The way Uma Musume looks at me is so scary!

"This is quite common... For example, when children go away to university or work in other places, family members don't necessarily have to see each other every day."

Megumi Ardan did not refute. She stood up from the bench, took Xiu Xingmeng's hand, and smiled.

"But my sister is the type who values ​​family a lot."

“If Xingmeng has a reason to travel far away, her sister will also pester her to video call every day.”

Before Xiu Xingmeng could respond, he grabbed her hand and ran towards the cafeteria.

"You must be hungry after chatting for so long, let's go eat!"

Xiu Xingmeng stared blankly at Mu Bai Aldan's retreating figure, her throat seemingly choked by some invisible emotion, unable to utter a single reply.

The slender figure seemed to be enveloped in a soft halo under the sunlight, and a long-lost warm feeling quietly spread through her heart. The almost maternal embrace of Megumi Ardan was so gentle that Xiu Xingmeng was somewhat dazed.

Unlike the illusion caused by their similar appearances before, what touched Xiu Xingmeng at this moment was the almost instinctive sense of familiarity buried deep in her memory. The gentleness that Mubai Aldan revealed in his every move made Xiu Xingmeng feel as if she had returned to the days when she spent with her mother.

Such feelings are not something that can be experienced in an instant, but rather the emotions that Xiu Xingmeng and Megumi Ardan had gradually accumulated over the months of getting along finally erupted at this moment.

From the moment she first met Meguro Ardan, this racehorse girl showed a warm and accepting attitude towards Seiseki Yume. The affection she developed from gazing at her every day by the training ground and caring for her day and night left Seiseki Yume speechless.

She simply couldn't understand why such a naive person like Aldan would be so gentle with her. The intimacy brought by blood ties might be one reason, but Xiu Xingmeng absolutely did not believe that Aldan would do so much for her based solely on that.

So Xiu Xingmeng suddenly wanted to know why Megumi Ardan had stayed with her all this time.

Just as Xiu Xingmeng's mind was racing, in reality, she had already finished lunch with Mubai Aldan and walked to the training ground.

The training ground was still filled with female racehorses in the afternoon. Dressed in sportswear, they were either stretching their limbs and moving their bodies or engaging in simulated races with others on the track.

Despite the blazing afternoon sun, their eyes shone with a fervent light no less intense than the sun itself. Watching them run, gazing at the green field where he had once chased his dreams, even Megumi Ardan was momentarily lost in thought, forgetting to pay attention to Xiuxing Meng beside him.

It was at this moment that Xiu Xingmeng finally finished organizing what she wanted to say. She looked up at Mu Bai Aldan's exquisite face and suddenly said softly.

"Aldan... what are you looking at?"

Upon hearing Xiu Xingmeng's words, Mubai Aldan trembled as if suddenly startled, and after a couple of seconds of stunned silence, he turned around and responded.

"This is the first time you've called me by my name, Xingmeng."

She smiled happily, her smile as warm as a spring breeze, just like any other day, but Xiu Xingmeng keenly sensed something was amiss.

She did not directly address her question.

This was the first time Megumi Ardan had avoided Xiuxingmeng's question, which made Xiuxingmeng feel as if she had found something, so she quickly asked again.

Are you looking at the training ground?

Ardan was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and the smile on his face froze for a second, but he quickly recovered and responded.

"Yes, the training ground in Central Treson is much bigger than the old training ground of the Meguro family, isn't it?"

"The reason for building a new training ground is that the adults in the family wanted to make it comparable to the training ground in Central Treson."

“If Xingmeng trains here, she’ll definitely make great progress!”

Megumi Ardan's words sounded perfectly reasonable; in fact, they were one of her true thoughts.

But this was not what Xiuxing wanted to hear. She didn't want to know why the Meguro family was building a new training ground. What she wanted to know was why Meguro Aldan had been distracted earlier.

Xiu Xingmeng gazed at the bustling training ground ahead, wanting to see what Megumi Ardan had been watching.

On the training field in the afternoon, the female racehorses swayed in the heat as they ran hard, their glistening sweat flying with each movement, each drop reflecting a dazzling light under the blazing sun.

Xiu Xingmeng stood quietly on the sidelines, gazing at the group of racehorses who were giving their all for their dreams. Their running posture was so dazzling, as if even their souls were shining.

In that instant, a thought flashed through Xiu Xingmeng's mind like a shooting star.

"No...no, you're not looking at the training ground."

"What you're looking at... is that herd of racehorses!"

Chapter 206 A Substitute for Dreams (Second Update)

After an unknown amount of time, she fell into a rare silence, her eyes fixed on the racehorses running on the training field. She did not answer Xiu Xingmeng's question, but instead gazed at them for a long time.

