Chapter 52

The First Position

Maki

"Histoire? Am I disturbing you?" I ask as I peek through the door to her office.

"Not at all. You may enter." She takes off her glasses, puts away the pen she was using along with a document, and gives me her full attention. "Do not worry. I've already finished the important ones in today's work. We can have a long chat if you'd like."

It's quite impressive, especially when it comes to someone as small as her stature, to do a lot of this office work and be efficient at it. Maybe even quicker than an average person. Nonetheless, I don't plan on taking up too much of her time.

"The length might depend." Closing the door behind me, I take a seat on the chair in front of her desk swarming with stacks of paper. Despite the amount of stuff on her desk, it's tidy. Same goes for everything else around her office. With a bookshelf filled with binders and folders, a smaller desk filled with antiques and fake flowers, and a purple rug at the center of the room. Does she keep this place clean herself or does an employee do it for her? I'll be surprised if she's the one maintaining it, but no—apparently one of her trusted secretaries does it for her.

To make sure I don't take too long, I cut to the chase. "I know I've been asking a lot from you for a while now . . ."

"Oh no, you've done plenty yourself. You're aid has been making repairs go smoothly, and I can't thank you enough for it."

"It doesn't change that it's my fault for letting the city get in a horrible state in the first place." If I found Sylvie and the others sooner, things wouldn't have to escalate as it should. Speaking of which, I never asked them the reason why they did such a big move in the first place. Of course, even though they told me they needed the shares, I got this gut feeling that there's more to it than that. But it doesn't matter anymore.

"About what I'm asking," I say, "Gamindustri has a lot of technology stuff, right? Is there a place where people practice dancing? Of course, I'm okay with an open field like a park, but I'm not sure if the others have the same opinion as me."

"Why, yes. There's a dance studio nearby. I could rent the place for you." Histoire grabs the pen she was using earlier and pulls out a form of some sort. "Do you plan on practicing before the ball?"

"You could say that. I'm teaching someone."

"And who might your student be?"

Before I can tell her, a thud erupts from the door.

"Sh-shh! Stop it!"

"What'cha doing there?" Neptune's voice is too distinct there's no way anyone can mistake her for anyone else.

"Uni? What are you doing?" Not only her, but even her younger sister is there as well.

"I wanna hear! I wanna hear!" Another loud one. No doubt it's Ram.

"Stop it, you three. I can't breathe!"

Histoire and I look at each other and exchange chuckles.

"I'll have the place ready for you in three days." She puts the pen and paper down. "Anything else you'd like to ask?"

I nod. "About where I'm gonna live . . ."

Another loud thud.

I lean in and whisper on her small ear. ". . . Should I tell them to come in?"

"Do you want them to?" she whispers back.

"Hm, I don't feel like it. I guess we'll let them be?"

"If that's what you want." She clears her throat. "You haven't visited Lowee or Leanbox yet. Do you plan on carrying out your decision even without checking the other two nations?"

"Indeed." Truth be told, I'm afraid what'll happen to me if I go anywhere near Blanc. After what happened to the Three Prodigies, I doubt she'd have any soft spots for me. "I thought I could do it, but a city isn't for me after all. I like being in the trees and having the freedom to hunt down monsters and prey."

"You could opt to live in the countryside. There aren't many people around, and the neighbors will treat you kindly. I guarantee it."

"Tempting offer, but I'll have to decline. I . . . want to be somewhere where I can be alone."

"Is the news still weighing on your mind?" When I answer her with a shrug, she takes a sip of her coffee and sighs. ". . . Very well. I won't pry any further."

I'm grateful for her consideration, really. Yesterday, I got a call from her about Sylvie. Kyle told her, apparently. And honestly, I didn't know what to think at the time. Relaxing on top of Noire's Basilicom while being told that my childhood friend suddenly up and left made my Darjeeling tea taste bad. How in blazes am I supposed to continue on like nothing happened?

