"Your common sense may differ since you're from the provinces, Lilia. But to become a noble member of the Imperial Palace, one must keep both body and mind pure. A promiscuous past should be settled quickly."
At my words calling her 'promiscuous,' Lilia's face turned pale.
"What are you talking about? The one who played loosely with men was you, little sister. Have you forgotten that Sir Arin confessed your impropriety?"
"Ah, that 'Arin Thorton' who harmed his master and went to prison? A knight with no loyalty to speak of—surely his words cannot be trusted either, can they?"
When I asked with mockery, Lilia fell silent. Watching her, I clicked my tongue in full disdain.
"As God's proxy, how could I stand by and watch one of God's children go down the wrong path? Especially when that wrong path brings bad influence not only to the person involved but to those around them..."
It was then.
Feeling stinging gazes on my cheek, I stopped speaking and swept my eyes around the vicinity.
Though music was playing, almost no one was dancing.
Instead, an even larger crowd than before had surrounded us in a circle.
Those who had been openly watching this direction avoided my eyes and feigned ignorance when our gazes met.
Ah.
I have been in a similar situation before.
「Let go! I am the Princess of Roam! Do you think you'll be safe after treating me like this?」
The day I was bound by Imperial Palace knights and dragged to the courtroom, the people who came to observe the trial looked at me with just such expressions.
People who felt ecstasy watching my fall, who mocked me, felt curiosity, and viewed it as an entertaining spectacle.
They were also the ones standing here.
'So their next entertainment is Lilia.'
The fighting spirit I had barely summoned disappeared in an instant like a bonfire doused with water.
"I worry that the Imperial Palace, finally quieted by God's blessing, might be tainted again by negative energy."
Muttering indifferently, I turned away. Lilia tried to say something, but it no longer reached my ears.
Nausea rose within me, and I just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
* * *
After vaguely getting through the first day's banquet, I sent word that I would not attend the second day.
For the main character of the banquet to be absent was a tremendous insult to the one who hosted it, but as someone who paid no heed to the Imperial family at all, it didn't concern me in the least.
Since my absence was sudden, the other attendees would hear the news at the banquet hall. However, I informed Heinrich, Samuel, and Zenon in advance.
Heinrich naturally said he would attend the banquet alone. Samuel seemed unwilling to attend, but appeared unable to choose freely because of the priests.
And Zenon...
"It's actually this peaceful!"
He was savoring freedom beside Bark's birdcage like that.
"Aren't you afraid of Bark?"
"Compared to those terrible glares yesterday, I'd rather take Dullahans."
He shuddered and complained. I glanced at him and slumped into the chair. Thanks to bringing a chair long enough to nearly lie down on, my body was comfortable.
"Wow, the sound reaches all the way here."
It was just as Zenon said. Such was the scale of the banquet that the noise came through faintly. I don't know if Zenon could hear it, but my ears could distinguish even the music.
"I really don't understand what's fun about that."
"Delicious food, pleasant music, enjoyable dancing."
With my eyes closed, I answered, and Zenon's grumbling rebuttal came.
"You can enjoy food and music without a banquet."
"But dancing is best done in a banquet hall."
And I dance well. Generally, doing something you're good at is enjoyable.
When I finished speaking, Zenon was silent for a moment. Then he answered a bit late.
"You seem to like dancing."
"It's not bad for a change of mood sometimes."
Again, his voice cut off.
Slightly opening my eyes to look at Zenon, I saw he had his eyes lowered, lost in thought.
"So there aren't only things Lady Anelli dislikes here."
"Of course. My whole life is here."
Everything Lilia had taken away was things I had liked.
Some were taught by my mother, but many I learned because I liked them. I greatly enjoyed the glamorous life and ruling position.
"I see."
Zenon nodded slightly and raised his head. The direction he looked toward was where the banquet hall was. Though it couldn't be seen from here.
Perhaps because I was watching Zenon in a posture almost lying on the chair, his face looked half-shadowed.
I, who had been blankly watching him gazing into the distance and lost in thought again, spoke abruptly.
"Who knows. You might find dancing outside the banquet hall more fun."
At my indifferent words, Zenon glanced at me. Seeming to take my words as a sort of dance invitation, he answered awkwardly.
"Actually, I can't dance."
Shrugging his shoulders, he pulled his lips up awkwardly.
"I couldn't ask yesterday... because I can't dance."
Watching Zenon avoid my eyes with an embarrassed expression, I asked on impulse.
"Shall I teach you?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm good at it."
