Start the fancy music and let's get this chapter underway.
Chapter 85 – The Ball, Part 1 (Ethereal Moon)
To say that the main hall of Garreg Mach was crowded on the evening of the 25th of the Ethereal Moon would be an understatement. Students from the academy, dressed in fine suits and beautiful dresses, filled the hall as they danced with their partners to the sound of violins. Blushes could be found on many different faces as boys and girls found themselves staring into each other's eyes, though quite a few blushes were the result of something else entirely.
Many such red faces resulted when Dorothea stepped her way into the hall. She was wearing the same revealing set of red sashes she had worn for the White Heron Cup, though at Byleth's insistence she had added a red shawl to it, both for modesty and to keep off the cold. She also wore red shoes rather than going barefoot, but her navel and cleavage were still prominently on display. It was something both Byleth and Edelgard had tried to stop her from wearing, but they could do nothing to dissuade her.
As others clamored to admire or praise her, Dorothea smiled as she looked at the others as they enjoyed themselves at the ball.
…
Lorenz made a loud gasp as one of the second-year girls strode away from him, having first delivered quite the insulting refusal to his offer for a dance. This had been his fifth denied request in a row.
"How can this be?" Lorenz pondered aloud. "I cannot be that undesirable to them, can I?"
"Well, this is unsurprising," said a familiar tomboyish voice.
Lorenz spun around to see Leonie approaching him. The girl had opted not to wear a dress, not wanting to pay the rental fee, and had chosen instead to show up in her academy uniform.
"Leonie," Lorenz said, unamused by her quip. "I do not see you having any more luck at finding a dance partner."
"That's because I'm not looking for one," said Leonie. "All this fancy-schmancy stuff isn't for me."
"Then why, pray tell, did you even come to this gathering?"
"Thought you might end up getting shot down by every girl you approached tonight."
"And why would this concern you?"
"Hey, are you gonna ask me twenty questions or are you gonna dance with me?"
"With… you?"
"Sure. I mean, why the heck not? And don't give me that 'nobles and commoners' crap, okay?"
Lorenz was about to scold Leonie for her foul mouth again, but upon realizing she was probably the best chance he had for a dance, he sighed, raised his hand to her, and said, "Very well, Leonie. Would you accept this dance?"
Leonie smiled at him and took Lorenz by the wrist, before following him onto the dance floor as others looked on.
…
At the entrance to the main hall, Bernadetta was shaking in absolute terror as people passed her by. The purple dress that Hilda had picked out for her made her look like a delicate flower to others, and her normally messy hair had been finely combed and washed.
But there was no sign of her date.
Bernadetta whimpered as she said to herself, "Oh, you should've seen this coming, Bern… Of course Yuri wouldn't show up for you. No one wants to go to a dance with you…"
Though others would've just dismissed her words as her usual panicky pessimism, if they were to look closer, they would've seen the fearful girl's eyes begin to water. They weren't tears of fear, but tears of rejection and loneliness.
"Finally found you," said a voice that made Bernadetta shriek.
The girl whipped around and jumped back to see Yuri standing before her, dressed in a fancy rogue's finery. It wasn't the sort of thing one would see a noble wearing, but more akin to a dashing thief from an old tale.
"Y-Y-Yuri! You actually came?!" Bernadetta said in disbelief.
"Of course I did, Bernadetta," said Yuri. "I mean, Dorothea would probably skin me alive if I didn't."
"What? Hey, don't say such terrible things about her, Yuri! She wouldn't do that to you!"
"You sure? I hear she broke your father's arm."
"W-Well, that… umm…"
Laughing, Yuri said, "I'm just messing with you, Bernadetta. Now, come on, I promised you a good time tonight, and I keep my promises."
Yuri then presented a hand to Bernadetta. After a moment's hesitation, she gingerly took hold of him and allowed Yuri to lead her into the crowd.
Bernadetta did not take her eyes off Yuri as she walked, knowing she would probably have a heart attack if she looked anywhere else at that moment.
