Even the band playing in the banquet hall couldn’t help but be taken aback by Lovellian’s desire to play a sudden improvisational performance.
Just think about it. Tonight’s banquet was being held within Shimuin’s royal palace, and it wasn’t just any ordinary banquet either. Most of the continent’s most powerful rulers had gathered here tonight to participate in an auspicious celebration commemorating the Hero’s defeat of a Demon King.
There was no way that a band that had been invited to such a banquet was any ordinary band. Each band member was a musician who had made a living through their music for dozens of years, and they had all received great acclamation from the world of arts. To them, Lovellian’s sudden behavior of pulling out a violin was not only bewildering, but it also seemed very arrogant.
However, such thoughts disappeared into thin air the moment Lovellian began to play the violin.
This was an Archwizard of the Eighth Circle, one of a handful who stood at the top of the magical field in the entire continent. This was the Red Tower Master, grand-disciple of the Wise Sienna and Eugene Lionheart’s magic teacher. But all thoughts of his identity disappeared because the way he played the violin was so incredible that it was impossible to believe that this was a man who had devoted his entire life to magic. Of course, there was some sound correction from the violin’s enchantments, but even without that, Lovellian’s musical skills were indeed excellent.
They hadn’t seen the notes of the song ahead of time, but the band immediately began to harmonize with Lovellian’s performance. The rich melody that this created resonated throughout the banquet hall.
Eugene hadn’t been planning to draw this much attention, but… since the sword was already drawn, he had to go ahead and cut the knot[1].
Calming his nerves, Eugene began to step in time to the music. Sienna had never been taught how to dance, but she moved agilely, following Eugene’s lead.
‘This… this is…,’ Sienna gulped nervously as she stared into Eugene’s eyes.
Because the distance between them was so close, when she raised her head, all Sienna could see was Eugene’s face. Likewise, Eugene had also bowed his head slightly to look down into Sienna’s face.
Seeing Eugene from this angle, that of a tall, handsome man bowing his head slightly to look down at her, Sienna’s shoulders trembled, and she unconsciously avoided Eugene’s gaze.
Sienna silently screamed, ‘Why does he look so handsome today—’
No, that wasn’t it. He had always looked this handsome.
Though using handsome to describe his scar-covered face from his previous life might be a bit controversial… in a way, Hamel’s scowling face could be said to have exuded a sort of charm; the charm of someone who looked like a scumbag, but whose actual personality wasn’t that of a scumbag at all.
In other words, he wasn’t actually all that ugly, but his looks were seriously undervalued because of all his scarring and his foul expressions. Of course, this was just Sienna’s subjective opinion, but if someone else were to say in front of Sienna, ‘Doesn’t Hamel’s face look really ugly?’, Sienna would surely chastise them no matter who they might be.
Unlike Hamel, who required the addition of such complex and detailed descriptions to justify his handsomeness, Eugene was just plain attractive. No matter who saw him, they had to admit he looked good. But currently, in Sienna’s eyes, it felt like he looked much more handsome than he usually did.
This damn bastard had been like this ever since three hundred years ago. Sometimes, and this was truly extremely occasionally, he would do such out-of-character things that could shake a woman to her core and leave her heart pounding wildly.
As Eugene and Sienna began to dance, other people started making eye contact with each other and forming up in pairs.
Most of the guests who had come to this banquet weren’t just those who already stood at the heads of large families; they were also mostly middle-aged people of high social status. However, it wasn’t like there weren’t any young people, half of whom were young knights, and the other half were the young nobles of Shimuin. The nobles were actively moving around, making connections with the other people in the banquet hall, chatting with them, or inviting them to dance.
Many young ladies were also approaching Cyan.
After all, he was Eugene’s brother and the Lionheart clan’s next Patriarch. Though no matter how much they might dream of it, it was impossible to think of becoming his wife, but if they were somehow able to build a lasting relationship with him today, they might just end up becoming his concubine one day.
The young ladies who came looking for Cyan were all children of Shimuin’s high-ranking nobles, but even so, they weren’t in the same social class as the Lionhearts. So, whether it was for their family's sake or their own ambitions and future, they eagerly approached Cyan.
Cyan actually felt awkward being placed in such a situation. This was because, while he had imagined being at the center of such female attention numerous times, he had rarely ever experienced it in person.
