“Serveyia, I’ve finished the speech…”
After finishing, Liuli arrived at Serveyia’s side and spoke somewhat helplessly.
“Little Fox, why do you look so exhausted? Everyone was listening very intently, weren’t they?”
“It’s because they were listening intently that I feel this way. Everyone was clearly listening so seriously, but my speech didn’t have any substance. Won’t everyone be disappointed?”
“There’s no need to be nervous. Everyone actually understands the routine for ball speeches. Almost every Academy Festival ball speech is about the same. Unless they are freshmen attending for the first time, no one really expects to hear anything substantial.”
“Serveyia, has anyone ever told you that you’re actually not very good at comforting people?”
Although Liuli said that, Serveyia’s comfort was actually quite good.
After all, it counted as a unique form of comfort, didn’t it?
“Because before, there was almost no one who needed my comfort, Little Fox.”
‘How should I put it?’
Every time she spent a long time with Serveyia, Liuli would forget that the girl was actually the Princess of a kingdom.
As a royal Princess, there was indeed no necessity for Serveyia to comfort others.
Looking at it this way, it was actually very difficult for Serveyia to say words of comfort like that.
“Uh, Serveyia, why do I feel like what you just said is so real? It’s so real that it’s a bit pitiful…”
Liuli felt like her empathy was exploding in a strange place.
Although she knew Serveyia probably wouldn’t change anything because of this trace of pity, since they had already become a couple, wouldn’t a conversation like this bring them closer together to some extent?
“Is that so? I don’t think it’s very pitiful. After all, not having to spend energy comforting others — no matter how you think about it — that is a good thing, isn’t it?”
“But doesn’t that mean there’s no soft spot in your heart, Serveyia?”
People often said that the heart possesses a tiger, yet it sniffs the rose.
Although Liuli didn’t know if having a soft spot deep in her heart was a good thing, she always felt that as an independent person, preserving a soft spot wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“I have one now, and that is enough, isn’t it? Little Fox, we should head to the center of the ball.”
Serveyia smiled tenderly.
She held Liuli’s hand and led her from the backstage to the front.
Only then did Liuli realize many people had already started dancing.
Although an all-female ball felt a bit strange to Liuli, everyone else seemed to have long since grown used to it.
“Serveyia, Princess, over here, over here!”
Aili, who was not far away, waved and called out to them.
Liuli then noticed the other girl was also wearing a gorgeous, exquisite, and sophisticated formal dress.
She was holding a wine glass in her hand, and the liquid inside seemed to be red wine.
After all, Aili’s face was a bit flushed.
Just how much had she drunk?
“Honestly, Princess, you took this speech way too seriously. Everyone’s gaze was mostly one of understanding — or rather, their eyes were on you, Princess. If the one giving the speech today wasn’t you, I’m afraid not many people would have listened seriously.”
Liuli felt like something incredible had come out of Aili’s mouth.
Speaking of which, as the Student Council President, was it really okay for Aili to say such disrespectful words?
And looking at her face, ‘Is she drunk?’
“Aili, how much did you drink?”
Serveyia’s expression turned a bit more serious.
She walked to Aili’s side, took the wine glass from her hand, frowned as she smelled it, and then placed the glass back into Aili’s hand.
“Don’t mind her. It’s just juice.”
Juice?
‘Can someone really get drunk on juice?’
Although Liuli had heard that grape juice made through certain methods could have some alcohol content, if she got drunk on that, it probably wasn’t a low tolerance for alcohol, but an alcohol allergy, right?
“Hehe, this is what they call ‘liquor doesn’t intoxicate, but the person intoxicates themselves.’ I usually don’t have the chance to say many things. I have to take this opportunity to have a good vent.”
Liuli didn’t know if this counted as liquid courage, because Aili hadn’t even drunk any alcohol.
This should be considered taking the opportunity for a legitimate venting session?
“So, why did you call us over? Do you want to dance with the Little Princess?”
“Haha, of course not. No matter what, I’m still on official duty. Complaining a little is harmless, but if I really went to dance, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep my position as Student Council President.”
After Aili finished saying this, the flush on her face completely vanished.
She waved at the two of them and left.
“So, Aili wasn’t drunk?”
“Of course not. To tell you a bit of knowledge that might be counterintuitive, the alcohol tolerance of the Elf Race is ridiculous. So, don’t dream of being able to beat an Elf in drinking.”
“Then, her blushing just now was fake, too?”
“You have to play the part fully. Looking at her, she seemed to be teasing you for fun, Little Fox. That’s just Aili’s personality.”
