When The Moon Tilts West - Chapter 6 – Part 1

Fourteen-year-old Olivia proceeded cautiously.

The hem of her skirt fluttered. She closed her eyes and hummed the music. But, her feet staggered within a few steps. She sighed. During the banquet, she will wear a heavier dress and has to wear heels.

Now, she was wearing a very light dress, which was embarrassing to even call it a dress. Despite the light clothes, her dancing did not improve.

Olivia recalled the dance lessons. The teacher watched her dance not progressing for months, sighing and shaking her head. Seeing that, Olivia shuddered and bowed her head. Unlike the song that she enjoyed listening to, dancing was very difficult.

Nevertheless, she did not give up. She was so grateful that the Duke said that he would give her a coming-of-age ceremony. Olivia had to do well, if she didn’t want his honor to be tarnished. Therefore, she has been focusing on practice lately.

However, her room was too small for dance practice, and turning on the lights in the banquet hall was a very regrettable waste. So, she quietly practiced her dance in the middle of the night, in a corner of the garden lit by the lights of the mansion.

‘Do this with my hands…’

Her arms floated in the air, as though she had a man in front of her. Once again, Olivia stepped slowly to the music.

Who will be her partner at the coming-of-age ceremony? Her heart was pounding. Perhaps, it’s going to be the Duke? She didn’t know, or it might be Kevin. If she’s lucky, she might run into Leon.

When she thought about it, her heart pounded and she felt motivated.

“Ack!”

Though contrary to what she thought, her body soon caught a stone and tilted. Olivia thought she was going to fall, but strangely she wasn’t hurt. She realized she was being held by someone. Carefully, she gazed up at the one holding her.

“Uh…”

At one point, she thought her heart would stop.

Leon was standing there holding her.

“Young Lord.”

She turned white in surprise, and he lifted her up without a word.

Did he see everything…?

“What were you doing in the dark?”

“That, dance practice. I’m not good at it…”

She muffled her speech.

“Isn’t there a banquet hall?”

“I think it’s a hassle to turn on the lights just so I can practice alone.”

As she lowered her head and spoke, Leon spoke quietly.

“Such a loser to fall and get injured while doing this is.”

Olivia was startled at that remark. He was scolding her.

“Sorry.”

“….”

He stared at her, frowned slightly with his brow, and sighed as he said, “You shouldn’t have said that.”

‘Well, what should I say?’

As she pondered seriously, he held out his hand.

“If you feel uncomfortable practicing in a banquet hall, come here.”

He moved his steps, and she followed him. Leon went to his private training ground. The place where he practiced swords and shooting using the latest weapon, a gun, along with a bow.

“Here…?”

“This is my training ground. The lights are always on here.”

“But, Young Lord has to practice.”

“I don’t use this place all day, and Miss Claudel doesn’t practice dancing all day, so what’s the problem?”

“Still—”

“Anyway, no one spends their free time here. Then, wouldn’t it be better for someone to use it?”

In other words, it was meant to divide the space usage by time.

Her heart pounded at Leon’s consideration. Such luck, she didn’t even know she was lucky.

“Thank you, Young Lord…”

Olivia smiled genuinely. Seeing that, instead of answering, he turned his head and looked up at the sky.

“Young Lord?”

“Then… I will go back.”

“Yes.”

In the end, he left without looking back.

As Leon disappeared, she covered her cheeks with her hands. Her face is not red, is it?

She smiled happily. He’s still cool. The closer she looked, the better. She still remembers the feeling of his tight arms holding her. The voice that rang softly in her ears lingered like an echo.

Although she had spoken to him, Olivia was more than happy that she was allowed to enter the training ground.

Although he may have been considerate to prevent her from committing a nuisance in advance, consideration was consideration. Besides, when his practice is over, can’t she openly spy on him under the pretext of practicing dance?

Thinking that, she was so happy that she smiled mischievously.

So, while he was practicing martial arts, Olivia practiced dancing. As she practiced, her skills improved. However, it was only stepping on the beat, and she still lacked flexibility. Her teacher said she was too rigid and demeaned her. She even said she was like a commoner girl who was forced to dance.

It’s next year when she turns sixteen, and she has to practice a lot of songs, but she doesn’t even have the basics right now. With such heavy thoughts, Olivia often sighed as she danced.