Since he had been influenced by Eugene from a young age, Cyan had also devoted most of his time to his training. Not only that, but being mindful of his position as the next Patriarch, he had also been educated in various fields of studies, so he hadn’t had much free time to enjoy things like parties.
The only parties that Cyan had attended were those where he was accompanied by his mother, Ancilla, or parties attended by the other high-ranking nobles of Kiehl. Because everyone at those latter parties was wary of drawing Ancilla’s attention, the young ladies who had been in attendance had rarely approached Cyan.
As such, Cyan was left speechless as he stared straight ahead with a melancholy look in his eyes.
For the first time in a long time, his mother was smiling shyly as she danced while holding hands with his father. Lady Sienna and Eugene were dancing in the center of the banquet hall.
Cyan ground his teeth, ‘Even that bastard Gargith….’
With his huge, burly build and long beard, Gargith looked like a man in his late 30s even though he was still in his mid-20s. The formal dress that he was wearing was covered in frills, going beyond the point of just looking out of place, being straight-out hideous. However, even Gargith, who had such a terrible sense of fashion, was dancing with a charming, noble lady….
And it wasn’t just Gargith. Among all of the men that Cyan knew, there wasn’t a single one who wasn’t dancing right now. Even Gion, who was well past a marriageable age, Caesar, the vice-captain of the White Lion Knights, and even more surprisingly, Ivatar, who was from the wild Rainforest!
If he wanted to, Cyan could also have been dancing. After all, many young ladies had approached him, asking to dance together. However, all of those young ladies had been turned away, and now the only one standing next to Cyan was Aman Ruhr, whose formal dress looked like it might burst apart if the man exerted even a little bit of force.
“I really should have brought Ayla with me,” Aman said regretfully. “Seeing you and my daughter dancing together would have been such a nice sight.”
Cyan laughed awkwardly, “Haha… yes….”
“Son-in-law, I honestly feel moved by your behavior. If so many girls asked me to dance with them like that, I would have at least accompanied them for one song out of courtesy, but to think that my son-in-law would actually take the initiative to refuse them all!” Aman shook his head in awe.
Even though Aman said this, how could Cyan dare to dance with another woman at a party while his fiance’s father was present…?
Of course, Cyan kept this thought to himself, and even if Aman hadn’t been here, Cyan wouldn’t have been all that interested in dancing with them in any case. That was because he could feel that the women who had approached him were all blatantly trying to establish a relationship with the Lionheart clan in any way they could.
Cyan wasn’t the only one who wasn’t dancing. There were also Kristina and Anise. The Saints were continuously gulping down wine without a pause as they stared at the center of the banquet hall.
“Are you disappointed that you didn’t get to go first?” Ciel asked as she stood next to them with her lips set in a pout.
Although she didn’t know what the two Saints might think about it, as she had yet to hear their reply, but for Ciel — she was currently feeling regret and jealousy that she wasn’t the one over there dancing with Eugene right now.
Of course, Ciel has also acknowledged the truth in her own head. The person with whom Eugene had ‘first’ developed romantic feelings for was Sienna. This awkward and messy relationship had only formed because of Sienna’s understanding and everyone’s refusal to give up. Therefore, rather than feeling jealous of Sienna, Ciel should be thankful that Sienna understood their feelings and allowed them to maintain their current relationship.
But although she knew this in her head, no matter how hard Ciel tried to convince herself, it just didn’t work like she wanted it to. It felt like the inside of her chest was constantly being scratched by fingernails, and her stomach was roiling.
Ciel let out a sigh and turned to look at Kristina, ‘This is… Lady Anise, right?’
Ciel could only guess that this was Anise based on how the priestess kept downing glasses of wine without any pauses. Ciel still couldn’t clearly distinguish between the two personalities.
Whenever they swapped consciousnesses without any apparent sign, Eugene was the only one who could accurately distinguish between the two Saints. If they started talking something, then Sienna could also tell the difference between them, but strangely enough, even without the Saints saying a word, Eugene was able to tell them apart through subtle changes in their gazes or the way they breathed.
‘Like I’ve always thought, he’s more sensitive than he looks.’ While Ciel was thinking this to herself, a half-empty wineglass was set down on the table.
“I am grateful for what I have,” the belated reply came to Ciel’s question with a smile. It was actually Kristina. Although she didn’t like the beer or the highly alcoholic beverages that Anise preferred, wine was something that she had occasionally drank even before Anise had manifested within her.
