Chapter 149 Seeds of Doubt

Thinking that Hera had succumbed to his threat, he smirked triumphantly as he attempted to rise. But Hera's next words stopped him in his tracks. "Earlier, as I approached the finish line, he attempted to attack my horse with a whip rigged with needles," she explained with a hint of sadness, her shoulders slumping. It became evident that her earlier bravado had been a facade, now shattered by the reality of his threat, which had instilled genuine fear in her.

The onlookers couldn't miss the evident fear etched on Hera's face as she recounted the ordeal she had witnessed and her desperate efforts to navigate it without risking being thrown from her horse, a terrifying prospect possibly repeating the incident a year prior when the two-year champion inexplicably tumbled from their horse mid-race. However, beneath Hera's apparent distress lay a subtle strategy: she was subtly reminding the crowd of the previous accident, quietly sowing seeds of doubt regarding its true nature.