Chapter 94 : The Ball (2)

The person staring at me intently wasn’t just Ayla.

The shadow was also staring at me with a very serious expression, and the empress had a somewhat subtle look on her face.

They all seemed like they had a lot to say, but—

“That can’t be true, can it?”

Seila immediately rebutted Ayla’s question.

“Luna is a maid who can do everything well. I’m sure she can dance too!”

At Seila’s innocent remark, I briefly considered it seriously.

Should I tell the truth here?

Logically, that would be the right thing to do.

No matter what, if I can’t do something, I should admit it.

If it were a situation where I had to risk my life to get it done, I’d be willing to risk my life, but that’s not the case here.

Dancing can be learned from someone else, after all.

But before I could answer, someone else spoke first.

“Well, it’s not like she’s the best, but…”

It was the shadow.

“I’m sure she can dance.”

It was a lie.

The shadow had never seen me dance.

Saying it so smugly, but with the corners of their lips trembling as if trying to suppress a smile, it was clear that they were trying to make fun of me.

“That’s right. For Lady Seila, learning from a maid is probably the most comfortable choice.”

I seriously pondered why the shadow would speak like this about me. There must be some benefit to them, that’s why they were saying it.

Could they be thinking ahead to a time when Seila becomes the ruler of this land?

If I get closer to Seila, the shadow might have more chances to be involved here.

Of course, even if involved, it would probably just be to visit and check if there’s any information to collect.

But if that’s not it…

Could it be revenge?

Of course, after I got slapped by Ayla and couldn’t dance, I did receive a lot of help from the shadow.

If I consider the timing, quite a bit of time passed after that before I met the shadow, but after meeting the shadow, Ayla did start receiving separate invitations to social events, like balls, and every time we went, I would be recommended clothes that would catch Ayla’s attention.

With all the things I had to handle, the shadow also had a lot to take care of while listening to my requests.

But still—

“Considering your sword skills, I suppose you can dance.”

But someone interrupted my thoughts in the middle.

It was the empress.

The empress was openly watching me with a look of amusement, resting her chin on her hand.

“And considering your age, you probably know the latest dance trends.”

When I stared at the empress, she shrugged her shoulders and then turned her gaze back to the cake.

She had a look of eager expectation, as though waiting to see what I would say.

Ayla was looking at me with a very subtle expression.

It wasn’t exactly a “foolish human” kind of look, but more like she had some glinting eyes.

The closest emotion I could think of was “jealousy.”

Ayla had openly claimed me as hers.

Though not to the extent of a lover, if I were her cherished dog, she might be curious about what kind of owner I had before.

No matter what I said, the fact that both of them seemed to agree that I could dance meant they probably thought I had danced with someone else before.

But is that really a problem? If you’re a noble, dancing with another noble is a perfectly normal thing.

Even unmarried men and women, or someone else’s wife or lover, might dance together for social purposes.

Ayla had never danced with anyone else, though.

“…I see.”

Ayla, who had been staring at me quietly, nodded as if it was decided.

“Then, Luna should take charge of Seila’s dance lessons. There’s still some time before the ball, so even if Seila feels a bit awkward, people will tell since it’s her first time attending high society events.”

“I’ll make sure to learn perfectly so it’s not awkward!”

Seila shouted, as if her words were some kind of provocation, puffing out her cheeks.

“Luna! I’m counting on you!”

“…Understood, Lady Seila.”

In this situation, no matter what I said, it would just be a lie to get out of it. It was practically direct pressure, and I couldn’t refuse.

In the end, I deeply bowed my head to Seila.

Still, I showed a bit of mercy to Ayla.

I decided not to teach Seila right away today, but to give it a bit more time and slowly teach her.

First, I would receive lessons from Ayla, and the next day I would immediately pass on what I learned to Seila. In essence, Seila would be learning dance from Ayla, with me just being in the middle.

“Luna, Luna.”

Seila, completely unaware of this, followed me right after finishing her meal.

Ayla, leaving me caught by Seila, distanced herself and sat down on a chair near the lobby window.

Then, pretending not to care, she rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window.

But since her ears were facing this way, she was probably planning to listen in.