If I'm still in my prime, I'll be raiding everyone with questions about the reasons why they didn't do a single damn thing about her, or the reasons why they didn't call me sooner. But I'm not in my prime. It's a waste of energy. It's a waste of effort. And it's so damn tiring.

All I want is for my dear friends to enjoy a ball, and it's their first one at that. Is that so much to ask?

Ever since hearing the news about Sylvie, strangely enough, I don't experience any stomach pain or vertigo anymore. Or perhaps my mind is so preoccupied that the feeling never reaches me.

She's gone.

It's hard to accept, but when Histoire told me about Sylvie with a grim expression, I have no choice but to accept it. Sylvie's gone. Not in Gamindustri, not in Lluna, not in her shop, not with Nana, not with Kyle—not with anyone else. As if her existence was a lie.

Even though I knew it, I didn't cry. Maybe it's because I already knew it was going to happen that it didn't affect me so much, or maybe it's because my mind was prepared for the day. But there was still a lingering regret in the air.

Another promise broken . . . and another repercussion I have to face, but I don't care.

The repercussion tends to be immediate and noticeable when that happens. At first, I thought it was just something small. Oh how wrong I was.

My Mad Jester's Dagger won't do what I command it to do. It can't cover itself with electricity anymore, and it can't multiply at my will. At this point, it's nothing different from any ordinary dagger you can find. Despite the results, however, it doesn't bother me at all. I never plan on using them any more than I already have, so maybe it's a good sign?

I get up from my seat (while purposely dragging the chair to make a loud sound for the people outside to hear) and make my way to the door. No one. For a troublesome bunch, they sure move fast. I can take a wild guess where they went.

Before I step out of the room, Histoire stops me. "I know it's not my place to say this . . . but try to cheer up, alright? Neptune and the others may act selfish and fool around at times, but they're not terrible people."

I smile at her. "I might be growing rusty. My emotion's been quite easy to read recently." It's already bad enough for them to worry about someone like me.

I close the door behind me, but in truth I want to slam it with everything strength I have. That'll be rude of me, though. Histoire isn't the source of this frustration, and the last thing I want to happen is to vent on her. She's already helping me with a lot of things already. I don't want to take her kindness for granted as an excuse to misplace my urge to satisfy the frustrating feeling swelling inside me.

When I return to the living room, the eavesdroppers minus Neptune in question are at the dining table chatting away. They haven't noticed me yet.

I sneak behind a certain sharp-tongued girl. "Good news, Uni."

"Kyaa!"

Wh-what is this feeling? She's in discomfort and yet I want to tease her some more. Dangerous. This might be a dangerous feeling, but it's addicting.

"Whoa. Didn't mean to scare you there." It's been a while now since I last startled someone like this. I know she was eavesdropping earlier, but you'd think she'd be prepared for my arrival. Could my stealth be working on them now that they've become more acquainted with me? Or maybe it's because she's just on edge right now? "I got Histoire to rent us a place."

"I—Is that so?" She forces out a cough. "See? I told you there was no problem."

Ignoring her, I turn to Nepgear, who was staring at me as though she wanted to peer through my soul, and ask her if any of them had any experience dancing.

"I know a bit but not a whole lot," she says while rubbing her head.

"What about the others?"

As if she knew it was coming, Uni continue to sip her tea in silence. When her eyes meet with Nepgear, she crumples her forehead and sighs in defeat, "Alright, fine. I'm not . . . good at it." The last bit of her words trail off, but thanks to the training I had, I can hear even the tiniest whisper.

Nepgear then explains that at last year's ball only their older sisters danced while they, the candidates, sat out. Since they weren't full-fledged CPUs, they got away with it. Still, it caused a lot of disappointment from the people who saw them sitting on the sidelines while everyone else was dancing. And it was also one of the reasons their ball wasn't as much of a success as they had hoped.

"And that's why you came up to me to teach you?" I ask. Not that I mind, of course. "But why me, though? There are plenty of teachers around, right? Why not hire them?" They pretty much got everything in Gamindustri. Surely dancing is part of it as well.