“Also, it isn’t like the world is ending tonight, right? I have no intention of rushing into things,” Kristina said confidently.
“Does Lady Anise also think the same way?” Ciel asked cautiously.
“Why should I have a different opinion? Like Kristina, I am also grateful and satisfied with everything I currently possess. In the first place, after what happened three hundred years ago, I didn’t even expect to be able to stand at his side once more, let alone be his first love,” Anise said with a snort as she leaned over to Ciel and linked their arms together. “In other words, to me, everything that’s happening now feels like a dream straight out of my fantasies.”
As Anise’s voice whispered into her ear, Ciel’s shoulders shivered, and for no apparent reason, she felt the urge to lean away from Anise.
Amused by Ciel’s reaction, Anise chuckled and said, “Kristina and I are satisfied with just watching Hamel, but… a greedy person like you obviously wants more, don’t you? Their dance is slowly coming to an end, so if you’re thinking about mustering up your courage, now would be a good time for it.”
“Aren’t the two of you intending to dance with him?” Ciel asked hesitantly.
“Kristina and I don’t know how to dance,” Anise admitted. “Also, even if the other person is the Hero… it wouldn’t seem very pious for us, as Saints, to happily dance in front of all these people.”
She wasn’t just saying this. Among all of the paladins and priests of Yuras, not a single one of them was dancing. Glancing at their surroundings, Ciel nervously gulped.
What if she got rejected? This fear surfaced for a moment, but Ciel vigorously shook her head, sending such hesitant thoughts flying. However, she couldn’t help the fluttering of her heart, so to settle her emotions, Ciel looked over to Raimira and Mer, who were intently devouring food in one of the corners of the banquet hall.
Those two… were eating so much food that it was hard to believe that they had the stomach capacities of young girls that they appeared as. Ciel didn’t know what was going on, but suddenly, while still in the midst of eating, Mer grabbed onto one of Raimira’s horns. Even Raimira, who had been so easy to bully in the past, must have learned to counterattack by now, as she didn’t back down and grabbed onto a fistful of Mer’s hair instead.
‘Just why are they like that…?’ Ciel wondered.
After bickering with each other for a while, they both resumed tearing into their food.
Could it be that someone’s mental age really is determined by their body? Ciel still couldn’t believe that both of them were beings who had lived for over two hundred years. Still, after watching these two foolish and childish idiots, the fluttering in her heart had calmed down considerably.
The music came to an end.
“Y-y-you’re a good dancer,” Sienna stammered.
The dance had to have lasted for less than five minutes at the very most. A span of time that couldn’t be said to be all that long. However, it felt much shorter than that. Let alone a minute; it felt like the music had ended in a matter of seconds.
‘It would have been fine to just continue playing for a few more hours,’ Sienna complained as she felt unjustifiably annoyed with Lovellian.
If he had already grasped their situation and decided to play a song for them, then given the opportunity, he should have chosen a very long song to play, so why had Lovellian chosen such a short song? Perhaps it was intentional?
Sienna belatedly noticed something, “...What’s with your expression?”
Eugene’s face — with his lips twisted at a subtle angle, cheeks twitching simultaneously, and brows set at different heights — bore an expression so annoying that it made one clench one’s fist without even realizing.
“Master, you are really terrible at dancing…,” Eugene secretly whispered. “As a wizard, it makes sense that you don’t have any talent when it comes to moving your body, but then again… you are pretty good at fighting, aren’t you? Even so, the fact that you’re still this bad at dancing probably means that you were just born that way.”
Sienna stared at Eugene, her mouth hanging open speechlessly.
“It seems that you need to practice more,” Eugene said with a smirk.
The amazing dance, his handsome face, the way he had led her through the dance with great care and attention to detail, her pounding heart; all of these things faded away as her head rapidly cooled.
What the hell was this crazy bastard saying? As her tightly clenched fists shook with rage, Sienna glared at Eugene.
‘...Hold on…,’ Sienna suddenly hesitated.
She recalled the casual conversation that they had had, reminiscing about the royal ball from three hundred years ago before they landed at the port.
At that time, neither Hamel nor Sienna were any good at dancing. Now, after three hundred years had passed, Sienna still couldn’t dance. This was because, after Hamel had died, nothing in the world could make her want to dance.
On the other hand, Hamel had learned how to dance quite well.
Sienna was pretty much the same as she had been a long time ago, but far too many things had changed for Hamel.
