The Welcome Banquet (3)
“I-I'm sorry, but I think I need to stop.”
Yosef, who had been dancing passionately with Kiera, suddenly broke off the dance and clamped a hand over his mouth.
“I-I'm dizzy. Excuse me, I need to visit the restroom! Ulp!”
“Go ahead.”
Kiera watched Yosef's retreating back for a moment as he scurried away.
He'd been drinking far too heavily with Prince Edward earlier, and it seemed the bill had finally come due.
Kiera reluctantly stepped off the dance floor.
“Care for a drink?”
A passing maid offered her a glass of wine.
Kiera took the glass and waited for Yosef to return.
But when Yosef came back from the restroom, he didn't come to her. Instead, the moment Prince Edward called out to him from across the hall, he bolted straight for the prince.
“Yosef! Didn't you say you'd dance one more and be right back! Don't tell me you're fleeing! Hic! If so, then declare your defeat at once!”
“What are you talking about? I'm right here in front of you! I can still hold my liquor! Let's begin round two immediately!”
And with that, he plopped down in a chair and began downing drinks with Prince Edward, back and forth, at a furious pace.
Kiera crossed her arms and stared at him with disdain.
Stupid bastard…
She clicked her tongue at how nothing was going her way, and turned her gaze elsewhere.
Then she looked for Maru—but he wasn't where he'd been standing just moments ago.
Where did he go?
As she glanced around, the hall suddenly erupted into a commotion.
“Whoa, the Princess has arrived!”
“I've been waiting for this moment all night! But who's the man escorting Her Highness? Ah, is that the newly appointed Guardian of the Royal Banner I've heard about?”
“They're both absolutely stunning!”
Following the crowd's collective gaze, Kiera looked toward the center of the hall.
Her face promptly hardened.
Maru, impeccably dressed, was about to begin a dance with the princess at the very center of the ballroom.
That woman again…!
Kiera's fist slowly clenched.
If Maru had been standing with some woman beneath her, her heart wouldn't have wavered like this.
But that woman had everything—the status of a princess, and beauty to match.
Money, power, a dazzling pedigree. Everything Kiera craved.
Maru, keeping company with a woman like that. It wasn't quite jealousy—more like a sour, petty irritation rising up for no good reason.
I want to pull them apart.
Should she try seducing Maru a little more earnestly?
Not that she had any intention of taking responsibility afterward, of course.
She only wanted to isolate him.
Lonely, desolate, and poor—just like before.
That was the life Kiera wanted for Maru.
“Your ready stance is quite good.”
“Did you assume I couldn't dance?”
“I take it you've danced a great deal?”
“Not a great deal. Just a little?”
Maru stood with one hand clasped in Audrite's, his other arm wrapped around her slender waist.
Just before the dance properly began, he tightened his arm and drew her waist firmly against him.
“Uh, aah.”
Audrite was pulled lightly into him until their bodies were pressed completely together—close enough that her full, generous bosom was crushing against his chest.
“A-aren't we a bit too close?”
“That's how you dance properly.”
“My my. That confident, are you?”
“You'll see.”
Soon the two of them counted off—two, three—and let their bodies flow with the music.
Moving in perfect harmony to the lively tempo, the pair commanded the attention of everyone in the banquet hall.
Even the couples dancing around them paused mid-step to watch Maru and Audrite.
Gasps of admiration and applause rang out from all sides.
Are you watching, Kiera? THIS is what dancing is.
Maru had always held a firm conviction about the social dances of the nobility.
The point wasn't to make yourself shine—it was to make your partner shine.
And when she did, you couldn't help but glow alongside her.
A dance is only good when your partner enjoys it. Never at your partner's expense.
But his mother had despised that philosophy of his.
Her complaint was that the prince failed to shine while the daughters of noble houses—his partners—stealed the spotlight.
“Wherever you are, it must be you who outshines everyone.”
“But I find it far more entertaining to watch others delight in it.”
“Caring for others is work for the Hero. You are the one who must one day lead this kingdom. The Hero has companions to the very end of his adventure, but a king's adventure is longer than any Hero's. When you grow old and frail, your vassals will covet the throne. To guard it until your dying breath, you need peerless charisma. The only answer is to be feared like a terrifying deity whom no one would ever dare to challenge.”
…That was the long-winded lecture she'd delivered. But Maru knew what was really in his mother's heart.
Perhaps she simply hated the sight of her son giggling and dancing with young noble ladies.
Perhaps it felt like losing her beloved son, and that was why the scolding hadn't quite sounded like one.
