Dance

|Gary|

The figure in front of me stood tall with a confident stance, his head tilted slightly in scrutiny. He wore a luxurious white blazer, decorated with golden and platinum frills, paired with a simple black undershirt. His matte grey hair shimmered like silver in the light, adding to his exotic appearance with amethyst eyes.

My purple eyes glistened as I admired my new face. 'I certainly have much more charm than I did in my past life,' I thought.

"You look handsome." My mother shifted glances between me and my reflection with a warm smile on her face.

She was wearing a serene black dress that highlighted her curves, her platinum hair a striking contrast to the dark dress.

Her blue, doting eyes scanned me once again as the smile on her face remained unchanged.

My mother suffered quite a lot because of me. She was emotionally weak, despite being a powerful conjurer at the silver stage.

She reminded me of my mother from my past life, how she loved and trusted me despite anything and how much she had to suffer because of me.

'I won't let the same thing happen again,' I promised to myself just as my father entered.

My father was dressed similarly to me but with even more lavish ornaments on his suit. He quickly surveyed the scene before announcing, "We should get going now. We can't be late for the Princess's twelfth birthday banquet."

For some reason, the second, twelfth and sixteenth birthdays were considered the most important. There wasn't much logic, it was more of a tradition amongst the elite of Sapin's society.

My mother and I nodded our heads and followed him out. We were greeted out my all the servants and maids as we exited our giant mansion and sat inside our giant carriage.

Just before I went inside, I saw Galliard from the corner of my eyes. He flashed me a smile as he turned away and got onto his horse.

'The Princess,' I thought, 'Last time I met her we both were just two years old. She was quite cute then. How much has she changed?'

Time quickly passed as we entered Etistin City and reached the Royal Palace. After getting inside, my ears quickly picked up the sound of music playing from what sounded like a large ballroom.

The three of us made our way there, but I didn't feel any emotions, only thinking that this was going to be a tiring day.

As we entered the ballroom, my eyes were immediately drawn to the stage where the Princess was standing, surrounded by a crowd of people who were singing and dancing. The princess was a striking figure with her jet black hair and eyes, a contrast to her white gown as she celebrated her twelfth birthday.

However, her overall look and aura almost caused me to take a step back. The image of a young Amanda overlapped in my mind, with the two almost being a complete match.

'Stop thinking of useless things,' I thought to myself as I activated Monarch's Indifference with more aether.

My emotions were once again doused and a practiced smile appeared on my face as I greeted the various other nobles present.

"It's good to meet you, Gary Whiteborn," a familiar voice said as I turned my head. Lancelot Orbel, the mage who lost to me in the Three Races Tournament was also there.

The young boy stood tall and proud, his sparkling black hair glistening under the chandelier lights of the grand ballroom. His grey eyes, sharp and confident, scanned me as he took confident steps towards me.

He was dressed in the finest attire, a black jacket lavished with silver embroidery and adorned with precious gems. The jacket was paired with a crisp white shirt and black pants, both perfectly tailored to fit his slender frame.

By his side, I recognised Rachel Glidesburn. She looked beautiful in her golden dress, her blonde hair shining in the light. Her sapphire eyes were shining brightly, as if she exuded happiness itself.

"It's been a white, Lancelot, Rachel," I responded as I greeted them.

We began catching up on what we have been doing since we met in the Helstea Mansion. After discussing how much stronger we got, Rachel said, "Lancelot and I are officially engaged now."

Both of them held up their hands, showing matching platinum rings with bright blue diamonds in the middle.

My eyes widened a bit in shock as I replied, "Congratulations to the two of you."

Both of them seemed to be blushing a bit, with their cheeks just ever so slightly red as they nodded to my reply.

'So they love each other,' I guessed from their action.

'How lucky,' just as I was feeling bad for myself, a familiar person approached us. The Princess, who had been at the centre of the party since the beginning, was coming towards us with her older brother by her side like a knight.

Curtis had, as one would expect, grown quite a bit from last time. He was someone who would be considered attractive, but if I were to be blunt, not on the same level as Lancelot and I. He took his parents' best features and that showed in the form of charisma he seemed to carry, making him seem like a true prince.

"Happy birthday Princess Kathyln!" the three of us wished her with a curt bow.

A lovely smile appeared on her normally cold face as she tugged the hems of her white dress and gave us a slight bow in response.

|Kathyln|

Today was one of the most important days for me. It was my birthday, and I was looking forward to it as anybody would.

But there was another reason. Gary Whiteborn.

I would finally be meeting my future husband, Gary Whiteborn, during my birthday party. As soon as he stepped into the ballroom, my head snapped to his location as if it was attracted by him.

