High Society Debut (2)
Several weeks had passed since the day I'd wanted to bonk her one on the head.
These days, the grand estate of the Founding Noble saw nothing but one busy day after another. To put it precisely, though, only Irelphi and I were the busy ones.
We were in a spacious room, each attending to our own business. On Irelphi's desk, a mountain of documents loomed with magnificent presence. Every so often, mid-task, she would glance my way with a look that said pathetic, then turn her eyes back to her work.
I had a fair idea of why her gaze was so frosty.
Creak, creak.
"Eek!? Wh-what is happening? That is a sound that should never come from Marquis Alteon's hips...!"
The woman whose hands were clasped in mine cried out in horror. She was a baron's daughter named Emma, employed as a maid. At my request, Emma was currently helping me practice dancing.
Screeeech!
Suddenly my shoes skidded hard, and down I went, sprawling across the floor. A catastrophe had struck during the turning sequence of the dance.
"Marquis Alteon! Are you alright?"
"Ahem. I'm quite alright."
A jolt of pain shot from my lower spine all the way up to my neck, but I bore it with grace.
"It's because I failed to teach you properly!"
"Oh no, the fault is mostly mine. Indeed it is."
In fact, Emma boasted considerable expertise in dance. Even Irelphi acknowledged as much — which was the sole reason Emma was here at all.
But Emma spared no effort in putting herself down.
"I have no right to teach anyone. Someone like me is only fit for menial chores!"
"That's not true, Emma. Let's give it our all for our shared goal. Fighting!"
Refusing to give up, I held my hand out to Emma. The moment our eyes met, her feelings came through loud and clear.
'Have I fallen into an endless hell...? How much longer must I repeat this hour?'
Emma was without a doubt thinking exactly that. But I had no intention of letting her off. I never assigned her any real work otherwise, so my conscience carried no debt.
"Come, come. One-two. One-two. Nngh."
Creak, creak.
'So even Nethionpiece's body can't help creaking when it dances.'
From a body that couldn't die even if it wanted to came the sound of a rusted machine barely grinding along. A true marvel of nature.
No doubt the fault lay with Irelphi, who had once severed my pelvis. I shot a pointed glare at Irelphi as she worked.
And in the midst of it all, I accidentally stomped on Emma's foot.
"Huaaaah! Marquis, it's all my fault! Have I displeased you somehow? If so, I'll mend my ways at once, so please, please forgive meeee..."
"There's no need to take it that far!?"
I protested, dumbfounded. Emma, past all ability to answer, only sniffled.
Unable to watch any longer, Irelphi cut in with a grand sigh.
"Nepi, you truly cannot dance. Frankly, your sense of it is annihilating."
"Hey! I'm hardly deserving of that kind of abuse!"
I didn't think I was that hopeless, yet something was clearly off. Irelphi and Emma stared at me with eyes demanding to know where I'd sold my conscience.
"Good work. I see no prospect of further progress, so you're free to go."
"Thank you, Marchioness Justiha! Thank you so very much! Thank you!"
Having thanked Irelphi several times over, Emma bolted from the room like an arrow. All that fuss over a few noises from my hips — I thought she was overreacting.
Wasn't the human body, by its very design, supposed to make noises when it danced?
"Let me concede one thing before we move on. Nepi must never, under any circumstances, take another person's hand."
"There's no way that's true!"
"Oh, but it is. It is a stern reality. No human being in this world can withstand your dancing."
"It's not! It's not true..."
To my desperate denial, Irelphi drew near with a light cough. Then, donning a haughty expression, she extended her hand to me.
"Consider it your good fortune. The only woman on the face of this earth capable of accepting you stands before your very eyes."
"Don't tell me you actually know how to dance?"
"Didn't I tell you? For all my appearance, I am a woman who has completed her debutante season. Of course I know."
"R-right. You did."
Seeing nothing but Irelphi in her uniform, day in and day out, it was a fact I kept forgetting. She clasped my hand with aplomb and declared, with grim resolve:
"I cannot correct your posture. But there is a method available to us precisely because I am Irelphi and you are Nepi."
"Oho, is that really true?"
"Yes."
In that instant, the corner of Irelphi's haughty mouth lifted, ever so slightly. I stared blankly at the sight for a moment. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had ever seen Irelphi's face from such close range.
Just as I was about to sink into sentiment, Irelphi's body surged into motion.
"I-Irelphi?"
I called her name, bewilderment dripping from every syllable. What came out of her mouth next was a wonder to behold.
