Arc 3 - Chapter 32: Daily Work (1/3)

"Spin, spin, spin, spin! Well done, you're great. You look great together."

Sivina was holding Yu's hand with one hand and her other hand was on his shoulder. Yu's other hand was on Sivina's slim waist and they were very close to each other.

Yu let go of Sivina's waist and raised his hand. Madame Marais clapped her hands in exaggerated glee as Sivina spun around.

"Well done, fly girl!"

After Sivina turned, she didn't approach Yu again, she giggled and moved a little away from him and spread her arms wide while holding his hand. Then Yu pulled her to him and took Sivina's other hand. Sivina again pulled away from Yu and opened her arms.

After repeating the gesture one more time, Yu pulled Sivina to him and grabbed her waist again. Being so close to his face and looking into his shining purple eyes made Sivina's heart beat faster.

"Wonderful!" Madame Marais shouted as she continued to clap her hands. "You're both wonderful."

"I'm always wonderful."

Sivina laughed as Yu laughed. They were spinning again, but this time in an orbit around themselves and around Madame Marais.

"You know Aramish and can play the piano, but you can't dance?" Yu whispered.

"Every family with a little status teaches their children Aramaish, and I can't play the piano like you, Mr. Valarfin."

"And why don't you know how to dance?"

"My mother taught me the piano but I didn't have enough time to learn to dance. My father took most of my free time for sword training. He even spent the time I had left after the sword."

After a few more turns, Yu grabbed Sivina by the waist and lifted her up. Sivina had a big smile on her face as she turned and walked back to the center.

When they arrived at the center, Madame Marais had fled and the center of the hall was reserved for the two of them.

Yu put Sivina down and their dance ended.

"You are wonderful, I've never seen two people who suit each other so well! Girl, you are like a swan."

Madame Marais took Sivina by the hand. Sivina was already dizzy, but she made her dizzy again.

"I mean, considering that the swan is the symbol of the Ecues family..."

Sivina had a smile on her face while looking at Yu, he was about to get into a difficult situation. Yurine got up from her seat and walked slowly towards Yu.

"W-well done... Well done, Yu. You've learned to dance so well..."

"Yurine, this is all for the purpose..."

"No, no, you don't need to make excuses." Yurine lifted her frilly skirt and moved in front of Yu. "Because I'm going to do it whether you make excuses or not!"

Yurine stepped forcefully on Yu's foot, causing him to scream. Yu bent down and wiped his tear-filled eyes as he held his foot.

"Why did you do that? Madame Marais wanted us to dance..."

"Yes, and she didn't forget to praise you."

With Sivina's heart still racing, Yurine looked at Madame Marais.

"Do you offer these compliments to all your students?"

"Only the most special ones, little lady," dance and piano teacher Lesly Marais, bowed her head against Yurine.

"You will not offer it to Yu again."

Madame Marais laughed and bowed her head again. "Yes."

Sivina was waiting for her turn, but it was Ana, not Yurine, who was going to take care of her. She came up behind her and spoke into her ear.

"You made me very, very jealous, Sivina. How happy you were with Mr. Valarfin."

"A-Ana..."

Ana had kissed her and Sivina didn't want to think about it. She forgot about that day and tried to make friends with her again, like before. Unlike Ana, Sivina didn't have that kind of tendency towards girls.

"Ana, let's see if you can be a green swan too."

Madame Marais rescued Sivina and called Ana. Ana came quickly in front of Madame Marais and curtsied, holding her skirt.

"Mr. Valarfin, please hold your new partner's hand," said Madame Marais.

It was Ana's turn to dance. Yu stood up and, after shaking his sore foot a little, offered Ana his hand. Ana took his hand and the next dance began.

***

"You pervert, you were so happy dancing with them, weren't you?"

When the dance training was over, Madame Marais left them and the four of them began to make the rounds in the manor garden until the next training session began.

"I danced with two extremely beautiful girls, of course I was happy. Ah! This time I dodg-AH!"

Yu had managed to dodge Yurine's first move by leaping backwards and saved his foot. He owed this to the sword training he had received from Sivina, but he had forgotten that Yurine was an ultra-strong girl.

Yurine moved too fast for Yu to react and stepped on his foot. Yu screamed again and crouched down to rub his foot. He sat down on the grass and took off his shoe and started rubbing his foot.

"And you... Why were you happy dancing with Yu? I wonder, hmm?" She didn't get an answer. "Today, I hereby declare that Yu has an owner! Okay? I've already planned Yu's future. Don't try to seduce him, you... You are kind of girls who try to seduce boys!"

Sivina and Ana blushed but still smiled. Yu picked Yurine up, pulled her into his lap and laid her down on the grass, then lay down next to her.

"Are you planning on telling me about this future, my sweet little yandere loli catgirl?"

"Hmph, you'll see in the future!"

"Ah, so be it. Then I'll just smile."

He believed he knew what she was planning. He was almost certain that Yurine would want him to marry her mother Rie. He would gladly accept it for her, but he would not have a long life in that world if he fail to find a way to save his life. So he couldn't do that, couldn't develop relationships that would hurt those two even more. At least until he find a way.

But it was the middle of March and the sun was out. Yu would smile to enjoy the day instead of thinking.

