Inside a rental house in a noble district, the rhythmic clapping of hands echoed throughout the space. It was accompanied soon after by the sound of shoes scraping on the slippery floor. Knowing it was someone doing dance training, the maid peered from the kitchen to see a boy and girl concentrating intensely as they moved gracefully and confidently. They followed the beat of the clap, their feet swiftly gliding across the room with amazing synchronization.
"Well done lady, you're almost perfect!"
Felicia and Allen spun around the spacious floor in the living room, their limbs moving gracefully. Rachel stood watching them with the five other maids who peered toward the door. A smile spread across Rachel's face.
Meanwhile, Felicia's mother, Ayde, was confined to her bedroom by her husband, Reynold. Though it had been difficult for her to rest because Reynolds wanted to explore the capital, he had been adamant that she must avoid any risk to their unborn child. Reynold was in his room, intently focusing on the preparations for the festival.
Since they were both busy, Felicia took the opportunity to practice her dance one last time in the living room.
"Lady, Allen, you really have to look at each other's faces today. This is the last day of your practice; the habit will carry over into the night party. You don't want to mess up the dance like what happened on that night, do you?" Rachel shouted from the edge.
Their dancing was nearly perfect, but their faces and expressions were not. Allen looked to the right while Felicia looked at her feet. Not because she doubted her steps but because she couldn't see Allen's face for some reason.
"I know!"
Felicia slowly raised her face, looking straight into Allen's face. Likewise, Allen was also looking at Felicia.
As they looked at each other, Felicia began to think about everything that happened in the dungeon, from wrapping themselves up without clothes to the smiling Allen who hugged her after. Felicia's face turned red, unable to bear the embarrassment.
'Why am I suddenly thinking about that!' Felicia thought.
As for Allen, when he saw Felicia's face, he recalled how annoying Felicia was when they first met.
Rachel smiled when she saw them, thought her plan was getting closer. Rachel planned to make Felicia forget Waldo at least before they went to the academy. Because at the academy, there would be a lot of obstacles to hiding Waldo's death.
They practiced for an hour. They had already perfected the dance from the beginning, so the rehearsal was just to ensure it was perfect.
"Huh... you're doing great, Allen," Felicia said with a bit of heavy breathing, exhausted.
"What?" asked Allen, who didn't seem tired.
"It's been less than a week since you learned to dance, but you've perfected it quickly."
"I see… I think that's not true. I can master it faster because dance movements are almost the same as foot movements in sword training. Quickstep, sinking, stretching, swinging, or pulling. The most different ones are probably twisting and turning. So all I learned from the beginning was how to step, lead, and the direction of movement."
"That makes sense, but it also doesn't seem so; you seem to be the only one who applies sword training to dancing."
"I'm not sure; people who are used to moving fast should be able to dance more easily subconsciously."
During their debate, Rachel came to hold Felicia's hand with a shocked face.
"Lady! I'm sorry! I forgot you had to go to Miss Wolfhart's today!"
"That's right! I forgot! I'll take a quick shower and change first!"
"Who's Miss Wolfhart?" asked Allen to Felicia.
"Don't you remember? She's that crazy woman offering me clothes at the market district."
"Ooh, that woman. I remember; I just forgot her name."
Two days ago, a suspicious woman suddenly pulled Felicia's hand when they went to the market district after meeting Adam and Ralph.
"Hey can you-" but before that suspicious woman could finish her sentence, Allen punched her in the stomach and kicked her.
-GAH
Allen stood there, his arm still outstretched. He punched the woman so suddenly and hard that she was thrown far back. No one truly knew why he had done this as it all happened so quickly. The woman struggled to her feet, wincing in pain and glaring at Allen with fury in her eyes.
She shouted, "Why did you do that all of a sudden?!" Her voice was so loud that several people nearby turned to look at the scene. As they did so, the cloth covering the woman's head fell away, revealing her short black hair. Everyone seemed to realize the toughness of the situation when they saw two black hair people with a noble. They quickly looked away, ignoring them to avoid the problem.
"Same hair as Allen's," Felicia said.
Allen then approached the woman and pulled her clothes
"That should be my question; why did you suddenly pull her hand?"
