“Thanks. It feels strange having you as a dance partner, Professor.” Rio smiled faintly.
Uuh... I was so excited about getting to show a professor-like side of myself, but now everyone’s watching and I feel so embarrassed... Celia thought rather belatedly.
“Could you take the lead? Make sure you’re watching closely, Miharu.”
“Okay.”
Rio immediately took a step and began leading Celia. His steps were fluid, and Celia followed his lead easily, naturally moving her feet and body.
“Wah...” Latifa and the others gulped as they watched them dance together.
Rio stopped dancing after a few seconds. “I only remember the basic movements, but how was I?” he asked Celia.
“...More than good enough, I’d say. It was very easy to dance with you.” The parties held by nobility didn’t particularly treat dancing as a competition; it wasn’t as though long-term pairs were formed for it. Of course, it was better to be good at dancing than not, but the dancing itself was just a form of social interaction that changed depending on your partner at the time, so while it wasn’t especially important, not being able to do the basics was seen as shameful.
In that regard, Rio’s dance was a passing mark. It was clear that he was carefully attempting to recreate each and every movement, giving a sense of stability. As long as he could remember the steps, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“No, my steps aren’t quite there yet, so I’d appreciate your instruction in that regard,” Rio asked of Celia.
“Okay. Then first, let’s have Miharu try to dance a little.” Once Celia had a grasp of Rio’s level, she invited Miharu over next.
“Huh? Me? Right now?! I can’t!” Miharu said, panicking.
“That’s not true. If you can remember the basic steps, you’ll be able to dance to a minimum degree, and if Rio leads you, your feet should move naturally. Let’s start with forming a hold. You’re wearing your gown and all.” Celia giggled, grabbing Miharu’s hand and pulling her to stand before Rio.
“Oh...” Miharu hung her head in embarrassment. Celia had been so beautiful when she was dancing... just imagining herself being pressed that close to Rio’s body had Miharu’s heart pounding excessively.
“...May I have your right hand?” Rio raised his left hand rather hesitantly.
“Y-Yes. Uh...” Miharu nervously raised her right hand, which Rio grabbed tightly. The sensation of Rio’s hand directly against hers, followed by the close contact of their bodies as they formed a hold, left Miharu’s heart pounding violently.
“Place your left hand on my right shoulder as a support. Right, like that. If you try to maintain your stance with only your arm strength, you’ll lose your form easily, so focus on using your stomach and back muscles in your upper body. That’s good. This is the basic stance when dancing,” Rio explained as he moved his own arms and legs, adjusting Miharu’s positioning.
“I see...” Miharu replied in a stiff voice, trying to stifle the thumping in her chest.
W-We’re pressed so close. The same thought crossed my mind when they were dancing earlier, but... Having actually formed a hold, the contact of their bodies was a lot more than she had expected.
“Hmph. You look really good together in your formal outfits. I want to wear a dress and dance with Onii-chan, too.” Latifa was watching them with slight jealousy.
“Hmm. Even the minute details of Miharu’s dress design is elaborate, so it might be complicated to create, but I might be able to manage something?” Orphia analyzed the dress ambitiously, wondering if she could make one herself.
“Really?!” Latifa’s eyes sparkled.
“Yup. Everyone looks like they want to dance with Rio while wearing a dress, after all. I’ll do my best.” Orphia giggled as she motivated herself, looking over at Sara and Alma’s faces.
“W-What are you saying?!” Sara had been staring fixedly at Rio and Miharu, but when Latifa and Orphia’s conversation reached her ears, she was taken aback.
“Well, as long as we don’t disrupt Rio and Miharu’s lessons, we should be able to sit in and learn ourselves,” Alma expressed casually.
Chapter 2: To the Capital, Galtuuk
The days went flying by after Rio and Miharu bought their formal outfits. They stayed busy with dance lessons for the banquet, taking Latifa and the spirit folk girls out to see the city, taking Miharu to meet with Liselotte and plan for the banquet...
Finally, the banquet was only three days away.