After a long while, Megumi Ardan finally spoke in a low voice.

"Maybe so."

"After I left the field, the level of the younger generation in Central Tressen has become increasingly higher, which is why I feel a bit emotional."

Xiu Xingmeng frowned upon hearing this. She could hear the melancholy in Meguro Aldan's voice, but she didn't know where that melancholy came from.

Although she and Meguro Aldan had spent several months together, during that time Xiuxing Meng devoted almost all her energy to training and did not have any in-depth communication with him.

Although she had always enjoyed the gentleness and tolerance the other person gave her, she had never thought about giving anything back to him, and she had never learned about Meguro Ardan's past.

Although she stayed at the Meguro household because she wanted to see Meguro Ardan win the Emperor's Spring Festival, she didn't know why Meguro Ardan wanted to see her win the Emperor's Spring Festival.

Recalling how Meguro Ardan had forced a smile to congratulate her on winning the Emperor's Spring Festival despite her face being covered in tears, this heavy emotion weighed on Hidehoshi's heart, but it also made her realize something. So she spoke up.

What was Aldan like on the field?

Xiu Xingmeng's question was like a time machine, pulling Megumi Aldan back to the past. Looking at the training ground now, she seemed to see the days when she had worked hard there in the past, and responded in a somewhat dazed tone.

"How is it... if I had to put it in terms of how it's going to be, it's just a little bit lacking..."

"He clearly wanted to prove himself... The G1 championship was within his grasp, but he just couldn't hold onto it."

Megumi Ardan never told Xiuxing Meng that she had been in poor health since birth, and when she debuted, some people even contemptuously described her as having "glass legs" to describe her fragile body.

Given her birth, the Meguro family naturally doted on Meguro Aldan, treating her with the utmost care, just as her name suggests, as if she were made of glass.

But Megumi Ardan didn't want this seemingly natural pity. She wanted to prove herself, to prove that even someone as fragile as herself could shine like a diamond.

But she ultimately failed. Despite giving it her all, she couldn't achieve victory in G1 and was forced to retire due to her frail health, falling short of her dream halfway through.

People say that her presence on the field is already dazzling enough, but Megumi Ardan knows that such praise is still based on glass as the standard. What she wants to become is not that kind of glass.

No matter how sparkling glass may be, it is ultimately fragile.

That's why Megumi Ardan deliberately avoided mentioning this matter in front of Xiuxingmeng; she didn't want the other person to look at her with that pitying gaze.

Now that she can see herself as a normal racehorse girl and do things that the Mejiro family would never allow her to do without any scruples, Mejiro Ardan is already very happy.

In a sense, Megumi Ardan is insecure, which is why she is ashamed to tell Xiuxingmeng about her past.

Even now, she still hides the truth about her glass body, choosing to respond to Xiu Xingmeng's doubts with ambiguous words.

Xiu Xingmeng couldn't read minds, so she naturally wouldn't know what Megumi Ardan was thinking at that moment, but she could sense the intense resentment and loneliness in his words.

"So Aldan still wants to run, right?"

Megumi Ardan was taken aback by what she heard, and before she could think of a response to Xiu Xingmeng, she continued.

"Because I was never able to achieve the victory I wanted, that's why I was so unwilling to leave the competition."

"You want to see me win the Emperor's Spring Festival celebration, and now you're doing the same thing watching your juniors chasing their dreams. Aldan, you... aren't you actually envious of us?"

"They envy us... for still being able to step onto the field."

Meguro Aldan listened quietly to Xiuxingmeng's words, then slowly closed his eyes and whispered.

"Maybe that's how it is..."

"Because of my own unwillingness to accept it, I want to project my own shadow onto Xingmeng's figure."

At this point, she gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"What a despicable sister I am. I said I would cheer you on, but I unconsciously placed my hopes on you."

"Whether it's the Emperor's spring appreciation or the Emperor's autumn appreciation, it all boils down to a person who is unwilling to accept defeat wanting to see the possibility of his own victory in others."

Looking at Xiu Xingmeng, who was closely related to him by blood, was like looking at another version of himself. This version of himself was no longer fragile, no longer just glass, but a genuine diamond, destined to shine brightly in the arena and attract the attention of thousands.

At first, she was so gentle to Xiuxingmeng because of Megumi Ardan's inherent kindness and blood ties. However, after she realized Xiuxingmeng's talent, she subconsciously saw the other person as a perfect version of herself.

Every time he watched Xiu Xingmeng running on the training field, Megumi Ardan couldn't help but imagine himself in her image, reminiscing about the days when he could still run on the field.

"Perhaps... I've already come to regard you, Hoshino, as a substitute for my own dream."