Not answering the question, the woman turned her face away from Allen, looking at Felicia behind Allen.
'So she's after Felicia. That strange; I thought all black-haired people would be more curious about other black-haired people, like that guy,' Allen thought while remembering one of the knights of rounds, Birawa.
"W-were you a noble who will come for Prince Francis' 12th party?" he asked Felicia as if she had forgotten about Allen who had just kicked her body.
"I-yeah, who are you? What do you want from me?" asked Felicia.
Suddenly, she burst into tears, with blood coming out of her mouth because of Allen's kick.
"Hey!" yelled Felicia.
She broke away from Allen and prostrated herself before Felicia while holding her legs.
"LADY! My name is Carla Frederica Wolfhart. PLEASE! WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THE DRESS I MADE FOR YOUR WHITMOON FESTIVAL?!"
'Three names? Is she royalty? But she has dirty clothes...'
"Dress?"
"That's right! I'm a tailor and a dress designer! I want someone to wear the dress I made at Prince Francis' party!"
"From your clothes, you're a peasant, right? No way! I won't wear clothes made by a peasant. You should improve your appearance if you're a dressmaker."
"The thing is, I don't have money for my own clothes."
"Oh, so you're trying to trick me out of money! To the point of extending your name like that. I won't fall for that!"
"No! That's my real name!"
"How rude; you really think I'll believe you?"
Felicia quickly turned around and looked at Allen, saying angrily, "Allen, let's go home; just leave her."
The woman then fell and fainted.
-BAM
Because of the sound of the fall, Felicia stopped. So did Allen, who more or less knew why Felicia had stopped walking.
"Not this sh*t again..." muttered Allen.
Felicia turned around and approached the woman.
"Allen! Quick take her to the edge."
"No, I'm not your errand boy; if you really want to save everyone you meet, you should be able to do it yourself."
"GuuH! What a useless knight! It's your fault for kicking her too hard in the first place!"
"There's no way I didn't do it."
Felicia grabbed the woman's shoulders and tried to pull her to the edge. There were too many people passing. She didn't want to use her god's blessing in the middle of the street.
Seeing Felicia struggling to pull the woman, even with all her strength, Allen let out a long sigh, giving up on how stubborn Felicia was.
Allen lifted the woman's body and threw her over the edge.
"Can't you do it a little more gently?!" shouted Felicia.
"You'll heal her in the end; why does it matter?"
Felicia slashed her hand and activated her god's blessing.
The bright light made the people around them look at her, but they returned to their activities as soon as the light disappeared.
"The people here are strange. They ignore the problem as best they can, as if it always happens every day," muttered Allen as he watched people's reactions,
The woman coughed and slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw Felicia before her eyes, she immediately woke up with a start.
"WAAAH!"
"You're awake; then I'll leave now."
Once again, the woman immediately held Felicia's hand.
"Wait!"
"Hey! Let me go!"
The woman knew that Felicia was different from the nobles she had met. Nobles wouldn't come to the commoners' market district. So she thought it was a golden opportunity for her to meet them.
"At the very least, would you like to see the design of the dress?!"
"NO!"
No matter how many times Felicia pulled on her hand, the woman wouldn't let go of her grip.
"I told you, there's nothing good about saving random people," muttered Allen; he already knew that the woman wasn't too dangerous, so he let Felicia be bothered by her.
"Aaah! Alright! I just need to see the picture of the dress, right?! So let me go!" shouted Felicia, finally giving in to the woman's stubbornness.
"Really?! Thank goodness! Someone finally listened to me!"
Felicia adjusted her shirt that the woman had pulled.
"So, where's the picture?" Felicia asked.
"Oh, it's at my house. Can you come?"
"Your house?! How is that possible? You really want to set us up!"
"No! I'm serious! Please come to my house! No worries about anything! I really just want you to show my design!"
Felicia looked at Allen, intending to ask his opinion.
Allen shrugged and said, "I don't think she's lying, but I'm not sure what she's hiding."
Felicia looked at the woman. The woman was now raising her teary eyes hopefully, trying to make Felicia feel pity for her.
"Haaaaaaaaaaah... okay, I'll come to your house!" and the woman's plan worked.