[Episode 20] - Dance Dance Dance (1)
Breakfast time at Byeolgung.
A court lady who had been working at Byeolgung for nearly ten years looked toward the dining hall with a bewildered expression at a situation she had never once experienced in the past decade.
Normally, it was a time so quiet that not a single clink of tableware could be heard, but today was different. The Princess was grunting as she held a heavy adult fork and knife, busy cutting her food.
Clatter— Clatter—
She was somehow using the table manners she had learned, but the fork and knife were too heavy for the Princess's weak grip, so the sound of them hitting the plate and utensils was inevitable.
Clatter— Clatter—
And while watching that sight intently, Her Majesty the Queen Dowager stopped cutting with her knife. The Princess, who had eagerly lifted the salad with her fork, opened her mouth wide and brought the salad to her lips, but.
Plop—
“Ah.”
The salad that had been precariously wobbling on the fork eventually fell—plop—directly onto the Princess's skirt. The Princess looked at the salad that had tumbled onto her skirt, her face flushing bright red.
Only then did the Queen Dowager, moving her utensils again, let out a small sigh, cut the salad on her own plate into very small pieces, and place them on the Princess's plate.
“...I suppose we ought to prepare some light tableware at Byeolgung as well.”
“We will have them prepared by today.”
The court lady assisting with the meal bowed her head at the Queen Dowager's words and walked straight out of the dining hall. Judging by the sound of running the moment the dining hall door closed, the court lady seemed to be sprinting at full speed.
The Princess gave a polite bow, thanking the Queen Dowager for cutting the salad for her, then busily stabbed at the salad again with the heavy fork. But no matter how small the salad was cut.
In the end, the problem was the tableware, which was too heavy for the Princess to hold.
Perhaps because it was difficult to spear the light salad with the heavy utensils, the Princess tried diligently with her fork, but in the end, more salad fell onto her lap than made it to her mouth.
By the time the Princess's lap had become lush with salad, perhaps because the embarrassment, shame, and various other emotions she had been holding back until now felt as though they would burst, the Princess's eyes grew increasingly red.
And the Queen Dowager, who merely watched.
Since I couldn't sigh outwardly, I let out a long sigh inwardly, then speared some salad with my fork and brought it to the Princess's lips.
Though the Princess was embarrassed, she eventually opened her mouth and ate the salad I offered. Each time I fed the Princess salad, I stared pointedly at the Queen Dowager, as if to show her.
In the end, the Queen Dowager, watching that sight, clicked her tongue displeasedly and opened her mouth.
“Princess, have you no hands?”
“Why would you say that to the Princess? It is because the fork is heavy, is it not? If anyone is at fault in this situation, it would be the person who failed to keep children's tableware at Byeolgung despite having a granddaughter.”
“Ha, so this is all my fault?”
“I did not go that far, Your Majesty.”
Watching me feed the Princess, the Queen Dowager let out a hollow breath as if dumbfounded. The Princess, flustered between me and the Queen Dowager, was busy receiving the salad like a baby bird.
“If you want to eat something other than salad, feel free to say so anytime.”
“Ah, no... I think salad is enough...”
As the salad piled on the plate began to show the bottom, the flustered Queen Dowager eventually sighed and glared at me. Then she rose from her chair and gestured for me to move aside.
At that gesture, I giggled and rose from my chair, moving to another seat. The Queen Dowager sat in the chair next to the Princess where I had been sitting, assuming a solemn expression.
“Princess.”
“Y-yes... Your Majesty the Queen Dowager...”
“Say ‘ah.’”
“Ah...?”
When the Princess opened her mouth wide, the Queen Dowager speared the salad on the plate and put it directly into the Princess's mouth like a mother bird. When the Princess accepted the food, the Queen Dowager finally wore a ‘family-like’ expression for the first time.
“How is it? Is it not tastier than the one the Queen gave you?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes... But I'm full now...”
“How can you be full eating only vegetables? Try this as well. Though the chef does not have many specialties, this fish dish is said to be superb.”
“Ah, ugh...”
Perhaps recalling yesterday's food hell, the Princess's complexion began to turn pale. I turned my head slightly and looked at the court ladies and maids watching the Queen Dowager.
As if this were truly the first time seeing such a sight, some had their eyes wide open in surprise, while some wore faint smiles as if the scene were heartwarming.
I too looked at the Queen Dowager and the Princess and smiled faintly. Isn't it so much better to see her express herself even a little like this? I'll have to visit often later.
“It is good to see you eating well. Here, try this too.”
“Urk...”
That heartwarming meal continued until the Princess shook her head fiercely, and eventually, the Princess, exhausted from eating, had to rest in the guest room once again.
*
While the Princess went to rest in the guest room.
I decided to have teatime with the Queen Dowager in the garden for a moment.