He looked handsome, with clearly defined features unusual for someone so young. Moreover, he had a stoic face with a fake smile, one eerily familiar to mine.

For some reason, it felt like I was being attracted by him. Quickly greeting the other guests, I made my way towards him.

My heartbeat increased continuously, threatening to burst out of my chest.

'Why am I acting like this?' I thought as I finally reached him.

He wasn't someone I had ever met in my life. His face wasn't one I recognised. Yet there was this sense of strange familiarity emanating from me, pulling me closer to him.

"Happy birthday Princess Kathyln!" the three of them wished me with a curt bow, snapping me out of my thoughts.

A lovely smile unconsciously appeared on my normally cold face as I tugged the hems of my white dress and gave them a slight bow in response.

'Why am I feeling so... happy? I am just greeting them. There is no reason to feel like this.' I thought.

I had trained to seal my emotions, to always have a cold mask on to become a true princess. This was to ensure I never showed any weakness.

Yet, I was now smiling in front of Gary, giving him a true smile.

This was abnormal. The attraction I was feeling for him. My body was getting hot, and I barely managed to keep my expression under control as we conversed.

I wanted to continue to talk to him, though I knew that this wasn't right.

Curtis whispered to me, "Kat, we must go greet the other guests now."

I knew he was right. But my body refused to move, staying frozen.

Suddenly, I heard Gary's voice, "I apologise for keeping you two here for so long. Kindly enjoy the company of other nobles."

He then bowed alongside the other two, and Curtis tugged my sleeve, beckoning me to move.

'I will meet you later, Gary,' I resolved before moving to greet the other guests.

|Gary|

'That was a bit strange,' I thought, 'Why didn't she want to greet the other guests? Is it because she knows the two of us are getting engaged?'

The party continued, without anything much happening.

The King came on stage and announced, "Thank you all for attending the celebration of this wonderful event, of my precious daughter's twelfth birthday!"

Everyone cheered and clapped at his words.

"Now, we shall begin with the dances!"

There were three dances in this occasion, which were true for any major noble event. The first dance was meant for noble children who were nearing adulthood. The second dance was for the full-fledged nobles. The third dance was for us younger adolescent nobles to dance.

The first two dances went by rather quickly, with Curtis dancing on the first dance and my parents dancing on the second dance.

Finally, it was time for the last dance.

Lancelot quickly kneeled in front of Rachel and asked, "Would you give me this dance, my Lady?"

Heat flushed to her cheeks as she firmly nodded, offering her pale hand to him. A warm smile appeared on his face as he kissed the hand and the two of them went to dance.

"We'll go ahead first, Gary," Lancelot called out as they disappeared into the bustling crowd.

I sighed. I didn't have any plans to dance anyway, but it was awkward to just stand here alone.

"Do you wish to dance with me, Gary Whiteborn?" a familiar voice asked me. I whipped my head, only see the Princess looking at me.

Unlike her normal passive cold face, her excitement was clearly written on her face.

"If you give me the honour," I replied as I kneeled, "I would gratefully take up on the offer. Would you give me this dance, my Princess?"

Her pale face was tinted red as she gave me her small hand. She was similar yet different from Amanda. Amanda was shy yet confident, she didn't speak much but was never afraid to show what she wanted.

Kathyln was different. However, even though I knew that, I couldn't help but draw an unhealthy connection between the two of them.

I pulled her as we went to the centre of the stage. Then, the music started, signalling the commencement of our dance.

I grabbed her hand and put my arm around her waist. She followed by putting an arm over my shoulder. Even with her heels, she still seemed short to me. And so our dance began.

We began with a simple dance which we both have been taught too many times. As one would expect, Kathyln knew the dance perfectly. Her steps were perfect, and I was never worried that her crystal heels would dig a hole into my feet.

"This is boring," she whispered, "Can we go faster?"

My eyes widened as I was taken aback by her comment. Kathyln wanted us to go faster?

"If you allow me," I said as I spun her. She decided to follow my lead.

Our dancing became more energetic and tiring as I would through in drops and spins randomly. It seemed like she was getting tired because of the heels. However, the rhythms of her steps still kept up with the flow of music, which kind of surprised me.

Kathyln was strong, already at the dark yellow stage, but she was a conjurer. Her body wasn't trained like an augmenter's is, which made it more surprising.

The song finally ended, with Kathyln breathing out heavily from our dancing. Her petite body instinctually leaned towards me, and I viscerally supported her body and wrapped my hands around her.

'What's wrong with me?' I thought, 'Why am I feeling this connection with her?'

I looked around, surprised to find that everyone was staring at us.

'Looks like I went too far,' I thought as I clicked my tongue.

It seemed like everyone was mesmerised by our dance.