CH 173

Rieta was worried that her clumsy dancing skills might ruin the beginning of an important party.

So, sometimes she offered an opinion about changing it to something else.

Sadly, the Duke, who sponsored the surprise party, objected.

He said that the Princess should not hesitate to try until the end.

“But, Duke. What if I ruin the party with my clumsy dancing? What if I mess up Sir Jenkins’ mood?”

“Sir Jenkins is not such a simple man that things like that will change his mind.”

“But….”

“I will also help you practice whenever I have free time.”

At the Duke’s declaration, Darrell also held Rieta’s hand and spoke affectionately.

“Of course I will help too. Princess.”

And Elisha swore by pressing his forehead against Rieta’s other hand.

“I will help too. I’ve learned a little bit at the military academy, so maybe it’ll be of some help.”

They were holding both of Rieta’s hands, so Noel had no place to hold and seemed to be in trouble.

He turned his head to and fro, and eventually came to Rieta with his hands behind his back.

“I can’t help it. I don’t like it, but I’ll help you as your partner from time to time.”

In this way, a practice alliance was formed to help Rieta practice dancing.

And the next day . . .

When Rieta got up and opened the door, Noel, in a perfect suit, was standing in front of her.

“Gasp . . .?!”

“What are you so surprised about? Were you surprised about how handsome I am?”

Noel had bragged, fiddling with his collar.

Since he turned fourteen, he had been told many times that suits looked good on him.

It went really well with his gorgeous black hair.

“No, that’s not it, it was just a bad memory. Did you come dressed like that to practice with me?”

As Rieta spoke with a small smile, Noel was willing to meet her expectations.

That was, pretending to be a gentleman.

Of course, it was also something that Rieta hated very much.

He bowed his head politely to greet her, then lifted his head slightly, and saw how cute Rieta was with the wrinkles on her forehead.

No, no! It was fun.

He endured the laughter that was about to leak out, and even recited polite lines.

Beautiful Princess of Liz, would you please dance with me? He spoke as though reenacting a fairy tale.

In the end, Rieta, unable to bear it, covered her face with her hands.

“Please stop. It’s painful!”

Noel smiled satisfactorily and straightened his posture.

Fortunately, his usual playfulness had returned to his face.

“Hurry up and change your clothes. Wear what you wore when you went to see the Princess a while ago, it was really pretty.”

“You want me to wear that in the morning?!”

“Yes. And try to figure out why I’m wearing such uncomfortable clothes myself.”

Yes, they were going to practice like it was a real dance.

As a result, she didn’t know if she would be able to practice.

“. . . Ugh, okay.”

“You must hurry. The math teacher will come in the afternoon.”

He shoved Rieta on the shoulder and hurriedly sent her back to her room.

“Princess.”

But, as if something immediately came to mind, he called her out quietly.

“Yes?”

Looking back, he had a very friendly smile.

“If you aren’t ready by the time I count to 100, I’ll pretend to be a gentleman again.”

. . . No, it was a threatening smile.

It was very terrible.

Rieta made a disgusted sound and hurriedly disappeared through the screen.

* * *

After that day, Noel invested more time than anyone else to help Rieta practice.

And he was also the toughest partner.

“How long are you going to look at the floor?”

He used to point it out with sharp remarks whenever Rieta’s head dipped a little.

“Ugh, I don’t realize it, I keep looking down.”

Rieta frowned slightly.

She held onto Noel.

. . . Cute.

Noel thought she was cute without realizing it, but soon pulled himself together.

Rieta wasn’t cute at all.

She was cute when she was ten, but not now.

“Are you stupid?”

Without realizing it, he said that and looked away slightly.

“. . . You can’t keep your head toward me.”

“I won’t make a mistake this time.”

And when practice resumed, Rieta gave her eyes full strength and began to stare at Noel.

Almost without even blinking her big eyes.

“Uh . . . that expression is a bit scary.”

“If I don’t do this, I’ll forget I have to look at Noel— ugh.”

Did she lose her concentration while speaking?

Their bodies collided.

“I’m sorry, does it hurt?”

“You can’t forget to dance because you’re looking at me.”

Rieta finally relaxed her eyes.

The tension that had been transmitted through Noel’s hand had subsided.

Again, one two, one two, they matched each other’s tempo, and Rieta slowly began to concentrate on the practice.

Of course, this time too, as her concentration deepened, her head gradually turned downward.

Stupid.

Noel tried to point it out as he had done so far, but decided to leave it as it is.