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[Episode 20] – Dance, Dance, Dance (1)

Breakfast time at the Star Palace.

A maid who had been working at the Star Palace for almost 10 years looked bewildered as she gazed at the dining hall, a situation she had never experienced in the past decade. It was usually a quiet time, where not even the sound of clinking dishes could be heard, but today was different. The princess was struggling, grunting as she wielded adult-sized forks and knives to cut her food.

Clatter, clatter—

Despite her efforts to use proper table manners, the princess’s weak grip made the utensils collide with the plates, creating a cacophony.

Clatter, clatter—

The Queen Mother watched this scene intently, pausing her knife. The princess, after diligently spearing the salad with her fork, opened her mouth wide to bring it to her lips, but then—

Plop—

“Ah.”

The wobbling salad on the fork eventually tumbled onto the princess’s lap. She stared at the fallen salad on her skirt, her face turning crimson.

Only then did the Queen Mother resume moving her own utensils, letting out a small sigh before delicately cutting her salad and placing some on the princess’s plate.

“…We should prepare lighter tableware for the Star Palace as well.”

“I’ll have it prepared by the end of today.”

The maid assisting with the meal bowed at the Queen Mother’s words and promptly left the dining hall. As soon as the door closed, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard, indicating that the maid was sprinting with all her might.

The princess thanked the Queen Mother for cutting her salad and earnestly resumed poking at the salad with the heavy fork. However, no matter how finely the salad was cut,

the issue ultimately lay with the heavy utensils in the princess’s hands.

Struggling to spear the light salad with the heavy utensils, the princess tried her best, but in the end, more salad ended up on her lap than in her mouth.

As the princess’s lap became overgrown with salad, she seemed on the verge of bursting with embarrassment, shame, and various emotions she had been holding back. Her eyes gradually reddened. Meanwhile, the queen just watched. Outwardly, I couldn’t sigh, so I let out a long one internally. Then, using my fork, I picked up some salad and brought it to the princess’s lips.

Despite her embarrassment, the princess eventually opened her mouth and accepted the salad I offered. Each time I fed her, I stared defiantly at the queen, as if daring her to say something. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, the queen opened her mouth in annoyance.

“Princess, do you not have hands?”

“Why are you saying that to the princess? It’s because the fork is heavy. If anyone is at fault in this situation, it would be someone who, despite having a granddaughter, failed to provide children’s utensils in the palace.”

“Hmph, is this all my fault?”

“I didn’t say it was entirely your fault, Your Highness.”

The queen looked incredulous as she exhaled heavily while watching me feed the princess. The princess, caught between me and the queen, simply continued to eat the salad like a baby bird.

“If you want to eat something other than salad, feel free to say so.”

“Oh, no… I think the salad is enough…”

As the salad on the plate began to show the bottom, the anxious queen finally sighed and gestured for me to move. I chuckled and got up from my chair, and the queen, with a solemn expression, took the seat next to the princess where I had been sitting.

“Princess.”

“Yes, yes… Your Majesty…”

“Ah, open wide.”

“Ah, ah…?”

As the princess opened her mouth wide, the queen speared a piece of salad from the plate and fed it directly into the princess’s mouth like a mother bird. As the princess ate, the queen finally showed a ‘family-like’ expression for the first time.

“How is it? Isn’t it tastier than what the queen offered?”

“Yes? Oh, yes… but I’m full now…”

“Is it really satisfying to eat only vegetables? Try this dish. The head chef doesn’t have many specialties, but this fish dish is amazing.”

“Oh… ”

The princess’s complexion started turning pale, as if recalling yesterday’s food hell. I glanced at the maids and servants, who were looking at the queen with their heads turned, witnessing this unusual sight. Some widened their eyes in surprise, while others wore faint smiles as if finding the scene heartwarming.

As I gazed at the queen and the princess, I too formed a faint smile. How pleasing it is to express even a little bit? I should visit often in the future.

“It’s nice to see you enjoying your meal. Try this one too.”

“Mm…”

The heartwarming meal continued until the princess finally grew weary of eating and had to rest in the guest room once again.

*

While the princess rested in the guest room,

I decided to have a tea time with the queen in the garden for a while.

She had told me not to go to the main palace yet because she had something to discuss, but seeing the maid bringing the princess’s tableware from the main palace, it seemed that the princess needed to eat here until lunch to appease the queen’s temper.