“You said Luna is an amazing swordswoman, right?”

“I’m not sure about amazing, but I can handle my own as a swordswoman.”

“Eh.”

Seila smiled as if she had heard an amusing joke.

“I heard from the empress. Luna definitely fought a dragon.”

“…You heard it directly?”

“Yes! I had plenty of time yesterday afternoon.”

Was it true that the empress liked children? Actually, since I had never seen the empress interact with a child, I had no basis to judge.

“How did you fight the dragon, and how did you survive?”

“…….
…Maybe the Empress was just bored.

Well, even if she was feeling bored, I had no intention of entertaining her.

After all, she was the one who insisted on coming here.

Since she put herself in this situation, she should know how to deal with it on her own.

“So, um……………”

Seila twisted her body awkwardly and carefully spoke.

“Would you be able to teach me swordsmanship?”

Hmm.

Now that I think about it, I think there were some books Seila used to read about that.

At the end of one of those stories where a beautiful female swordswoman is harassed by an evil lady, the female swordswoman eventually triumphs. By the way, that was also a modified version of an existing fairy tale.

Come to think of it, the Count sure had refined taste.

Of course, there were some novels featuring male characters, but most of them were “altered versions of existing stories” — and those stories were almost always about women entangling with each other.

Seila grew up without knowing anything,
Having never even properly met a man,
She was raised as nothing more than a sheltered and innocent girl.

And only after Seila had grown up did she finally get a new young stepmother. Along with that came the contents of the books piling up in the library.

On top of that, Seila’s biological mother had died a long time ago. I’d never heard the reason why. Even when I tried to look into it, there was barely any information available aside from her name and life before marriage.

At this point, it’s probably meaningless to try to uncover the truth.

Somehow, it made me wonder —
Was the Count trying to satisfy another twisted desire of his?

…No. Let’s not jump to conclusions.

The Count is already dead.

Imagining such things will only leave a bad taste in my mouth.

“Luna?”

“My apologies, Lady Seila. I just had something to organize in my head for a moment.”

“Ah… In that case, should we talk about it later?”
Seila asked cautiously, looking a bit sorry.

“No, it’s fine. I’ve already sorted it out. Don’t worry about it, Lady Seila. So, you wish to receive swordsmanship lessons?”

“Yes! I don’t aim to become the best swordsman, but honestly… I’ve admired it since I was a child!”

I slightly shifted my gaze and caught sight of Ayla at the edge of my vision.

With her chin resting on her hand, Ayla was covering her mouth.
She was probably smiling.
It wasn’t a mocking smile — more like she just found Seila’s words endearing.

In fact, Ayla had once tried to teach Seila swordsmanship herself —

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

“Lady Seila, actually… I know someone with far greater swordsmanship skills than I possess.”

“Really?”

“Yes. She’s quite beautiful, and her figure is even better than mine.”

Ayla’s eyes widened as she looked at me,
But I maintained a neutral expression while standing respectfully toward Seila.

“If you wish, I could introduce you to her.”

“Ah….”

Seila didn’t seem like she had intended to take things that far.

Ever since we first met, I had been giving her sweet things,
And since I became a maid here, everything had been going well.
Now, even a distinguished guest had come to visit.

Seila probably felt some kind of admiration toward me because of that.
Whether or not I was the “best swordsman in the world” didn’t really matter in this situation.
She just wanted to learn from me.

But I pretended not to notice those feelings and simply stared at Seila.

“I mean… if you’re offering, I wouldn’t mind…”

“Is that so? In that case—”

I gave Seila a light bow and walked toward Ayla.

Seila tilted her head in confusion but followed after me.

With each step I took toward Ayla,
Her face gradually reddened.
She must have already guessed what I was about to say.

“Luna?”

I turned toward Seila.

“Here she is.”

“Huh?”

As Seila blinked in confusion,
I gestured toward Ayla.

“This is Lady Ayla — someone with swordsmanship skills far greater than mine.”

Now completely red to the tips of her ears,
Ayla covered her face with both hands,
Peeking at me through the small gap between her fingers with a glare.

Of course,
This was my little act of revenge for earlier.