Embarrassed by Leone’s order to celebrate, Adler opened his mouth.
“Leone. From now on, there is a speech class. Mr. Benjamin teaches-”
“Get out.”
Leone firmly ordered. Adler did not object further. It was the boss’s order anyway, so it was right to listen.
“Call me when you want to resume class.”
After bowing politely, Adler and Benjamin left the room. Before closing the door, Benjamin looked at her and Leone with a strange look.
“Why did you send them all out? Suddenly…”
It was a little disconcerting. It was just the two of them, Leone and she, in a large, suddenly empty room.
“No?”
“No, not that. Because I don’t know why.”
“Can you keep coming closer now?”
He seemed to think that she was distant because she was uncomfortable being with them.
It’s not that, it’s sad… She couldn’t talk… There was no way Adler and Benjamin would be uncomfortable with her now. However, unlike the absurd mind, laughter broke out.
“Pu-huh. Therefore, did you pass it on because of me? Haha.”
“Huh. Trixie- tone.”
“Yes?”
“Like everyone else, doing it. No.”
“Ah. Respect has become a habit… yeah, I got it. Leone, sorry. When there are two of us, I have to change.”
Leone laughed lightly as if he liked it. The folds in the corners of his eyes were lovely. Still, it seemed that she was recognized as Leone’s closest protector. She thought he was very close with Adler and Benjamin, but he kicked them out for her. It felt like the sadness that had accumulated over the years had been blown away a little. She had become a really childish person too. She was grateful that he chose her over them, cared for her, and took care of her, and she was glad to see them weighing her, so she forgot her sadness. Her mood swings were funny.
‘I’m not jealous…’
Didn’t this make her feel like someone who has a possessive desire for Leone? …wait. Jealousy? Possessiveness…?
“Dance- silver.”
Leone’s voice interrupted the pause in her thoughts.
“They say I need a partner.”
“Uh?”
What was possessiveness? She erased all her thoughts and focused on Leone. She didn’t even know that he had something to talk about because he had bitten other people.
“Dancing together, the other person- very. It’s important. Teacher said.”
That kind of thing came up in the waltz class. She didn’t know. Leone was pretty good at using his body, so the waltz quickly followed. It was difficult at first because the concept of music itself was unfamiliar, but soon she moved smoothly. The opponent at that time was the person Mr. Waltz had brought. He had brought a short man, saying that no woman could match His Highness. The progress was fast, and she remembered that it was a pretty combative class because Leone followed along well and the excited Waltz teacher passionately taught. In fact, most of the classes were like that. At first, she tried to learn with Leone while observing, but she quickly gave up because Leone’s class progress and learning ability were extraordinary, and she couldn’t hear the conversation between Leone and the teacher as she listened from a distance. She was just chasing the schedule and checking on Leone’s condition, so she barely knew what the class was about. Anyway, did that kind of teaching come and go while there seemed to be no time for words to come and go? He was a great teacher.
“Right, Leone. The teacher said something really important. Actually, Leone practiced dancing with a man, but you must never dance with a man at a banquet.”
“Huh. The teacher said it was dancing with a woman.”
Leone replied with a nod of his head as if he knew.
“Okay. Leone. You will be dancing with a woman.”
She met Leone’s eyes straight and said clearly. As soon as the word came out, it was necessary to nail it precisely.
“Leone. You should never ask any girl to dance. Understand?”
“Why?”
Adler and she always had something to worry about. It was that Leone was too handsome, and that Leone didn’t know how to speak the world. There was a sufficient risk of stealing people’s hearts and getting caught up in lust with a single unintentional word or action.
“A request to dance is a sign of goodwill.”
In fact, she didn’t know anything else because she hadn’t lived as an aristocrat for more than a day, but as a reader of romance novels, she knew this. Dance application, dance partner… It’s the least like sign!
“Crush, mark.”
Leone followed her words.
“If you do it to any woman, she will be in big trouble. If you like her, ask Adler, and if Adler tells you she’s a good match, ask for a dance. Otherwise, it’s perfect for other people to misunderstand.”
“Misunderstanding… what?”
“If you ask for a dance, other people will misunderstand that you have a crush on the person you asked for a dance!”
“That. Bad, right?”
“Of course!”
“Trixie, too? Misunderstood?”
Leone tilted his head and asked. His eyes, which normally seemed infinitely clear and innocent, seemed opaque. She thought that’s what he was thinking. But since it’s been a while since she couldn’t read Leone’s expression, she decided not to care and passed it on.
“Of course!”
Leone, who was not very interested in people, asks someone else to dance? Wasn’t that a sign of great affection? She nodded vigorously. Leone was silent for a moment in response to her answer. After a while, he opened his mouth with a more suspicious face.
