CH 59

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“…It’s a pleasant evening, isn’t it, Gustav-Sama?”

“It really is, Princess. And here you go.”

I handed Princess Leia a glass of champagne that the server had given me on the way.

“Thank you.”

Princess Leia drinks the champagne with a smile on her face. She must have been very thirsty, because she emptied the glass in one gulp.

“Phew, I feel a little calmer now.”

“The greeting queue didn’t stop at all, did it?”

“Yes, really…”

Then the princess huffed and turned away from me.

“I talked to Gustav-sama in a normal way…”

“I’m glad you did…”

“Wow, I’m still, you know… sorry…”

Sorry?

“No, because I… that time, when I was so immodest…”

“Immodest?”

When I asked, Princess Leia’s face turned red again and she slumped down.

…Oh, I see. I now understand why the Princess avoids me so much. Princess Leia is feeling embarrassed that she had an embarrassing confession battle and kissed me during battle and so on, but more than that… she’s feeling sorry that she forced me to kiss her, thinking that way… I see.

“–”

“–”

The two of us, for a while, were silently feeling the night breeze. Listening to the instrumental music leaking out from the Great Hall, I open my mouth in determination just as the song is about to change.

“Princess, are you tired?”

“No, thanks to you, I’ve already rested a lot.”

“I see… Then, Princess, would you like to dance with me to the next song?”

“Eh…”

The princess was surprised, but I took her hand before she could reply.

“Let’s dance, Princess.”

“But… I’ve never learnt to dance. With my eyes, I’m sure I’d step on Gustav-Sama’s foot…”

“Don’t worry. I’m the man who defeated the Demon King, remember? I can avoid that lightly.”

“Gustav-Sama, but…”

“Trust me, Princess.”

The princess laughed as if troubled, with her cheeks dyed.

“…Yes. Then please take care of me, Gustav-Sama. But you are a little pushy today, aren’t you?”

“Maybe so. Did you not like it?”

“No, no! Absolutely not!”

Me and the Princess return to the main hall as the new performance begins.

Wow! A surprised murmur filled the hall. With that, I could see people’s gazes quickly focus on us. Who the hell is that guy, taking the princess’ hand? More importantly, can the princess dance? Such questions seemed to be written on the faces of the nobles.

I put the princess’ hand on my own and escorted her to the center of the room. Then the two of us faced each other.

“Gustav-Sama, so how do I move on from here?”

“…No, to be honest, I don’t know either.”

“What? Gustav-Sama? Then-”

“I’ve never learned to dance before, and I’ve never danced with anyone before. Everything I’m going to do is just something I’m going to learn as I go along. But I think that’s fine. As long as we can dance to the music and enjoy ourselves, that’s all that matters.”

I put my hands around Princess’ waist and pulled her body closer to me.

“Please move your legs in time with my movements.”

“Ha, yes.”

I stepped out with small strides in time to the song, the Princess following one lagging tempo behind.

“Slowly at first, Princess.”

“Yes…”

Slowly, left and right, forward and backward, we repeat the same tempo of steps, like seaweed in the waves, or like butterflies in flight. The music drifted a gentle rhythm through the hall, as if to guide us.

“Princess, leave your body to me.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll escort you to the end, I’ll escort you forever.”

“…Yes!”

We both face each other and continue dancing. At first we could barely keep up with the music, but gradually we began to follow the waves of sound, moving our feet naturally. Through our joined hands we could tell which way each other was going. It was as if our hearts were connected… By that time, we were both one.

The expression on the princess’ face, who was struggling to get to her feet, has also somehow become radiant and full of smiles.

“Gustav-Sama!”

“Yes.”

“I’m having so much fun right now…!”

“Yes. Me too, Princess. I’m having so much fun too!”

The nobles who were watching us around them gradually began to dance in their own way again. The hall was filled with a gentle liveliness. The tempo of the performance gradually quickened. Everyone stepped freely, twirled around and around, and the scenery around them seemed to swirl. Me and Princess Leia continued to dance freely at the center of it all.

“Dancing was such fun!”

“Yes, it is!”

Princess Leia said happily with flushed cheeks. I was also happy to see such a princess, and nodded broadly.

“When I’m with Gustav-sama, I do a lot of things for the first time.”

“Me too. With the princess, every day is new.”

“Is that so, do I also enjoy Gustav-Sama?”

“Of course, Princess.”

We found ourselves in the middle of the room, surrounded by nobles dancing with their partners at will. Their bodies formed a wall, and the place where we were was like a small room separated from the rest of the room by a partition.

Now, my level has risen to 56 after defeating the Demon King. Now that I have such an outstanding status, it is no problem for me to check every movement of the people around me.