However, even with that, it wasn’t like Hamel had ceased being Hamel. Even if his face, body, and name had all been altered. The man who was currently standing in front of Sienna was still the same man that Sienna had fallen in love with.
If it was the Hamel from three hundred years ago, he would definitely have teased her like that after they had finished dancing.
Sienna was confident that she had understood his good intentions. This kind-hearted son-of-a-bitch, had said some bullshit like that because he didn’t want Sienna to feel saddened and also because he wanted to show her that he hadn’t changed from what he was like in the past.
“Thanks,” Sienna said, smiling despite the dampness in her eyes.
Embarrassed by how tears kept welling up in her eyes, she turned her head away slightly.
‘Why is she crying...?’ Eugene wondered.
Could she really have been that hurt because he teased her for being bad at dancing? Eugene pondered this question as he stared at Sienna.
Surprisingly, the understanding that Sienna had reached was flawed from the very beginning. Eugene hadn’t said such a thing for Sienna’s sake. He simply wanted to tease her because she really was terrible at dancing.
But even the Wise Sienna wasn’t able to discover the truth immediately. While feeling a surge of joy, she stumbled backward, away from Eugene. Just a moment ago, she had wanted to continue dancing, but now she felt like if she did continue to dance with him, she might burst into tears.
Staggering backward, Sienna was quickly supported by Melkith, who had no idea what was going on and was helped into a chair.
The music changed.
But what kind of coincidence was this? The song that was now being played was familiar to Ciel, who had heard it in her youth, as it was the song that she had often listened to along with Eugene when they had been receiving etiquette training at the family estate.
‘This must be fate,’ Ciel decided as the inside of her head brightened optimistically.
That’s right. What was the point of hesitating now that things had come to this point? They were just dancing to the music. Although this palace wasn’t the mansion back at the Lionheart estate, it wasn’t like this would be her first time dancing with Eugene. While receiving etiquette training, she had held hands with Eugene and danced in time with him more than once.
The last time was probably… when she was fourteen years old. At that young age, she hadn’t been able to properly understand her own emotions. The urge to tease Eugene and give him a hard time had held a stronger sway over her heart than the potential embarrassment, so she had deliberately stumbled numerous times whenever they had danced together.
This was just a case of Ciel having fun while thinking that it would be funny if they fell over each other, but even though she had often stumbled at the most unexpected timing, Eugene would always continue to lead Ciel through the dance without any hesitation.
When she thought back to those days, Ciel unconsciously let out a small laugh. With a giggle, Ciel walked over to Eugene. Eugene, who had just been standing there idly, turned his head towards the sound of Ciel’s footsteps.
Eugene wasn’t flustered by her arrival.
His only thought was, ‘So she’s finally here.’
Eugene had predicted that once he started dancing at this banquet, Ciel would definitely come looking for him.
“Isn’t this a familiar song?” Eugene said as he broke the silence with a grin.
Those words and the accompanying smile surprised Ciel.
“You remember it?” Ciel asked.
“Of course I remember it,” Eugene confirmed. “Although I’ve forgotten the name of the mustachioed man who came to teach us etiquette, I can at least remember the song that he played for us so often that I got sick of it.”
‘So I’m not the only one who remembers that,’ Ciel thought with a startled gasp before lighting up with a familiar smile.
While slowly holding her hand out towards Eugene, Ciel said, “Since we’re both familiar with it, how about we dance together?”
After she had said this, time seemed to stretch forward like melted cheese. The gap between how the time was actually passing and Ciel’s perception of time felt enormous. It had to have been only a few seconds at the very most, but that short amount of time felt far too long and slow for Ciel.
“Alright,” Eugene agreed.
However, the moment Eugene replied, the flow of time returned to normal. To Ciel, it felt like time had suddenly shrunk, like releasing a rubber band that had been pulled taut rather than melted cheese. Ciel tried to respond calmly, but her voice didn’t come out like she wanted it to. In the end, instead of replying, Ciel forced her lips into a smile and grabbed Eugene’s hand.
Crackle.
The moment their hands met, even though this wasn’t the first time they had done so, it felt like an electric current was passing between their skins, connecting them for the first time. From that moment onwards, even the song she was so familiar with sounded like it was coming from far away.
All Ciel could hear was the sound of Eugene breathing. She somehow managed to move her body and dance, but she couldn’t even tell if she was dancing properly or not.
