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Even so, the partner’s steps would not change immediately after a lead suggestion. It was inevitable that there would be delay—although a very small one—between the lead and his partner’s response. At least, there should be one. However, Charlotte couldn’t see any delay when Cyril and Sophia danced.

When Cyril smiled gently, Sophia made an elegant turn, a smile appearing on her face. There was no hesitation whatsoever, and the pair had been dancing as if they had been one person from the very start. 

Charlotte suspected that they were perhaps doing a pre-rehearsed dance.  But that wasn’t right either. The situation around them kept changing, be it because of a change to the rhythm of the music or the people dancing around them changing positions. They responded to these constantly changing circumstances and would adjust their steps on the spot, choosing the most suitable movement. This couldn’t have been a pre-rehearsed dance.

“He seems to be having fun…”1

Those words slipped out of Charlotte’s mouth without thinking. Cyril’s lead was completely different from what he had done when he was embellishing Charlotte’s movements. This was a free kind of lead that he seemed to be enjoying, as well as making the dance fun for his partner too. If Charlotte were to follow him leading like that, she would probably step on his feet right away. However, Sophia danced happily according to Cyril’s guidance.

“The saintess of Ephenear and Sir Butler…” she heard someone’s voice utter.

She suddenly noticed that many people had stopped dancing, captivated by Cyril and Sophia’s dance. At some point, the pair became the focus of the ballroom. The best orchestra in the country, hired by the royal family, was only playing for the two of them.

“…So it is possible for someone to smile this genuinely?” Charlotte couldn’t help but mutter. She was at a prince’s birthday party, and the leading figures of this country had gathered there. If she were to make a careless statement somewhere like that, it could prove fatal. A single mistake could turn deadly. Truth be told, even though she plastered a smile on her face, Charlotte’s stomach was always hurting.

However, Cyril and Sophia were dancing with genuine smiles on their faces. Surely, the only one reflected in Cyril’s eyes was Sophia, and Cyril was the only one reflected in Sophia’s. The two of them were the only ones who seemed to be sparkling, as if they had been blessed by the spirits. 

‘I’m so frustrated.’ With difficulty, Charlotte managed to swallow down these words that threatened to spill out. As an Imperial Princess of the Flamefield Empire, she couldn’t utter those words acknowledging her defeat here. ‘But, I do still feel really frustrated,’ Charlotte repeated in her head.

“…We’ve lost completely, haven’t we?” A voice said from right beside her.

She recognized the owner of the voice immediately without even having to turn her head to look—it was her brother. Charlotte opposed his statement for that same reason.

“Nope. He’s going to be helping me with research during our stay here, so I did achieve my goals.”

“However, helping you is the bare minimum. You’ve actually truly fallen in love with that butler, haven’t you?”

“You’re one to speak! You have fallen for her, too.”

An unkind answer to an unkind question. A substantial amount of time had passed since the two of them arrived to this country. During this time, Harold had always been accompanied by Sophia as his guide. Charlotte thought it was inevitable that day by day, Harold’s feelings for her would become more and more earnest.

After all, she was Cyril’s perfect match.

As she pondered these thoughts, Charlotte chewed at her lip. Then, Charlotte and Harold looked at each other and they both let out a sigh.

“What do you want to do now?”

“That’s not even a question. Our studies have only just begun.”

“Watching those two, do you think you stand a chance?”

“Ugh… you say awful things sometimes, you know?”

The light from the magical tool Cyril had developed was unusually soft. It was evenly bright all over and it filled the whole party venue with natural-looking light. That being said, Cyril and Sophia—and only Cyril and Sophia—seemed to be sparkling. It was as if the gods of this world had blessed them.  

“But, don’t you think that giving up like this is simply vexing?”

“Well… you’re right about that—um, what’s with that hand?”

Charlotte had held out her hand. It was a gesture identical to Sophia’s, expressing that one wanted to be asked for a dance. 

“Will you accompany me to take my mind off of things?”

“…Alright. I’m just in the mood for some exercise as well. May I have this dance, my dear sister?”

“Of course, big brother.”

***

I was dancing with Lady Sophia. Although I had been my Lady’s dance partner during practice countless times, this was the first time—with the exception of the play—that we danced together at such a big party. 

I was truly having fun, and, unintentionally, I started leading her in a way that displayed these feelings. As the lead, the man was there to make the woman following his lead shine. That was the foundation of dancing. As I pondered these thoughts, Lady Sophia smiled at me sweetly.

I understood that she was thinking: ‘Since we finally get to dance together, let’s both enjoy it.’ And so my lead became even more daring.

