Chapter 45: Dancing with Fairies
ONCE Camille had mastered the basic steps, the girls moved to a practice room on campus. Iris had instructed her to bring a partner; she showed up with Fuchsia, the Red Fairy Leader.
“Sorry… I didn’t have anyone else I could ask,” Camille mumbled shyly.
Fuchsia smirked. “Since she needed my help, I decided to give it to her.”
Iris recoiled slightly. This was decidedly not what she had expected.
“You know you can’t dance with Lord Fuchsia during the contest, right? Because normal people can’t see fairies?”
She gasped. “Oh, I didn’t think of that!”
“Ah, crap, I totally forgot,” Fuchsia said. “After all, if a no-mana chick like you can see me, I figured everyone could.”
“Your entire existence is a royal secret, remember?!” Iris pointed out.
“Oh, right. Forgot about that, too. Eh, don’t worry about it.”
How am I supposed to not worry about it??? It’s a secret so huge, the game never bothered explaining it! Kind of important, if you ask me!
Still, Iris decided not to press the issue any further. It was time to practice.
At first glance, Fuchsia didn’t look like the dancing type, but contrary to Iris’s expectations, his skills were solid. He aggressively swung Camille around the room to a “One, Two, Three” beat, and she was clearly having trouble keeping up with him. But in her desperation to follow his lead, she seemed to forget the awkward hesitation that always held her back when she practiced with Iris. She really looked like she was enjoying herself.
“Well, well. I see you’re all having fun in here,” Sauge said, appearing beside Iris out of nowhere with a smile on her face.
“Lady Sauge?! You’re not supposed to be here!”
“Neither is Fuchsia and yet here he is,” she shot back. Then she took Iris’s hand. “Let us join them, shall we?”
“…How does that work when we’re both girls?” Iris asked, resigned to her fate.
“Since you’re shorter, I shall take the lead.”
“And we’ll sing for you!”
“And we’ll play the instruments!”
Fairies flew out of Iris’s ringlets. At this, all the other fairies watching on the sidelines swiftly joined in. Some shook sprays of lily-of-the-valley, making the bell-shaped flowers jingle; some pounded dandelions like drums; some blew rhododendrons like trumpets, and some played hairy fleabane stems like flutes. It was all so surreal, Iris could scarcely believe her eyes.
“It’s beautiful…!” she gushed.
Smirking, Sauge led Iris to the dance floor, her long white hair fluttering behind her. Her steps were perfectly controlled—a mirror reflection of her personality. Iris smiled at her, and she smiled back. Oh, Lady Sauge… For a woman, you’re so dreamy…!
There was a sudden knock at the door, snapping Iris out of her trance.
“Iris? Are you in there?”
It was Reseda. At the sound of his voice, Sauge grinned and slid an arm around Iris’s waist. Not willing to be outdone, Fuchsia did the same to Camille. Meanwhile, the little fairies all watched intently, their eyes shining with excitement.
“Yes, I’m here!”
“I’m coming in.”
The door opened, and Reseda walked inside. He took one look at Sauge and scowled. Then he realized that another Fairy Leader was present, hastily composed himself, and bent the knee.
Fuchsia grinned in amusement. “The king’s son?”
“Lord Fuchsia, I am Reseda, the second prince of Floraison.”
“Right, I’ve heard about you. Anyway, as you were.”
Rising to his feet, Reseda looked over at Iris. “What are you doing here, Iris?”
“Why, dance practice, of course,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“I do believe I said I would be your dance partner…”
“Did you? Oh ho ho ho!” Iris let out her most villainous laugh.
He sighed heavily. “I should think you’d be better off practicing with the same partner you’ll have on the day of the contest,” he insisted, ignoring Sauge’s smirk.
“I suppose you’re right,” Iris mused.
She looked over at Camille. Obviously she needed her dear protagonist’s blessing before she made any major decisions.
“In that case, I suppose we need to decide on a partner for Miss Camille.”
In Reseda’s route in HanaKoro, Reseda chose to dance with Camille over Iris, thereby forcing her to endure the public humiliation of dancing with her own brother rather than her fiancé. Conversely, in Nigel’s route, Reseda danced with Iris, but only out of obligation. Here in real life, however, he had no such obligation to her.
“Why?” he demanded.
“Because she doesn’t have one. Obviously, she can’t ask Lord Fuchsia to come onstage and dance with her…”
“Sure she can,” Fuchsia protested.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Reseda shot back hastily.
“But…if I can’t dance with Lord Fuchsia, then who…?” Camille asked timidly.
Iris clapped her hands together. “What if His Highness was your partner? He’s standing right here, after all.”
“Call. Me. Reseda. And for the record, I’m your partner!”
“But…”
“Do you have someone else in mind?”
“Well, I could ask Nigel…”
“Brother and sister, dancing together? I don’t think so. Why don’t you ask him to dance with Camille instead? He helped her train for the monster dispatch mission, didn’t he?”
Unlike in HanaKoro, the real Reseda refused to make Iris dance with her own brother. If only his 2D version had exhibited that level of consideration… Poor Iris… While Iris was confused why he would insist on being her partner when they weren’t even engaged, she could appreciate that he seemed to have more common sense than his otome game counterpart.
Iris looked over at Camille. “Would you be willing to dance with Nigel, Miss Camille? If so, I can speak to him on your behalf.”
“Huhwha?! But…won’t that be asking too much of Sir Nigel? I mean, he already went to all the trouble of training me in combat…”
“Did he frighten you? Oh, I’m so sorry. He can be excessively strict at times, so I understand if you’d rather not.”
Iris shot a look at Reseda; he scowled. Camille hastily shook her head. It was obvious to her that he wanted to dance with Iris, and she really didn’t want to get in the way of his wishes.
Admittedly, Nigel’s sword training was indeed fairly strict. He had no understanding of how much stamina the average girl could be expected to have, so he treated her as though she was at the same fitness level as Iris. Needless to say, he’d run Camille completely ragged, and his aggressive point-blank attacks terrified her. She simply didn’t have the energy to swing a bastard sword around for hours at a time.
Partway through, however, he realized the error of his ways and changed up his training style to suit her needs. In addition to her magic, it was thanks to his persistent efforts to teach her how to run and dodge that she ultimately finished the monster dispatch mission entirely unscathed. She was now so grateful to him, she considered him one of her “heroes” along with Iris. And it was for that reason that she didn’t want to burden him needlessly.
“It’s not that! I just…um… If Sir Nigel wouldn’t mind, then…”
She stared hesitantly at the floor, and Iris smirked. Ohoho… Nigel’s route, is it? Not to worry! Your future sister-in-law is more than happy to help you!
“Well then, I’ll go fetch him!” Iris exclaimed.
Reseda smiled. “You sure seem happy.”
“Indeed, I am!”
At this, Sauge laughed. “As do you, little prince.”
“Yes, I am,” he nodded intently.
“Nigel, eh? Well then, let’s see what he’s made of,” Fuchsia muttered devilishly.
A chill ran down Iris’s spine. “Er, Lord Fuchsia? Please don’t bully my twin, all right?”
He smiled back at her without a word. I swear, these Fairy Leaders can be terrifying!