Chapter 130: Ballroom Lessons

"If the prince won’t back out," Marisol said, "then the court will have to reject her for him."

She tapped the chalkboard. Under MAKE SERENA UNMARRIABLE, she’d written a new line in red chalk:

PHASE TWO — THE LADIES.

"The Winter Ball dance lessons start tomorrow. Every noble student attending the ball is required to go. That means the court ladies will be watching from the balcony, and they’ll be judging the princess candidate on every single step." She turned to me with a glint in her eye. "A future queen who can’t dance is a future queen who embarrasses the crown. If Serena stumbles in front of those women, the whispers will reach the Queen by dinner."

In other words, if Aldric wouldn’t reject Serena, the ladies of the court would do it for him.

"Marisol, you’re a genius!"

"I know~"

---

Lessons were held in the palace ballroom, under an enormous crystal chandelier. Dame Brask stood at the front of the room, clapping out the count. Up on the balcony, a row of court ladies sat with their fans open, watching every couple on the floor.

The rules were simple. Everyone lined up in two rows. Every time a song ended, the partners rotated one place down the line.

The first song started. I turned to my partner.

It was Serena.

"You," she said flatly.

"Me!" I grinned and grabbed her hand. "Don’t worry, my lady! I’ll lead!"

[This is perfect! If I lead her wrong, she’ll stumble! It’ll look like her fault!]

I’d never danced a waltz in either of my lives.

I stepped left when everyone else stepped right. I spun her the wrong way. I tried to steer her into the couple behind us, but my tail got tangled around my own leg, and I staggered into the couple instead. Serena didn’t even sway. She simply took over the lead, swept me back into the line, and guided me through the rest of the song with one hand on my waist.

"Stop thinking," she muttered. "You’re terrible at it."

The song ended. Everyone rotated one place down the line.

I looked up at my new partner.

It was Serena again.

"How!?" I yelped.

Serena said nothing. She took my hand.

I tried again in the second song. I stomped toward her feet on every beat, hoping she’d trip trying to avoid me. Instead, she stepped neatly out of the way every time. I was the one who ended up hopping in a circle on one foot.

In the third song, I tried to dip her too low, so she’d lose her balance in front of the balcony. I lost mine first. Serena caught me by the back of my dress and hauled me upright before I hit the floor.

Up on the balcony, the court ladies whispered behind their fans. They weren’t looking at Serena. They were looking at me.

In other words, the only one in this room who looked clumsy was the fox.

[I’m the one getting judged!? Why am I the one getting judged!?]

The fourth song started. My partner was Serena. At this point, I didn’t even ask.

I took a deep breath. I’d stopped trying to be clever. This time, I just waited. Halfway through the song, Serena turned to step backward. I slid my foot behind her ankle and hooked it.

It worked.

Serena’s eyes went wide. She tipped backward with her arms flung out, falling toward the polished floor right in front of the balcony.

[Got her!]

Then a strong arm caught her around the waist.

Aldric had just rotated into the space beside us. He swept her up in one smooth motion, dipping her low under the light of the chandelier, with one hand at her back and the other holding her fingers.

"Careful, my lady," he said warmly. "I have you."

Serena stared up at him.

The whole ballroom let out a long, dreamy sigh.

[No. No, no, no, no!]

That was the most romantic thing that had happened in this ballroom all day. I had just handed the court a perfect fairy-tale moment, starring the princess candidate.

Aldric set Serena gently back on her feet and bowed to her. Then he rotated on down the line.

Serena turned to face me. She smoothed her skirt with both hands. Her expression was perfectly calm.

Then she lifted one foot and brought her heel down on my toes as hard as she possibly could.

"AAAAAGH!!!"

I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my foot. Serena stepped over me and took her place in line for the next song.

[... I deserved that one.]

---

The lesson ended an hour later. I limped to the edge of the ballroom and sat down on a bench to check whether my toes were still attached.

"Kohaku! Kohaku!"

Lily came running across the floor with her skirt bunched up in both hands. Her face was pink, and her eyes were shining.

"I’ve got it!" she said. "I’ve figured out the new plan!"

"Lily, I’m not sure we should..."

"I’m going to bake for the Queen!"

I stared at her.

"Think about it!" Lily sat down next to me and grabbed both of my hands. "The Queen thanked whoever made the lemon cakes, right? In front of the whole school! That means she loves baking! So, I’ll make her the best cake she’s ever had in her life. I’ll put my whole heart into it. Then, when she’s eating it, I’ll explain that Serena should get to choose who she marries."

"And you think that will work?"

"Of course it will!" Lily squeezed my hands. "Nobody can stay mad while they’re eating cake, Kohaku. Everybody knows that."

She was completely serious. She’d already started a list in her notebook titled CAKE FOR THE QUEEN, with a heart drawn next to each flavor.

"Lily..."

"Excuse me, young lady."

A man in long white robes had stopped in front of our bench.

He was tall and thin, with neat gray hair and a silver sunburst pendant hanging on his chest. That was the symbol of the Church of Lux. He had his hands folded in front of him, and he was smiling gently.

I recognized his voice right away. It was the same deep, calm voice I’d heard murmuring prayers outside the fitting room.

In other words, this was the new chaplain. This was the man who’d made Serena feel sick just by walking past a door.

"Forgive me for interrupting," he said. "I’m the chaplain who will be officiating at the Winter Ball. I’ve been asked to observe the lessons, so that I can get to know the young people who will attend the sealing." He turned his smile on Lily. "I couldn’t help but notice you on the floor. You dance beautifully. It looked as though you were born in a ballroom."

"Oh!" Lily went red to the tips of her ears. "Thank you so much! I’m really not very good, I’ve only been practicing for a few weeks..."

"Not at all. You have a natural grace." His eyes stayed fixed on her face. "Tell me, child. Where is your family from?"

"I grew up in a little farming village out east," Lily said brightly. "It’s very small, you’ve probably never heard of it! But my mother and father aren’t my real parents. I’m adopted. They found me on their doorstep when I was a baby, so I don’t actually know anything about my real family."

The chaplain’s smile didn’t move at all.

"How interesting," he said softly.

I froze.

Lily was secretly a princess. She also carried the Calamity Queen’s bloodline. I’d written both of those things myself, and both of them were buried in her real family. Nobody was ever supposed to go digging there until the very end of the novel.

Now a man from the Church of Lux was asking about it. This was the same Church that had sent Pryce. It was also the same man who’d set off Dawnlight’s sense for evil.

In other words, the heroine had just handed her secret origin to the one person in the palace I trusted the least.

[She just told him!!! She told him everything, with a smile on her face!]

"Well!" I jumped up so fast that my bad foot nearly gave out. I grabbed Lily’s arm and hauled her up off the bench. "Thank you so much for the compliment, Father! We have to go now! Very important attendant business! Bye!"

"Kohaku!? Wait, I wasn’t finished talking to him!"

"Yes, you were!"

I dragged her across the ballroom. I didn’t stop until we were all the way out in the corridor.

"Kohaku, what’s wrong with you!?" Lily pulled her arm free. "That was so rude! He was being nice!"

"Lily, listen to me." I took her by both shoulders. "From now on, you don’t tell anyone about your family. Not where you’re from, not that you’re adopted, not anything. Got it?"

"Why not!?"

"Because..." I couldn’t tell her the truth. "Because it’s dangerous to tell strangers things! That’s all!"

Lily puffed up her cheeks at me. I didn’t care.

I had a new mission. I could not let Lily keep explaining her backstory to every random stranger in the kingdom.