One afternoon, in front of the rock house, everyone was seeing off Rio and Miharu as they left to attend the banquet, with Aishia going with them as a guard.
“We’ll be going now. Make sure to listen to what Celia and Sara say, okay?” Miharu said to Aki and Masato.
“Yup. Take care, Miharu. And look for my brother as well,” Aki said.
“No need to worry while we’re in this house. Say hi to Satsuki for us,” Masato added.
“Please look after Aki and Masato while we’re gone. You be good too, Latifa.” Rio said to Celia, Sara, Orphia, and Alma, before addressing Latifa as well.
“Yup, leave it to us!” The three spirit folk girls nodded firmly.
“Got it, Onii-chan!” Latifa said, also nodding energetically.
“Rio, you have to make sure you escort Miharu properly. With her personality, she’s bound to be nervous. Aishia, you look after Rio and Miharu for us,” Celia said.
“Of course.”
“Leave it to me,” Rio and Aishia both replied together.
Celia smiled softly as she gave her words of farewell. “See you later, then.”
“Have a nice trip, Rio, Lady Aishia.”
“I’ll be waiting, Onii-chan, Aishia!” Sara and Latifa followed her lead.
“Shall we get going, then, Miharu?” Rio smiled at everyone in response and prompted Miharu, who was saying goodbye to Aki and Masato a short distance away, to leave. Miharu wrapped up her conversation and approached Rio.
“Thank you, Haruto,” Miharu said with a bow.
“Sure.” Rio nodded coolly. “Let’s go.”
Aishia kicked off the ground and rose into the air first. Her movements were smooth and elegant.
Uh... I was going to ask Aishia to carry Miharu...
She was so confident in her actions, it sometimes — no, it often left Rio at a loss.
“U-Umm, then, will you carry me, Haruto?” Miharu asked Rio. Calling Aishia back now to ask her to do the transporting would be rude to Miharu.
“...Okay. Then, excuse me.” If Miharu herself didn’t mind, then Rio didn’t have a reason to refuse her. Their recent dance lessons had given them more opportunities to stick closely to each other, but while their dances weren’t awkward, this was a different situation entirely. With resolve, Rio approached Miharu with discomfort in every step.
“Uh...” When Rio picked Miharu up in a princess carry, Miharu stiffened her body slightly. For the record, Miharu herself was still nervous every time she had to stick closely to Rio during their dance lessons, but recently, she had been trying to close the distance between them herself.
Seems like Miharu has been aggressively trying to get closer to Rio lately... Having known her since before they came to Strahl, Sara, Orphia, and Alma had noticed that fact and exchanged casual looks with each other.
Latifa must have had her own thoughts about it, as she stared at Miharu intently. “See you later then, Onii-chan! Miharu!” She hugged Rio from behind as he was carrying Miharu.
“Yeah, we’ll be back soon,” Rio replied and chuckled with a smile.
“We’ll be going now, Latifa,” Miharu said. After a while, once Latifa stepped back from Rio, he gently floated up into the air with his wind spirit arts.
“If it’s possible, we’ll try to take Satsuki outside of the castle. Either way, we should be back in a week’s time!”
Rio departed with those words, finally heading to the banquet as Celia and the others watched on.
Several hours later, in Amande...
While the venue of the banquet was at the royal castle in Galtuuk, the capital of Galarc, it had been decided that they would head there by Liselotte’s personal enchanted ship. The plan was to depart from Amande tomorrow and arrive at the capital in the afternoon, which would be two days before the banquet.
The fact Miharu was a friend of the heroes from another world was shared among the mansion’s attendants, and Miharu’s hair was currently her natural color. This was done because it would have been cumbersome to explain why her hair was a different color to Satsuki at the castle. Liselotte was aware of the existence of artifacts that could alter hair color, but Rio offered to lend several of the hair color altering artifacts, and came to an agreement that its existence wouldn’t be revealed to a third party.
After arriving in Amande, Aishia changed into her spirit form while Rio and Miharu headed straight for Liselotte’s estate together.
“Welcome, Sir Haruto.”