Maybe I'm missing out on something here, but still, even if you look at it in a different way, having a professional do it is tenfold better than someone like me.

"It's not that we don't want to," Nepgear says. "Why don't you look at it this way? We prefer someone we know instead of someone we don't know."

In other words, they don't trust strangers. Is that what she's trying to say? Well, it doesn't matter. If they're worried if they'll face trouble when it's a stranger teaching them, I guess I can accept that reason. Not that I can refuse their requests, anyway. I'm in too much debt to them now that I might as well become an all-purpose butler. Can't guarantee my worth in a high-tech tower, though.

"You're fine with it, right?" Uni says. "Plus there aren't a lot of high-ranking quest these days. And you've spent a lot of your money the other day when we bought those dresses and suits—"

"Uni!" Nepgear's face grows pale. "She's just saying since you don't have any job right now, and since you're knowledgeable with dancing, we thought it's a good idea to hire you instead. It's a win-win, don't you think?"

I'm grateful for cutting Uni off. Another word and I might have broken down on the spot. Not something I'd want to do in front of other people. Doesn't matter who. Just not in public. I prefer to do those things once I'm alone.

Before I get a chance to respond, Uni says, "In any case, you'll be teaching us how to dance. That's that. Just you wait—I'll become a better dancer than you in no time."

I laugh. Not because I'm mocking her or that I find her words funny. It's the opposite. Her bravado and confidence is exactly what I want from her. I like it.

"If you become too far ahead from your partner, you'll humiliate them instead." It's kind of like that awkward situation where the male is shorter than the female. It doesn't happen so often, but seeing the man craning their neck while the female look down on them is a unique sight to behold. I'm slightly taller than Vert, so I don't think I'll ever get into that kind of situation. "If you want to surpass me, you'll have to be skilled enough to dumb down your movements for an inexperienced partner."

"Hahaha! He called you dumb!" Ram points at Uni, who pouts, while her other hand is clutching onto her stomach.

"Dumb~ Dumb~" Rom seems to be enjoying this as much as her sister is.

~0~0~0~

Minerva

"Did I do it right?"

"Mhm, mhm, that was good . . ."

"I see. Following along with your sister's banter seems to be easy enough." I'm trying to see if I can do something Rom usually would. In this case, it would be following along Ram's random insults. Although it's fun to do, these kinds of things fit my younger sister more than I do.

"You're good at dancing . . ."

What made her bring this up? Ah, right. She can see my memories as well—I forgot about that. There's a television in my imaginary room that can play memories from either of us at random. Rom is usually the one roaming around the room, so I'm guessing she either found a way to view specific parts of my memories or it showed up at a convenient timing.

I ask her for details about the dance she watched. Although, as far as I remember, there was only one instance where Maki was attending an event in the Soleil Kingdom—The Sun's Ode. It's an event that celebrates an ancient legend about a wandering bard who met the princess of the sun.

During the event, the firstborn prince had to stand on top of the statue of the bard; if the firstborn was a princess (in which case, it was me), she had to stand on top of the statue of the princess. The firstborn needed to throw a bouquet of songflowers, and whoever respective opposite gender catches the bouquet, they had the privilege to dance with the royal heirs. And of course, Maki caught it, so I was able to dance with him.

"You two looked like you were having fun . . ."

"More like we were having a competition. If there's one thing that man has pride about, it's dancing." And a surprisingly skilled one at that. Though, I never knew he was the Sword Dancer during the event, so when we went at it, we were the center of attention.

". . . Ah, you stepped on his foot."

Alright, I admit. I lost that one by a longshot. His movements got too difficult to catch up at some point, and I wasn't some child to deny my loss. Some dumb downing that was.

Speaking of which, it shouldn't be a problem if I tell him I know how to dance even if I'm using Rom's body. It's not so different, except maybe for the height difference, but I don't plan on dancing that involves holding the other partner that much. Plus, I want to crush his confident stride. If I play it right, he'll be surprised to the point that he'll have to take me seriously, and that's when I'll strike. Let's see how he'll like it when a child makes a fool out of him.