Megumi Ardan silently squatted down, her head lowered, her light blue hair covering her eyes as she tried to hide her emotions. After saying those words, she no longer knew how to face Xiu Xingmeng.

Now she felt that she was not only unworthy to be the older sister, but also unqualified to look Xiu Xingmeng in the eye, so she subconsciously squatted down and curled up in a ball to avoid Xiu Xingmeng.

Anyway, she's just that despicable and shameless racehorse girl, using others as substitutes for her own dreams. How is that any different from adults who want to use others as tools to win the Emperor's Award?

Although Megumi Ardan didn't know exactly what the adults in her family had done, she wasn't stupid. She had already guessed what it was based on the interview and conversation with Xiuxing Meng at the time.

The reason Megumi Ardan hadn't mentioned it to Xiuxingmeng was because she didn't want the other person to see her as that kind of adult. But now that her thoughts had been exposed, Megumi Ardan suddenly felt that she had become just as despicable as those adults that she and Xiuxingmeng disliked.

"Perhaps the Mejiro family really is full of despicable and shameless horse racers."

"So it's only natural that you, Hoshimura, would hate me..."

Megumi Ardan buried his head in his arms and spoke in a muffled voice.

Chapter 207 Do You Want to Run? (Third Update)

With her eyes closed, Megumi Ardan waited in the darkness for Xiu Xingmeng's disgusted words. She felt that she could endure any treatment she received for being so despicable.

Anyway, she's just glass—fragile, incompetent, a piece of glass that only pins its dreams on others; she can never become a strong, shining diamond.

Megumi Ardan waited, but she never heard any words from Hideyuki Hoshino in the wind. All she could hear were the sounds of the racehorses striving for their dreams on the training field in the distance.

Perhaps she has already left.

Meguro Aldan thought to herself that she was no different from the other adults in the Meguro family, and they probably wouldn't even want to say a word to her, who was just as despicable and shameful.

Just as Megumi Ardan thought that Xiuxing Meng had left and sadly raised his head, he suddenly found that the other person's eyes, as deep as the night sky, were right in front of him.

"Your eyes are so red."

Seeing Xiu Xingmeng winking at him, Megumi Ardan was speechless for a moment and could only stare blankly at her.

"And snot came out too."

As Xiu Xingmeng spoke, she took out her handkerchief from Megumi Ardan's pocket and handed it to her to wipe the tip of her nose.

Because she had never wiped anyone's nose before, she couldn't quite control her strength, which caused Megumi Ardan's nose to turn red as well.

But Megumi Ardan didn't care about any of that at the moment. She looked at Xiu Xingmeng in front of her and said somewhat blankly.

"You...don't hate me...?"

Upon hearing this, Xiu Xingmeng tilted her head in confusion and asked.

Why hate?

Upon hearing this, Megumi Ardan couldn't control her emotions any longer, and her voice choked as she responded.

"Because...because...because I, like the others in the Meguro family, want to use your power to pursue things that are unattainable to us..."

"Fool."

Before Meguro Ardan could finish speaking while sobbing, Xiuxingmeng placed her hand on her head and said softly.

"How could you possibly be like them?"

"Eh?"

"Isn't it natural to place your hopes on your favorite Uma Musume?"

"When Uma Musume steps onto the racetrack, besides pursuing her own brilliance, doesn't she also want to satisfy the people who love her?"

Having already borne the expectations of everyone in Kasamatsu, Hideyuki naturally didn't see anything wrong with it. In her opinion, Meguro Aldan was just a little too insecure.

Indeed, Megumi Ardan was so humble that she felt despicable even when she placed her hopes on Xiuxingmeng. She had always been called "glass" and hated herself for it, so she was naturally more demanding of herself.

She wished she were the perfect older sister, but Xiu Xingmeng knew that there could never be a perfect person in this world.

Even if Megumi Ardan really wanted something else from him, was all the care she had given him these past few days fake? Was all the hard work she put in, waiting for him under the scorching sun and wind to hand him supplies, fake? And how could it be fake that she, a young lady from a wealthy family, was always covered in dust and grime just to stay in the northern family?

Megumi Ardan had already given so much real things for him, yet he could only offer her illusory dreams.

According to Xiu Xingmeng's opinion, it was actually she who owed Megumi Ardan a lot.

It's true that Megumi Ardan used the Embroidered Star Dream as a substitute for her own dream, but wasn't her love real too?

"But is that enough? Is it satisfying just to watch me run?"

"Aldan himself clearly wanted to run, didn't he?"

As Xiu Xingmeng spoke, she grasped Megumi Ardan's wrist and pulled her out of her closed-off state.

"Then why not give it another try? You're still so unwilling to accept it, aren't you?"

"but……"