TYBMB 24

Chapter 24: Even If I Can’t Dance at the Ball
January 24, 2024

Hernant had been right.

I hadn’t realized it myself, but I had a knack for dancing.

Just as he said, after about three days of lessons with a private tutor, I was able to dance gracefully.

The tutor, after watching me dance, showered me with compliments—whether out of flattery or sincerity, I couldn’t tell.

“Fantastic! You’re better than any student I’ve ever taught!”

Unaccustomed to praise, I gave an awkward smile, but the tutor continued to compliment me for nearly five minutes.

If Johannes hadn’t walked in and rescued me from the awkwardness, I might have been stuck there forever.

Anyway, since I had improved enough to earn such praise, I stopped practicing further.

Instead, I spent the remaining time helping Johannes with his official duties.

After all, if he wanted to rest during the Foundation Day celebrations, he had to finish his work in advance.

While we busied ourselves like that, time flew by, and finally, the day we had been waiting for arrived.

“The Day of Opening”—simply put, it was the official start of the Foundation Day festival.

On this day, commoners, tired of their everyday lives, would pour into the streets wearing masks, ready to eat, drink, and be merry.

Of course, nobles didn’t just stay quietly at home either.

Because tradition allowed one’s face and identity to be hidden behind a mask, nobles would also mingle among the commoners and enjoy the festivities.

And so, Johannes and I were now among the bustling crowds, both wearing masks.

I hadn’t realized just how much he wanted to enjoy the festival.

Watching Johannes excitedly look around the street from behind, I felt a slight pang.

He had always been sternly disciplined since childhood, so I hadn’t noticed it before, but he seemed to genuinely enjoy festivals.

When I casually asked him that morning if he wanted to go out, he immediately started getting ready, and now he was bounding around the street like a puppy on a snowy day.

“Sister! Look over there!”

Johannes, who had been excitedly exploring the street, suddenly called out to me.

Turning my head toward the spacious plaza he pointed at, I saw a large number of people dancing in pairs.

“They’re dancing.”

“Doesn’t it look fun? I think anyone can join in—should we try dancing with them?”

Indeed, just like he said, people of all ages were out on the plaza dancing freely.

Their dancing was more like freestyle than anything formal, and to someone like me who had only learned ballroom dancing, it looked fresh and fun.

Much more passionate than the stiff dances of the nobility.

“Sure, let’s go.”

Johannes and I entered the plaza and joined the crowd.

Originally, I had planned to dance with Johannes for just five minutes or so and then leave.

But something unexpected happened.

The music suddenly changed, and a young man and woman suddenly cut in, pulling Johannes and me apart and taking each of us as their partners.

Was it a thing to freely switch partners while dancing?

Not knowing how these things usually went among commoners, I assumed the partners changed with each new song.

Thanks to that, Johannes ended up dancing with a stranger, and I with a young man I didn’t know.

Startled and unsure, I must’ve shown my confusion, because the man who had become my new partner smiled.

“Was that guy you were just dancing with your lover?”

“…He’s my younger brother.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. If he were your boyfriend, it would’ve been more exciting. I really enjoy stealing other guys’ girlfriends for a dance.”

The man laughed loudly at his own ridiculous comment.

He was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see his whole face, but his lower face—what I could see—was quite handsome.

A charming dimple when he laughed, neat white teeth… he was probably pretty good-looking.

But I had no intention of continuing to dance with him, so I gently pushed him away.

“Let me go. I only joined because of my brother. Now that I’m alone, I don’t feel like dancing anymore.”

“Aw, don’t be so boring. How about hanging out with me today? I’m actually really handsome under this mask.”

“No thanks. I don’t need a partner.”

“Hmm, I like how stiff you are. What should I do about that?”

He leaned closer, pressing himself against me.

I was starting to feel uncomfortable and tried to push him away again, but this time, he grabbed my wrist tightly and wouldn’t let go.

“Let go.”

“Come on, just hang out with me today. I’ll make sure you have fun.”

“If you don’t let go now, I’ll make you.”

It wouldn’t be hard to deal with a normal civilian like him, especially someone who hadn’t awakened any powers.

Still, I’d been holding back because I didn’t want to ruin the festival atmosphere.

Everyone around us was dancing and smiling—I didn’t want to cause a scene.

But I couldn’t keep tolerating his persistence either.

“I’ll count to three. Let go and disappear.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll break something. Your shinbone, or maybe your ribs.”

“Ohh…”

He flinched as if surprised by my threat.

I thought that would make him back off, but he was more persistent than I’d expected.

“Now I really don’t want to let go. I like feisty women like you.”

“Three.”

“And honestly, your tiny fists wouldn’t be able to break my bones anyway. Don’t underestimate a man’s strength.”

“Two.”

“Instead of wasting your energy, how about using those pretty hands to explore my body a bit? Mm… just thinking about it’s getting me hot.”

“One. Time’s up. I’ll break your pathetic little—”

Just as I was about to knee him in the groin—

I couldn’t.

Because someone else punched him in the face first.

Thud—!

The pervert who had been pestering me was knocked out with a single punch, and the surrounding people screamed in surprise.

But perhaps they were used to incidents like this, because everyone quickly calmed down again.

The man who’d been knocked out was dragged away by what looked like his friends and disappeared.

I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to land a kick on that guy’s groin, but I turned to check on the man who had helped me.

He was tall, with black hair, and my first impression was—

He’s way better looking than that pervert. Even if I can only see the bottom half of his face under the mask.

He was quite the sight for sore eyes.

Anyway, I bowed to the mysterious, masked, handsome stranger.

“Thank you for helping me. I could’ve handled it myself, though.”

“If you could’ve, you should’ve. You were just fumbling around and stalling—watching you was too frustrating, I had to step in.”

“Wait… this voice… Is that you, Commander?”

His voice sounded just like the Commander’s, so I asked, and he nodded.

“Finally recognized me? Just because I’m wearing a mask, you didn’t recognize your superior?”

“Why are you here? I thought you were busy with the event preparations.”

“I am. I just paused for a moment when I saw you in trouble.”

Of course, I could’ve handled that pervert on my own, but it was true I had hesitated and made him worry.

Feeling a bit guilty, I quickly bowed my head.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trouble you…”

I felt like I was always indebted to him.

As I sincerely apologized, he scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“No need to apologize. I had enough time to take a short break anyway.”

“That’s a relief. Still… I’d like to repay you somehow. Oh!”

An idea popped into my head, and I asked,

“You won’t be able to dance at the ball this year either, will you? You miss it every year.”

“Right. I attend with the whole Knight Order, so I don’t have a partner. And as the Commander, I have to manage the knights.”

“Then… how about dancing one song with me here?”

“With you?”

He looked surprised, and I nodded.

“Yes, with me. I don’t offer this kind of thing to just anyone. I haven’t even been learning dance for very long. But still… I just feel like you’ve never really been able to enjoy the event properly, and it’s been on my mind.”

Everyone else always seemed to have so much fun.

But the Commander spent every year too busy to relax.

Because I’d always felt sorry about that, I decided to take the chance and offer.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to make at least one memory you can look back on and smile about later?”