One step left. Two steps right.
A little twirl here. A fast turn there
—Ouch! Stepped on my toes again!
I raised my leg in an attempt to massage my toe. Apparently, Carine's training shoes had so rock hard tips. Nearly crushed Feyt's toe there.
My muffled winces of pain echoed throughout the large expansive dance hall.
Okay, why am I suddenly sucking at this? I nailed all of the dance moves with the instructor just fine! In fact, I could say I did them all perfectly last ti!
I took a step back from myselves, glaring once again into my eyes. Could I really be the problem? How nervous was I against myself?
No, sothing else has to be involved. I refused to believe that was all there is to it. That’s right, with every step I took, I was probably overthinking about stepping on myselves. The fear of being hurt must be a main factor. The fear of punching myselves had reappeared, huh?
That said, the windows here were pretty large as well. Perhaps I was nervous that soone might be peeking in. I didn’t know how likely it was though, considering the windows didn’t really show much of the courtyard.
Agh, who am I kidding? Of course, the main reason for this was clear!
These bodies… I was afraid to admit it, but they were made for each other.
I recalled back to Luke and Kloe, the couple I saved by sacrificing myself. I rembered how chummy they were with each other, and how close they were while blushing. That scenery by the balcony, I could totally see it happening to us right now!
I averted my gazes away, shaking my head in disbelief. Was this the price of cheating soone’s death? If yes, this is pretty cruel, not gonna lie.
But I was determined. These weird feelings, they either gotta go, or I gotta get used to them. If I couldn’t even do a basic dance routine with myselves, how was I supposed to fight with both bodies efficiently?
...I couldn’t help but wonder, though.
Perhaps all this nervousness was just because we weren’t that familiar with each other yet. If I could get my bodies used to being around one another, I might actually kiss those weird feelings goodbye!
All this ti I had been separating myselves in order not to spread rumors. But really, for the sake of my survivability, I needed to hang around myselves more often.
But what about the rumors? They were an inconvenience, that much is sure, so how do I avoid any annoying misunderstandings in the future?
Hmm…
Hmmmm...
Hmmmmmm…
I was stumped.
Alright, alright. Enough with overheating my only two brains for now.
Lunch was coming up soon, and if I didn’t stop now, the maids would probably start looking for Carine. If I wasn’t careful and lost track of ti… Gods, I could already imagine the scene. A maid politely knocks on the door, nudging it open to peek in, only to see the cold ice queen dancing alone with the commoner, trying to stay out of public sight.
I felt my body shudder. That would be disastrous.
I sighed, both of , and stepped back. I loosened the tension on my shoulders. Didn’t know that just holding my own palms would wreck my nerves this bad, but I couldn’t afford to get stuck on it.
If I wanted to make full use of both bodies, I needed to get used to acting together. Fighting together. Living together.
Which ant I had to change things.
I needed to be in the sa places more often, work on my coordination, and… probably co up with so excuses for why Feyt and Carine kept hanging around each other all the ti.
How to do that though? With how isolated Carine usually is, her being near Feyt all the ti, even with a proper explanation, would still spark so talks.
It was a problem for future though. For now, all I wanted was to clean up, get so grub, and relax for a bit.
.........
......
...
I was refreshed, sweat all gone. All I needed to do was to head for lunch. For Carine, it was the usual. Roasted ham with a few nice side dishes.
I was sitting alone in the dining room by the way, if you don’t count the servants. I heard Father already headed out for the castle just an hour ago. With Mother still out interrogating the suspects, I really was alone here.
Man, it's so quiet here...
No matter, eating in peace was a nice change of pace. Not like I was unfamiliar with it, since the last few days were the exact sa.
For Feyt, as usual, the food would be sent to my front door, most likely by Eliza. Sure enough, when I arrived, there she was, standing with a wooden tray topped by a large tal cloche.
“Oh, Sir Feyt?” Her eyes widened slightly. “I thought you were in your room.”
Judging from the way she reacted, she must have just arrived herself.
“Sorry, Miss Eliza. I was out training by the courtyard, haha.”
“I see…” she trailed off, then mumbled under her breath, “You must be trying your best to keep your mind off of things, right? I get it.”
…Huh?
What is she talking about?
I held the urge to tilt my head in confusion. She doesn’t know I could hear her clearly after all.
Before I could say anything, Eliza perked up. “Ah, forgive , Sir Feyt! You must be hungry after all that training.” She cleared her throat, straightening up. “Allow to present today’s lunch.”
She bended forward to gave a better view of the tray. She placed a hand on the top of the cloche and opened it all dramatic. Light steam billowed out of the cloche, slowly revealing its content.
I was expecting the usual. Probably steak with so enticing side dishes, or probably stewed fish coupled with garlic and vinegar. But, today’s lunch was… a bit different.
Behind the steam sat a singular bowl with a wooden spoon. Inside the bowl was a hearty vegetable soup. I could see carrots, kale, a few pieces of at, and a mix of other ingredients I couldn’t imdiately pick out.
I was… speechless?
I hadn’t expected this kind of dish at all, especially in this house. What? Did the budget for lunch ran out? Or were they starting to treat differently now that Mother and Father weren’t around today?
I looked up to see what Eliza’s reaction was, only to find her smiling gently.
“What do you think, Sir Feyt? I tried my best to make my favorite al back ho, but…” she said, her smile turning wry slightly.
I pieced together what she said.
“I tried my best.”
Did she cook this herself?
This kind of food would only really be seen in common households, not in a ducal manor. And frankly, it does remind of ho a little bit, especially with how Mom used to make her vegetable soups.
Does that an Eliza made this soup specifically for ? Why though?
I didn’t do anything special, right? In fact, I kinda ditched her back then when the whole fireball incident started. Co to think of it, I hadn’t apologized for that yet…
But before I could even dwell on it, my stomach made the decision for . Just from the sll alone, it was practically screaming at to hurry up and dig in.
I gave an energetic nod and faced Eliza. “Thanks, Miss Eliza. Really.”
Her eyes widened for a mont before she let out a small chuckle. “It’s my pleasure, Sir Feyt. Please, enjoy.”
And with that, I took the tray from her hands and was left all by my loneso in the hall. Looking down at the soup again, I realized… I really was starting to miss ho, wasn’t I?
Maybe it’s ti to send so more letters to Mom and Dad.
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