The car drove on, and they finally arrived outside a luxurious, detached villa.
A maid, who had been notified, opened the gate, the car drove into the garage, and everyone stepped out.
Polaris Glacier didn't need to handle the luggage; she entered the front hall, looking around curiously.
"Welcome back, Young Miss."
As soon as she entered, the maids, as if rehearsed, welcomed her in unison with Japanese they had temporarily memorized.
"I'm back."
Polaris Glacier nodded slightly and responded with a smile.
After walking through the front hall and arriving in the main room, Mother was indeed waiting there.
She was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee, making one unable to help but exclaim:
“A familiar scene.”
Hearing footsteps, she also turned to look, a gentle smile appearing on her face:
"You've arrived, Polaris."
After that, the Mother and daughter had a good chat.
It was mainly Polaris Glacier recounting some of the events that had occurred over the past few months.
This included other Horse Girl of the same generation avoiding races and changing their focus, leading to her being the only one to run the Yayoi Sho...
It included the progress of her two close friends, Mihono Bourbon and Sirius Symboli...
It included her encounter with Secretariat in Louisville and her experience participating in the Kentucky Derby...
It included her training of junior Horse Girl, and so on.
Mother mostly listened quietly, a hint of thought occasionally flashing in her eyes, and a smile always on her lips.
Then, this conversation continued until it was almost dinner time.
Upon noticing Mother's happy yet slightly helpless expression, Polaris Glacier finally reacted, turning her head away a little awkwardly, her tail wagging once.
The next moment, she was embraced by Mother, and her face was pressed into the other's incredibly embracing chest:
"After so many months apart, an embrace is truly better than words."
"...Mm-hmm..."
Polaris Glacier instinctively twisted her head, then settled down.
She turned her face slightly to allow herself to breathe normally, and her arms wrapped around Mother's back.
They hugged like this for quite a while, only letting go when the Head Maid came in to say that dinner was ready.
After dinner, during dessert, Mother brought out several video tapes and played them one by one:
"These are race recordings of notable competitors from France, Polaris and Kumi, take a look."
After speaking, she went upstairs; she still had some paperwork to handle.
"Young Miss, would you like to watch too?"
Kumi took out her tablet, preparing to collect information and analyze data.
She was quite good at both, though the final results she obtained were often not useful to the Young Miss.
"Yes, I'll watch. It'll pass the time."
For Polaris Glacier, watching race videos of other Horse Girl was already a form of entertainment.
She would just watch for now, then take a bath and rest when the time was right.
Time moved forward, arriving at the next day, May 28th.
After breakfast, Polaris Glacier, according to plan, headed to the Chantilly Racecourse.
The main purpose was to check the situation, to prevent not knowing the specific race course when the race started.
If possible, she also needed to do some work adapting to the turf.
Although it was deep turf like in England, there were still differences, and she needed to actually run on it once to fully feel them.
"By the way, with less than a week, even sightseeing would be a bit rushed, let alone training."