A Ball for Two
A Ball for Two
Even though this was the first time she had ever been away from the Imperial Guard, she remained so composed that I wanted to compliment her for it.
However, the current situation was far too urgent for leisurely small talk.
Because the enemy was now so close that their footsteps could be heard even without straining one's ears.
"Your Highness. It won't be long before they barge in here."
Celvia looked at the door and nodded.
"Yeah. I know."
"Then, when they open the door, could you fire your gun twice into the ceiling?"
"...The ceiling?"
Not the enemy? Celvia glanced back at me with a puzzled look, but I was quite serious.
"It doesn't have to be the ceiling specifically. The point is to make the sound of gunfire."
"Why on earth... no, fine. Understood."
Celvia seemed to grasp the urgency and didn't argue further.
Tak-tak-tak─
At that moment, the sound of them moving at a brisk pace rang in my ears.
As we waited with bated breath, the sound of the door hinges turning joined in.
"I'll start."
Realizing the door had opened, Celvia pulled the trigger twice as I had instructed.
In the dark living room, flashes of light burst, and deafening gunshots rang out.
Thanks to that, the footsteps of the agents who had been about to enter fled back outside.
Silence followed.
They were probably pressed against the corridor walls, discussing with hand signals how to handle this situation.
'More precisely, they were discussing how to kill us.'
Since they had caused a spectacular commotion in the banquet hall, there was no way they would escape the Empire.
That meant their mission was not to kidnap the princess, but to kill her.
But from the agents' perspective, there was no way they could know exactly where the princess was hiding.
They would have panicked at the gunfire the moment they opened the door and stumbled backward.
Behind the sofa? Behind the bookshelf? Under the desk? Or had it been fired from another room through an open door? All sorts of speculation were sure to swirl.
Normally, such speculation ends with a grenade.
Because it's standard practice to toss a grenade toward where you think the enemy is and see the reaction.
That was exactly the moment I was aiming for.
As I swallowed dryly and focused my nerves.
Ttalgak─
The sound of the grenade's safety pin being pulled tickled my ear.
I immediately accelerated my nerves, rose from my position, and drew my revolver.
Beyond the door, an agent about to toss the grenade toward us looked like a slow-motion image.
I could not fail. Holding my breath, I carefully aimed at the grenade and pulled the trigger.
The gunpowder ignited, the bullet flew, and the world returned to its normal speed.
Kwang─!
The grenade, struck by the bullet, exploded, sending shrapnel flying in all directions.
"Aargh!"
"Urk!"
The agents, struck directly by shrapnel, broke the silence with screams.
Since I had just finished nerve acceleration, I felt like I might vomit, but I couldn't miss an opportunity like this.
"Your Highness."
"Got it!"
As I stepped into the corridor with Celvia, an agent still breathing drew a pistol from his chest.
Before I could deal with him, Celvia pulled the trigger first.
Tang!
The agent, a bullet lodged in his forehead, let out a keok sound as his dying breath, then obediently dropped his head.
Relieved, I looked around and saw that all the other agents were sprawled out, corpses.
We had taken out eight agents in an instant, but we still couldn't feel at ease.
"Your Highness. Other agents who heard the gunfire will swarm here. There's no way they deployed only eight men for a mission like this."
"Then we must escape this place as quickly..."
No. Too late. Footsteps were already approaching again from the central staircase.
─ Upstairs! The Empire's princess is upstairs!
─ Have everyone gather! Shoot on sight!
─ It's the top floor of the hotel! Block them from escaping!
My breathing grew ragged from tension. Cruelly, the only one I could count on now was Celvia.
"This way!"
I grabbed Celvia's wrist and sprinted blindly toward the end of the corridor.
Though startled, Celvia ran with me and shouted.
"Daniel! That's a dead end!"
"It's not a dead end! The wall is made of glass, isn't it!"
"What on earth does that...!"
Celvia, realizing my intention, recoiled, her eyes wide.
"Are you saying we'll jump through it and fall?!"
"Yes! The stairs and elevator are likely occupied by them, so this is the only way!"
"What kind of stupid...! Suicide is not a plan!"
Frustrating. I turned to Celvia and spoke.
"Your Highness, can't you use space movement magic!"
"How can I... No! It's not perfect! It only works within line of sight!"
"I see! Fortunately, this is the top floor of the hotel!"
Whether the situation was absurd or I was crazy, I didn't know, but a laugh escaped me.
Running, I raised my revolver and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
Three bullets embedded in the reinforced glass, creating cracks.
At the same time, agents from the central staircase yelled.
"There they are!"
"Open fire! Orders from above say we can kill!"
I kicked off the floor, leaped, and crashed into the glass wall.
Kwajangchang! The glass wall shattered into pieces, scattering everywhere.
Celvia, holding my hand, also soared beautifully amid the glass shards.
However, gliding through the sky lasted only an instant.
"Heuk!"
Unable to overcome gravity, we soon began to plummet toward the ground.
As the wind whipped through hair and uniforms, the hem of Celvia's dress fluttered like a flag. It was white.
"Your Highness!"
At my shout to snap out of it, Celvia, who had been dazed, took a deep breath and nodded.
Taking in the real-time approaching scenery of Old Town, Celvia chanted a brief spell.
Immediately after, Celvia and I were enveloped in pure white light.