When they arrived at the mansion gates, the gatekeeper greeted them respectfully. He was already able to recognize him by sight.
“Good day. I should have an appointment; could you take care of the procedures needed?” Rio said, but before he could explain his business, another soldier went running towards the mansion.
“We have heard already. I shall lead you there, so please follow me.” Thus, Rio and Miharu were led inside the estate grounds. There they were met by the attendant, Cosette, by the mansion door.
“Sir Haruto, Lady Miharu — welcome.” Cosette held the skirt of her uniform in both hands and curtseyed elegantly.
“Nice to see you, Cosette,” Rio replied with a bow. He had met Cosette numerous times already, so he was already familiar with her. Miharu followed Rio’s greeting and bowed too.
“Please, come this way.” Cosette immediately started walking, inviting Rio and Miharu inside. Rio and Miharu followed her lead. Cosette’s way of walking was truly elegant and beautiful.
What a beautiful person. Feeling the allure of a mature woman, Miharu was overwhelmed by Cosette’s appearance and the way she carried herself.
“By the way, if you don’t mind, may I ask you something out of curiosity? It would intrude on your private affairs, so you don’t have to answer me if you don’t feel inclined to do so,” Cosette said with reservation as they walked.
“I don’t mind. What is it?” Rio asked readily. Discussing private matters in business was complicated, but in forming harmonious relationships, it could very well have a positive outcome.
He had met with Cosette many times already, so it wasn’t unnatural for her to ask more personal questions to a degree. However, Cosette’s question far surpassed Rio’s expectations, taking him by surprise. That being said, the relationship between Rio and Miharu hadn’t been explained in detail to anyone but Liselotte, so their situation was one that was very easily misunderstood. It was understandable for Cosette to be curious.
“Are the two of you romantically involved?”
“Huh? No, umm...” Miharu replied innocently, turning bright red.
“Ahaha. We’re not,” Rio denied with a strained smile.
“R-Right...” Miharu had on a slightly conflicted expression, but she nodded along with Rio.
“Why, is that so? I couldn’t help but wonder at all the beautiful women gathered around Sir Haruto, what with Lady Cecilia and Lady Aishia.” Cosette burned Miharu’s reaction into her mind as she spoke with an elegant smile.
“Unfortunately, I do not have such a relationship with anyone.” Rio shook his head, a strained smile still on his face.
Cosette covered her mouth with her hand in a show of refined surprise, choosing not to comment further on Rio’s romantic relationships. “Oh my, that is most unexpected... Oh, do pardon me. This isn’t something for me to pry too deeply into. We’ll be arriving at the guest room for the two of you soon, so please relax there. As you already know, my master is currently out of town, but she should be back by tomorrow morning.”
Afterward, Rio and Miharu soon arrived at the room they were staying in, but that particular day, Rio and Miharu slept in completely different rooms.
◇ ◇ ◇
Several hours later, in the break room of the mansion for the attendant girls who served Liselotte, Cosette was sitting on the sofa with her colleagues, Natalie and Chloe. She sighed.
“I expected it to an extent, but Sir Haruto’s a more formidable opponent than I thought,” Cosette muttered listlessly as she sipped her tea.
“...You still haven’t given up?” Natalie looked at Cosette in exasperation. Meanwhile, Chloe was looking at Cosette with great interest.
“Of course. I can’t just sit by idly when there’s such a good man in front of me!” Cosette said enthusiastically. A handsome face, refined mannerisms that exuded elegance and high education, and strength that bordered on near-inhuman levels... Cosette had met many men through the Ricca Guild before, but none had been as fine as the boy named Haruto.
“But he’s surrounded by so many beautiful people already, you know? Didn’t you reach the conclusion that he wouldn’t even blink at anyone unless they were as beautiful as Lady Liselotte or Aria?” While the other female attendants of the estate had some form of admiration towards the boy named Haruto, most of them had immediately given up on that fleeting admiration once they saw the extraordinary beauty of the likes of Aishia and Cecilia. While they still enjoyed feasting upon the sight of Haruto from up close, they no longer had any hopes beyond that.
