The Life of Maria Lewellin - Chapter 22

“So I need your help. A year, no, a few months is fine, I just want to buy time.”

“…….”

I have a chance to decline now. If I tell him that I’m going to make a mess in the ball, he’ll give up.

But.

The adventurous spirit hidden inside me wriggled and raised its head.

I still don’t know why I opened my eyes in this world or how I could get back.

Since this can only happen once in a lifetime, wouldn’t it be okay to live like this? If you think about it, being able to talk to the animals itself is far from normal.

Abandoning the old me and feeling anew.

Alright. Then.

“Okay.”

“…..!”

A look of surprise struck Ains’ face. I grinned at him.

“I’ll accept the proposal.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but I have some conditions.”

Being adventurous is fine, but I hate being reckless. I needed to have atleast a minimum of solid defense since I’m reluctant to be subjected to the jealousy of women, or to the political struggle.

“What are the conditions?”

“If I’m in your fiancee candidate’s shoes, I’d be very upset to see your highness dance with another woman in front of my eyes. If she found out about my identity, she may feel contenpt towards me as well. So give me strength. Unless you’re just planning to use me as a prey for the young ladies and say you don’t know.”

“……….”

What? Why are you silent now? Are you really planning to do that? Look at this guy.

I’m glad I threw it in advance. I was about to say, “Let’s just pretend that this didn’t happen” but I heard a calm voice.

“Alright.”

I narrowed my eyes at Ains.

“Really?”

“Yes, I was actually thinking about that as well.”

I couldn’t tell if he’s lying or not because there was no change in his expression.

“But why didn’t you answer right away?”

“I was just a little surprised. I didn’t know that you will point that out first.”

You thought I said yes without thinking? What do you think I am?

“Well, so you have the power to protect me?”

“Yes. No one will mess with you.”

‘Are you sure? ‘

-was what I was about to say, but swallowed my voice. For now, I had no choice but to believe what Ains said.

“Then let’s start right now. Because we don’t have much time.”

“Yes. What should I do?”

“I’ll assign someone to teach you how to dance. You have 10 days of before you attend the ball with me… No, you have to master it perfectly within a week.”

Seriously?

“Isn’t a week is too short?”

“I don’t think you’d be that stupid.”

Oh, look at that provocation. What if I told you I wouldn’t?

“Okay, I’ll try. Instead, I hope you don’t blame me if you don’t became as good as you expect.”

“……good. Or how about this?”

“What? “

“What if I pay you separately for this new job I gave you? However, depending on the result, I’ll pay differently.”

“That would be nice for me.”

It was a proposal that I had no reason to refuse in my part. But I smiled and said to Ains, thinking that it would be better to make sure of everthing.

“Wouldn’t it be better to write a contract this time?”

“If you want.”

Hmm that’s a good.

So I drew up another contract, and from that day on, dance classes were added to my schedule.

Little did I know, It was just the beginning of a rough road I’m about to take.

Life is spectacular. There are times when things go as smoothly as I wish, but sometimes they are driven in a direction that is completely unexpected.

And now, I was enjoying the ‘goodness of life’ properly. As soon as I turn around, a high-pitched voice hit my ears.

“Turn, turn. Turn around! That’s right! “

I eyes are spinning. Well obviously, it was my body that was spinning, so the scenery in the room felt like it’s spinning.

“That’s right! Right! Right! And pose!”

At last, my body stopped. At the same time, I let go of Cecil’s hand and almost sank into my place.

“Hah… Hah… “

I burst out, breathing heavily like wild horses galloping through the fields. I twisted my torso and walked up to the table and tilted the pitcher against the glass.

I was able to get my head back when I emptied a glass of water in one gulp.

[Sister, are you okay?]

Ruri, who was sitting next to the tray, asked anxiously. I told her that she can go out and play earlier, but Ruri refuced and she watched me practice dancing instead.

[Yes. I’m fine.]

[Your face is red.]

[Because it’s hot. I’m alright, so don’t worry.]

[Yes. Please cheer up a little more! You did a good job this time! You almost made no mistakes!]

[Really? Thank you, Ruri.]

I drank another glass of water and went back to where I was earlier. Cecil who seemed to be waiting for me started nagging me.

“No matter how much I think about it, Maria is too weak. You shouldn’t be so exhausted by just dancing five times.”

“…..”

I had a lot of things to say, but I swallowed them.

Cecil looks fine, even though she did the same dance as I did. Far from having a hard time, her breathing seems to be stable.

“Now, shall we start again?”

The word “no” filled my throat, but I wasn’t in a situation to say that. Cecil was already in a starting position.

