Chapter 27 - A Waltz

Early next morning, Lilin, who was exhausted and deep in his gundam dream, was awakened by a knock on the door.

He stumbled out of bed and opened the door with hazy eyes to see Caitlyn standing outside.

Seeing the sleepy-eyed Lilin, "Didn't you agree to the class today? Still sleeping in?"

"Uh..."

Lilin scratched his head, a bit more conscious, and looked back at the clock on the wall.

It's only been a few minutes after seven...

"Alright, don't waste time, go wash up and change clothes, I'll wait for you in my room."

Caitlyn left the confused Lilin at his door.

Awake now, he sighed, "I haven't woken up so early since college..."

However, training with Caitlyn taught him to make no fuss, otherwise he might pay for it in the sparring sessions.

Lilin took a quick shower and put on a new set of clothes.

Afterwards, he came to the second floor of the main house and knocked on the door of Caitlyn's room.

"The door is unlocked, come in."

Lilin turned the handle and pushed the door to be welcomed by a gentle sweet fragrance of violet flowers.

Caitlyn's room is bright and spacious, the interior is minimalistic.

The polished marble floor that could double as a mirror is covered with a beige patterned rug, and a large bed with blue-green curtains is placed center to the wall. Small tables on either side of the room had several vases with violets that she once told Lilin that she raised.

The bright morning sun shined into the house through the opened glass door leading to the balcony.

Coupled with white delicate gold-trimmed marble ceiling and light green walls, it gives a simple and warm feeling as a whole.

This is the first time Lilin has entered Caitlyn's boudoir.

Caitlyn was sitting on the balcony, sipping coffee slowly, enjoying the unique tranquility of this early morning time.

"Well? Come in." She greeted.

Lilin stepped into the room and closed the door, walked to the balcony, and sat on the chair across Caitlyn.

She is wearing casual clothes today, a white lace shirt with a maroon knee-length skirt, her slender legs crossed, wearing white lace socks on the little feet with brown leather shoes.

"You haven't eaten breakfast, right? It's for you."

Caitlyn gestured to the bacon omelette sandwich and steaming milk on the table.

"Thanks."

Lilin welcomed Caitlyn's thoughtfulness, as he happened to be quite hungry. So he grabbed the knife and fork, cut the food into small pieces and stuffed it into his mouth.

He quickly finished his breakfast and began his first lesson of the day: getting to know the Piltover families.

"There are many families in Piltover, but you don't need to know most of them. You just need to remember a few main ones."

Caitlyn stretched out her index finger, "When we went to the parliament, you had already met five members of the House of Representatives, Medarda, Salo, Hoskel, Bolbok and Vosladen.

"Among them, the Medarda family is the oldest family in Piltover, dating back to the beginning of Piltover.

"And clan master, Jago Medarda, is quite influential. With the piston patent, he controls the opening and closing of the Sun Gate, he sits on wealth that rivals small countries.

"The dark-skinned young woman you saw that day was called Mel, who was exiled by the Medarda family.

"But even so, she became one of the members of the Piltover Council. You can imagine how influential the Medarda family is."

Caitlyn paused and continued:

"You saw a bald one, and a yellow-haired one at the parliamentary meeting. They are Hoskel and Salo families. The two families have disputes in various aspects, so they are hostile to each other, but Salo likes to be on Hoskel's side occasionally.

"The one who was completely transformed into a machine was the councilor representing the Bolbok family, and the bald, dark-skinned, middle-aged woman with the augment on her neck represented the Vosladen family.

"The two families are mainly involved in the military field. Most of the salaries and equipment of the law enforcement in Piltover are sponsored by these two families."

Caitlyn sipped the coffee in her hand, "The Ferros family, you should know very well, I won't say more, and then there are some big families who don't have much political power, but are very rich. Such as the Cadwalder, the Arvino..."

In the next hour or so, Caitlyn introduced more important families to Lilin, and then detailed the basic information of these clans and their members.

Then, for another two or three hours, she told him little by little the social etiquette of Piltover's aristocratic society.

Although Lilin thinks that his memory is not bad, but when it comes to things outside of his specialization, he's a bit more feeble to say the least.

One round of coffee after another, Lilin felt scatterbrained, Caitlyn finally stopped her lecture on Piltover's social network.

"So? Do you remember everything?"

Lilin, still dazed, nodded subconsciously.

"Wonderful, now then. Next lesson." Caitlyn stood up from the chair with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Huh? Another one?" Lilin really felt that he wasn't built for this.

Not even in high school did I studying for three, four hours in a row...

"Why don't we take a break?" he asked weakly.

"It's a fun lesson, this one." Caitlyn winked at him playfully, "Dancing!"

Lilin shook his head blankly, "Why am I learning to dance?"

"You are going to be the center of attention of the Progress Day ball. And almost handsome enough, so there will definitely be young ladies from other families who will invite you to dance.

"If you don't know ballroom dancing, then you will not embarrass yourself, but the Kiramman family as well."

Caitlyn looked very pleased, she stretched out her hand to hold Lilin's arm, and pulled him into the room.

"The popular ballroom dance in Piltover is the waltz. The dance structure consists of advancing, traversing, turning, and closing to form a basic loop..."

She quickly introduced to Lilin the basics in waltz dancing, and briefly instructed him on the essentials of the male side movements.

"Let's try it first, and I'll correct you if you have any problems."

Caitlyn walked to the side of the room, turned on a speaker placed on a small wooden table, and selected a piece with a beautiful melody and full of rhythm.

Afterwards, she returned to Lilin, stretched out her hand and gently placed it in Lilin's palm.

Caitlyn raised her eyes slightly, blue eyes that were like jewels blinked lightly, meeting Lilin's gaze.

Along with the rhythmic melody of the dance music, they moved slightly and danced slowly.

Lilin straightened his back, holding Caitlyn's smaller hand with his hands, maintaining a stiff smile while trying to remember all the moves.

Caitlyn swayed and turned while slowly passing the lead to Lilin, her movements were elegant and beautiful.

The distance between the two moved far and near. With each breath, she could feel a mature aura from a not so mature Lilin...

Caitlyn met his dark iris again, and suddenly recalled in her mind how they got along and what happened to them when they went to the undercity a few days ago.

He told her various stories about lands far away, bizarre legends, his bargaining with pawn shop owner, and the "magical" invention he brought out when they were attacked…

For some reason, Caitlyn could feel her heart beating faster, and her face reddening.

Slightly flustered, her steps disordered.

Suddenly, Caitlyn noticed that her feet seemed to have stepped on something. Her face even redder.

"Sorry, that was my fault..." She apologized, "Maybe we'll end here."

Caitlyn lowered her head, not daring to look Lilin.

"Yes... let's stop here today."