"I don't mind . . . I want to see how you dance."

Oh dear, now she's fanning my flames even more. I don't want to embarrass myself, but I can't calm down now that I've got this feeling. Alright, I should try and ask him.

~0~0~0~

Maki

In the middle of telling Uni what the dos and don'ts of ballroom dancing, someone tugs on my sleeve. There isn't much force at first, and when I look at the person doing it—or the child rather—her face is covered with frustration.

This is the first time I ever see Rom with a pouty face. Kind of reminds me of—

I shake my head.

"What is it, my little princess?"

~0~0~0~

Minerva

D-did he find out?! Did he find out it's me?!

"What's the matter?" he asks.

Oh dear, oh my, oh dear—oh my. My mind is drawing a blank. Since when has he noticed? Is my cover blown?

"He's just joking," Rom says.

I-is he, now?

He lightly shakes my shoulders. "Hey, are you alright? I didn't mean anything about. Was that going a bit too far?" Uneasiness is written all over his face. At the sight, I'm reminded of the time I was dozing off in the Queen's Garden and had a chat with him. But that was it. Nothing else. I don't remember what we talked about, or anything else that happened after.

"I'm . . . I'm alright . . ." Despite being shaken up, I'm surprised my voice didn't reflect how I'm feeling at the moment.

I do wonder, though—does he remember our first meeting in the Queen's Garden? It's rather vivid to me now, but perhaps he still has some memories of it. With our eyes locked at each other at that place—under the rays of the sun. What did he say back then? Had I ever take notice of his presence? What did we talk about? All sorts of questions swim in my head. Questions that will never be answered. At least for now, I'm hoping.

Once . . . Maybe once I finally tell him my identity, we can chat about those things at length. I haven't heard from my parents for a long time now, but I'm glad my little sister's still fine, and here in Gamindustri even.

I want to walk around the garden once more, with my sister and maybe our parents if they're not busy, and play around like we usually do. It's quite stressful to deal with the kingdom's affair all day and all cycles.

I've decided.

After I separate from Rom, I'll convince Maki to help me and my sister back home. I'm sure Priscilla is also feeling homesick like I am.

But how long will it take before that day will come?

~0~0~0~

Maki

"I'm . . . I'm fine." With unsteady feet, Rom increase the distance between us, ever so slightly. It might have been too much for me to joke around as I am now. Her smile is soft. It reminds me of the flowers I saw in the Queen's Garden long ago. Those flowers . . . what were they called again? Those flowers capture a melody they like and recreate them at occasions. Their petals were also varied because they tend to look like notes.

I shake my head. Now's not the time to reminisce. "Alright, is there anyone here who can dance to a decent extent?"

All of them look at each other, puzzled. Not going to lie, I didn't expect for them to have much experience, if not zero. There's only two weeks left before the ball. If someone asks me if there's enough time before the main event, I'd flat-out tell them no. Because it's practically impossible to master everything by two weeks.

"U-um . . ." Rom raises her hand. Well, it's not so much raising it because her hand is at her eye level. "I know a bit of ballroom."

I hit a fist on my palm. This has to be one of those situations where looks deceive the eye. "That should make this simpler." I'll need to find her level of knowledge and separate her from the others at some point. Not immediately, but soon. "Nepgear, can you tell me how everyone danced last year?"

She nods before leaving to grab a disc that was sitting on top of the table. Turning on the television, she inserts the disc in some kind of device and a video plays on the screen. A loud, orchestral music fills the room. Inside the screen, there are pairs of dancers as far as the eyes can see (or what the screen can capture).

As I observe in silence, the girls point out the location of their sisters occasionally showing on-screen and make a fuss about it. The soundtrack used was alright, and the dancehall looked eye-catching, filled with glittering gold and silvers along with each respective nation's banners standing proud.

Although, the dancers themselves were . . . sloppy. That's not all, of course. It's just there are tons of wrong with the dancers that even words fail me.