I did a combination of very difficult steps that we rarely ever did even during practice. 

‘How about this?’ I asked her with my gaze, and her smile widened.

‘You can up the difficulty even more.’ She gave me a challenging smile. I continued leading her in a way that was already completely ignoring the rules. If I bent the rules any more than this, it couldn’t even be considered a dance anymore. On the other hand, I wanted to find out how far my Lady would go to meet my demands.

I’ll try making slightly bigger movements. The moment I thought so, Lady Sophia’s steps became slightly larger.

Her first step changed only the smallest bit, but her second step was much bolder. Right when I made my steps wider, my Lady began to dance as if she was gliding on top of the carpet. Despite us not exchanging a word for a while now, her thoughts were getting through to me. And I was certain that my thoughts were reaching her, too.

Sure enough, I ended up thinking: ‘I’m having fun.’ Although the song had already ended at some point, we continued and began our second dance. To dance for two songs with the same person at the same party was an exceptional act. Having realized this, a buzz began to come from the people around us, but I didn’t care about it one bit. Let’s think about things that can be dealt with later—later. More importantly, I don’t want to put an end to this fun moment.

“Say, Cyril. Just what kind of magic did you use?”

“I haven’t used any. I simply got them to withdraw in exchange for granting Imperial Princess Charlotte’s wish.”

However, there were two important points to note. First, what I offered hadn’t been information about the spell itself, but the completed magical device. Second, I had thoroughly investigated Imperial Princess Charlotte’s actual wish.

If I had given them the information about the spell, it would have ended with that. However, this wasn’t the case when handing over the magical tool. At the very least, it was going to require a large amount of time before they could completely analyze it. In other words, I still had an ace up my sleeve. Also, knowing Imperial Princess Charlotte’s wish was also important. There was a difference between offering a deal in order to save her beloved younger sister’s life and proposing a deal without knowing the reason behind her wish, but doing it anyway simply because that was what she wanted. 

On top of that, I made the offer through Prince Lancelot, so the other country would be indebted to him and it wouldn’t appear as if a butler was butting in. Of course, it was possible that Prince Lancelot wouldn’t cancel Lady Sophia’s engagement for such a reason alone, but I had offered him a magical tool that could save Fol, making him indebted to me. And so, Lady Sophia’s engagement came to nothing, while the two countries stayed on good terms.

“So that’s what you were doing, Cyril.” Lady Sophia finished listening to my explanation and looked a little surprised. It seemed that she hadn’t figured out enough to know what exactly I had been doing.

“I thought that you were aware of what I was doing, since you had never questioned my actions.”

In order not to get her dragged into it in case of failure, I hadn’t told Lady Sophia even the fact that I intended to block her political marriage. I thought that her not saying anything despite that was due to her guessing what I was doing.

“I only knew that you were carrying out various plans.”

“Then—”

“I simply trusted you.”

She was saying that she didn’t ask me anything because she trusted me. She didn’t even know if I was taking any actions at all to stop her political marriage. And even if I were, she had no idea whether I had figured out a way to make them possible. I was a little astonished that my Lady had been able to believe in me in such circumstances. 

“Because you never lie, Cyril.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. However, Lady Sophia laughed.

“But you did exactly the same thing, Cyril.”

“…I did the same?”

“You’ve never once asked me why I accepted being a guide, have you?”

“…Come to think of it, you’re right.”

Even though Young Master Ernest apparently had various theories about the reason Lady Sophia had accepted the request, I knew why she had done so right from the start.

“That’s because I immediately realized that you were expressing your wish to settle this matter peacefully. Although there are some things that can’t be explained just by that alone…”

I had been cooking up various schemes in order to get rid of the matter of Lady Sophia’s engagement. Perhaps, if Lady Sophia had rejected the offer right at the beginning, there would have been a way to settle it even more amicably.

“As expected, you have even realized that much.”

“Ah, well… I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t figured out the reason for it.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You did exactly what I expected you to. Moreover, you did it much, much better than I anticipated.”

“Is that… so…”

Nevertheless, it was a fact that I hadn’t figured out Lady Sophia’s intentions. I was feeling a little down, because, while I felt somewhat accomplished, it appeared that my diligence was still lacking. Seeing me like this, Lady Sophia slightly leaned in with her body against mine.

“…Lady Sophia?”

“It was my intention for you not to realize what my objective was. To be more precise, you could even say that I didn’t want you to find out. So… that means that I win, right?”

All of a sudden, she was looking at me with the face of a mischievous child.  Even though I had been able to see through her not that long ago, as of late, Lady Sophia had gotten really good at keeping secrets. Although I felt a little sad about it, this unpredictable Lady Sophia was also very cute.