“Ugh…”
Liuli was a bit unhappy, but Serveyia had also said that Aili was just playing a small joke.
Not to mention, the joke was actually quite harmless.
Aside from feeling like her concern had been for nothing, Liuli didn’t have any other sense of being offended.
“Don’t worry about Aili anymore. It’s time to dance.”
Serveyia took Liuli’s hand and brought her to the center of the venue.
The people nearby seemed to notice the two of them and moved aside one after another, clearing a space for them.
“Little Fox, grab my hand and follow my rhythm. Dancing is very simple. Don’t worry so much; just move with your heart.”
Although Serveyia said that, it didn’t help Liuli relax much.
‘Move with my heart? How could it be that simple?’
At first, when the speed was slow, Liuli could barely keep up.
As Serveyia’s movements became faster and faster, Liuli’s posture began to become full of flaws.
Being half a beat slow or jumping the beat happened constantly.
To avoid stepping on Serveyia, Liuli had to look down from time to time to observe their footsteps.
“Look up, Little Fox. Don’t worry about stepping on my feet.”
Although Serveyia said that, Liuli remained tense.
She wasn’t actually very familiar with this dance and couldn’t be as at ease as Serveyia.
“But if I don’t think carefully about the next step, my mind will go completely blank.”
“So, follow my rhythm and give yourself entirely to me.”
Liuli felt like Serveyia had unknowingly said something very terrifying.
‘Giving myself entirely to her… no matter how I think about it, that feels heavy.’
Although Serveyia could probably bear that weight, whether Liuli could have the resolve was another matter.
But at least, during this ball, she could really try to trust Serveyia.
To be honest, the feeling of giving oneself entirely to another person was truly wonderful, especially in a sport like dancing that required a lot of skill.
To put it nicely, she was like a puppet in Serveyia’s hands, swaying as she pleased with every move her partner made.
To put it not so nicely, Liuli felt that in Serveyia’s hands, she was like the red cloth of a Spanish matador; before she could even react, the dance had finished in a daze.
“Like I said, Little Fox, you just need to give yourself entirely to me. You don’t need to consider such complicated things. Are you willing to believe me now?”
“I — I always feel like something is wrong. Even if someone is incredibly good at dancing, they shouldn’t be able to lead a novice through a dance without any obstacles, right?”
“Ordinary people might not be able to, but Little Fox, don’t forget that this world has magic.”
“No, no, no, I think even magic shouldn’t be able to do something like this, right?”
“Little Fox, you’re still looking down on magic. When you believe in me wholeheartedly, I can temporarily transfer the instinct for the dance to you. That way, you can complete the dance steps under my guidance. See? It’s very simple, isn’t it?”
Whether it was simple or not was hard to say, but Liuli felt it was ridiculous.
The education she had once received at Human Empire University seemed to vanish into nothingness at this moment.
‘No, does this even follow the laws of physics?’
Regardless, the dance was finally over.
Next, even if many people invited her to dance, she wouldn’t agree.
Liuli had already realized how poor her dancing skills were.
She couldn’t count on every classmate she met being a natural dance king who could perfectly lead a novice through a ballroom dance, could she?
Moreover, after working for a whole day, she was a bit hungry.
Although the ball venue only provided some exquisite small desserts, they should be enough for a snack to satisfy her cravings.
“Go on, go on. Be careful not to eat too much. Do you need me to follow?”
How could Serveyia not notice Liuli’s small actions?
When she saw Liuli looking at the desserts for the umpteenth time, Serveyia finally spoke.
“No need! I’m just going to get some desserts. There won’t be any danger.”
Liuli was very confident, but the problem was that most of the time, this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by confidence alone.
Just as Liuli had put a piece of cake into her mouth, a figure appeared in front of her.
“Princess, I wonder if I might have the honor of sharing a dance with you?”
Liuli sized up the person in front of her.
She didn’t notice any special racial characteristics; this person seemed to be a human.
However, the other party’s attitude made Liuli very uncomfortable.
Even though she was a woman, Liuli felt a sense of greasiness from her, like those so-called high-quality human males.
“Um, who are you?”
“Me? I am the Human Empire’s Diplomat stationed at Saint Laia. I am not someone a mere student can be compared to.”
As expected, the tone was just as annoying as Liuli had anticipated.
Setting aside the fact that she couldn’t dance, even if she actually could, facing someone so greasy who wanted a dance partner, any thought of dancing would probably vanish instantly.