The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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If there’s a ball, I suppose I know what it is. It’s about dancing, right?

…But I don’t know how to dance.

“Oh, of course, Lady Anastasia. Have you found a partner?”

Dokan seemed to beam at the mention of the ball, excited at the prospect of dancing. Meanwhile, some people were sulking and regretting coming to the party.

I barely managed to calm down after calling upon God, whom I hadn’t summoned in a while.

“…Well, the thing is, I actually don’t have a suitable partner yet… If it’s alright with Hoyeon, I was thinking of dancing with Dokan….”

“No way. Dokan is dancing with me.”

I said that without a second thought. I had come here to prevent that from happening.

Part of me was curious, but one of my added goals was to stop Dokan from doing something foolish.

…I know that I can’t stop him forever. Still, I wanted to keep him to myself as much as possible.

“Just as I thought…?”

Anya trailed off awkwardly. Since we were friends, I didn’t expect her to comply, but she gave up quickly, which was a relief.

“Ugh… then should I dance with the person my father has picked for me…?”

Oh dear. It seemed she had her own circumstances. But I wouldn’t change my mind. Dokan was going to stick with me today.

…That means I had to dance with him.

“…It seems I’ve found my partner. I hope you find a great partner too, Lady Anastasia.”

“Thank you for the encouragement… Dokan.”

I knew friends could say such things, but it didn’t sit well with me to hear Anya getting cozy with Dokan.

“Lady Anastasia…! You were here… Ah.”

It seems Anya had ditched her followers. Soon, her group rushed in, surrounding her.

As soon as they saw my face, they all reacted the same way.

Freezing or murmuring in horror.

“…Your Highness, please forgive our rudeness!”

The ones who had just been shooting me strange looks started bowing and begging for forgiveness one by one.

Claiming they hadn’t heard about the princess because they were stuck in a village in the north or that they were on vacation with their family in the west. They were listing all sorts of excuses, pleading for forgiveness.

It looked pathetic.

Exipri was apologizing along with the others, not knowing what was going on, while a girl who had glared at me from a distance had crept back.

Yeah. I definitely recognized her from somewhere. I remember her name too. Camilla.

I feel like I met her once before coming to the academy.

I made my way through the crowd of apologizing kids, pretending to understand, and stood in front of Camilla.

“…Camilla. I have something to ask you. Have we met before coming to the academy?”

I wanted to know if I had wronged her in some way.

“Oh my. You finally remember my name. It’s an honor, Your Highness. Yes. My name is Camilla. I’m the daughter of a lord who governs one of the many territories you’ve passed through. I’ve even sat at the negotiation table with you before, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? Is that why you stared at me like that? Did you have grievances piling up?”

I could still sense the simmering anger in her eyes.

…If I reflect on how I handled our negotiations, it’s no wonder she was mad.

I had forced her to just stamp her approval without even making eye contact.

But now, I had no intention of backing down. It was in front of Dokan after all. Once people started apologizing, it seemed like they’d keep coming indefinitely, so I decided to play the bold one.

“…To be honest… Yes. I guess so. So it seems I’ve harbored unwarranted feelings toward you, Lady. I apologize. Will you accept my apology…?”

While I was engaging in a bit of a mental sparring match with her, the first one to relent was Camilla.

“Well then. I am magnanimous, you see.”

She still seemed angry, but now she probably wouldn’t be a nuisance moving forward. She conspicuously omitted saying sorry herself.

I didn’t want to waste any more time with her by saying something unnecessary.

“…I think I’ll take my leave.”

Suppressing my annoyance, Camilla left. While we were talking, the other kids who hadn’t dared interrupt finally rushed back to me, pressing on with their groveling.

“Sorry to bother you, but we heard what you said, so we thought we should apologize.”

They all crowded around me.

“It’s annoying. I heard you, so just disappear.”

I brushed off the surrounding kids, filled with irritation.

I didn’t really like using power to get things done, but right now, nothing else came to mind.

Seizing the confusion, I caught Dokan who had been hovering around Anya and declared my farewell.

“Lady Anastasia, I must take my leave now. I hope you find a good partner as well.”

“…Ah, I… I’m sorry…”

“What wrong have you done to apologize? Raise your head.”

