As I make an exemplary teaching partner, I observe the pairs dancing around in the hall. As per usual we are practicing the so called 'waltz'.
I think the first thing to note is that Gil is the one dancing with Jesmaine. After the outburst just now, she probably couldn't find a partner... but I can't imagine Gil taking pity on someone.
Is he going to use her to bother me further? I don't think my patience can take more direct confrontations today, though...
Alstair seems to be dancing calmly with a duke's daughter. If I do not recall wrong, then she is one of the women who has a one sided love towards Gil.
As for our clumsy girl before... it's gone now, but without having danced with Lionel for years, I can't tell if it is because of his lead, or if she forgot to be bad because she keeps glancing to our beloved heroine.
While the girl is from the southern country, she doesn't look like the girl that supported me in the classroom... so other than... appearing fixated on the heroine, nothing seems off.
...
Lionel... are you avoiding our Heroine? I expected Lionel to notice the foreigner's obsession... and maybe he did... but the more I made certain, the clearer it was. Every time he was about to face the Heroine, he made an elegant turn of his dance partner so that his back was to out beloved Heroine...
Why?
Was your last meeting so awkward that you couldn't look at her? No, if that was the case then he'd simply apologize. Besides, Lionel was the one that had been leaning all over her and been mean to her-.... wait
Isn't that the same way he avoids me? Why?!
What do the Heroine and I even have in common? Lionel has no interest in me, unlike with the Heroine. She is naive, I am not. She got tricked by kindness, I did not. She is weak and cute, I am not. She's ignorant to her weaknesses, I am not. She is blind to her circumstances, I am not... she is overly kind, I am not...... aren't we opposites?
Furthermore, there was never any awkward event between Lionel and I to give birth to such behavior.
But still, it is a slight relief, that apparently I am not the only one he is avoiding.
My view is interrupted by two people dancing like wet breadsticks swaying elegantly across the floor... except, even with their graceful movement the female wet breadstick mainly does its elegant moves in the wrong direction, and the male breadstick keeps nearly hitting everyone near them.
The worst part is that the two wet breadsticks are in love with each other... and both of them appears to be unaware of the other's affection... they're not close enough, nor holding each other as closely as they should... despite all the nerves they still want to dance together... and the result is... subpar...
"That is not the move I was making," the young man argues nervously. How brave? Childhood friends perhaps. They were both children of Earls.
I want to sigh.
I slip from the young man I was helping out and approach them from the middle of the floor.
"Is there a problem?" I give them my best polite smile. They both stop up nervously, aware that my question is merely rhetoric.
"That... it just isn't working..." the young man spoke out carefully, trying not to blame her, though he certainly was. Meanwhile his partner was looking flustered and frustrated from not knowing what is going on.
"I see. Then, look closely," I speak out calmly and step up to the now confused girl in my arms, who is being put and lifted into a proper position. With a little push on her back I step in and place us skin to skin.
Without letting her get rest I step into the dance to get a proper feeling of where she is lacking, and also to show her partner that she likely follows just fine.
"Eeee," She lets out at the long fluid step of motion that makes us flow across the floor. She nearly slips, unable to step so far on merely her own strength. Of course I support her weight just enough to make sure she doesn't get stuck in the step and easily continue on, by using my hips against hers to guide hers, and my hold to create a firm base for the little lamb to hold onto.
She nearly trembles in my hold to keep up, but... by the time we've made it halfway around the hall, she realizes that despite her physical inadequacies, she is following my moves perfectly. Her eyes widen, and she begins to focus again. She takes in the feeling.
Many traits make up a dance. You strength is your posture and how strong and wide your motion can be, your endurance how long you can hold it. Your agility is your flexibility and your grace while holding said postures and moves. Finally, your awareness shows you the next move your partner makes without looking and your perception lets you observe and decide a proper path to take. These things all make for a dance, and tells you immediately what kind of warrior a person is as well.
The two I teach right now have neither strength nor endurance, which causes a sloppy form that is hard to read. Since they're being shy, this problem merely got worse.
We arrive back at point just in time before the little lamb collapses in my arms from the movements she wasn't used to.
"I want to try that to, Lily-chan!" Gilbert chirps out happily.
I ignore him while our teacher lectures him on there being no need for him to practice the female steps. Though, from what I can hear... she is losing.
I hand the little lamb off back to her partner, who this times holds her up a bit since she is still frail.
"There, now, hold her up a bit more against you so you support her properly, then lift her with that one arm."
Hearing that last word he stares at me with brief disbelief but does his best. With a few nudges and correcting of their posture, they are both nicely and vividly red to the tips of their ears. As they set off back onto the dance floor it seemed like they wouldn't need to worry about their dancing... nor their love again. Since both of them were all red, it was quite obvious to everyone that they held affection for each other, even themselves.
"My turn," Gilbert chimes behind me.
"Weren't you escorting Lady Jesmaine?" I hide the exhaustion in my voice, but I really don't want to dance with Gilbert.
