Musume destined for the world stage.
Her end goal was never something as simple as consecutive victories in the Spring and Autumn Tenno Sho.
Given time, she would have undoubtedly blossomed with a radiance that would captivate the entire world.
She was the Uma Musume who would make the Northern family name resound across the globe. Bearing the title of the family's last hope, she must have dreamed of restoring her family's fortunes through her own power.
That was likely Dream Weaver's dream all along.
But all of it, because of her, was destroyed on that day of the Autumn Tenno Sho.
The Autumn Tenno Sho had always been a regret for Mejiro Ardan. She had placed second and third in the race before. The Winner's Stage was so close, yet she retired without ever truly grasping it.
And now, the Autumn Tenno Sho held another, deeper regret for her.
Driven by her own selfish desire to run again, she had personally robbed Dream Weaver of her future potential.
Mejiro Ardan's now perfectly healthy legs felt like they had been stolen from Dream Weaver, who now sat confined to a wheelchair. She had traded Dream Weaver's future for her own.
Faced with that, how could she not break?
She had always believed herself to be a good older sister, only to discover she had personally stolen her little sister's future, torn her dream to shreds.
This cruel truth threatened to crush Mejiro Ardan completely.
But in the end, she found her footing again.
She left the hospital, used her savings to build a small house identical to the one from years past just outside the Mejiro estate, and moved in there with Dream Weaver. She threw herself into relentless training while meticulously caring for her sister.
She couldn't afford to break down. She didn't have the right. Dream Weaver hadn't given her this hope just to watch her fall apart.
If only for Dream Weaver's sake, Mejiro Ardan could not allow herself to collapse so easily.
She had to train.
She had to win the Dream Cup.
Only then would the hope that Dream Weaver bought with her own future not seem meaningless.
Dream Weaver had fallen due to the curse in the Northern family's blood. She had no chance of standing again until Zaizen Shuuji succeeded in recreating the limiter. Therefore, Mejiro Ardan absolutely forbade herself from using a breakdown as an escape.
She would shoulder her responsibility as the older sister. She would carry the dream given to her by Dream Weaver and keep running.
Mejiro Ardan didn't want Dream Weaver to see that the sister she had traded her future for was a coward who only knew how to break down and run away.
She wanted Dream Weaver to see that Mejiro Ardan had not failed her.
So even though, after the Autumn Tenno Sho, Dream Weaver became like a soul-less doll who wouldn't speak a word to her, who subconsciously resisted and recoiled from being fed or interacted with, even burning Mejiro Ardan multiple times… Mejiro Ardan bore this torturous silence without a single complaint.
She believed this was the punishment she must endure for stealing Dream Weaver's future. No matter what Dream Weaver did to her, Mejiro Ardan would accept it.
And then, she would use her victories, her form on the racetrack, to try and buy even a sliver of a chance that Dream Weaver's soul might return to the present.
"For Dreams… there's nothing I can't do now…"
Gazing at Dream Weaver's back, what surrounded her heart was no longer just simple familial love. It had transformed into something else, a complex emotion woven from atonement and responsibility. Mejiro Ardan's voice was firm as she spoke.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.