That day, too, she got annoyed by the dance that didn’t work properly, so she kicked a stone by the dance floor.

But, of course, the stone side was much harder than her foot.

“Ouch!”

Olivia groaned and sat down on the rock. She hated it so much. Why should she learn this?

As she covered her face with her hands, she heard a voice.

“Are you hurt?”

“Kyaak!”

At that, she let out a scream unknowingly at the sudden voice. Meanwhile, Leon’s expression didn’t change even though it would be offensive to his ears.

“Yo, yo, young lord.”

“I heard a sound, so I came.”

“It’s okay.”

She got up. It didn’t matter, except that her feet were tingling. She didn’t want to explain her own stupidity.

“I’ll empty the training ground.”

She hurriedly got up from her spot.

“Are there any problems?”

“Yes?”

“If you aren’t hurt, you look bad.”

“Uh…”

This man was worried about her. It was a common greeting, but again, her heart raced.

Olivia blushed and lowered her face.

“I try to dance, though it doesn’t really seem to work. I’m always stiff…”

“….”

“His Grace the Duke said he would hold a coming-of-age ceremony for me. I should do well, but I guess I’m not good enough…”

As she spoke bitterly, Olivia glanced at his face. As expected, Leon’s expression remained the same. If it was Kevin, he would surely look at her warmly and offer consolation, but he didn’t. She was just glad he didn’t look at her pathetically.

“Hand…”

“Yes…?”

“Give me your hand.”

“What…”

He said, gazing at Olivia, who only blinked confusingly.

“Let’s practice together.”

“Yes?!”

She was bewildered.

‘Let’s practice together,’ doesn’t that mean he wants to dance together?

“No, no—”

“Why not?”

“I am taking away the Young Lord’s precious time! I’m so sorry if you have to do this.”

“The time is not very precious, and even if my time is precious, I do it because I want it. So, Miss Claudel need not be so sorry.”

Olivia was embarrassed by the cool, cutting-edge words. Carefully, she reached out her hand. Her head went white.

‘I can dance with this person.’

After hesitating, she put her hand on the one he reached out to.

If not this time, when will she hold his hand?

The rest was easy. His hands wrapped around her waist, and her hands rested on his shoulders. The clasped hands, the two arms supporting each other, were quite stable.

“What is the practice song?”

“Waltz of Light.”

“Then…”

“Oh, I know the melody. I will sing with my mouth.”

As she hummed, he began to move his steps carefully. For fear of stepping on his foot if she made a mistake, she couldn’t meet his face, though she could feel Leon looking down at her. After the hum was over, their feet stopped.

Dancing was the worst. As the dance teacher said, she was stiff, and there was no dignity.

Olivia lowered her head with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, was I too stiff?”

“It’s because you’re so nervous.”

“Yes…”

“You’re putting strength in your shoulders.”

It was a fact that even the dance teacher was tired of pointing out. Even though she was happy to dance with him, still, it was embarrassing for that to be pointed out.

“Thank you for dealing with me.”

Although she was full of tension and different from the romantic situation she dreamed of, Olivia decided to thank this little fortune.

“Aren’t you going to practice again?”

“But, it is troublesome for the Young Lord…”

“Why is dancing so troublesome?”

Olivia, who was about to say, “That’s, I took away Young Lord’s precious time,” recalled Leon’s cool words and bit her mouth.

It was certain that the conversation would repeat itself again.

As he took her hand again, her body quickly stiffened.

Leon said, seeing her overly rigid, “Miss Claudel. It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to step on my feet. Let’s do it one more time.”

“….”

Surprisingly, Olivia had the illusion that he seemed to be hiding a softness in his hard tone.

“Dancing is about dancing together. Lean on me.”

He pulled her back slightly and tilted her upper body. When she raised her head, he also tilted his upper body.

“I will lean on Miss, too. This is the attitude.”

“….”

Maybe that’s why she was unaware that her body was stiff? But, she was more comfortable with this posture.

As he stepped on the steps, she, too, began to move her body.

Suddenly, he opened his mouth quietly.

“Actually, I’m not that good at dancing either.”

At the sudden words, she stopped her hum and glanced up at him.