ITIF SS 3

The Dance That Doesn’t End

As the conductor’s baton swept through the air, the orchestra’s gentle melody began to resonate throughout the banquet hall. It was an elegant yet calm, yet magnificent musical piece.

‘I thought he had absolutely no talent for dancing.’

Giselle Grante was inwardly surprised by this newly discovered side of Kavelaseth.

He had never once danced with a woman at a ball.

So she had thought he must be incredibly clumsy. That was why he didn’t dance. But it seemed to be a mistaken assumption.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking right now, my lady.”

Kavelaseth murmured in a low voice as he spun Giselle Grante around once. She pretended not to know and nodded her head coyly.

“That I’m incredibly clumsy. That’s why I don’t dance. Is that not it?”

“Not at all. You dance just as well as I expected.”

To avoid Kavelaseth’s suspicious gaze, she deliberately spun around once.

Kavelaseth chuckled as if he found her evasive answer cute.

And so the first dance between the Emperor and his bride-to-be ended, and noble couples began to take their places in the banquet hall one by one.

Among them were Lady Howard and Lady Blatnik. It was just as Giselle Grante exchanged glances with Lady Howard and smiled brightly.

The firm arm wrapped around her waist tightened slightly.

“……?”

Just then, the orchestra played a new piece, and she yielded her body to Kavelaseth’s lead.

Dancing to a song with a slightly faster tempo than the first left her breathless.

Unlike her, who was intermittently gasping for breath, Kavelaseth’s breathing seemed as relaxed as ever.

‘How is this man not even getting tired.’

It was the custom of the Phasis Empire for the first dance to be with one’s spouse or lover.

From the second dance onward, one could freely choose their dance partner, but Kavelaseth’s choice for both the first and second was Giselle Grante.

“The new Imperial couple truly seem to be on good terms.”

“Indeed. And so passionate too…….”

Giselle Grante shot Kavelaseth a sharp glare. Then she whispered low enough so those around them couldn’t hear.

“……You’re not going to ask me to dance again, are you?”

It was just as Kavelaseth, with his lips curled up confidently, opened his mouth as if to say something in response.

Someone extended their hand before Giselle Grante.

“How greedy of you. Aren’t you trying to monopolize her all by yourself?”

It was Lawrence, the third prince of Solzakai, whom Giselle Grante had saved at the slave market.

Understanding his invitation to dance, Giselle Grante showed signs of fatigue.

However, he did not withdraw his hand extended before Giselle Grante. He merely whispered something to a servant passing nearby.

The servant who nodded approached the orchestra to relay the message, and soon a dance tune with a noticeably slower tempo than the previous pieces began.

Lawrence was not simply an acquaintance but royalty from a neighboring country.

As the bride-to-be of the Emperor, Giselle Grante had a duty to properly entertain distinguished guests.

The current Lawrence could be said to have utilized her position rather well.

“I suppose…… I have no choice.”

Giselle Grante said this as she took Lawrence’s hand. Immediately, Kavelaseth’s gaze became menacing.

However, Lawrence paid him no mind and led Giselle Grante to the center of the banquet hall.

“Oh my, who exactly is that young master from?”

“I know, right. I’ve never seen his face before…….”

The young ladies and noblewomen watching the scene busily moved their lips.

As if not hearing those voices, Lawrence gazed only at Giselle Grante and spoke.

“Please do visit our kingdom afterward. The atmosphere is quite different from the Phasis Empire, so there will be much to see.”

“If we both have the leisure for such things.”

Lawrence slowly shook his head and said,

“As you know, people in positions like ours can’t easily make time. We must forcibly set aside time for rest and travel in advance.”

Giselle Grante agreed with him on that point.

Princess Trinity had never traveled.

Of course, she had gone far from the imperial capital, but since it was for business trips, she had never taken what could properly be called a vacation.

And when she came to live again in Giselle Grante’s body, this was one of the things she regretted when looking back on her past life.

Thinking, ‘I should have enjoyed life a bit more……’

So Giselle Grante nodded to Lawrence’s proposal, which she would normally have refused.

“Then that sounds good. If you’ll invite me.”

“Is that…… really true?”

Had he firmly believed he would be rejected?

Lawrence’s already large eyes grew even larger.

“Of course. Naturally.”

When Giselle Grante answered with a slight smile, Lawrence urgently opened his mouth.

“If that’s so…….”

Just then, someone grabbed Lawrence’s shoulder with a thud.

As the dance piece had just ended, a familiar voice interjected through that brief silence.

“That’s enough.”

It was Kavelaseth.

While dancing with Lawrence, she had occasionally followed Kavelaseth’s movements with her eyes.

Each time, there was always another noble by his side.

