Emerald green and Ice blue

Chapter 18.5, Keefe's POV

Lady Belva asks us to push the tables aside so we have more space to dance. I notice with satisfaction how Devil throws the tables with force against the walls. She's probably still angry about the fact that we're both dance partners, I admit I'm looking forward to it. At least it's better than dancing with Lady Belva.

And I kind of start to like Devil, it's nice for a change that someone is telling the truth and not lying to make themselves look better, although I'm not so sure about her past life. Especially since I recently got a memory back.

"Be careful with the tables! They're worth more than your lives!!" Lady Belva yells across the room at Devil. Who in turn rolls her eyes in annoyance, oh how I love that, I can't stop myself and yell, "Are you looking for your brain Devil? You won't find it!" I hear a few of the students laugh.

But she ignores me and yells back at Lady Belva, "My life is too short to think about it!!" That's what I mean, she says what's on her mind without thinking about it "If you were paying attention, you might have noticed that elves are immortal!" shouts our mentor. Everyone looks back and forth between the two, it was simply more exciting than any human film.

As an answer she receives:,, You are right, I wasn't paying attention. But I'd rather die than stay here with you for another hour!!" I can feel her anger from here, but there was something else. She seems so tense all day, but she's trying to push it away. I walk quickly over to her and drag her to a corner so she doesn't do more damage.

Sarcastic and still angry, she glares at me with her emerald green eyes:,,Thank you, but I don't need a knight in noble armor to rescue me on his high horse! I can do it on my own!!" "You're welcome," I grin and wink at her.

"Prodigies, get together with your partner and stand in rows. We're dancing the waltz today", all the students immediately stand in rows and do as instructed, "the boys, put your right hand on your partner's waist and hold the other hand away from your body and take the right hand of the Girls. The girls, in turn, put their free hand on their partner's shoulder", she claps her hands euphorically and watches as most of us are disgusted to touch the others.

Devil is no different, she always flinches. I take the chance to tease her, "Don't say you've never danced or touched a boy." "No no," she grabs her hair and I know immediately she's lying because every time she does did, her emotions were still. And that's the case with every log. ,, Sencen, Pyren! Everyone is waiting for you, can you move your chat hour to another time ??"

We quickly position ourselves and I feel her flinch as my hand touches her waist. Is that a good or a bad sign? Anyway, I give her a reassuring smile and then listen to our mentor counting the beat. ,,One two three four. One, two, three, four" and on and on.

Devil is not a good dancer. She keeps stepping on my feet trying to move more freely and when she realized that this dance only consists of these four steps, she tries to shake my hands off. I grip her hand tighter and she snorts.

After a while and lots of bruises on my feet, she sort of got the hang of it. But when she steps on my foot for the hundredth time, I pull her closer to me. Hoping that she will adapt to my steps. I do feel embarrassed, but that probably comes from her lack of dancing.

She tries to move away from me, but I won't let her because she's actually gotten better. And I want to be able to walk home later. She gets angry, but when she realizes that she's gotten better, she lets it happen. I sneer at her and she says in a dangerously low voice: "Don't you tell anyone Sencen that I needed your help!" It sounds like a threat, but it amuses me all the more.

I can't suppress a short laugh and she gives me a death glare. She looks over my shoulder and then out of nowhere asks me: "How long?" I look at the clock hanging behind her and say with a grin: "Oh devil we've only been dancing for five minutes" Startled She looks at me and I nod: "Life is just unfair."

She nods and sinks completely into thought. After ten minutes I realize that she is falling asleep. While dancing, I have to admit that amazes even me. But what amazes me even more is that she puts her head on my shoulder.

My heart starts beating frantically and I'm a little overwhelmed with the situation. Such sentimentalism is not Devil's forte, and neither is mine. I shake her very slowly to see if she takes her head away, but when she doesn't I look at her.

She actually has her eyes closed and seems to be asleep. How?! We're dancing, I can feel her grip weakening a bit. I put my right hand on her back to give her hold. I don't have the heart to wake her up. So I keep dancing and swinging her along the best I can.

When I feel her breathing returning to normal, I venture a quiet, "Devil?" I curse myself for sounding so uncertain, that's not me. The answer I get is an even quieter, "Hm?" At least now I know she's not sleeping. But I don't think she's fully conscious either and I could take advantage of that: "Why are you so quiet today, not only that, you seem a little tense today"

For a while I only hear her light breathing, which brushes my cheek. When I thought she wouldn't answer at all, she tiredly lifted her head and looked me straight in the eye. Nothing separates our faces more than a few centimeters. She opens her mouth uncertainly and then closes it again. I sigh and whisper, "It's okay if you don't want to tell. It was worth a try."

She opens her mouth and whispers in my ear, "Oralie is my mother" okay, I didn't expect that. But doesn't that mean Oralie is Sophie's mother too? Yes. I stare at her in shock, but she already settled back comfortably on my shoulder. That touch slows my heart and calms me down. I adjust to her breathing and she seems normal, calm and vulnerable.

Very different than usual, and I'd be lying if I had to say I didn't like it. I can't stop myself and cheekily ask, "Is my shoulder really that comfortable?" I feel her nod against my shoulder. The real devil would never admit that. As she nods, a strand of hair falls in her face. I stroke it behind her ear and my hand gets stuck there longer than it should. When I regain my composure, I put my hand back on her back.

But I can't resist the urge and slowly rub her back, I see her getting goosebumps but she doesn't move. We weren't really dancing anymore, but no one seemed to notice, and I don't notice anyone either. Strange as it was, she was the only thing that mattered to me. Which rarely happened to me.

The weight of her head on my shoulder, her warm breath, the slow circles of her thumb on my other shoulder, and the feeling of her leaning on me. ,,That's it for today! See you tomorrow!" Lady Belva's voice interrupts my thoughts, but Devil doesn't seem to notice. I lift her head from my shoulder and shake her and when she sleepily opens her eyes, I see the mistrust, confusion and resentment in them. She doesn't seem to know anything anymore and I won't tell her either, she wouldn't believe me anyway, but for me it changed the whole attitude towards her.