First of all, barely any of them are in-sync with the others. If I had to describe it, it's like I'm watching trees blown off by a storm. And trees are never in-sync whenever they sway around. Then their outfits. The suits and dresses fit the atmosphere, yes, but not the occasion. It's like a formal meeting that turned into a wild party all of a sudden.

How in the mother of Yggdrasil did they call this event a success?! The way I see it, the whole thing screams fail. Even commoners from my world can synchronize well.

"What do you think?" Nepgear asks once the video finishes playing.

I'm at a loss for words. I don't want to give them false flattery, and I certainly don't want to yell every little detail and appear a nagger.

". . . Can I be blunt? That was an absolute disaster."

"Ugh, yeah . . ." Uni sighs in defeat. "It was kinda hard to watch even back then."

"That is if you're asking for the king's standards, anyway. By normal standards, as well as how it's the first event ever, I'd say it went good enough for people to enjoy themselves. After all, that's the whole point of the event."

"'The king?' Who's that supposed to be?"

"Certainly not me. I could have all the misfortune in the world and I'll still be nothing more than a commoner, less a bird who lost all its feathers."

The king I'm talking about is the King of Soleil. He's an interesting one, that's for sure, but what really makes him strange from all the other nobles is how strict he is when it comes to events such as this. In fact, he discussed events with his wife and children with passion, as well to his royal retainers. He was the one who abolished that nobles are the only ones who could attend banquets and et cetera.

"You've attended balls before, haven't you, Maki?" Nepgear asks.

Not as much as the king, but I have attended some and they're not limited only to balls. I've went to banquets, New Moon Festivals, The Dance of the Stars, The Sun's Ode, and many alike. They all involve dancing at some point. It's a Llunarian tradition, if you ask me.

"We want to make it into a success. Unfortunately, our nations are more focused on games, so we're not that good at these things."

I'll say. Whenever I wander around the city, one thing always standing out is the vast amount of game advertisements. One morning while I was out buying some more eggs at a supermarket (which was overwhelming), I happened to bump into Vert and we had a talk about stuff and, at some point, about games. She invited me to a café (which I had no choice to decline in the first place; she made sure I couldn't have that option), and there I saw posters and banners of games and consoles. And let me tell you—it's all over the place.

I guess with games being their primary focus, it's hard to get professional help for even as large-scaled as the Grand Ball.

"Sylvie kept calling him a Sword Dancer before," Uni says, grinning, "but I've never seen him hold a sword at all. It'd be funny if he needs a sword first before he could dance."

The next words I say comes out forceful. "If I need to have a sword before I can dance, then I'd already fail as the Sword Dancer." A bit of my suppressed emotions got out before I could do anything to stop it. I shouldn't vent on her, but if she insults my Title even more, I won't be able to control myself. I don't even know why I'm getting worked up from this. It's not like my Title is my treasure or anything. But for some reason it bothers me.

That's why I'm thankful when she steers the conversation elsewhere. "So, basically, you can dance like a normal person would?"

When it comes to dancing, I don't necessarily need a sword to do it. It's more so because of my swordplay. Think of it this way—imagine someone wielding a sword like any swordsman, but instead of slashing around like normal, that person transitions his attacks using his whole body as though he was actually dancing. It's difficult to explain the whole thing in detail but you get the idea.

"I can dance as much as the next person. Do you really think I'll slip on some juice spilled on the floor?"

". . . Ugh . . ."

"Oh wait, that already happened twice . . ." I cough. I should steer the discussion to something else before things go downhill. "A-ny-way! I'm pretty much the best teacher you can find!" This is me digging my own grave here, but who cares anymore? I'll not stand around while they insult my Title.

Once again, I feel another tug on my sleeve. Once again, it's the same little girl from before. Once again, she's making the same pouty face with a stare that tells me that if I don't take notice of her now, she's going to hit me with a cute glare. Wait, that's not deadly.

"Oh right, you did mention you knew ballroom, didn't you?" It wouldn't hurt to see how skilled she is. If anything, it'll let me know what to teach her instead of giving her another rundown of the basics.