"And you must smile!"

He grabbed Yurine's arm, lifted her up and started tickling her armpit. Yurine was buried in laughter as she stomped her feet.

"Yu! Haha! HAHAHA! Yu! Let go! Okay, I'll smile! Yu! I say Yu! HAHAHAHA!"

"Smile all the time... I don't want to see you frown."

When he let her go, Yurine held her aching stomach as she laughed. She had a big smile on her small mouth as she looked up at the sky with her red eyes.

Yurine climbed on top of Yu and sat on his stomach while Sivina and Ana sat next to them.

"Yu, how are you going to stop me from tickling you?"

"Don't," he said in an overly serious tone.

He hated being tickled, but he lacked the strength to stop Yurine's mana-enhanced body.

Soon the two girls next to them would see Yu laughing for the first time, Yu had to keep his dignity. They were not supposed to see him laughing.

"I'm already doing it!"

"Yurine! YA! HAHAHA!"

Like Yurine, he stomped his feet while laughing. He tried to grab her hands and pull her away, but he didn't have the strength to do so. He was at Yurine's mercy.

Because he was Yu Valarfin, his laughter was also beautiful. Seeing him laughing for the first time, Sivina and Ana first opened their eyes wide, their eyebrows raised and their mouths open as they watched him.

"Yurine! It's okay! Ha! Haha! HAHA!"

"Promise you won't seduce girls anymore!"

"I, what? It's not in my hand-" Yu started laughing louder when Yurine started moving her fingers faster. He was almost out of breath.

"Promise me!"

"If it were up to me-"

Not liking the direction the answer was going, Yurine continued to tickle him. Realizing that he could not pull her hands away, Yu changed his strategy to avoid making such a promise. He wrapped his arms around Yurine and turned.

So he got rid of Yurine, he turned again and took Yurine under him.

He was planning to tickle Yurine in this position, but quickly realized that it was too dangerous, so he gave up.

If he tickled her, Yurine would start moving her legs again, and it would have been horrible for her to hit Yu's undercarriage in the process, especially considering her mana-powered body.

So he kissed her cheek and this time only he turned over. They were lying side by side with Yurine again.

They were both out of breath from laughing so hard, Sivina and Ana watched them with smiles on their faces as they caught their breath.

"Mr. Valarfin, for some reason I suddenly wished I was your daughter," Ana said.

Yu grinned mischievously, this brought strange thoughts to his mind. He raised his head and looked at the girl who had said that. A polite smile had settled on her rosy lips.

"I think you were born nine years too early for this," he said to Ana, who was watching him with her blue eyes.

If he remembers correctly, Ana would have turned nineteen in May.

"That was one of the strangest wishes I have ever heard, Ana," Sivina said.

"Hmm? I only said that because I was jealous of Yurine. Dad didn't play with us much, so something inside me... Uh... I continued the sentence with the wrong words."

"I feel you, Ana. Honestly, I lost my parents when I was a baby so I grew up far away from that kind of thing. Well, I had older sisters and they loved to tickle me, but you know what I mean."

Ana nodded. "Yes, I understand."

"I can tickle you if you want, though, I don't mind," Yu thought, but did not voice his thoughts.

Instead he put his head down and looked at Yurine's face. Her arms were stretched out over both heads and she was smiling as she closed her eyes.

"Yu, this is like a slice of the life I want to live in the future."

"Yes, Yurine. I think so, too."

He brought his hand to Yurine's face and touched her soft cheek. It was normally white, but now it was slightly flushed. As he stroked her cheek, butterflies tickled his heart.

"There's only one thing missing, and when that happens, everything will be perfect."

"Yes, it will be."

Yu closed his eyes too. Luckily there were no clouds in the sky today, so there was no shadow on them and they could enjoy the spring sunshine to the fullest.

"What's missing?" Sivina asked.

"I won't tell."

Smiling slightly as she answered, Yurine took Yu's hand and brought it to her stomach. By missing, she meant Rie. He was sure that Yurine would be the happiest girl in the world if she was with her.

What would it be like if Rie was here and with them right now? With Yurine between them, they would look like a real family. Yu would like to live in a world like that. To be happy with them in a world where he wouldn't die would be his biggest dream.

"You seem to be in a good mood. Would you be interested in joining your class?"

Looking up, he saw Aramish teacher Rigal Werin standing above their heads. His arms were crossed at his waist, blocking the sun and casting a shadow over them.

"We were about to join, we apologize."

He had no strength to stand up, but he stood up with the strength of his hands. He took Yurine's hand and helped her up too.

Yu, Yurine and Ana studied Aramish with him.

Yu did well in his class, as he had expected. Although the words were different, Aramish was very similar to English and Yu was mainly memorizing new words. He also had a good memory, so he was learning faster than he expected.

Sivina also helped them in their training and practicing with her was very helpful. Sometimes they would only speak Aramish during weapons training.

Ana was a smart girl, so she did well. Not as good as Yu, but she learned as fast as a normal person would learn.

And Yurine... It was surprising. Surprising in the truest sense of the word. Although she struggled with grammar, she knew many Aramish words from memory. She wouldn't say where they came from, but Yu assumed that Rie had taught them to her.