As Kitasan Black's thoughts ran wild, Duramente nodded and turned her gaze back to the TV screen, though the corner of her eye remained fixed on her friend—and rival.
Around this time last year, or perhaps even earlier, she would never have cared so much about any Horse Girl besides herself.
Or rather, she had not even cared about herself.
The only thing she had cared about was the goal of "becoming the strongest Horse Girl."
Yet perhaps because she had met Kitasan Black, whose personality and goals were completely different from her own, or perhaps because of everything she had experienced since debuting, her way of thinking had changed without her realizing it.
After meeting Kitasan Black, she had discovered that aside from being "the strongest," there were many other things that were interesting and worth striving for.
Everything she had experienced so far—especially her injury during last year's training camp and this year's defeat in Dubai—had made her understand that a single thought alone was nowhere near enough to become "the strongest."
And after all those changes, catalyzed by that race during their previous Heavy Track special training, she had gradually formed a clearer, more definite goal.
"Little Kita, you..."
Watching the race that had already begun on the television, she suddenly turned toward Kitasan Black. "Do you have absolutely no intention of going to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe?"
Kitasan Black had also been watching the race, comparing the competitors' tactics with her own ideas. She instinctively looked over and asked in return, "Huh? What do you mean... the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe? Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"Because..."
Staring directly into Kitasan Black's confused eyes, Duramente quietly clenched her fist.
"I realized that, before honors like being the strongest... I still