Shirking

As the music played and everyone danced Rosalind was smiling from ear to ear. She was still upset that Jien had chosen to dance with one of the adults before her but after Barret's short explanation she understood the reason for his choice. Currently though her heart was light, and her stomach was full of butterflies as she matched Jien step for step. Jien on the other hand kept a calm gentleman's smile not quite sure what to make of Rosalind's mood slightly before and during the dance.Despite this they had a casual conversation as they danced, Jien keeping the direction of the conversation politely directed at her, her parents and her city; Silvios City. He didn't dig too deep since he had been reading up on their territories as he could during their visits. He was merely focusing on filling in some blanks in what he had read and making sure that their dance stayed within the etiquette required.Rosalind was more than happy to answer all of his questions as best as she could. She of course knew a lot about industries in Silvios and was ecstatic for the opportunity to tell him more about herself. She however didn't tell him too much about her parents mainly because it was not her place to go into detail on such subjects. She veered the conversation more toward the topics of smithing when Jien gave her the chance. This was a major industry in her territory and one that her family partook in themselves, a large reason for the pronounced strength she showed during her matches in the round robin.Jien listened carefully until the end of the dance and then led the young lady back to the side of the dance floor. Rosalind seemed reluctant to part with him and all of the adults seemed to notice this. As they gathered together before the next dance, they surrounded both Lord Losler, as well as Lord and Lady Griffith to start a private discussion on the matter. It seemed that the adults were for the idea of such a relationship, at least on the surface as they tried to bring the discussion in such a direction. While Lord Losler handled it in a calm manner, Lord Griffith seemed highly reluctant to let his daughter be in any sort of relationship.While this was occurring, Jien made his way over to Olivia calmly but swiftly. He wanted nothing more than to complete his three obligatory dances and then move on with things. Olivia was wearing a light blue dress that worked well with the yellow highlights in her dark brown hair. As he approached her, he once again bowed politely and asked her for the opportunity to dance. At first, she seemed to be in a bit of a huff as she crossed her arms and talked openly about how she was the last to be asked. After this short act she stuck out her tongue and mentioned that she was just kidding with a playful smile as she extended her hand to accept the offer.The third dance going forward were completely voluntary and so the number of dancers reduced to only a few pairs. Among them Bernard danced with Rosalind who seemed to be brimming with energy but whose eyes were following Jien as he got ready to dance with Olivia. Lesley asked Runa for a dance since she was the closest to their age among the adults. Lastly the Griffiths and Masons paired up so that they could discuss things while filling in the dance floor a bit. Mostly the Mason couple wanted to probe a bit deeper into their thoughts on Jien and Rosalind. Such infatuation on first encounter wasn't particularly rare but if it had the backing of the parents involved could lead to potential political marriages. This could change a myriad of business opportunities so grasping the situation early was always a benefit.The dance was a relatively faster tempo than the prior two and while Olivia wasn't giddy like Rosalind was, she wasn't bad company either. She danced smoothly and her etiquette was excellent, keeping the conversation alive while discussing her family's territory and describing a bit more about herself. Whether they had any deeper relationship then friends and teammates was up in the air, but she felt the same as Jien, that they should know enough to work well together and try to avoid any serious conflict.Soon enough the dance finished, and Jien led Olivia back to the side of the dance floor. After she rejoined the others, he walked calmly over to a chair that had been left in one of the corners of the room. He didn't say a word to anyone as he retrieved a book about Silvios City and the mines located there. The book itself was rather bland, talking about the geography, weather and other conditions of the general area, followed by a section on the history of the city and some of the other metals and gems mined beside the most common, silver.Nobody seemed to have noticed that Jien had gone to sit down at first nor that their host had started reading in more or less hidden corner. They were all focused on either dancing or yet more discussions regarding business, politics and much more.