“Well, well. I've never seen our princess so delighted in all my days.”
The King stroked his beard, watching Maru and Audrite with a warm, contented smile.
In all his years, he had often seen the princess dance—but never had she shone like this, never had she smiled so radiantly.
“Maru is no ordinary fellow, I'll say that much.”
The Queen, seated beside him, nodded as if in agreement.
“He complements our Audrey beautifully. The man's dancing skill is truly extraordinary.”
“He must have learned from the very best somewhere. Well, dancing is always ladies first, after all. Ho ho.”
The music swelled louder, and the two dancers moved faster and faster.
A smile of pure wonder played on Audrite's lips.
“My body feels so light. As if I'm floating in the sky. Aren't you leading me a little too well?”
“I'm simply doing what I was taught.”
“I'm impressed. When did you learn to dance?”
“As a child. I practiced alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
Audrite, who had been dancing three paces apart from him, spun in a graceful circle and in a single motion slipped into Maru's arms.
Then she stretched both arms up and wrapped them around the back of his neck.
The onlookers nearly fainted—it looked for all the world as though the two were about to kiss.
“Wh-what! No—surely not!?”
“Could the two of you perhaps be… lovers?”
“N-no! Impossible!”
“Your Highness! This is a banquet hall!”
But Audrite stopped at precisely the distance where their lips would all but brush, and gazed up at Maru with unwavering eyes.
“…Just how many women have you charmed with a dance you learned all by yourself?”
She genuinely wanted to know; her expression was surprisingly earnest.
In answer, Maru flashed a proud smile.
“One. And that one is you.”
“Don't be ridiculous.”
She burst into bright laughter and gave his chest a playful thump.
Then she drew away from him and continued the dance.
The moment the two separated, the male nobles who'd been watching with bated breath each let out a long sigh of relief.
“Good heavens, I thought the whole kingdom was about to be turned upside down.”
“Of course not. You think His Highness would matchmake his own daughter with a retainer?”
“Hm? But I'm going to marry the Princess someday.”
“You? Hahaha. Go get reborn first. And fix that face while you're at it.”
Among the women, meanwhile, Maru was the talk of the hall—age be damned.
“Look at Her Highness. She looks absolutely thrilled.”
“Isn't her partner's dancing magnificent? I think he dances better than our own dance instructor.”
“Those long, straight legs of his—just look at them. Why are they SO long? I want to touch them.”
“I want to dance with him too. He seems like the type who'd cherish you.”
Nearby, Kiera—who had been watching Maru this whole time—was looking distinctly unwell.
“……”
The wineglass in her hand was completely crushed.
It could no longer be called a wineglass at all.
It was a badly mangled hunk of scrap metal.
Kiera hurled the thing to the floor, turned on her heel, and walked out of the banquet hall.
She never came back.
At that very moment, Natalie—one of the Hero's party—was outside.
“Forcing me to come all the way out here for a smoke. Great booze, but what a pain in the ass of a kingdom.”
The night was dark, but bonfires blazed here and there, casting a bright glow over the surroundings.
She moved to a secluded corner, then fished a cigarette made of Paradise Grass out of her pouch.
“Damn it, only three left.”
Grumbling about how much of a pain in the ass the Kingdom of Vasilite was for regulating Paradise Grass, she snatched a torch off the wall and lit the cigarette with it.
She took a long, deep drag, then exhaled the smoke through her nose.
“Haaa~”
A euphoric sensation spread through her body, just like the smoke dispersing into the night air.
“Hoo~ now THAT'S the stuff. Booze and a smoke together? Kills me, it does.”
The ultimate pleasure surged through every inch of her, and her vision began to swim.
“Heheh…”
Her eyes had gone completely glazed.
Visions surfaced in her mind's eye—herself surrounded by hulking, muscular men, being ravished—and she giggled like she'd lost her mind.
Then, all at once, the stone wall in front of her began to look like a monster.
“You… you there… stand still… fuckin'… I'll catch you… demon… HIC!”
Natalie staggered toward the wall, then suddenly picked up speed and slammed into it with tremendous force.
THUD!
A hole punched clean through the wall, and her head jammed straight into it.
Some time later…
A servant who happened to be passing by spotted Natalie's enormous, bronze-toned rear end sticking out of the shattered wall and fell over backward in shock.
Looking closer, he realized a person was embedded in the broken masonry and rushed over to pull her head free.
“I say there! A-are you quite all right?!”
“Snnnrrkh… feels so good… uhihihi…”
Without a single scratch on her, she had drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware of the world around her.