There were many nobles who wanted to build connections with Kavelaseth under the pretext of congratulating him on his coronation.

And to greet individually with the heads of families who had gathered from across the Empire, he couldn’t spend much time with each person.

The playing time of a dance piece was about ten minutes. When on earth had he come all the way here when he should have been busy dealing with nobles during that short time…….

It was just as she was about to speak to him out of curiosity.

“The formalities aren’t all finished yet, though?”

Lawrence glared at Kavelaseth with a rather displeased expression.

Naturally, Kavelaseth’s brow also furrowed deeply.

“Formalities?”

At his question, Lawrence looked around at the other nobles and said bluntly,

“Look.”

Indeed, the other nobles around them were concluding the dance piece by exchanging courteous greetings with each other.

Despite clearly seeing this, Kavelaseth replied as if it were insignificant.

“Does that matter? You’re picking a fight over something so trivial.”

“……What?”

For a moment, a vein bulged on Lawrence’s forehead.

If he had been grumbling somewhat cutely until a moment ago, now he seemed ready to properly confront Kavelaseth.

‘Ah, really……’

Giselle Grante shook her head while lightly touching her forehead.

Mediating disputes didn’t suit her personality, but she also couldn’t just stand by and watch with her eyes wide open.

Though pretending otherwise, the nobles around them had been constantly glancing this way for some time, and Lawrence was a distinguished guest who had visited the Phasis Empire representing the Kingdom of Solzakai to celebrate the Emperor’s coronation.

In terms of national power, the Phasis Empire was far superior, but even so, there was no need to engage in unnecessary disputes or tensions.

Even in the brief time it took Giselle Grante to assess the situation, the tension between the two men continued.

It was just as she took a step forward to mediate between them.

“Beautiful lady. Would you please share the next dance with me?”

Lawrence’s eyes widened as he whipped his head toward the direction of the third party’s voice. His expression was rather fierce.

However, as soon as he saw the face of the person who had asked Giselle Grante to dance, the corners of his eyes softened meekly.

“……Young Duke Amaterasu?”

“Yes, that’s me. Young Duke Amaterasu. I didn’t realize that inviting family to dance was an act deserving of such condemning looks……?”

Mikhail answered somewhat sarcastically.

Naturally, Lawrence’s pupils shook violently as he looked at him.

“Ah, that’s…….”

Lawrence’s lips twitched as if trying to make an excuse.

But Mikhail grasped Giselle Grante’s hand without even glancing at Lawrence.

Just as Kavelaseth was surrounded by other nobles at some point, the performance of a new dance piece began with perfect timing.

Mikhail and Giselle Grante naturally moved away from the frozen Lawrence as they stepped to the music.

Only after putting quite a distance between themselves and Lawrence in a corner of the banquet hall did Mikhail cautiously ask,

“What on earth happened?”

“How did you know to come running over?”

“Running over…….”

Mikhail made an expression that said ‘isn’t that too much’ and pouted his lips.

However, before long, his expression softened.

“……Brother?”

Because Giselle Grante had used that magic word that could make even a crying Mikhail smile.

“Something seemed noisy, so I looked and saw Kavel, no wait. His Imperial Majesty was arguing with royalty from Solzakai?”

“Was that so…….”

Giselle Grante replied without much emotion and subtly turned her gaze.

‘I wonder what that slave youth is doing.’

She intended to see if he might be sulking somewhere by now.

But just then, her eyes met directly with Lawrence, who happened to be looking this way.

He was gazing at her with an expression like an abandoned puppy.

‘…….’

Giselle Grante naturally passed over him and cast her gaze a bit further.

But as luck would have it, Kavelaseth was standing there, and he too was looking her way.

There was nowhere to look.

In the end, Giselle Grante’s gaze circled around Kavelaseth and returned to its starting point.

“……Giselle? You are listening to me, right?”

“Of course.”

She nodded nonchalantly.

In truth, she was paying attention to the two men, and because they had gotten too close to the orchestra, she couldn’t hear Mikhail’s words very well.

After that, Mikhail prattled on about something more, but it didn’t seem to be anything particularly important.

Nevertheless, his brightly smiling face was pretty. It seemed he was enjoying spending time with her after so long.

As the dance piece was coming to an end, Giselle Grante smiled brightly at Mikhail.

“Thank you. Brother.”

“……For what?”

“It was an awkward situation, but you appeared just like that, tada! and rescued me. You also resolved the precarious situation where the royal families of both nations nearly quarreled.”

“……Is, is that so?”

Mikhail scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

He also muttered quietly, “Giselle, I didn’t know you thought that way.”

Thinking that getting pleased easily even by small compliments was Mikhail’s greatest strength, Giselle Grante nodded emphatically.