The ones in the wrong were Anya’s followers. Anya had called me over to that table with the purest of intentions. I couldn’t hate her for that.

I didn’t want to leave her with any guilt.

“Come on, let’s go, Dokan.”

“…Yes, Hoyeon.”

Dokan followed along obediently as I tugged him away.

Now that I had said I wouldn’t allow it, maybe I could forgive the sullen expression I had seen earlier.

After pulling Dokan away from Anya’s group, I decided to glance around, gauging my surroundings before speaking to Dokan.

“…Dokan. I’ve said this confidently, but… I actually don’t know how to dance. Do you happen to know?”

“So you dragged me out here without knowing how to dance…? I know a little, so don’t expect too much.”

He knows at least a bit. That’s good enough.

“…You lead.”

“Me…? I’ll do my best.”

Come on. This is the time for me to just leave it all to you. Whether it goes well or not is up to you.

…Although I’ve never actually said such a thing, I fetched a line from my arsenal intended for such occasions with girls.

Thinking back, I realized it was a line I shouldn’t have said with my face. It was clearly something for a guy like Dokan to say, and it took me a while to realize this.

“When it comes to that… you just have to trust me.”

After dropping some advice from my bitter experiences, I waited for time to pass.

In the meantime, I considered whether I should use this opportunity to learn some dancing from Dokan for a bit.

“No, I’d rather learn to dance right now.”

With only twenty minutes before things started, more people gathered around, making it sound like I would be overheard if I spoke quietly.

“Practicing now wouldn’t be very effective.”

“Well, won’t you know once you try?”

Dokan showed a negative attitude, but I still wanted to learn. After all, I had come to enjoy the party. I wanted to take the lead for at least once.

“If that’s the case, then please extend your hand.”

Following his lead, I took Dokan’s hand. He then directed me to adjust my posture while explaining how to proceed.

“Then, again. If I go back…”

“I come forward. Just one directive is enough. Now I’m going back… What?!”

“Whoa!”

Just as I was about to step back following his instructions, my foot tripped over itself and I almost fell.

Luckily, Dokan caught me, so I didn’t fall, but my posture was somewhat precarious.

He was holding my waist and still had one hand gripped in mine, facing me squarely.

“…Thank you, but let go of me.”

“Ah, yes.”

He wanted to let everyone know we were friends; he had no intention of broadcasting us as lovers. I didn’t feel sickened just imagining it like when we were kids…

But at least not right now. For now, I wanted to remain satisfied with our friendship.

As I felt the awkwardness, pondering whether I should keep learning to dance, Stephanie’s voice pierced through the entire space.

– In five minutes, the ball you’ve all been waiting for will begin! Those interested, please gather in the central hall.

“…Let’s call it a day for the lessons.”

“Then let’s go in.”

As I felt heated with excitement, Dokan looked as if he had no particular thoughts on the situation. I felt like he might have figured something out.

Or maybe he was just pretending not to notice.

Either way, there was no way to know.

Once the dancing starts, I’ll just quit and leave.

I thought it would be exciting to go to a party, but it’s just boring. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting too much from the dancing either.

Following Dokan’s lead, we headed to the center.

Young men and women were already pairing up, whispering to one another… and some were even kissing.

How scandalous.

I turned my gaze from the disconcerting sight, but without any proper place to settle my eyes, I ended up looking around, spotting Anya standing next to some muscle-bound guy who somehow looked like a jerk.

…Good luck.

I wondered if I should have separated from Dokan, but I couldn’t let go of my own circumstances either.

Lost in thought, music started playing as the lights shifted gently.

“…It’s started. Remember what I said? You mustn’t mess up this time.”

“…Ugh. That would be an accident. Surely I won’t mess up again…!”

Grumbling a little, I quietly followed Dokan’s lead and began to move my feet slowly.

When Dokan went backward, I took a step forward. When he came forward, I stepped back.

At times he would unexpectedly step back or spin me around, which surprised me, but even so, since I was keeping my body relaxed, it didn’t end up in any mistakes.

Continuing to match Dokan’s movements, I managed to seize the lead just once from him.

This time, I pulled him closer to me.

“Hoyeon…”

“Just do as I say. I’ve been matching your movements all along, haven’t I?”

To be honest, I expected dancing to be boring…

But maybe this could turn out to be a bit enjoyable.