Haaaah.

After a long sigh, I clenched my teeth and took Cecil’s hand.

“Spin, spin, spin!”

How nice would it be to be able to turn back time? A whirlwind of regret filled the air.

Three days ago.

As promised, Ains and I wrote a contract agreement. And then 30 minutes later?

The door opened with a knock, and a tall, slender woman came in. It was Madam Cecil Francois, the dance teacher whom Ains assigned to me.

“I’ve never danced before.”

“It’s okay. I’ll teach you.”

So I thought it was really fine. Her confident attitude was enough to inspire me, so I trusted Cecil’s teaching skills.

That’s the beginning of the road of my rigorous training. Cecil was very strict and harsh. She didn’t tolerate a single mistake, and pursued perfection by checking every step of my foot, eye-contact, and facial expression.

Classes are twice a day.

Twice a day made sense, which is a huge amount of time already. By the time that we finished, the sky has turned yellow already.

It was crazy hard, but I endured this vicious special practice. I also have a desire to do well.

“Turn around! Again! And pose!”

Turning like a girl in red shoes* under Cecil’s lead, I found myself posing for the last time.

(t/n: a fairy tale about a girl who wore a red shoes and was cursed to never stop dancing until her feet got cut off…)

After letting out a deep breath, I asked Cecil.

“Am I doing better now?”

“…a little bit, just a little bit.”

I smiled unconsciously at her remark.

Cecil was a woman who was very stingy at giving praise as much as her blunt expression. Even on the first day, I lived with the words that I was terrible, but when I heard that it was doing better, I gained confidence.

But as soon as she read my thoughts, her cold words continued.

“I guess you still have energy left since you’re smiling. Then we’ll start over.”

Tsk….

The staring position that began again made me dizzy. Damn it, i should’ve turned my head when I smiled.

With belated regret, I held Mrs. Cecil’s hand. It was hard, but I didn’t have time to complain. I’ll to show her the results of my hard work.

“Then I’ll come again tomorrow. Don’t think about playing, just keep memorizing the steps and practice.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

With the same greeting as yesterday, Cecil left the practice room.

Soon I went to my room on the second floor with Ruri. I walked to the window and flopped into a chair.

[Good work, sister. You did a great job at the end!]

[Really?]

[Yes, you were smiling and spinning and you were so pretty.]

[Thank you, Ruri.]

With one hand on my chin, I smiled gladly and gently stroked Ruri’s back. After a harsh practice, the rest I have tasted simply tasted like honey.

I felt drowsy When I came out of the bath. I stretched myself with repeated yawns.

A glance, unknowingly to the door leading to the bedroom. But I shook my head and shook off the temptation.

No, no.

I wish I could sleep before dinner, but I still had work to do. I soon looked at Ruri and asked,

[Would you like to come with sister?]

[Yes! Yes!]

Ruri sat with her wings folded over my right shoulder as if she had been waiting. Now, I feel like I have woken up a little bit and came out of the hall with Ruri.

The annex is very quiet as always. Sometimes it was hard to see human shadows except when the servants passed by.

Going down the stairs, I went straight to the library. The smell of the book was pervasive as soon as I went inside.

There’s a reason why I went to the library despite my tiredness. Because this is the other condition I asked for from Ains.

Now that it’s been months since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten used to my daily life. However, there were many things that I still didn’t know about culture or customs yet.

There is a limit to learning it directly. I couldn’t just ask people whenever I encounter unfamiliar things or actions that I don’t know after all.

Ah,there you are! I found what I wanted. It was a large bookshelf right on the side of the lobby.

Reading books will help me a lot, right?

However, the problem was that the book was too expensive. Also, it was difficult to keep books because they were bulky. The place I’m staying at right now is not my home.

So I asked Ains if I could use the library, thinking that it would really be useful, and he readily agreed. Thanks to that, I set my afternoon schedule to go to the library to read books.

As I turned the right corner, I noticed the familiar title of the book. I took out a book with pleasure and went to the table and sat down.

[Can Ruri take a nap?]

I looked down at Ruri with a smile on my face. I guess she’s sleepy because she’s been up watching me practicing dancing all day.

[Of course. I should have brought a cushion.]

[It’s okay. I’ll sleep on your shoulder.]

[Okay. Rest well, Ruri.]

Then I opened the book and turned my attention back to it.

◆◈◆◈◆◈◆◈

She went from ‘I don’t wanna get involve in troublesome things’ to ‘Fudge, yeah let’s do this!YOLO!’. At least she’s not that stupid. Lols

And I wish I had Ruri in my life as well. I need motivation!