ALTGS 36

Oh gosh. Oh gosh, they were surrounded.

Celestria was struggling to efficiently hide her panic. But it was much harder than she thought at this point. Most of her energy and focus had been spent acquainting herself with new allies and putting forth the facade of The Lily Maiden. When she had come to talk with the Duke at the back of the banquet hall, she had let her guard down, ready to retire for the night after working so hard. You should never let your guard down until you are safely within the ranks of your allies. That was what she had always believed, but it wasn’t enough when you were surrounded by such a new and foreign threat.

“Your Grace... what are you going to do? This...” Celestria whispered discreetly, piecing her friendly mask together bit by bit as she quickly got her fan out. She had to hide her face for now. At least until she was able to get back to The Lily Maiden. This was not at all a good situation.

“What am I going to do? Hm... not much. What about you, Lady Voltaine?” The Duke replied rather nonchalantly, waving for another waiter to come by with another glass of wine. Celestria shot him a sharp look of annoyance. Another glass of wine?? Now?? Really???? He was the one that was going to be overwhelmed by eager maidens at any moment now.

Now that Celestria had become aware of the swaths of young ladies, she had become aware of many other things as well, such as the flow of music. To their left, there was a wide space in which people waltzed. Right now, there weren’t a whole lot of couples dancing, but the music was about to end, and another song would begin. Judging from the steady, slow notes that reverberated through the space, the song that was about to end was specially tailored for couples that had either known each other for a long time and were engaged, or were newly married. The next song...

A cold sheet of ice washed over Celestria.

The next song would be for the nobles that had just met and were testing each other out.

The mask was fully functional now. She had regained control of her disposition.

Why should she be worried about anything, anyway? If the Duke himself seemed so unbothered, nay, resigned to this fate, then why should she be the one to panic? Yes, that was right. There was no need for her to be concerned. Surely, he had done this enough times to find a way to avoid such situations. Feeling her pulse relax, Celestria couldn’t help but sigh. How quick she was to panic on behalf of a man that looked even more slackened than he normally was.

“You didn’t say what you were going to do, Lady Voltaine.” He said, reaching for the glass that an exasperated waiter brought on a tray.

“Well, if you’re not going to do anything, I don’t think it’s my place to do anything either.”

“So then you’re going to dance with them?”

“Pardon?”

The Duke turned to the crowd, pointing out to it with his chin.

Mixed in the colorful dresses and mink furs were dark coats lined with black fox fur.

He saw it twice now. That frightful mask that Celestria always seemed to have on. He saw it crack twice in a very short span of time. Sighing for the nth time this evening, Erich took a large sip of his wine. He definitely needed it today. After all, everywhere his eyes looked was a pretty lady in a bright dress, patiently waiting for a chance. Well, that was not accurate. Within the sea of bright summer flowers were... uh...how would one describe men? If maidens were likened to shy flowers, then what were young lads? Stags? Bucks? Well, it simply didn’t fit in this metaphor. A bunch of male deer in a sea of flowers? The Duke shook his head. It just didn’t fit. Maybe rocks. Rocks in a sea of flowers. Well, that would do very well. After all, these young men were often as bull-headed as they came. Whatever. The simple fact was that there were men amongst the women, likely eyeing the Lily Maiden that stood beside him.

And that very Maiden as of now had the same expression of a cornered animal.

He would admit that he had been shocked when she walked in with the air of a benevolent saintess prepared to gift kindness and joy to all the people in the party. For a bit, he was taken aback. Shocked enough to freeze and almost buy into the lie. But now, the saintess had become a giant target. The Duke didn’t understand just how she didn’t see this coming. As of now, it really was not a stretch to say that she was the single most powerful human in the kingdom. And despite the little charade she always put up with her veiled hair, she was unmarried. Celestria Voltaine was still in the market, just like he was. She should have taken that into account. In the past, her veil may have protected her when no one knew of her or cared, but as of now, every single person in the banquet hall knew her name and her face, and they were prepared to grab onto her.

But it was very odd. The Duke had lived for many years. More than forty-three. And in that entire time, he had never met a noblewoman who displayed such an indifference to the expectations of a lady within society. The actions she took seemed to disregard how others would perceive them. Well, that was not wholly true. They only seemed to disregard how others would perceive them in terms of marriage. Even her entry today disregarded the resulting decisions that the young gentlemen would take. A beautiful , powerful lady. Of course they’d want to court her! The Duke simply didn’t understand how Celestria didn’t see that.

As he contemplated, he raised his glass again to take a hearty sip. The music was going to end in a little while. But as his eyes fell on the cup, he cursed under his breath. Ah, damn. The glass was already empty. Feeling a little bit of irritation stir, Erich began to raise his arm to call for more wine.

But a small, soft hand stopped him.

What?

That hand resting on his forearm. It belonged to Celestria. The Duke blinked in confusion, then looked to her face.

Oh.

Impossible.