I don’t miss the moment when the attention of the nobles dancing around us completely slips away from us, and they become a complete wall, hiding us from the eyes of the crowd. I pull the princess’ body towards me, pulling closer until she is in my arms.

I took her lips.

“??”

At first, the princess stiffened in surprise… but then her body gradually relaxed. Then her arms also went around my back and hugged me tightly.

…It only lasted a few seconds. But it was still a wonderful and precious time for us.

We stepped slowly again, and gently let go of each other, as if we were regretting what we had left behind.

“Princess, I guess we’re even now.”

“…Yes.”

“Princess, I love you.”

“Me too. Gustav-Sama, I love you more than anyone…!”

Princess Leia finally looked up at me with her usual smile – no, she looked up at me with a more peaceful, dainty and happy expression than usual.

…Okay, I’m going to say it, I’m going to say it…! That word I never used in my previous life. That word that I thought was out of place in my life.

“Princess.”

“Yes.”

“I… am confident that I love you more than anyone else. I know it’s a bit of a fearful thing to say, but I’m sure I love you more than Your Majesty.”

I take a deep breath.

“Princess Leia, I want to make you happy. So…”

“–!”

“So, be with me… with me…”

“-… ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Gepf

Suddenly, with a thud! Something collided with me as if to knock me off my feet, and I fell from in front of Princess Leia to the side.

“What?

“Oh, I thought I bumped into someone, but it was Gustav… Oh no, I’m sorry, eh?”

Nina stuck her tongue out as she said this in a purposeful tone.

“Somehow, you were sneaking around in the middle of the room and I was suspicious, so I accidentally did it.”

Spera tilted her head with a blank expression, saying, ‘Teheheh.’

Apparently, the two of them were holding hands and dancing together, and they hit me with an excellent combination.

“Hey, you guys, I have something very important to say right now…!”

“Yes, it’s important, isn’t it? I think it’s important too! Then you should think about it a bit carefully!”

“Yes, I think so too. Experience is the key to everything, so I think it would be better to think about it after you try a night crawl on me first.”

While saying this, the two of them came closer and closer to me.

“Let’s dance for now, Gustav? You’ve danced with Leia enough already, haven’t you? Next is with me!”

“No, no, no, Nina. I’m next. I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, so I have plenty of experience in dancing. First of all, I will teach Gustav how to dance myself.”

“…You should go over there and let the old men take care of you…”

“What was that?”

“You guys… if you’re going to fight, do it over there…”

My voice, which I put out in frustration, however, doesn’t seem to reach the two people who are competing.

“…Everyone?”

Princess Leia stands behind them. She has an expressionless face that even gives the impression of cold-hearted beauty, so much so that the text [gogo-go-go-go-go-go] is visible floating behind her. …It was so powerful that even if someone said that it was the moment of the Demon King’s re-birth, I would almost believe it.

“What, Leia, you still want to dance? Then go dance with Spera.”

“No, Princess. The princess is good friends with Nina, and I’m sure it would be more fun to dance with Nina.”

Nina and Spela never learned their lesson and said things like that.

…Hey, hey, hey, stop, stop. The princess’ thunder is about to strike…? I was scared to death, but the princess retracted her power, which was comparable to that of a demon king, and smiled.

“──Let’s dance together, shall we?”

“”””Heh?”””

My voice, Nina’s and Spera’s, overlapped beautifully. The princess took Niña and Spera’s hands without waiting for us to reply. Naturally, I also took Nina and Spera’s free hand, and we formed a circle.

“This way we can all dance together, right?”

“Ehh?”

Princess Leia’s words are doubted with all her might by Nina, but however, a new play begins again. The princess begins to move naturally.

“This kind of thing is fun too!”

“Hey, Leia… damn it!”

“Fufufuf, this is certainly a lot of fun, this could be fun.”

We twirled around in a circle and danced. The princess, Nina and Spera, who were saying something like that, were all laughing happily in the end. They said how strange the dance was, that it was too unconventional, and laughed loudly, which is unthinkable at a party like this. But the nobles around her seemed to be amused and were cheering her on, and I’m sure they’ll forgive her.

In the middle of all this, the princess turned her head to me for a moment and said with her just moving her mouth.

─ ─ See you later.

…Later, huh? I’m a little disappointed…

But this is not the end of the time between me and the princess. I’m sure it will continue in the future. No, I’m going to keep trying to make that happen.

…So it’s not a bad idea to spend this day with the usual four of us together and have the most enjoyable night ever.

We’re going to dance the night off to our hearts’ content, peaceful and wonderfully happy.

~ [Prototype version Part 1] Complete~.