"With brute force, I will lead you. Unilaterally, from my end. Whether you keep up or not is of no concern — I. Will. Make. You. Keep. Up. Whether. You. Like. It. Or. Not."
"Uwaah, uuooooh!?"
And so began the first dance between Irelphi and me. My center of gravity was dragged about as though toyed with by her, and my feet moved without mercy, obeying her every guidance.
"It's a method possible only with our respective physical capabilities. Nepi in particular can have his joints wrenched by my strength and keep playing along without limit. So at the banquet as well, kindly refuse all dance requests from any woman who isn't me."
"That's unfair!"
"It is not unfair in the slightest."
Truth be told, I'd been harboring a little hope. Nethionpiece's face, which had offered me nothing but sinister impressions, had unexpectedly been rated as passably handsome.
Of course, I'd never heard it from anyone but Charle... but Charle wasn't the type to spout flattery. Because she couldn't stand me.
And so I'd been dreaming a rosy dream of receiving quite a few dance requests — all of it now come to nothing.
'Even outside the Great Cavern, happiness eludes me...'
Seeing my grave expression, Irelphi offered a remark.
"Phew. Consider it an honor. You are receiving the first and last dance I shall ever officially perform."
"What? But you said you had a debutante season... Whoooah!?"
Just then we plunged abruptly into a turning sequence, and I bit clean through my tongue. It regenerated in moments, but the instant of biting still hurts.
"Well, far too many people offered me their hands. The other young ladies couldn't get so much as a glance, so I simply removed myself to the terrace."
"You're genuinely insufferable, uwaaah!"
Strange. The turning sequence shouldn't have been now, should it? Irelphi wore a guileless face, as if to ask what was strange about it.
I must be misremembering. I had to be.
"I was a debutante who took a truly impressive amount of flak for my terrible personality. For a good few years, it was bandied about like legend. Once I joined the Knights and stopped attending banquets, it gradually died down."
"You really are hopelessly proper. You could have just snatched up anyone and danced half-heartedly."
"That wouldn't have been fair to everyone else. And had I done so, wouldn't the man I danced with have drawn quite a share of jealousy?"
"You... you...!"
Irelphi's peculiar personality kept unearthing new strata the deeper I dug. Unable to continue, I grumbled inwardly.
'This girl is a princess beyond all reason. And worse — she knows exactly how powerful she is, which makes it so much worse!'
I began to wonder whether she secretly relished nicknames like Lake of the Moon or White-Blade Beauty. She was unbothered enough to make me think so.
"I knew you were bold about everything... but you really are the Lake of the Moon, huh."
"Mrrph!"
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt a curious sensation of hang time. Below me, Irelphi's flushed cheeks came into view. Before long, everything in my sight was whirling.
'One... two... a triple axel!?'
Landing back on solid ground, I was once more seized by Irelphi's hand and led along.
"Quiet! Honestly, who would even come up with such nicknames..."
"Heh..."
I let a low hum slip out as I watched Irelphi grumble.
Just then, Irelphi was gazing up at me from close range. Studying her intently, I felt I understood it anew.
Her rippling white hair seemed steeped in pale moonlight, and her jewel-like blue eyes were as limpid as a lake at rest. She herself cared nothing for it, but it was a fitting epithet all the same.
The dance — into which Irelphi had poured a generous helping of her private feelings midway through — soon drew to a close. She remained as radiant as ever, while I was mentally spent.
"Let's give it our best on the day itself, roughly in this fashion."
"You're planning a triple axel on the day too?"
"Triple... what is that? In any case, you're more or less tolerable. Just kindly refrain from shrieking."
It was a monstrously unreasonable demand, but my answer was already decided.
"... Fine."
Whether my answer pleased her or not, Irelphi looked satisfied.
"Good. Then shall we go once more, gentleman?"
"I would really rather not, lady."
"Your right of refusal?"
"... None."
Meanwhile, a servant in a tailcoat happened to be passing by the door.
When I signaled to him with my eyes in desperate appeal, the servant answered with a thumbs-up. Then he quietly drew the door shut for us, winked, and sauntered away without a care.
A jaunty hum reached my superhuman hearing. What on earth that servant had concluded — and by what logic — I didn't even want to know.
The abuse that had begun under the pretext of being 'for my own good' finally drew to a close after the lunch hour. Irelphi gathered up the mountain of macarons she'd ordered in advance and marched herself back into the swamp of paperwork.
Truly, "the Iron Lady" was a title made for this woman.