“I have good news regarding that. At present, I have confirmed that neither Lady Miharu, Aishia, nor Cecilia are in a romantic relationship with Sir Haruto.” Cosette giggled smugly.
Well, I don’t think Lady Miharu feels the same way, though, she thought to herself.
“Did you ask them that directly? How bold...” Natalie looked at Cosette in half-exasperation, half-awe. Meanwhile, Chloe was silently but intently listening to her senior colleagues.
“Well, it’s part of our job description to have a grasp of the guests we come in contact with.” Cosette brushed it aside under the just cause of their job duties, smiling pleasantly.
Natalie glared at Cosette with narrowed eyes. “But Sir Haruto is a particularly special guest of Lady Liselotte. Make sure you don’t do anything to upset her, okay?”
“Oh my, but it’s also our job to be close with the guests, right? There are some relationships that are made more harmonious with more personal questions, you know?” Cosette said, shrugging her shoulders as she took a sip of her tea.
Liselotte’s attendants assisted her in both public and private matters, so they were given comprehensive privileges and dealt with the business matters of the Ricca Guild too. In order to achieve beneficial trade conditions, there was nothing better than forming close relationships with clients, so the attendants were asked to assertively pursue close relationships with the clients if given the chance.
“In your case, the problem is that you often become too intimate, and only with the men...” Natalie muttered.
“You’re always so serious. Don’t you know love burns brighter with obstacles in the way? This is why you’re doomed to be single forever.” Cosette sighed tiredly. At present, Cosette had a very high reputation among the men she was dealing business with, and had a track record of achieving very favorable conditions until now. There had even been heirs that had sent her marriage proposals.
“M-My single status is irrelevant to this. You shouldn’t be one to talk; you’re so picky you can’t keep your relationships going for very long.” Natalie pouted her lips and refuted Cosette’s words.
“Well, I won’t deny that. But I do draw a clear line so that my work isn’t impacted, so you can rest assured in that regard.” Cosette giggled mischievously.
“...You’re actually serious about this, aren’t you? I never expected you’d be so enthusiastic about a younger man.” Natalie press
ed her hand to her forehead and sighed heavily.
“He’s younger, but it’s only by three or four years. There’s no age gap too wide for being seriously in love, and unlike those male nobles that only believe in dating younger women, this age gap is more realistic,” Cosette said.
“I’m sure you know this already, but if you prioritize your personal feelings over the necessity of your duties and cause Lady Liselotte trouble, I’m going to report you to her directly,” Natalie said bluntly.
“Of course. That’s why I told you from the start. He’s a more formidable opponent than I thought. First, you have to know the enemy. Then, if the chances are low, you gradually work your way up. ...Or rather, he isn’t the kind of person you can hit on lightly, so you should be careful too.” Cosette nodded with a serious expression, then jested with the latter half of her words. Her words were directed at Natalie, but her gaze flickered over at Chloe too.
“W-Why are you assuming I’d hit on him?” Natalie asked in a high-pitched voice.
“Oh, was I wrong? When Sir Haruto took out that minotaur in a single blow, I saw that you had hearts in your eyes, too.”
“I did not!”
“Really? I was going to give you pointers for winning Sir Haruto over as your close friend, but if you insist otherwise, I guess I won’t,” Cosette said, casually playing the fool.
“That’s fine,” Natalie replied.
“Umm, I want to hear it! Haruto... What kind of person is Sir Haruto?” Chloe had been listening silently until now, when she raised her hand and expressed her thoughts.
“Oh my, oh my — it seems like Chloe is honest, unlike Natalie.” Cosette smiled cheerfully.
“Ah, no, it’s not that I’m aiming for him or anything, it’s just... I did something rude to Sir Haruto in the past, so I want to apologize to him for that!” Chloe explained in a fluster.
“Come to think of it, you were already familiar with him to begin with,” Cosette said, accepting Chloe’s explanation at face value.
Heroes in the Moonlight Page 3