Shouldn’t she look down to check her steps? But such thoughts didn’t even occur to her. Ciel’s eyes could only see Eugene, and she didn't even try to look anywhere else.
Also, in the privacy of her own head, she thought to herself, ‘Indeed, it can’t be anyone other than you.’
In her heart, Ciel wanted to keep staying with him forever. Even if it meant being stubborn, she wanted to go wherever Eugene went.
‘...But that won’t do,’ Ciel sadly realized.
This was the same song they had often listened to when they were young. The same dance that they had once danced together. But by now, many things had changed. Aside from the fact that neither of them were children any longer, Eugene had risen to an extremely high and distant position. Even though they had danced together like this while reminiscing about their childhood, it was impossible for things to be the same as they were in the past.
“I…,” Ciel leaned her body forward slightly.
The lines of the dance weren’t disturbed, but thanks to the fact that Ciel was leaning in so close to him, it looked as if they were hugging.
“...I’ll do my best,” Ciel promised.
She didn’t say this, expecting him to give her a response.
“I’ll return to the main estate, and like you said, I’ll train hard….” Ciel swore, “I’ll become a person who can be of some help to you, even if it’s only once.”
She would find something that the Archwizard Sienna couldn’t do. Something that even the Saints, Kristina or Anise, weren’t capable of. However, it had to be something that only Ciel could provide to Eugene.
“So…,” Ciel trailed off.
She needed to train her mana, raise her mastery of the White Flame Formula, and gain control over her Demoneye, which couldn’t currently be used at her own will.
“...tell me that you trust me,” Ciel requested.
Although it wasn’t asking for much, why did it feel so heavy to say? And why was her face getting so warm once more? Ciel hesitated and lowered her gaze.
“Why are you shaking so much when you talk to me,” Eugene let out a laugh and grabbed Ciel by the arms.
Her body was suddenly pulled into a hug as she spun around in Eugene’s arms.
Eugene smiled down at her, “Of course I trust you, Ciel.”
Ciel took a deep breath upon receiving this reply.
It was the reply that she had been hoping for. It was also the one that she had been expecting him to give. However, when she tried to think of how to respond to those words, the inside of her head turned blank, and she just couldn’t come up with anything.
So Ciel just slightly nodded her head.
That was enough for her. I trust you. In fact, what she really wanted him to say was something much more embarrassing…. What she wanted was words packed full of his love, but that would be too greedy of her.
‘This is enough,’ Ciel repeated to herself.
The sound of music that she hadn’t even been able to hear before started to reach her ears once more. She even became conscious of how she was moving her body, or rather, not moving it.
‘Oh my god, just what was I doing?’ Ciel gasped in embarrassment.
It definitely couldn’t have been called dancing. After all, she had just been allowing herself to be pulled around by Eugene.
Ciel clicked her tongue, disappointed with herself for behaving so stupidly. She didn’t know about anything else, but she had at least thought that she should dance better than Sienna, who had managed to dance with Eugene earlier. But looking at what she had done thus far, it was a terrible dance on par with what Sienna had managed.
‘This won’t do,’ Ciel decided, her expression becoming serious.
After reaching this decision, Ciel cleared her thoughts and focused on her dancing.
Once his dance with Ciel had come to an end, Melkith came over to Eugene, putting up a fuss and demanding to dance with him. Sienna was blatantly glaring at Melkith, but Melkith seemed oblivious to her stare and clung to Eugene, begging him.
“Please, pretty please!”
In the end, Eugene was only freed after Lovellian and Hiridus managed to wrangle Melkith.
“Did you enjoy dancing with them?”
Next, Eugene had to face the questioning of Kristina and Anise as the two poured alcohol down their throats like it was water.
“We have no intention of dancing in any case, so we didn’t feel any childish jealousy as we watched you dance. However, we’ve been drinking on our own until now, and you haven’t had any drinks so far, right? As such, you should at least accompany us for the rest of the night,” they insisted.
Despite her saying they didn’t feel any jealousy, the light in her eyes was cold-blooded.
A lot of people approached Eugene, hoping to have a short conversation with him. But even someone like Ivatar was intimidated by the look that Kristina and Anise gave him, so no one was actually able to speak to Eugene.
In the end, Eugene just sat next to Kristina and gulped down his drinks until the party came to an end.
1. The original text says, ‘cut something,’ but that sounds a bit limp to me, so I made it into a reference to the Gordian knot. ☜