…
Constance and Ferdinand felt the eyes of the others upon them as they twirled and stepped across the hall, their arms and hands entwined in their dance. The heiress of Nuvelle was wearing a truly bizarre maroon and pink dress, while Ferdinand was dressed in a fine black suit. The two moved with impeccable grace and dignity as the others watched them and whispered among themselves, thinking the two a perfect pair.
"Ohhoho, my dear Ferdinand, it's been many a year now, and still you have not lost a step," Constance said to Ferdinand as the two danced in the center of the room.
"A noble like myself would never allow my skills in dance to dull," said Ferdinand. "And I am grateful that you too have not lost any of your grace despite–"
Constance stopped where she stood as Ferdinand realized he had made a huge mistake.
"Despite what, Ferdinand?" Constance said sternly.
"N-Nothing…"
Constance decided to drop the subject, not wanting to make a huge scene.
"Oh, Ferdinand, might I have this dance?" said a girl from the crowd.
The two turned to see who it was. The girl, Ludmilla, was a brunette from the second-year students and a member of a minor noble's house. The sight of her irked Constance.
As she snidely held out her hand, Ludmilla said, "Surely you'd prefer dancing with actual nobility and not with the last survivor of a dead house."
Constance made a short gasp as she stopped dead in her tracks. There was a small group gathering behind Ludmilla, each looking at Constance with disdain. It took all of Constance's restraint not to incinerate Ludmilla on the spot.
"I thank you for your kind offer, Ludmilla, but I must decline," said Ferdinand. "Constance is no less noble now than she was when House Nuvelle still stood. Now, I must insist that you not interrupt our dance further."
Ludmilla made an arrogant "Hmph!" as she strutted away from the two, followed by her snobby friends.
"F-Ferdinand…" Constance said as she began to blush. "Did you mean what you said?"
"Of course, Constance," Ferdinand said with a proud smile. "It'd hardly be noble of me not to acknowledge your own noble spirit."
Constance could not help but start giggling at Ferdinand's hammy words.
…
Ignatz was absolutely petrified as he stood next to Seteth. Anna wasn't around to stop him this time, so the advisor was giving the bespectacled boy a scrutinous glare.
"U-Umm, Seteth, sir?" Ignatz said nervously. "I j-just wanted to say that your sister–"
"What?" Seteth asked accusingly. "What do you have to say about Flayn?"
Ignatz looked like he was about to panic when Flayn came marching toward them. The green-haired girl was dressed in an adorable emerald dress, but still wore her hair in her usual two long drills.
"Brother! What are you doing to Ignatz?!" Flayn said sternly.
"Flayn, I am simply ensuring that he does not have anything sinister planned for you," said Seteth.
"M-Me? Sinister?!" Ignatz stammered.
"Brother! Must you be so paranoid?!" Flayn said in annoyance.
"Hey, cut it out, Seteth," said Raphael as he stepped over to the scene. He had several sticks of meat in his arms and had opted just to come in his normal uniform.
"Raphael, this does not concern you," said Seteth.
"Yeah it does. You're bullying my best friend. I know you're Lady Rhea's advisor and all, but that doesn't give you the right to pick on people like that."
"Raphael…" Flayn and Ignatz said in unison.
Seteth looked as if he was about to reprimand Raphael, but the muscular boy towered over him without any sign that he might flinch. Even with the vast amount of food in his arms, many thought Raphael looked cool standing up to Seteth.
Seteth let out a loud sigh and then said, "I see your point, Mr. Kirsten. My apologies."
With a smile, Raphael said, "You don't need to worry about my little buddy Ignatz, Seteth. He's not gonna do anything bad to Flayn. Right, buddy?"
"Of course not!" Ignatz said in surprise. "I wouldn't dream of it!"
"Come on, Ignatz!" Flayn said cheerfully. "Let us dance with the others!"
Flayn then took Ignatz by the hand, making him yelp in surprise as she led him to the dance floor while Seteth and Raphael watched. Within moments, the two were dancing to the music, leaving Flayn with a great big smile on her face as Ignatz's worries seemed to melt away.