Waving her hand to signal me to get closer, she whispers something to my ear. I don't know what's more surprising—the dance she told me or that she can dance ballroom at her age. Don't get me wrong, if a baby knows how to dance, I'll praise them more than their dads would; but telling me they know a very specific dance (one that's not even appropriate for a ball; instead, it's more appropriate for a theatrical play or those so-called music videos).

It's a dance from a GamTube video with a not real person dancing and singing with a robotic-sounding voice. I'll admit, though, some of their songs (and dances, if it had any) interested me.

"You've been practicing?" Nepgear asks. She continues after receiving a nod from Rom. "That sounds wonderful! Why don't you show us?"

"Good idea," I say. "To be honest, it would've been awkward if we did a normal ballroom dance." There's no way Rom will be able to reach my shoulders. Maybe something like a Cha-Cha would be fine, but I'm not that big of a fan of it.

"Pedo," Uni blurts.

"Huh?" Where did that accusation come from?

Ram laughs. "Pedo! Pedo! Pedo!~"

"Pedo," Nepgear joins.

Not you too! I'm being ganged up here.

"It's not like that!" Don't label me with something disgusting. "This is just dancing, not courting! I'm not touching her anywhere else but her hands, you hear?"

"Calm down," Nepgear says, giggling. "We're just messing with you. We're already grateful that you'll teach us. We can't be serious all the time."

"You have a point, but . . ." Oh, whatever. She's right. I might have been too on-edge for a while now. For me to teach them properly, I need to maintain composure that's free of worries. Alright, since it's come to this, I'll have to give them a proper demonstration.

I stand in the center of the room and get in position.

"Rom, are you ready?"

~0~0~0~

Minerva

Ready as I'll ever be. I don't tell him that, though. Instead, I tell him, "I'm ready." Ready to throw his composure off, that is. This is necessary evil, I tell you.

Taking out my N-Gear, I find the minus one on my player's playlist and play it. I press the pause button as the soundtrack hits two seconds.

"This one doesn't have lyrics," I say. Now, how will he react?

"You want to dance without lyrics?" Yes, his confusion is written all over his face! That's one success down. It may not seem much, but even the slightest confusion can force him to stop being lenient. "I mean . . . I'm okay with it, but we don't have to make the dance like a normal ballroom."

"Sing it, then." I was about to say that but Uni beats me to it.

"Say what?"

There it is~

"He looks funny . . .," Rom says. If there's anything that man hates, it's removing the singers from songs. He looks at Uni with a face that looked like it's the end of the world. I've only seen him like this twice back at the castle.

"I know the lyrics," I say. All I'm doing is trying to see if I can make him even more confused, but knowing him he would've already memorized the lyrics, especially if it's one he took a liking to.

His shoulders slumped, he resigns a sigh and says, "Alright, let's do it. I've got the lyrics memorized, but don't expect too much of my singing." He fixes his position again, where his back is turned on us. For my position, I have to kneel down facing the opposite direction of him. Now that I'm here with everyone else watching, my heart starts pounding.

I'll admit, even though I've practiced this dance in Rom's room for a few weeks now, it's a completely different feeling when there's an audience. "Good luck . . ." Rom cheers me on as the music plays and I go for the "Aaaahhh~"

With my left hand raised, my mind gets swallowed in a pool of serenity. I take Maki's hand and stand up before singing a higher pitch of the same "aahh" from earlier.

Just before the lyrics begin, all the tension in my body flows out. Everyone else is watching us in awe.

Rom's voice is so soft; it tickles my throat as I sing. "After being shown a dream, where we danced all night it seems . . ." The world around me is going further and further away. I'm entering a space where it's just me and Maki. A small round of applause erupts as I finish singing, "I lean down three at a time as I make my escape~"

Quick, confident movements. Maki doesn't show a single flaw in his steps. "You tremble from the cold~" Even with my back turned on him, and despite not having the best singing voice, each lyrics he utters send a shock down my spine.

