Royal Dance Tutor

"Avaline, I believe you're starting on the wrong foot again." Jin mentioned quietly, watching as Ava's brows furrowed and her lips pursed.

"So I am…" Ava tried to change her leading foot while the two were turning but ended up just muddling herself, accidentally stepping on Jin's toes once again. He winced slightly but otherwise said nothing, Ava however immediately pulled back out of his arms, ending their dance. "I'm sorry, I stepped on you again." She held in her sigh. "Let's take a break for a moment, I need to go over that step sequence again."

Jin simply nodded, gracefully stepping back before he moved to sit down on the sofa to the side. Avaline was completely concentrated as she stepped through the moves of the dance alone, one by one. Although she was getting much smoother there was always one point where she would have to pause. Her head tilted as she thought, finally lifting her head to look over at Covin. "I'm still doing something wrong."

Covin rolled his hand in a motion for her to repeat the sequence again. She obeyed, walking through the troublesome sequence again before looking to Covin for guidance. Jin felt something was off too but he couldn't quite put a finger on what. However, after some thought Covin signed something. 'It's your hips.'

"My hips?" She asked in confusion. "What about them?"

'The position is wrong.'

"How so?"

Covin tried to think of a way to explain but couldn't find any so he was forced to get up from his comfortable spot on an armchair to walk over to her. He reached out and directly turned her, adjusting the position of her hips. Ava didn't bat an eye at this, only concentrating on the correction, Prince Jin frowned however. "It isn't appropriate for a guard to touch you like that."

Covin quickly withdrew his hands, bowing his head which hid his unamused expression under the guise of obedience. Avaline looked amused as she glanced over at him. "He's been my companion longer than he's been my guard. It can be deemed as appropriate, however, you're welcome to correct my dance posture instead if you'd like Prince Jin."

Jin met her gaze, he almost felt there was a hint of a challenge to her words.It was hard to tell if that smile that curled her lips was playful or if he was simply imagining it. Regardless, he wasn't about to back down. "Alright."

He took up Covin's place and Ava stepped through the moves again. Sure enough, she once again twisted her hips the wrong way. Since Covin had pointed it out, Jin could see it as well so he reached out to correct them. However, the force he had used was much too light and so Ava didn't respond, as if she hadn't felt it, waiting there patiently. So he used a bit more pressure. Still nothing. Although he was being gentle he had thought she should have been able to feel it but when he looked at her innocent expression, tilting her head slightly as if confused he figured he must have been wrong. So he could only apply a tad more force. This time, she turned her hips… too far to the other side. He glanced at her again but she only smiled softly to him. "Is this right?"

"...Not quite." He turned her hips back slightly. "This is correct."

He had moved to immediately withdraw his hands and step back but before he had the chance, Ava had stepped forward, placing one hand at his shoulder, the other held out in offer to him. "I see. Let's try again then, shall we?"

Jin only paused for a moment before he shifted the hand he had been about to withdraw to the more proper position at her waist, taking her offered hand in his. He led them through the dance, more slowly than the actual pace of the music for the dance in consideration of Ava. He had to admit, she was a fast learner. She was now easily keeping in step with Jin in the early steps. But she still ended up with her hips in the wrong position somehow. Jin lowered his hand to nudge her hip back into the right place. She glanced up at him from behind her lashes, her smile widening. Jin found that when she stared at him from so close, he had trouble meeting her gaze directly. There seemed to be so much contained in the depths of her blue eyes. He felt he might stare longer than he should if he gave himself the chance, so he kept his line of sight fixed slightly off. "Many thanks, Prince Jin. Again?"

Jin gave a short nod, leading them from the start. She once again twisted her hips, the exact same as always. Jin's fingers twitched before he moved them to correct once again but this time, he stopped just short. "Avaline… Are you doing it on purpose?" He lifted his gaze to meet hers this time, trying his best to discern from her expression.

"On purpose? How could I possibly dare to when I have the beloved crown prince of the country as my tutor?" She said, her voice sweet and light. She was a seasoned liar, neither her expression nor her tone betrayed anything. Behind Prince Jin's back, Covin was snickering silently.

"...My apologies. I meant no offense."

"None taken. I'm truly grateful for your patience. Perhaps I'll have more luck understanding tomorrow."

And miraculously, she did. She seemed to have no problems at all with her hip positioning during that step sequence the next day when Jin accompanied her for practice. Instead, she would step too far into the next step, forcing Jin to step back to avoid them colliding, disrupting the dance. Even after her light apologies and soft smiles, she would continue making the same mistake. The following day, that was miraculously fixed too. This time, she would lose her balance during the spin, having to lean into his hand while he kept them steady. He still held the growing suspicion she wasn't actually having an issue with these steps at all but he didn't call her on it, only wondering what she would come up with the next day.

On the morning before the ball, the two were practicing alone in the warm sunshine that poured through the open window. Covin didn't accompany today, having the morning off along with Mila. Ava was humming the music while they danced, their steps in time with one another. The dance came to an end, their movement stilling. For a moment, Jin was dazed, forgetting to step away. This was the first time they had completed the dance without issue. He had honestly been waiting for Ava's misstep, but it never came. Jin hadn't released her and she didn't pull away, only looking at him curiously. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah, yes. I believe that was the first time we've successfully completed the dance is all."

She hummed. "That's good is it not? Or would you like for me to make a mistake?"

"No, no, it's not that, I simply-" He didn't even get to finish his sentence as Ava had let herself fall backwards with no restraint. He quickly lent forward, slipping his arm around her to pull her back up.

She laughed at his startled expression, steadying herself before lightly brushing his arms off. "Thank you for your time Prince Jin. You were a wonderful tutor, I had fun learning from you. See you later tonight." She pulled her skirts in a slight curtsey before turning to leave with all the grace she hadn't possessed during practice, leaving Jin standing alone in the golden streaks of sunshine.