Princess Ackermann

VIII: Horseback Riding

Her nose bled even more when she stared at his broad figure. He was amazingly tall (but not too tall), his face looked young and well-managed. His teeth shone bright like a pot of silver.

"Your Majesty!" She bowed down, kneeling a little. Suddenly, he lifted her chin up and grinned at her. "A beauty like you, does not need to bow to me. Come. I will take you somewhere."

She stood up in an upright manner and rose an eyebrow. The Prince stood beside his horse and whistled. She looked around and saw another horse galloping its way towards them.

The Prince stood by the other horse, holding his hand out to her to boost her up. She was nervous since she never rode a horse before. She hesitantly took his hand as he helped her up on the horse.

The animal started trotting down the road, almost a little too fast, which nearly cost Serhilda's balance. Luckily though, Jean caught her before she fell. "Careful, boy!" She was amazed how the horse calmed down from the Prince's touch.

She felt his warm hand lace with hers, which gave her a tingling feeling. It is true indeed. She had confirmed to herself that the Prince was indeed charming, and attractive. And not only that, he was amazingly good with horses.

"Steady... steady..." The horse composed itself a moment later, and she sighed in relief as she gave Jean a smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty." She said and he grinned. "Follow me. I will show you a place where I can show you how to ride a horse."

"R-Really?"

"Yes."

She thought about it. It's not like they'll need her, right? She wondered but then, it was 3 days after the festival, she still felt quite lazy. "I will come with you." She aimlessly replied and he was happy he took her offer.

"Let's go, Fergus." The horse starts trotting down the road, and the horse Serhilda was on followed soon after. Jean kept it in a slow and steady pace to keep the girl from falling. He wouldn't risk speeding their ride and get her injured after.

+•+

"Eren, boss ordered us to hunt."

"Well..." He groaned as he stood up from the stool. "We've got work to do." He said and grabbed an axe, a bolo, and an arrow. "You sure you don't need help with those?" Armin offered and he chuckled.

"I doubt you could even carry a single weapon." Frustrated by his comment, Armin huffed in annoyance. "Excuse me? I lifted the axe when we saved Serhilda in the woods! Did you forget?"

"No, I didn't."

"I swear! I can carry the axe if you want!"

"Fine. But still, I can tell you could only carry one weapon." The brunette chortled which offended the blonde, who walked behind him with a grumble as Eren tossed him the axe. "At least I'm smarter than you!" Armin shot back as they were nearing the forest.

"You do not have to bring your intelligence in this!" Eren scowled as they walked into the forest. "Oh, sure I do. Just earlier, you were bringing up strength. And technically, my intelligence is my strength!" Armin retorted.

"Oh, come on now!"

The two had a mild argument walking into the woods.

+•+

"Here we are." Jean said as he got off his horse. She was in awe with the scenery. From the looks of it, they were in an abandoned estate somewhere at the other side of the forest. The yard was large, and the house looked spacious.

"What is this place?"

"This place is called the Reiss' Estate. It's been abandoned for 100 years, yet it remained untouched. The other members of the Reiss clan lived here until a great war happened."

She stared at the house, albeit it was completely dirty, the structure was still complete and whole. She suddenly saw Jean standing by the horse she was sitting on. He was staring at her.

"Today... I'll be teaching you how to ride a horse, m'lady."

She blushed. "A-Alright," The woman stuttered. At first she ended up falling off the horse, but the Prince successfully caught her with ease. She felt his hand almost touch her chest and she pulled herself away from his grasp.

"I'm sorry. That was disgraceful,"

"It's alright, Your Majesty."

Serhilda got back up on her horse and tried to gallop around the estate; it was successful. She managed to steady herself from falling and when the horse stopped, she smiled to herself with light panting.

"I did it!"

"Yeah, you did it!" Jean exclaimed and smirked at her. She found herself flustered seeing him smirk at her like that. He is indeed charming. He's a prince after all.

She then dismounted the horse and looked at the Prince, who seemed more than proud. "I am impressed." He remarked, which made her blush. "By the way... may I know your name?" She paused and mumbled.

"I am Serhilda. It's nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I mean no disrespect but— out of all the people out there... why did you take me here?" She questioned and he smiled at her genuinely.

"Let's just say... there's more to you that meets the eye. I know you're special." She frowned, yet gave a shy smile. I bet he says that to every other woman in this Earth.

"Hm... we should get going. It'll be dark soon. May I take you home?" She shook her head. "May I politely refuse? It's okay, I can walk there on my own." He frowned, and hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure? Do you know the way?" He asked and she nodded nonetheless.

"I will find my way there. Don't worry about me." She said and bowed down. "It was a pleasure to be with you, Prince Jean. I must get going." She bowed before him and he watched as she left for the woods.

"Be careful, m'lady!"

+•+

The sun had set. And an hour later, it had become dark. Mr. Ral was still wondering where on earth could Serhilda have gone. Petra and Levi were getting worried.

"Where could she be right now?" Petra blurted out. "Do you think she's with Eren?" Levi frowned and shrugged. "We don't know that. She could be in the forest, thinking about stuff."

"But isn't she taking too long? The food is getting cold." Mr. Ral was officially worried. "We will wait for her. We've been searching for her since earlier, but no one really knew where she went."

They all sighed.