*
When I opened my eyes, Celvia and I were still in midair.
But the ground was close.
I pulled Celvia into my arms and fell to the floor, landing on my shoulder.
"......!"
My body jerked, and a stinging pain was felt, but it was bearable.
Before the pain even subsided, I looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that no one was there.
All I could see were broken vinyl records and shattered furniture.
It looked like a collection point for discarded household items.
"Augh...."
Celvia, squirming in my arms, raised her upper body.
Perhaps because she had just used space movement magic, she seemed to feel dizzy.
But soon she regained composure and looked at me.
"...Are you all right?"
It was surprising. I thought she would ask first whether we had succeeded in escaping.
"Yes. I'm fine."
I pushed myself up off the floor with my hands.
As I looked down at Celvia sitting on the floor, she was a mess.
Not only was her neatly combed hair disheveled, but her luxurious evening dress was a wreck, stained with dust and blood.
Ironically, despite all that, her sapphire earrings and necklace gleamed intact under the moonlight.
...Huh? Moonlight?
When I lifted my gaze upward, the ceiling had collapsed, leaving a gaping hole.
So wide open that the stars, thickly scattered across the sky, were clearly visible.
Had she picked just anywhere to hide in her haste?
Thinking that she'd chosen well, I reached out a hand toward Celvia.
"Please get up. The floor is cold."
Celvia nodded, took my hand, and stood.
I leaned forward slightly to check Celvia's condition.
"Are you injured anywhere?"
"No. Fortunately, I'm not... Wait."
Blushing, Celvia pushed my torso away.
Her tightly shut eyes held a hint of peculiar irritation.
"Don't you think you get a little too close sometimes?"
"...I was only worried about Your Highness's safety."
"I know. I know, but... Hah. Fine. More importantly, are we safe now?"
"We should be. They won't be able to track us to the place we escaped to via spatial movement."
Even if it were possible, the Imperial Guard would arrive first.
Since the Imperial Guard would have been dispatched immediately after the etherium shift grenade went off, they would have already entered Old Town by now.
Celvia must have thought so too, as she nodded once and moved away from me.
After that, an awkward atmosphere settled between us.
When the situation had been desperate, we had traded jokes and talked, but now that it was resolved, an inexplicable awkwardness had taken its place between us.
Moreover, the unconscious thought that 'the closer I get to Celvia, the further I might stray from discharge' pervaded my mind, making it even harder to show familiarity.
In the first place, I couldn't casually strike up conversation with the princess, one of the most noble figures in the Empire, either.
So as we were killing time until the Imperial Guard arrived, Celvia carefully spoke up.
"...Daniel. Do you know how to dance, by any chance?"
Dance? I shook my head.
"I've only watched over someone's shoulder, never properly danced. As you know, I'm an orphan, so I'm not well-versed in social graces like dancing. But why do you suddenly ask?"
"Just because. I thought dancing would be better than idly passing the time. There's still time left until the banquet ends, after all."
Come to think of it, that wasn't wrong.
The banquet would end at midnight.
"Your Highness. My desire to accompany you is burning like a chimney, but my skill is so lowly...."
"I'll teach you. It's not that hard."
Mm. If she put it that way, I couldn't refuse.
"Then I shall receive your instruction."
"Good."
Celvia approached and took my hand.
"Follow my lead."
Saying so, she lifted my hand at an angle and stepped.
Perhaps out of consideration for a beginner like me, it was quite slow, but I still struggled to keep up.
So when my feet got tangled a few times and I stumbled awkwardly, Celvia burst out laughing, unable to hold back.
I felt embarrassed for no reason.
"...Didn't I say I couldn't?"
"You'll get better with practice. Come on, again."
Celvia moved her feet again, and my feet followed hers.
After repeating the movements several times, I was now somewhat able to mimic her.
Clumsy though it was, something resembling a dance had taken shape.
Thus, as we danced under the moonlight, the sound of a helicopter came from afar.
"Your Highness. The Imperial Guard..."
"Don't stop."
I, who was about to say it wasn't the time for childish whims, hesitated.
Because Celvia was smiling subtly, as if enjoying herself.
It was completely different from the expressionless way she had danced in the banquet hall.
For some reason, I didn't want to ruin her enjoyment.
So I kept moving my feet clumsily, and the ensuing dance steps became a circular motion, adorning the end of the waltz.
As I stood dazed that we had danced the waltz to the end, Celvia let go of my hand and looked at me.
"Remember this. You should at least be able to dance this much so you won't be scorned anywhere."
While I stood there unable to give a proper reply, the helicopter sound that had been circling the sky grew closer, and the propeller noise now came from directly above.
"Your Highness the Princess!"
At the sudden shout, I looked up to see an old soldier, near sixty, standing armed at the helicopter's boarding entrance.
The veteran hurriedly pulled out the radio slung over his shoulder and pressed the transmit button.
"Headquarters! This is the Old Town Alter Markt 87th Street waste collection point! We have located Her Highness the Princess and Captain Daniel! Both are unharmed except for minor injuries! Send support here immediately! I repeat! This is Old Town...."
Realizing that we had truly made it out alive, I felt the tension release.
As we both breathed a sigh of relief, Celvia's and my eyes naturally met in midair.
We stayed still for a moment, then without anyone prompting, we let out a silly laugh.
It was the end of spring.