Blade Over Magic

Dance

The King gave his opening speech.

It wasn’t very long, he simply spoke about how he was glad that there were still many familiar faces at the Ball this time of the year, an example of the events that would take place over the next few days, and so on.

Xander, however, only listened with part of his attention as he kept looking around with his eyes, searching for the figure of the youngest princess. However, he had no clue what she actually looked like, so he could only sigh inwardly and give up for the time being.

’Samuel made it sound like she would come to me first, so taking the initiative to look around is pointless.’ He comforted himself and forced his mind to calm down. Samuel’s words had truly been jarring, and it filled Xander’s mind with all sorts of questions he had no answers to. So he consoled himself that the answers would come after he met the princess.

But even then, he wasn’t super happy. Just how much did Samuel know? What was he planning? Could he be trusted?

He spoke of how things would get hectic in the future, but how sure was Xander that Samuel himself wasn’t a part of the problem? The fact that he seemed to exist entirely outside of the Myriad Paths made it even harder to trust him as Xander couldn’t gauge his true intentions. It was unnerving.

However, he had no more time to think about this as the dances had begun.

The music turned a bit more upbeat, and many of those who were couples began to move to the mezzanine as it was standard practice that couple could refrain from joining the dances immediately.

As Xander and the two girls were together this rule technically applied to them. The issue was that if they took advantage of it, Curtis would have to fend for himself on the dance floor, and each set of dances typically lasted half an hour.

Even though they had proven their ability to handle themselves in the noble scene, it was highly likely that this was only the ’first wave’ of attacks from the hostile factions. It was also likely that they would shift to trying to wear down the group to make them reveal a mistake. After all, unlike normal Balls, this one would last for three days with many events in-between. There was no way they would be able to maintain their composure while being ’attacked’ from multiple sides for that long.

Anyway, in order to solve the problem of Curtis having to dance with some overly touchy noblewoman, the group decided that Xander would dance with one of the girls, and Curtis with the other, and when the next set of dances happened, they would switch. Then they would all take breaks from another two sets of dances, effectively avoiding dancing with any strangers until it was time for food to be served.

That was the plan, anyway.

As the music started, and people started finding the dance partners, Aubrey, who was closest to Xander, turned to him expectantly, and he smiled a little.

He stretched forth his hand towards Aubrey’s and bowed slightly.

”May I have this dance, milady?” He asked politely, and Aubrey revealed a small smile as she slipped her hand into his.

”It would be my pleasure.” A similar scene played out as Curtis asked asked Falael to dance, to which she agreed.

Once again, the group felt numerous gazes on them as, other than Xander, the other three should have had little to no etiquette training. So they should have been bad at it in theory.

But reality was different.

As though they had been dancing a lot in their lives, both pairs moved with each other smoothly. The hands of the boys moving to the girls’ backs in a practiced manner.

As the music played, they moved in step with each other, their movements elegant and practiced.

Naturally, the group would have learned how to dance in their time dilation training. Moreover, due to Xander’s physical conditioning and his emphasis on footwork, they remaining three were able to pick up the act of dancing quite well.

Hence, as the music played, they all moved very well, and some people even forgot their hostility for a moment as they were surprised by just how well they danced. They moved even better than some long time nobles there!

’You know, I’m a bit worried about you.’ Aubrey said through the telepathic link as Xander twirled her gently.

’I rarely see you lose your composure like that. So it makes me concerned about what Samuel could have possibly told you. The fact he managed to converse with you while evading my senses is even more concerning. And what exactly is he doing in the Mage Tower? Just weeks after we last saw him at Avoma, no less. And when I try to find information on him, it comes up blank.’ Hearing her worry, Xander sighed.

’I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t wary of him either. He’s strange... Very much so. As for what he told me... I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if it’s something I want to share just yet. All I can say is that it likely involves me meeting the youngest princess. I’m not in danger though. At least, I don’t think so?’ Aubrey gave him a look.

’You don’t ’think’ so?’ Xander cleared his throat.

’I’m reasonably certain that I’m not in danger.’ Aubrey looked into his eyes, then she sighed.

’Haa... Fine, I’ll trust you. But you tell us at the first sign of danger, okay?’ She said sternly, and Xander smiled a little.

