Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 42 - Unfinished Words

"Ouch!"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

It was late in the afternoon. The light of the setting sun streamed through the almost empty training hall's windows, illuminating its sole occupants as if a spotlight gifted by the heavens.

Medrauta grimaced as she stepped backward, removing her foot from Viviane's. The two of them had been practicing for the better part of an hour already, but the knight still hadn't made any progress at all.

"Geez! You're not even trying, Medrauta!" Viviane complained, puffing out her cheeks cutely.

"I am! I'm totally trying!" Medrauta protested as Viviane urged them to return to the starting position.

Truth be told, Medrauta never would have expected that she'd have to do something like this when she became a knight. She was an expert at footwork when it came to combat, but as it turns out, she was absolutely dismal when it came to dancing.

"Hm... Alright then. Let's try again. We still have a couple of hours before the Summer Gala!"

The Summer Gala. It had been Viviane's sole motivation for the two grueling weeks that she'd spent training with Sakura, and it was also the reason why the training hall was empty despite the sun still being up.

The gala was the first dance of the year which made it an unfathomably important event for the nobles of the academy. Not only was it a chance for them to show off their knight, but it also served as a noble's best chance to make a good first impression to their peers, especially if they were in their first year.

For that reason, the knights and nobles were all sequestered in their chambers or frequenting the town's many shops in the hopes of coordinating the perfect outfit before their debut in the evening. There was no need for them to practice dancing. After all, nobles were trained to dance from birth, and knights were trained to dance while they were studying as pages.

However, as someone who entered knightly society as a squire, Medrauta never had the chance to learn the finer arts of etiquette like dancing. Padraig had given her a rather detailed lesson in chivalry, and that had been it.

Despite Medrauta's galumphing attempts as dancing and utterly inexplicable mistakes, Viviane didn't really mind one bit. Instead, she smiled as she tugged her knight along.

As the better dancer, she had no choice but to take the role of the lead. While she was no expert herself, Viviane was still rather confident in her steps.

She was simply grateful for the chance to dance with Medrauta at all.

"Ow!" Viviane cried as Medrauta inadvertently stepped on her foot once more after a particularly complex turn.

"Sorry," Medrauta said with a sigh. She removed her hands from Viviane, stepping back. "Maybe we should just give it a rest for today. I don't think I'm going to get any better before the gala, and I'd rather avoid embarrassing you there. Besides, there's always the Winter Gala."

"H-Huh...? Are you perhaps suggesting that we skip the gala...?"

Medrauta shrugged. "No, it's just... I mean, we could go for a stroll instead. See the stars. Have a picnic. That sort of thing, y'know? I was never really into dancing, anyway."

Viviane's heart sank. We've only been practicing for a little over an hour, but she's giving up already...? She must really hate this...

"I... I really wanted to do this with you, Medrauta. You know, I trained so hard every day for the past two weeks just so we could have this chance, but..." Viviane's gaze dropped to the ground. "I'm sorry. It was selfish of me. I was deciding things on my own, just like the princess."