The next day, Irelphi and I had to endure the servants' meaningful glances. Not that Irelphi noticed in the slightest.
My days, so full of hardship, crawled by at a snail's pace. And as I spent each one with a churning stomach, the day of the banquet at Duke Peita's estate finally arrived.
Irelphi asked, by way of a final check.
"How are you feeling?"
"Nervous... haha."
I laughed it off with a hearty guffaw and looked out of the carriage. Watching the scenery drift past, I prayed Duke Peita's estate would hold off from appearing for as long as possible.
"Do you? You look quite the part, I must say — perhaps because you're a noble."
"I did put some effort into my attire."
Irelphi, for her part, was still in her usual Nelprugia Knights commander's uniform. Supple fabric of purest white, with a pattern like an embroidered night sky glimmering faintly across it. The silver-white ceremonial sword draped across her shoulder swayed gently.
I, on the other hand, wore a formal suit of black and gray, shirt aside. Every time my fingers brushed its surface, the soft, velvety texture felt pleasant.
"Nepi, you're bound to draw a great deal of attention."
"I suppose I will?"
"For the most part I'll leave the talking to your improvisation, but if anything feels ambiguous, signal me with your eyes."
"Good. That's reassuring."
"And one more thing... you shall perform the dance we drilled specially for today."
Irelphi said playfully. I fired back with confidence.
"As long as there's no triple axel, I'm more than ready."
"Triple... I don't know what that is, but I'll lead you splendidly, so don't worry."
Our conversation rolled on and on. Everything from persons to watch out for to proper and improper conduct passed between us, among many other topics. And somewhere in the midst of it all, the view beyond the carriage windows had become the grounds of Duke Peita's estate.
"Get out. ...No — please, do get out."
"Honestly..."
I alighted first and bowed to offer Irelphi my hand. Once she had fully stepped down, I offered my arm and escorted her.
The instant she hooked her arm through mine and leaned on me, goosebumps crawled over my entire body. What leaned against my side was the strongest monster in the world.
I had no way of knowing whether I looked cowed or composed. And so, I brainwashed myself.
'I am a rock. I am a tree. I am water.'
A man in a suit escorting a woman in uniform must have been quite the spectacle. The various remarks drifting over from our surroundings confirmed it.
We advanced toward the estate's banquet hall. Two private soldiers stood sentry before the massive doors.
I drew the invitation from my breast pocket and presented it. The doorman scrutinized it with meticulous care, then proclaimed in a resounding voice:
"Announcing the entrance of Marchioness Irelphi Justiha, and Marquis Nepi Alteon!"
The moment the doors opened, every eye in the hall swung toward us. Some wore looks of intrigue; others shot daggers of jealousy. Most of those gazes were laced with disbelief.
If anything, their hostility only stoked my contrariness, and I clamped an iron plate over my face. I met the unfriendly stares head-on and kept an unruffled smile on my lips.
Irelphi whispered, pitched so that only I could hear.
"That's a good look on you. Just keep doing exactly that."
"Don't mention it."
Watching the crowd encircle us, I found myself thinking of donuts. People curious enough to drink us in with their eyes ringed us round, yet none of them actually approached, leaving a vacant band of space all around.
With neither Irelphi nor I looking like we belonged in high society, people seemed to find it difficult to strike up a conversation with us.
I was still pondering what to do first when the crowd split in two, parting like the miracle of Moses. The figure walking slowly toward us through the parted sea was a middle-aged man.
"I am Troph Peita. I'm grateful you accepted my invitation."
"Duke Peita, I presume. I am Nepi Alteon, and this is Marchioness Irelphi Justiha."
I looked up at Duke Peita. He stood a good head taller than I, with a sturdy frame like that of a well-drilled knight.
Above all, what stamped itself on my memory was the eyepatch covering his right eye. His sense of distance must have suffered for it, and yet the hand he extended for a handshake was utterly without hesitation.
"Hehaha. I do hope... you find the banquet enjoyable."
With those words, Duke Peita made for the dais. The onlookers who had been watching us sank into a solemn hush, and that stillness felt like the eve of a storm.
The banquet hall soon buzzed back to life as though nothing had happened. It was then that Irelphi ambushed me with a question.
"Nepi? What's the matter?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Your expression... seems rather dark, somehow."
At her words, my hand drifted instinctively toward my cheek — as though to iron out a crumpled expression with my palm.
"It's nothing. Yeah... nothing at all."
I gave Irelphi a faint smile. Setting my unease aside, I offered her my arm once more.
The long night was only just beginning.