Seteth couldn't help but smile at seeing Flayn enjoy herself.
Loud chewing sounds interrupted the moment, and Seteth turned with some annoyance as Raphael wolfed down a skewer of meat.
…
Ingrid was struggling not to fall over as she approached the main hall. She was wearing a white and green strapless dress with long white gloves, but it was her high heeled shoes that were making it hard for her to walk. She had never worn such footwear before, and it was a battle just to keep her balance.
"H-How do people walk in these things?" Ingrid muttered to herself as she braced herself against a wall.
"Well, someone took their time getting here," Sylvain said jokingly as he turned to greet her.
"I don't wanna hear it, Sylvain. Not a word."
"Fair enough, Ingrid. But I gotta say you… uh…"
Sylvain stammered as he realized just how beautiful Ingrid looked right now.
"I… what?" Ingrid asked in a perplexed tone.
"Y-You… uh… wow."
For a moment, Ingrid thought Sylvain was staring at the low neckline of her dress. Her face went red as she quickly brought an arm over her cleavage and she said, "Hey, stop staring, Sylvain!"
"Huh?! I wasn't… ugh, Ingrid, do you always have to think the worst of me?"
"You keep giving me cause to do so, Sylvain. Now come on, the others are surely waiting for us."
Ingrid then tried to continue toward the main hall, but as she tried to go up one of the steps, she started yelping as she lost her balance. Seeing her about to crash to the floor, Sylvain darted forward and caught Ingrid in his arms.
"Hey, you alright?" asked Sylvain.
"I'm… I'm fine," Ingrid said as her blush grew deeper. "It's these stupid shoes! Why do I have to wear these anyway?"
"Well, they look good on you."
"You and your glib tongue, Sylvain."
"I'm honest! You look fantastic, Ingrid. How come you don't dress like this more often?"
"Well, I wouldn't want you drooling at me every time I cross your path."
Ingrid had managed to stand herself upright again by this point, and so she wobbled her way into the main hall as Sylvain let out a loud sigh.
"Ingrid…"
…
Edelgard made an exasperated sigh as Hubert chased off another boy from the second-year students who offered to dance with her.
"Hubert, must you keep doing this?" asked Edelgard. "I can hardly enjoy myself if you plan to scare everyone off."
"They seek to join you because you are the heir to the throne, Lady Edelgard," said Hubert. "And that is their only reason."
"You're starting to sound like Dorothea."
"Well, well, well, look who's all lonely and without a date tonight?" said Claude as he slinked his way toward Edelgard.
Petra was close behind Claude, dressed in a way that differed from everyone else at the ball. Hers was not a traditional dress, but one that reflected her Brigid origins. It was also, much to the alarm of various students, quite revealing, leaving Petra's back fully exposed above the waist.
"Claude, Petra, are you two enjoying yourselves?" asked Edelgard.
"I am having much enjoyment this evening," said Petra. "The dancing of Fódlan is very different from the dancing of Brigid."
"I've never seen a Brigid dance before. Perhaps you could… no."
"You are not wanting to see the dancing of Brigid?"
"It's not that. It's just that I've heard the dances of Brigid can be a bit too… energetic?"
"What is wrong with the energy?"
"She means to say that your people's form of dance may be too lurid for this audience," Hubert said succinctly.
"Hubert!" Edelgard scolded.
"Hehe, that's a shame," Claude said jokingly. "I'm sure Sylvain would've liked to see it. Anyhow, may I have the honor of this dance, Princess?"
Edelgard had to let out a smile as she said, "I suppose I'll have to settle for you, Claude. As for you, Hubert, please share a dance with Petra, would you? That's an order."
"As you wish, Lady Edelgard," said Hubert, his tone showing he wasn't entirely displeased with the idea of dancing with Petra.
…
Outside the main hall, Hapi was sitting in one of the hedgerows at a tea table, watching as happy students continued to pour into the building. None of them noticed her, each one too concerned with their dates or the chance to dance with nobility and royalty.