The queen raised her teacup, savoring the aroma of the tea before speaking.

“…As I mentioned yesterday, there are only about three months left until the princess’s seventh birthday. So the palace has been preparing for the princess’s birthday party since last month.”

“Already…?”

“Already? Don’t you know that a royal birthday party takes at least six months to prepare? Even starting last month was quite late.”

Tutting, the queen swirled her tea with a disapproving look. I felt uneasy under her gaze, so I quickly raised my teacup and drank the tea in one gulp.

“I don’t know if the party will really happen, but we should at least make preparations, shouldn’t we?”

…”

The Queen’s words implied that if the King didn’t name the Princess within three months, she would consider canceling the party. It was an unavoidable situation, but…

“The Princess’s dress was ordered by me yesterday. So, when the tailor comes to the palace, they will prepare it properly.”

“Yesterday… you say?”

“Tsk, what are you doing exactly? Posing as the Princess’s ‘teacher’ and yet she hasn’t even prepared her dress for the birthday party. You do know what the most important thing is right now, don’t you?”

“…”

I couldn’t say anything in response to the Queen’s nagging. No, she is like a mother-in-law…? I could only bow my head and listen to her nagging.

“I’m sorry. I will pay more attention from now on.”

“We’ll see if you really do.”

With suspicious eyes, the Queen looked at me, then sighed quietly and began to explain what the Princess would need over the next three months.

“First and foremost, party etiquette. Even if brief, it would be good to have at least one greeting prepared for the nobles. And then, the next important thing is dancing.”

“Dancing…”

“Originally, His Majesty should have been responsible for the Princess’s first dance… but now we can’t rely on that, so let’s postpone teaching the Princess to dance until the end.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As the Queen spoke, I listened attentively, almost as if making mental notes. It felt like I should have known that a royal birthday party preparation period was six months.

It seemed like an incredibly short time to prepare everything perfectly in just three months. There was so much to teach the Princess, most of which I had no knowledge of.

As I nodded along to the conversation, Einsel whispered,

“I can teach the Princess other things, but I cannot teach her physical dances. How about you teach the Princess those?”

I don’t know anything about dancing… The only dance I learned was the group dance with my classmates back in school. Me teaching the princess how to dance? Seems like an impossible task…

– Don’t worry about the dance. You know the saying, “the body remembers.” Vivian was so good at dancing that she was called the flower of high society. So, Vivian’s body will remember it.

Will it really…?

…At this point, doubting the princess was pointless. I needed to focus on the story the queen dowager was telling me about the princess.

That way, I was able to barely finish my tea time with the queen dowager and escape with the princess to the Star Palace before lunch. The queen dowager seemed disappointed, but it couldn’t be helped.

If we had another meal at the Star Palace, I might have burst, especially since the princess was patting her stomach and shivering as we walked back to the main palace.

And on the way back to the main palace, the princess muttered in a small voice that she wouldn’t come to the Star Palace for a while. She even sighed as if she was truly, truly exhausted.

*

Since then, the princess has been engrossed in preparing for the “party.”

She prepared party etiquette and greetings for the nobles with Ainsel, and I prepared the formal attire sent by the queen dowager and the princess’s party dress.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye…

Before we knew it, a whole month had passed.

During that month, both the princess and Ainsel and I were busy.

During the day, we spent our time practicing dancing and attending fairy lessons with the princess, and at night, we were busy looking at the mirror-like Ainsel, practicing dancing, and taking lessons to become an “apprentice witch.”

We spent such dense hours that there was hardly any time for more than three hours of sleep a day. Really, I’ve never been this busy in my entire life.

Despite spending such dense hours…

Tap, tap, tap.

“One, two, three. One, two, three. Match the beat, one, two, three.”

“One, two, three, one, two, three…”

The princess began to take the basic steps in time with the rhythm of my clapping, but she seemed unable to match the beat, appearing somewhat awkward. Instead of stepping to the basic rhythm, she seemed to struggle, whimpering like a limp doll. Eventually, she became entangled in her own legs, whimpering, and collapsed onto the floor. Exhausted from dancing, she sat there, panting heavily. I approached the princess and, wearing a sympathetic expression, patted her shoulder to comfort her.

“Princess…”

“…”

“You really can’t dance, can you..?”