A smile that shone like the bright midday sun, bathing him in a warmth unlike any he had felt was directed right at him. He knew intuitively that this smile was one that was most definitely capable of felling whole nations, bewitching any that looked upon it. Such a charming smile was one that poets strove to describe and artists dared to recreate. Enough to leave any man lovesick. And yet he only felt his insides turn cold in response. Indeed, if it had been any other lady, that would have been true. But this was Celestria.

“Your Grace. It would seem that we are in a particularly difficult situation.”

As if that smile was not enough, she spoke in that sickly sweet voice that could easily rival angels singing gentle lullabies. Oh God, Erich could feel himself sobering up from the building dread in the pits of his stomach, twisting his innards as a cold feeling prickled the back of his neck. Even war wasn’t normally enough to do that.

“As we are allies, shall we help each other out?” She giggled.

Celestria hadn’t danced in years. When was the last time she’d done it? Oh gosh, probably around her debut. When she was sixteen. Stifling a cringe, she kept her face lovely and innocent as she followed the Duke’s lead. As of now, she could tell that he was just a little angry. After all, she had put him in quite a difficult position and essentially forced him to ask her for a dance. The music they waltzed to was a little sprightly, not too fast-paced but not slow either. Just enough to have the dancing couples engaged but relaxed enough to chat. The Duke had also not danced in a long time. She could tell from how stiff and almost robotic his movement was. Well, he was not bad either.

“Your Grace, please don’t be too angry at me. It was a desperate situation.”

He grunted in response.

“At least this way, we can say that we have already danced and are not obligated to humor anyone else that asks. Isn’t that a good outcome?” Celestria, tilted her head slightly, giving a bright smile.

“I was planning on getting far too drunk to even stand. That would have been a great outcome too.” The Duke nearly growled as he turned to the music, Celestria following.

“My, that’s not ideal at all, Your Grace. Wouldn’t that serve to damage your reputation?”

“Getting blackout drunk is hardly enough to damage the reputation of a soldier. But dancing with arguably the most sought-after maiden in the Kingdom right now? That’s got its own problems.”

“Now now, that’s being too pessimistic isn’t it?” She sighed, carefully following the Duke’s sidestep as he avoided another waltzing couple.

“Not at all. I’d say it’s a healthy amount of pessimism.” He murmured, turning to look around the floor for any other couples that he may collide with.

Celestria regarded this scowling man yet again. Her right hand rested lightly in his left’s open palm, and his right sat very faintly on the left side of her back. Her left hand, consequently, rested on his right bicep, and she followed the steps that he took. His left forward, her right foot back. His right foot forward, her left foot back. When she felt that he would turn, she did so in the same direction. Well, she would admit that following his lead was not at all difficult. It made sense, that his lead was clear. Someone whose job was to lead soldiers into battle needed to be firm and decisive. It made sense that it would reflect in his dancing too, didn’t it? No it didn’t. She knew plenty of knights who were just as resolute but were famed for having two left feet on the dance floor.

“Your Grace, with how cynical you sound, it’s enough to make me sad to the point of tears. Am I really so horrendous? Dear me...”

She was being sarcastic in her mock sadness as she shut her eyes and looked down and away like she was hurt. In reality, Celestria was having fun. Well, she didn’t know exactly why, but she was simply enjoying mindlessly dancing round and round in a circle with a grumpy duke. Perhaps she was having fun because she knew that realistically, she shouldn’t be able to get away with all the things that she had done up until this point. Asking for him to escort her to town, then to introduce him to her allies, and then strong-arming him to dance. In normal circumstances, she would have been in serious trouble for even suggesting such things. But they weren’t living in normal circumstances anymore.

“...You’re not horrendous. I...”

Hm?

Celestria opened her eyes, sensing a strange change in his tone. What was that?

Looking up, she could see that the Duke’s normally sharp grey eyes that always seemed to see through everything were narrowed in confusion. He was looking elsewhere, but she knew that the hesitancy was as a result of her words. Her sarcastic words.

“I just don’t understand how you don’t get it. Or maybe you get it, but you’re ignoring it.”

“Get what? I was joking earlier.”

“No, not only earlier. Long before today. Celestria, do you understand how it is your actions come across? To me and to everyone else? Do you know and just don’t care, or is it on purpose?”

Now he turned to look her in the eye. What did he mean? Deep in her gut, she felt a rising nervousness. Her skin was prickling ever so slightly. Celestria became aware of her breathing, and for a while, she began to breathe shallow in a strange effort to stop existing. There was something below the surface, deep down that was becoming aware. Aware of things that she didn’t want to be aware of. Things she wished desperately didn’t apply to her. Oh gosh.

“I... I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about, Your Grace.” But she felt like she did, just a bit. That was why her voice was almost a whisper. Oh gosh, now it wasn’t the same. Dancing in a man’s arms. Before, it didn’t feel the least bit weird. She didn’t care. But now... now it was different.

Finally, the Duke seemed to give up thinking of whatever was confusing him. With a tired sigh, he said, “With all the things you’ve done...people would think that we’ve got intentions of courting, you know.”