She had told me not to return to Bongung yet, saying she had something to tell me, but seeing the court lady bring the Princess's tableware from Bongung, it seemed the Queen Dowager wouldn't be satisfied unless the Princess ate lunch here as well.
The Queen Dowager lifted her teacup, savored the scent of the tea, and opened her mouth.
“...As I said yesterday, there are only about three months left until the Princess's seventh birthday. That is why the Palace Administration began preparations for the Princess's birthday party last month.”
“Already...?”
“Already? Do you not know that at least half a year of preparation is standard for a royal birthday party? Starting last month is already far, far too late.”
Tsk, tsk. The Queen Dowager clicked her tongue and sipped her tea, looking at me with an ‘as expected, I don't like you’ gaze. I felt awkward under that gaze and lifted my teacup, downing the tea in one go.
“I do not know if the party will truly proceed, but we must at least prepare for it.”
“......”
The Queen Dowager's words meant, in other words, that if the King did not give the Princess a name within three months, she would consider canceling the party. It was an unavoidable situation if it came to that, but...
“I ordered the Princess's dress yesterday. So when the tailor comes to Bongung, see that it is prepared properly.”
“Yesterday... did you say?”
“Tsk, what exactly is it that you do? You claim to be the Princess's ‘teacher,’ yet you haven't even prepared a dress for her to wear at her birthday party. Surely you know what the most important matter is right now?”
“......”
I couldn't say a word to the Queen Dowager, who was nagging like a mother-in-law. No, she was indeed my mother-in-law...? I had no choice but to hang my head and listen to my mother-in-law's nagging.
“I apologize. I will pay more attention from now on.”
“We shall see if you truly do.”
The Queen Dowager, who had been glaring at me with eyes full of doubt, let out a small sigh and began to explain step by step what the Princess would need over the next three months.
“First and foremost is party etiquette. And it would be good to prepare at least a short greeting to offer the nobles. And next in importance is dance.”
“Dance...”
“The Princess's first dance partner should originally be His Majesty... but we cannot expect that now, so let us put off teaching the Princess dance until the very end.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And......”
I listened carefully to the Queen Dowager as if taking notes in my head. I felt as though I understood why a royal birthday party required half a year of preparation.
There was so much to teach the Princess that it seemed too short a time to prepare everything perfectly in just three months. And most of it was something I knew nothing about.
As I nodded and listened, Einsel whispered.
-I can teach Her Highness the other things. But in the case of physical dance, I cannot teach her, so how about you teach the Princess?
.....??
I don't know anything about dance...? All the dance I ever learned was group dancing with my classmates during my school days. Me, teaching the Princess to dance?
Seems impossible..?
-Don't worry about the dance. Isn't there a saying that ‘the body remembers’? Vivian was so good at dancing that she was called the flower of high society. I'm sure Vivian's body remembers.
Is that really so..?
...There was no use doubting Einsel now. For now, it was time to listen to the Queen Dowager talking about the Princess before me.
Thus I barely finished teatime with the Queen Dowager and was able to escape Byeolgung with the Princess before lunch. The Queen Dowager seemed bitterly disappointed, but it couldn't be helped.
The Princess had patted her own belly, saying her stomach might really burst if she ate one more meal at Byeolgung, and trembled slightly along the way back to Bongung.
And on the way back to Bongung, the Princess even muttered in a small voice that she wouldn't come to Byeolgung for a while. Even sighing as if truly, truly exhausted.
*
After that, for the time being, the Princess devoted herself to preparing for the ‘party.’
She prepared party etiquette and greetings for the nobles together with Einsel, and I prepared the Princess's party dress with the tailor the Queen Dowager had sent.
Time flew by like an arrow...
Before long, a whole month had passed.
During that month, the Princess, Einsel, and I were all busy.
During the day, I spent time on dance practice and fairy lessons with the Princess, and at night, I was busy looking into the mirror Einsel while taking dance practice and lessons to become an ‘apprentice witch.’
For a month, I spent such dense hours that I hadn't slept more than three hours a day. Truly, truly, I felt I had never lived such busy days in my entire life.
Yet despite spending such dense time...
Clap, clap, clap.
“One, two, three. One, two, three. Match the beat, one, two, three.”
“One, two, three, one, two, three......”
The Princess began stepping to the beat of the sounds I made, but she couldn't match the rhythm to the point that her steps somehow looked clumsy.
She was supposed to step to the basic beat, but for some reason, the Princess was busy flopping about like a puppet with its strings cut. Eventually, the Princess tripped over her own wobbling legs and fell flat on the spot with a thud.
Approaching the Princess, who was sitting on the floor catching her breath in a daze, exhausted from dancing, I patted her shoulder with a sympathetic expression, comforting her.
“Princess...”
“...”
“You really can't dance..?”