"She said she needed a break," he responded with a smile as I turned... I couldn't tell if her break was from dancing or from Gil being Gil.
"Very well then..." I gave in. I've not enough energy to deal with him right now. Our teacher has given up as well after all.
Once Gil gets into his pose I move behind him.
"Spread your chest, don't bend."
I reach around him and calmly push his organs upwards to his ribs, and then corrected his posture by turning his head a bit up and to the side, correcting his arms, having him bend the legs just a bit... and had a momentary happy view of Gil trembling and the toughness of holding the pose I put him in.
"Good, now keep that during the dance."
I picked up my new trembling lamb in a sturdy frame, but filled it with life as we stepped into the dance.
"Woah~ that's terrifying! It feels like I'm being carried to the den of a jungle cat!"
Jungle cat? Mmmm.... I'm not sure if I should take this as praise or insult.
Gil is as agile as I would expect from seeing the movements of their knights. Not only is he nimble, but he also reads my moves perfectly. I wouldn't have to force a single move across or swing him around, he knows just from the first movements of my body. Still, he's weak. Flexible and precise... but weak.
"Oh~ I'm not standing!"
...he goes weak incredibly quickly so I end up pressing his back up more, otherwise he might've been a bother and collapsed on the middle of the floor.
"Mmm~" he hums softly after a little while and then nods to me.
"That's enough, thank you, Lily-chan~"
I move to the side and drop him off there where he rubs his joints and stare at me as if to size me up... then looks around.
"Lionel! Could you take a dance with Lily? She hasn't had a proper dance yet because of all the teaching!"
...
Gil... shouldn't you be asking Alstair this? I suppose that Gil knows about us trying to break the engagement, but why Lionel? Furthermore, Alstair likely shouldn't allow it.
Lionel stops the dance he is in with the foreigner and then looks to Gilbert stoically, easily avoiding me with his eyes.
"As you can see I am already occupied with a dance partner," he tries to tell Gil no, but Gil is in no mood for a no.
For a moment I was about to request rest... but if it is Lionel... then I have questions to ask. I want to find out why he's been ignoring me.
"Ah~ I'll take over here, certainly you don't mind, do you?" Our clumsy southern foreigner girl simply smiles in return.
"Of course not."
With that, she put the lid on Lionel's way out, and with a nod of acceptation, Alstair sealed it.
As Lionel finally gave in and walked up to me, I amused myself with seeing his somewhat irritated expression.
Lionel doesn't stop in front of me, but instead swiftly pulls me in, roughly enough that most girls, especially our dear Heroine, would have let out a 'kyah'. Of course I did not. I merely lift an eyebrow at his odd behavior and get into pose, removing my weight from his arm and prepare to dance. I likely won't last that long though, I've danced a lot already, and I don't have never ending endurance like Lionel.
"....hmmm... I see... you avoid putting weight on me," he muttered quietly. Mmm? What? Was he trying to measure my weight by pulling me in? What in the world kind of reason did he have for something so pointless.
"Of course, I am strong enough to stand on my own."
Our eyes meet for the first time in years, and the look is... annoyed... before I ask he steps into the dance, and we flutter between the many other dancers... Lionel is usually a calm and sturdy dancer. His dance is a calm one and down to earth... but... this is not calm. It is intense. The movements are large and dynamic, the sways become fast. The look in his eyes still annoyed as he per etiquette looks away... but I can feel it even in his hold. He's making it hard to follow on purpose.
His hold is still sturdy as a rock, and there is nothing about it I can complain about... in fact he is holding his posture excellently... but by using these large movements it is as if he tries to make movements where I must end up leaning on him... is he picking a fight with me?
If a fight he wants, a fight he gets. I put more strength into my movements and by using my hips I put in enough strength to make him have larger movements as well. If I was to give an estimate right now, then I am physically stronger than Lionel because of the blessing of water. I am using that against him. I am not fighting his lead as much as I just force him to use more strength than he plans. It becomes a battle of who gives in first. If I lean on him, or he can't keep up with the width of motion.
Around and round we go like a whirlpool, fast and hard steps that make our heels click against the marble floor... and then... something suddenly blocks my foot at a perfectly timed moment... and my stomach turns uncomfortably at the feeling of falling... into the one I was trying not to lean against...
Someone interfered with the match.
Gil... why Gil?!
Squeeeeze... Lionel squeezes me for a moment as he watches the rows of dancers. Did he notice I was tripped too?
"That is enough." Gil's partner moves away from him with a little push and then walks up to us with a rather unhappy look... and in the background Jesmaine looks quite pleased...
"You appear quite tired Lady Lily. Would you join me for some water?" The foreign girl asks me with a little smile, but Lionel doesn't let go. He did dance with her because he was getting between her and Alstair... he might suspect her of attempting assassination... but...
"That sounds good."
Lionel sends her a fierce look before letting me go with a look of slight worry. His rapidly changing mood is making me dizzy.
I'm not worried about the foreigners. They went out of their way to assist me once, and haven't gotten near other than that. Though, since Lionel is that cautious I shouldn't let my guard down.