This is it. This is what I missed on the day of the banquet. He may not know this, but he finally fulfilled the promised I longed to seek.

Whatever scheme I was thinking before, I can't get myself to do it anymore.

My body grows hot, goose bumps forming on my arms, and each breath I take wears me out even more. But I don't care much about it than preparing for the chorus.

Our voices in sync, I forget that we're not alone and that Nepgear and the others are watching us as we sing. "The wings of an angel won't guide you to the truth, or tell you which path you should take~"

Maki's eye meets mine, a fiery aura emitting from it, before we get into the next position. Once again, my back is on him, but as he sings the words, "The glass slipper . . ." I turn my head slowly and step my way towards him, twirling once before reaching out to him.

"And fades into the air~" He twirls around, extending his hands towards me, cuing that it's my turn to get in the spotlight.

The next lyrics and the next moves all come to me, as though I've done it a hundred times already. I want this feeling to last. Even though executing these steps, these moves, only takes a few moments; right here, it's almost like an eternity.

His movements match mine, and my movements match his. We're so in-sync that even I can't believe that this is only our second dance with each other.

Almost as if responding, Maki takes my hand above this while kneeling with one leg. My face grows hotter. All of a sudden, we're moving our feet through the Queen's Garden. The sunflowers sway to the rhythm of our steps. Flutters of butterflies surround us, wrapping us inside an enclosed space. At this moment, I never want to leave. It's all too perfect.

But it all ended because of a misstep. I got too drawn to the dance that I fell into the beanbag without me noticing. What used to be butterflies are now the walls of the Basilicom. It happened so fast that I didn't even realize I was lying forward on the beanbag.

"Are you alright?" Maki asks.

He reaches out a hand but I slap it away. "I'm fine." But I'm not. That was the worst, and it's not because I failed at making him look bad.

This frustrating feeling isn't at all foreign to me. It's like I've been storing it all up until now. No, it's more like because something like this happened before and my body remembered it. I hate it. I hate how I'm in someone else's body. I hate how I have to steal someone else's life. And I hate how I can't tell him the truth of my identity.

I shouldn't tell him. But why shouldn't I tell him? There's no reason to keep him in the dark. I've already told Sylvie and her friends about me—why can't I do the same with him? Why do I feel so afraid of telling him? Every time I try to tell him, my mind goes blank, it becomes harder to breathe, and no matter what I do I can't stop my hands from shaking.

"Minerva . . .!"

I think Rom's calling me. Is she calling me or is it just my imagination? It's hard to tell after what happened.

"The room was breaking earlier . . ."

"Room? What room?" Does she mean the room in our imaginary world? It was breaking? That's strange. Why would it start breaking now? "Is it still breaking? When did it happen?"

"It's not breaking anymore." That's good. If the room disappeared, who knows when I'll be able to talk to Rom again? As I sigh in relief, the next words Rom say makes me catch my breath. "It was breaking when you two danced . . ."

"When we . . .?" Does that mean . . . I can separate from Rom? Will I be able to give her body back that way? But if I have to dance with him, I'm gonna have to ask him to dance with me again.

We might be getting excited for no reason, but it's better than what we had before. Maybe it has something to do with Maki's eye. No one knows what it actually does, but from I heard from Uni, it can remove those marks. I think they were called 'Celine's Mark'.

I'll need to confirm it with him first before anything else. If he's our way of separating me from Rom, then it's a chance I'll take.

But the next question is: How will I convince him to dance with me again? After my blunder, I doubt he'll let me have another go without giving me all of his fundamentals again. It's a bore to listen to the things I already know, because I'm sure the things he's going to teach will be the same as he taught me.

Because back in the castle, he was also my sister and my dance instructor. And I know for a fact that he's not going to let me dance with him until I 'learned' how to dance without slipping up. Thing is, I can't argue back at him. He's right. And I hate myself for being careless.


I'm putting credits where it's due.

The dance used was Cendrillon by Signal-P. Original Lyrics is by Orange. For the English Lyrics, it was written by TBOE (The Bunny of Evil).