‘Are you happy, my Lady?’ I asked her through our dance. Her answer was the most wonderful smile I had ever seen on her.

After Lady Sophia and I finished our second dance, we left the ballroom and greeted the other guests while eating a light meal at the buffet table. That being said, since I was actually a butler, Lady Sophia was the one mainly in charge of the talking.

However, perhaps because I came into the limelight by dancing with Lady Sophia for several songs, there were a few people who asked Lady Sophia questions about me as well after finding out that I was a butler. 

After all, this wasn’t the first time I had filled in the position of Lady Sophia’s partner at a party organized by Prince Lancelot’s party. Moreover, I had been Imperial Princess Charlotte’s guide until a short while ago, and both Young Master Ernest and even Prince Lancelot came up to talk to me.

It was understandable for them to doubt whether or not I was really just a butler.

“Actually, he is just a butler.” As I repeatedly listened to this exchange between Lady Sophia and the nobles that came towards us one after the other, Young Master Ernest returned.

“Sophia, you do some pretty excessive things, don’t you?” 

“Oh, but I don’t think that I did anything excessive, did I?”

Ernest was making a remark about her turning down an Imperial Prince from another country at a party with members of the royal family. Although I wondered whether Young Master Ernest wouldn’t feel exasperated by her, he only muttered, “Is that so?”

“Sophia, you have a really good butler.”

“Yes, I know that more than anyone.”

Lady Sophia chuckled. I had never thought that I’d get praised by Young Master Ernest, and my eyes widened slightly. Young Master Ernest turned to look at me.

“I shall acknowledge you. You were able to accomplish something impossible even for me. You’re certainly worthy of being Sophia’s exclusive butler.”

“I’m undeserving of such kind words.”

I politely bowed, and then slowly lifted my face. When my gaze returned to his face, his lips moved silently.

‘However, she’s my younger sister. It won’t be that easy.’

Apparently, he had assumed that I had the ability to read lips… Although it was meaningless for him to do this, because Lady Sophia was able to read lips as well. Whether he knew that or not, he looked at Lady Sophia again. 

“Sophia, there’s actually an instrument called a ‘grand piano’ in this venue. I’m going to play it, so won’t you accompany me on the violin?”

“…A piano?”

“Yes. It’s an instrument invented in the Flamefield Empire. You probably don’t know it, but I’ve been practicing. The piano’s timbre is beautiful, so I’m sure it’ll be a great performance.”

Young Master Ernest gently smiled at Lady Sophia and then looked at me. 

‘You must be jealous that I get to duel with Sophia for the first time on a new instrument, aren’t you?’ His lips moved soundlessly.

‘Are you a child?’—I had no place to make such remarks. If anything, I went pale, wishing I was in a position to be jealous of him. Then, I urged my Lady to please read the room—

“Oh, but I know what a grand piano is.” Lady Sophia answered easily. My hopes were dashed.

“…What…?”

“Cyril sent craftsmen to the Flamefield Empire and had them learn the manufacturing process of these grand pianos. So we’ve also begun to make them in our country.”

“T–then… don’t tell me that…”

“Yes, Cyril played the grand piano for me and I played on the violin. It was really fun, it felt like I was in a dream.”

Lady Sophia wounded Young Master Ernest’s soul with no reservations while wearing an innocent smile. If you say anything more than that, I might get killed by Young Master Ernest, so please stop right there. 

Then, Young Master Ernest turned to look at me, his movements so stiff that felt like I could hear his neck creaking.

“I… I really can’t hand my lovely younger sister to someone like you!”  

“Ah, no, um…”

“Now, now, big brother. Since this is a rare chance, why don’t we have a duet together?”

Lady Sophia smiled at me as if she was telling me that ‘It’ll be alright, leave my big brother to me.’, and then she headed to another part of the venue with Young Master Ernest.

…My young Lady left as if to express that she would protect me from Young Master Ernest, who was overtaken by jealousy, after she agitated him herself… I couldn’t help but feel like she had grown up into a little devil. 

Please, at least compliment Young Master Ernest’s performing skills, alright?

Thank you for reading! Can you believe it\'s been over a year since I started translating this novel? I posted my first chapter on the 24th of November! Thank you for all the support and lovely comments throughout the year! <3

Happy holidays, hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope to see you next week for another update!

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1. This line is very ambiguous, it could also mean ‘They seem to be having fun’ or just a ‘This looks like fun’. Given what the text says next, I chose the option of ‘he’, but just wanted to point out the other ways to interpret this line.