Zenon, with round eyes, fell silent for a while before answering dazedly.
"...Shall... we?"
Hearing his answer, I readily stood up. Though it was evening, lights had been placed throughout the backyard, so it wasn't dark.
And for music... that melody coming from afar should suffice.
* * *
Anelli's claim that she danced well was true.
Even to Zenon, who knew nothing about dancing, Anelli's movements were excellent. He had felt it yesterday too, but it seemed he could watch her all day without getting bored.
But unfortunately, compared to her skill, she did not make an excellent teacher.
Whether she had no talent for teaching, or she hadn't intended to teach seriously from the start, he didn't know.
"Why can't I do this?"
Hearing Anelli's murmur that was like talking to herself, Zenon became embarrassed on his own. Remembering how Samuel had danced with her proudly yesterday made him even more ashamed.
'I'm definitely moving as she taught me.'
Zenon, who had been moving his arms and legs stiffly according to her instructions, dropped his shoulders with a resigned voice.
"I guess it doesn't suit me after all."
"More than that, I think I chose the wrong dance. This song won't work after all."
"The song?"
"Yes. This song right now."
Anelli's gaze turned toward the banquet hall.
Zenon only then realized she was listening to the noise from the banquet hall far away.
To him it was just jumbled sounds mixed together, but apparently Anelli had been hearing the music accurately.
"Ah, thank goodness. The next song is very easy."
"I don't know it at all."
"Can't you hear the music?"
"Isn't it strange that I can hear it?"
He didn't want to treat her like a strange person if possible, but this time he couldn't help it.
At Zenon's appearance protesting with a wronged face, Anelli rubbed her chin and pondered. Then she nodded as if she had decided.
"I'll tell you the beat through humming, so try to follow along."
By this point, Anelli seemed to have developed a stubborn determination to see Zenon properly dance at least one song.
At her strangely fired-up appearance, Zenon smiled hollowly and nodded.
But Zenon soon had to tense his body again.
"Ugh! You startled me!"
Unlike before, it was because Anelli had stepped right up close in front of Zenon.
Zenon tried to reflexively step back, but with Anelli holding his hand and placing her hand on his shoulder, he ended up stopping in an awkward stance.
"How do you expect to dance from that far away?"
"Your posture is different from before!"
"The song changed, so the posture is different."
"No, wait, this is a bit..."
"Here, hand like this. No, grab here. You need to support the waist. Are you planning to let me fall?"
Anelli held his hand and adjusted the position herself.
The waist encircled by one arm was extremely slender. Standing close, Anelli's delicate physique was particularly noticeable.
Zenon swallowed involuntarily, feeling blood rush throughout his body.
And what about this fragrance.
'Did she use perfume?'
When they were camping, there wasn't such a strange scent.
'No. We never stood this close to begin with...'
Whether he knew of Zenon's bewildered state of mind or not, Anelli continued her explanation without hesitation.
"Imagine entrusting your body to gentle waves. Now, left foot first."
Finishing her explanation, she hummed in a small voice and pulled him along.
While being pulled by that force helplessly, Zenon's mind became increasingly messy.
'Surprisingly, her singing is quite good? But were her hands always this small?'
"Three steps. Good, your stride is appropriate."
'Her waist is too thin too. Isn't Imperial Palace food too poor? ...But no matter how I think about it, we're too close. She danced like this with other men?'
"Zenon, aren't you focusing?"
At Anelli's scolding, Zenon snapped to attention. But his concentration didn't even last five minutes. His mind was soon filled with all kinds of random thoughts.
Zenon, trying to somehow shake off the thoughts branching out indiscriminately, lowered his gaze with half-resigned feelings.
Looking down closely, Anelli's face turned to the side, her straight neck, and shoulders came into view at once.
'Isn't the dress... a bit cold?'
"Turn here."
A slight strength entered Anelli's hand that was wrapped around Zenon's shoulder.
Naturally, the two people's bodies turned and drew a large circle. Following that, the hem of the dress fluttered roundly.
Naturally, yesterday's Anelli came to Zenon's mind.
An appearance so dazzling it couldn't be described in words. Properly attired, Anelli was more beautiful than anyone else in that place.
Zenon, during his trials training with Nesi, had once heard rumors of Lilia Roam, whose face and heart were said to be incomparably beautiful.
But yesterday at the banquet hall, he came to think that perhaps the rumors about Lilia he had heard all along might have actually been referring to Anelli.
'As for her heart... I can't see it, so I'll let that pass.'