Professor Popov had demonstrated the steps for the benefit of the students, having taken Princess Jun as his temporary partner before returning her to Prince Jin. Now it was time for the class to test how well they had been observing and prove what they had learned.

The hand Amber had taken hold of had already begun to lose its colour.
The warning was clear.

The princess had already proven to be correct in her assumption. Desmond's eyes were downcast, concentrating hard on the marble floor they stood upon. Amber couldn't help but scoff. It was only a matter of time until the rest of her expectations came to pass.

There was movement from the gathered orchestra before the cue of music filled the room, slowed down by half to accommodate the learners. Amber could hear the soft sound of giggling from a few pairs as they tried to find their footing. While the rest of her classmates could find something to laugh at, Amber refused to see the funny side of things.

It was all she could do to step back a pace without the risk of injury. There is a breath, and a halt is brought to their dancing.

"You're thinking too much," she could hear herself say, not entirely sure if she meant it as a criticism. And still he couldn't find it in himself to even look at her! She didn't know what was worse: being humiliated in front of her class with this shoddy footwork or not being found to be pretty enough to at least glance at for the duration of a single dance.

She's close to raising her hand once more for the professor's attention but the sound of a mumbled apology has her pause.