novel
| ← Ch.057 | Ch.059 → |
Starting with Carl's lead, she began to move with him. She tried to adjust her waltz to his footwork by counting it in her head, but she was worried, 'What should I do if I step on his foot?' That idea made her legs dull and led her to step on Carl's feet.
Looking down, she couldn't see his face, but she thought he was angry. Hain said that getting stepped on the feet feels like she's getting hit by a hammer.
Later, her feet twisted as she struggled not to step on his feet. The more she was careful, the more she stamped his foot. Eventually, she couldn't bear to be sorry, and Sienna shouted,
"I can't. I'm sorry! Not much of a ballroom dancer! I'm afraid I'm beyond redemption. I'd better be the flower on the wall, as Kitrol says."
"I'm sure you're not good at dancing."
Carl looked down at the back of his foot. He didn't groan when he was trampled on his foot, but that didn't mean he wasn't feeling hurt.
"I'm sorry. It hurts a lot."
She flopped down on the bed. She felt as if she would be humiliated tomorrow as Empress Arya had hoped. Well, she was sure as she had already built up a bad image for her.
She married without the permission of her husband and took off her wedding dress on the first day. Moreover, it was clear that Arya would have been rumored everywhere, even to have been born and raised in the northern outskirts of society. Even if another rumor was to be added, one flaw to her poor dancing skills, what would be the matter in contrast?
"Here!"
Carl reached out to her, who was upset.
"If it's with this King, it'd be better for you to take your shoes off now."
"Would you be alright?"
"Dancing varies greatly depending on how good a man is at the lead. Your skills are so messed up that you can't overlook them, but my skills are so great that they outweigh your shortcomings."
He was showing off his pride in a dignified manner, but she couldn't introduce what he said. She was sure Carl was good at dancing.
Sienna took his hand and stood up again.
"I think I should take off the goods first. My shoes are so tight that no matter how good you are, you won't be able to leave your feet running from mine."
As Carl said, his dancing skills were of a high standard again this time. The problem was Sienna. She was too much of a build for her opponent's excellent expertise. It's not that she doesn't have the beat memorized, but her feet would always move strangely and was hard for her.
"Kwahaha!"
Carl burst out laughing as he danced with Sienna at the waist. He buried his face in her shoulder and smiled.
"What is it?! Acting as if a person that's suddenly gone mad."
"Hahaha, continuously living as I have until now, I've never seen anyone with body moves just like you."
At his reaction, Sienna stuck out her lips, pouting and complaining. Carl pretended not to see her expression.
"Even if I was to hold monsters and dance, they'll move more smoothly and enviously than you. I don't think your body is made of stone. I don't know how you can't find the beat properly and move the hands and feet separately."
Sienna was still unable to refute what he said.
"I thought you had a good head, but when we danced together, I realized that you're only smart. At least, I'm sure there's no need for smarts in dancing at all"
"Even if I can't dance, don't you think you're being too harsh. About monsters and being a stone. And even making of my hair for that too. What's the big deal about dancing? Don't you look down on people just because they're not good at it?"
"It's a big deal. It's weird that you can't do this much if it's nothing."
Unable to find a rebuttal to Carl's words, Sienna gasped and stared at him.
"No thanks. I won't."
"You're not good at dancing and you're not very tenacious."
"Even if you say anything, I'm not doing it anymore."
"Don't be like that, come here. Because I don't want to see my wife be humiliated by Empress Arya."
"I don't think I can do that. I've memorized all the steps but my body just doesn't follow me. If I step on the other person's foot while dancing, my head goes white and I can't remember anything. It would be better for everyone if I give up rather than to injure a stern person's foot tomorrow."
Carl strode to Sienna, who stepped back and pulled her back. Sienna looked into his eyes and was surprised by his sudden action.
"Step on my foot and look up."
"Sir Carl's foot?"
"The most important thing in social dance is to act like you're one with the other. Just like the toes touch each other and don't fall off."
Carl's suggestion didn't put her on her feet.
"If you can't keep up with me, it'll be a way for me to carry you."
Sienna remembered Kitrol's words. His dance was like a warrior who goes to battle the king alone.
"It's not that one person can dance well. It's important to lean on the other person instead of trying to do it alone. The more we depend on each other, the movement comes out better."
His words gave her a throbbing heart. He was just asking her to dance together.
Has she been feeling lonely?
The thought of fighting alone must have been too hard for her. It was just the beginning, but she was already exhausted.
But now it was comforting that he seemed to say, "Let's fight together, " and that she could rely on him. His words were like the cold winter when the sun bursts at dawn past the end of a long night.
Sienna climbed onto his foot, as Carl said. Carl's feet moved, so did her feet. The fear of stepping on his foot or how to move the next step was lost. She relied on his steps to move.
Music flowed into her head even though she didn't count the beat with her mouth. In the daytime alone, thousands of piano pieces, which had been heard and felt sick and tired, were fluttering like bright petals.
It was not until he finished singing one song to his feet that his feet stopped moving.
"What do you think? It's not as bad as you thought, is it?"
"It's amazing."
"I've always been good at teaching someone. I taught Bluebell a ballroom dance before. Once the boy finishes his adult life and makes his social debut, he'll make a name for himself with his dancing skills. It's all thanks to my good leadership."
Bluebell. Sienna felt her heart beating cold.
'What did you expect?... '
She came down on his foot.
The sound of the midnight bell seemed to have made her become Cinderella. Dancing in the prince's arms in a fancy dress, she was actually just a girl in rags. When the fairy's magic unraveled, it was nothing but a lump of a cocoon.
In fairy tales, the prince visits later, but it was only a fairy tale. The reality was not as beautiful as fairy tales.
Such a magical story that the prince came to visit and puts on the glass shoe would not happen to her. The reality was to look at the prince, who marries another princess with pumpkins and mice rolling under her feet in rags. The prince was oblivious to the fact that there was a beautiful and good princess named Bluebell.
"That's enough."
"Do you think it's going to be a one-time thing? We should practice a little more."
"It won't do me any good to practice. It's not Carl who's going to dance with me tomorrow, but I really shouldn't be getting on your feet."
Sienna looked down at the floor, looking dead and talking. She didn't notice Carl's face hardened.
"Who are you going to dance with tomorrow?"
"I don't know. Tomorrow, Carl won't be able to participate in the banquet, so I'll dance with someone who offers me a dance. If they don't have a crush on me, wouldn't one of the Phoenix knights come forward and ask me instead?"
What was it like before? She couldn't remember clearly who she danced with, but it certainly wasn't such a pleasant memory.
"I'll dance with you."
"Sir Carl?"
Sienna asked back because she thought she heard it wrong. When he looked up, he seemed to assume that she had heard the right thing to look at him.
| ← Ch. 057 | Ch. 059 → |