’Alright.’ He paused. ’That said, he did say something else...’ He mentioned the other thing Samuel mentioned about not being hasty to be violent, and Aubrey fell silent.

’That’s could mean many things. Perhaps there’s some trap being laid out for you or the rest of us. Or maybe someone you have a problem with may meet you. It’s hard to ascertain what it could be.’ Xander nodded slightly in agreement. The warning was very vague, so they could only speculate.

’Regardless, we’ll continue to communicate through it all.’ With that, they continued to dance, and as soon as the first set of dances came to an end, Curtis and Xander immediately switched partners, so now Xander was with Falael, and Curtis with Aubrey.

’You’re tense.’ Xander immediately noted as he started dancing with her. Their steps were still elegant, but as someone who was a master when it came to bodily control, he noticed immediately

’... I’m just feeling a bit uncomfortable.’ She admitted after some hesitation, and Xander nearly froze, but he recovered quickly.

’Uh... not with me, right?’ Hearing his nervous question, her eyes widened slightly.

’Wh-What? No no no!’ She quickly denied, her hands gripping his tighter as she sighed, and explained.

’It’s just... ugh. When I was with that Dorian guy, even though I was acting to make him overcommit, feeling him make those subtle remarks, undermine you, and get so close... it made me feel very uncomfortable. Both because I couldn’t just sock him in the jaw for insulting you... and because I let him get so close. It felt so... invasive.’ She frowned a little.

’And that’s weird to me because... While I don’t enjoy people entering my personal space ordinarily, this made me feel... icky. Almost dirty. I don’t really get it. He didn’t actually touch me, but it felt like I was... I don’t know... being unfaithful?’ She sounded almost unsure, and a look of understanding dawned on Xander’s face as he smiled.

’I see. I get it, to a degree.’ He hummed. To her, letting another guy with such obvious intentions get so close while she already had the person her biology literally rewrote itself for... It probably felt like she had behaved unfaithfully, and considering that elves by nature were extremely loyal to their chosen partners, it was no wonder she felt a bit icky.

’Well, I can probably say it’s not your fault and all of that, but you already know that, so...’ He leaned closer, just a bit, not enough to be considered inappropriate, but Falael definitely felt it, her ears twitching slightly as Xander looked her in the eyes.

’I’m not mad at you. Okay?’ Hearing this, her pupils dilated, then Xander felt the tension in her body easy as she nodded, just a bit.

’... You better not be, idiot.’ She mumbled, and Xander laughed inwardly. There she was.

With the tension eased, the dance was much more comfortable. He did make sure to tell her what he told Aubrey, though, and she was unsurprisingly concerned, especially about Samuel, but eventually, the dance ended.

There would be two more sets of dances before there was a break, and considering they had danced for two, the group absolutely intended to chill after those two dances.

However, just as Xander was following Falael to the Mezzanine.

”Excuse me.” The voice was soft, almost a whisper, but Xander still heard it.

He subconsciously looked back, and standing a few feet from him, a figure stood.

She seemed no younger than Xander and was currently smiling at him softly. Her hair was long and blue, and she wore an elegant azure dress. She was beautiful in a delicate way, like a fragile flower that needed to be protected at all costs.

When Xander saw her, he sort of just knew. Granted, the blue hair was a dead giveaway. But what sold it was her closed eyes.

It was similar to Nathan. But even though they were closed, he felt like she was staring right at him.

It was public knowledge that the youngest princess had some level of blindness. So it was pretty easy to find her among her siblings.

She stepped a bit closer, and Xander heard her sniffing the air slightly, and her smile grew slightly.

”I knew it. It was you.” Xander blinked. Yeah, she was supposed to approach him, but...

”Do you know me from somewhere?” He had to ask. He was both intrigued and perplexed. However, he wasn’t too wary, because unlike Samuel, Myriad Paths worked, and from what he could see, she gave off no malicious intent. In fact, there was a lot barely restrained excitement.

”Ah, that’s right, you wouldn’t know me just yet. Well, it’s no issue.” She held out her hand.

”How about we dance a bit first? Samuel directed you my way, did he not?” Xander’s eyes shrank. So she did know who Samuel was. Was this all some grand conspiracy?

And yet...

After a moment hesitation, Xander bowed.

”May I have this dance, milady?” A shocking scene played out as the youngest princess smiled sweetly.

”It would be my pleasure.”