“…I see.”
“I mean, you’re noticing it.”
“Trixie. Are you worried about me?”
“Huh! You are the prince. All the aristocratic ladies of the empire are eager to marry you. When you start showing your crush, everyone will flock to you. Then it won’t be hard for you either. Aww, I’m worried, Leone. I’m afraid it will happen to anyone…”
Leone learned this and that, and also learned about the caste system. At the same time, he realized his own position. He knew that he would be in a position to rule over the people he hated, so he thought he would be offended, but surprisingly he didn’t care. Wolves were solitary animals and the unit of a pack was a family. Was it easy for him to accept because he thought he would one day grow up and lead the pack? Or did he still have no sense of reality?
Anyway, he didn’t learn anything perfectly, but it’s safe to say that a six-year-old who stuttered and stammered has reached the upper grade of elementary school after entering the school. So, it has become easier to choose vocabulary when speaking these days since he understood everything.
“Hmm…”
He stared into space for a moment as if he was contemplating, then looked at her again.
“Then, to Trixie.”
“Huh?”
“I will apply.”
Leone moved his hand slowly. It was really slow, but she just stared blankly at the hand. That hand touched her hand. His big hand gently grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Another arm wrapped around her back and supported her. It was natural.
“Me… me?”
“Huh. I will apply to you.”
Why was the flow suddenly like this?! He wanted to apply to someone he liked?!
She looked at Leone’s chest, who had gotten too close, then backed away as far as she could. Even so, since Leone was in the position of hugging her, only his neck would fall back infinitely.
“No, Leone. Requesting a dance is a sign of goodwill. What if you apply for me? Is my puppy still not good at crushing? The crush I’m talking about is different from friendship. It is love, love.”
It seemed that Leone was confused because he didn’t know much about emotions. I tried my best to explain to him, “This is not it,” and “Love is something else.”
“Yeah, I know.”
However, Leone’s answer drained her strength. What did he know? Seeing Leone, she should be more concerned about her own misunderstandings than other people’s misunderstandings. Even though she knew it wasn’t true, Leone’s words left so much room for misunderstanding that her heart sank.
‘He’s good at making the heart race.’
The reason she kept being surprised was because Leone makes bombshell remarks that were so insensitive. Absolutely not because she had any change of heart.
“I’m worried, it works. Trixie.”
She was locked in Leone’s eyes looking down at her.
“I like you. You are worried.”
“Uuh… huh?”
“So Trixie dances with me.”
“Then why is that so-”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
‘If you worry so much about showing your crush, it’ll be solved if I dance with you…!’
Leone would only consider her as a guardian, so it was a reasonable conclusion. There’s nothing wrong with dancing with his chaperone. Then what made her heart flutter. She was really stumped over meaningless words. It looked like he was really getting better. She chose her words, trying to clear her mind.
“But. If you just want to dance, people close to you say you won’t be misunderstood if you apply. In that sense, I am the best partner.”
She knew it because she had seen a lot of romance dramas with childhood friends who met eyes while dancing with partners out of loyalty. No one misunderstood when they made partners with close people. They just said things like “I guess you couldn’t find a partner.”
Okay. If you think about it like this, Leone’s bomb remarks also make sense. He told her not to hold on to anyone, so he must have thought that he was applying to her. It was a simple but clear answer. Her kid was smart.
“…close person.”
However, even with Leone’s good answer, there was a blind spot. Because of the difference in status between Leone and her, she couldn’t be seen as Leone’s guardian in the eyes of others. A discipline teacher with the qualifications of a guardian for His Highness the Prince? He would have to be at least a self-made man.
“Leone. Since you can’t apply to anyone, it’s good that you made a good decision to apply to me, but unfortunately I can’t go to a banquet with you and become your partner. I’m in a position where I have to stick to the wall and watch the game… Thank you for applying, but I can’t dance with you.”
“Ah.”
Leone looked at her blankly.
“Identity.”
“Huh. Because I’m a commoner… In fact, it wouldn’t even make sense to talk to Leone face to face here.”
It was a little embarrassing to say with her own mouth. So far, she had been stroking her hair to her heart’s content.
“Trixie. Is your status a problem?”
“Huh? Huh.”
“Okay. Let’s go study now.”
Leone replied briskly, as if the topic was over, and then said something else.
“Huh. Didn’t you say you’d only be learning conversational skills all week until next week, a simple banquet?”
“Huh.”
He had grown like this in just one week of lying down, so how much would her words increase if he just learned to speak for a whole week? Now, she didn’t know if the Leone she used to know wasn’t disappearing at all.
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Translator Note:
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