Hapi hadn't been allowed to go to the dance by the soldiers of the Church. Knowing of her sighing issue, they deemed her too risky to be among the students at such a joyous time. She hadn't protested it, knowing they were right to exclude her from the dance.
But that didn't mean it didn't hurt for her.
As she saw another couple happily make their way into the main hall, the redhead lowered her head as she started crying.
"Hey, Hapi, what're you doing out here?" said Balthus as he marched up to her.
"Oh, hey B," Hapi said as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. "Just watching everyone else having the time of their lives."
"So why aren't you joining in?"
"Why aren't I– ugh, B, you already know why. I wasn't allowed to come. The Knights said I'd ruin everything if I ended up sighing."
"Well, that's a load of crap if I ever heard it. Come on, Hapi, you're not just gonna let them tell you not to have a good time, are you?"
Hapi said nothing to this, too caught up in her own misery.
But then, upon feeling Balthus grab her by the arm, her face lit up in alarm as he pulled her from her seat and began leading her toward the main hall.
"B? Hey! B, what are you doing?!"
"What does it look like? I'm taking you to the dance."
"B, you know I'm not allowed to–"
"Yeah, well if the Knights have a problem with it, I'll have it out with them. And if you end up sighing and bringing in a monster, I'll punch it out myself. Okay?"
"B-Balthus…"
Hapi was dumbstruck as she was led by the arm into the entrance hall, with several students now with looks of concern as Balthus brought her in from the cold.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" said one of the Knights who was supervising the dance. "She's not allowed in here!"
"You wanna argue that with me, pal?" said Balthus. "I haven't punched anything all day, and I could use a good workout. Or you could just let the lady enjoy herself and let me worry about it if she causes a fuss, okay?"
The Knight made a loud growl as Balthus began cracking his knuckles. But as he readied himself to fight for Hapi's chance to join in, several more Church soldiers stepped forward to assist the Knight. All around them, students began to murmur, thinking a fight was going to break out.
Having heard the commotion, Dorothea walked over to the entrance with worry written all over her face.
"What's going on here?" said Byleth as she stepped out of the shadows.
Everyone turned to look at the teacher. Byleth was wearing an extremely alluring black toga-like dress, which hung off her right shoulder in a way that made her enormous left breast look like it was going to pop out if she made a wrong move. A red sash acted like a corset for the whole thing, letting a long sheet drape down in front of her luscious legs. Behind her, a long cape-like skirt trailed her and almost reached her ankles. Various ceremonial pieces decorated the whole thing, but still left acres of Byleth's smooth skin on display.
Dorothea was amazed the teacher would wear something so revealing.
"P-Professor Eisner!" said the Knight as he stood at attention.
"I don't care what your reasons are," Byleth said sternly. "Hapi deserves to enjoy herself as much as anyone tonight. Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
The soldiers backed off as Byleth gave Hapi a reassuring smile and a nod, telling the dark-skinned girl to go inside. With a smile on her face, Hapi followed Balthus into the hall.
As everyone else went to go back to the dance, Dorothea walked over to Byleth and said, "Nice timing, Professor. By the way, that's gotta be one of the raciest dresses I've ever seen. My own wardrobe excluded, of course."
It was at this moment that Byleth's whole face went pink from embarrassment. Realizing how much skin she was showing, she couldn't figure out what to cover first.
"How'd you end up going with this?" Dorothea asked playfully.
"It… was Rhea's idea," Byleth said sheepishly. "She insisted that I…" The bluette couldn't even finish, too embarrassed by what she was saying.
Ack, hit the 3,000 word limit again! We'll have to continue this next chapter.
Byleth's basically wearing her Dancer outfit, so yeah, she's gotta be really embarrassed to wear something so revealing. Seriously, I don't even think Olivia from Awakening was this racy. I wonder why Rhea would make Byleth wear it... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
EDIT: Someone claims I should've used the Sothis outfit for Byleth, but I have that one planned for the Holy Tomb scene. Oh, and Sothis is going to get her say in during the Ball.
I hope you're liking some of the interactions I'm putting in. There's more to come, and then we've still got the Goddess Tower event. Stay tuned!