"Are you going to practice dancing with her?"
"Yes."
The dance teacher, with a truly perplexed expression, pointed at Elsi and asked Sieri again.
"Really? With a beastfolk?"
"Is a beastfolk... bad?"
"No. Beastfolk are not bad. I don't... have a particularly bad opinion of them either, but... is she safe?"
It seed the dance teacher thought Elsi was employed at the mansion as a slave or soone of a similarly low social standing. In this world, the credibility of beastfolk was so low that it was natural to ask if they were safe. It was the sa logic as people asking, 'Is this dog aggressive?' when seeing soone walk a ferocious-looking dog without a muzzle.
Elsi, not understanding the dance teacher's words, stared blankly at Sieri and said.
"I am safe. Nun. You don't have to worry. I won't raise my claws while dancing."
Sieri said resolutely.
"Elsi is not a slave."
"I see."
The dance teacher seed sowhat displeased by Elsi's appearance but didn't say anything more. After all, she was just hired, and as long as she got paid, that was enough. The person the dance teacher was teaching was, in the end, Sieri.
Whether Sieri brought a rmaid or a disabled person on crutches as a partner was none of the dance teacher's business.
"Then let's begin. First, the... beastfolk?"
"It's Elsi. What is your na?"
Elsi was wearing an outfit that clearly revealed her tall height for a woman and her firm, lean muscles. When she stared straight at the dance teacher, the teacher looked sowhat flustered and avoided her gaze. With a cowed expression, the dance teacher spoke.
"You can just call 'Teacher'."
"I will call you Teacher."
There was no room for negotiation. And so, the dance teacher's title beca [Teacher]. The dance teacher asked Elsi.
"Do you know how to dance?"
"I do."
"Have you ever tried social dancing?"
"Never."
"I see. I understand."
The dance teacher didn't ask Elsi any more questions. It was enough to know that she had danced before and had so sense of it. The dance teacher carefully said to Sieri.
"In that case, we will have to teach your partner social dancing as well..."
"I-I'll try to explain it to My Lord later."
Sieri floundered.
The dance teacher frowned but didn't say anything. She figured that a married couple consisting of a High Priest of the Archdeity Church and a nun wouldn't just skip out on the lesson fee. The dance teacher wondered how much she should charge for the beastfolk's lesson.
Elsi and Sieri stood facing each other. The dance teacher and her partner began to demonstrate first.
"Like this, you move one foot to the side, and then the other foot to the side again..."
Elsi watched the movent of the feet with an interested expression. Sieri felt dizzy watching the dazzling steps for the first ti in her life. After demonstrating the step once more, the dance teacher said to Sieri and Elsi.
"Now, you try."
"Y-Yes!"
"Understood."
Elsi seed quite interested in this step. It was only after facing Elsi that Sieri realized she was taller than she had thought. Sieri herself was on the shorter side, but Elsi seed even a little taller than Lusius. Sieri carefully took Elsi's hands, and Elsi asked.
"Move when you're ready. I'll match you."
"Ah, okay. I-I'll go right away."
Sieri carefully moved one foot to the side. For a first attempt, the step was very smooth. It looked like she was imitating a crab walking sideways, but you could at least tell she was attempting to dance.
Elsi was matching Sieri's actions with very chanical movents. They say beastfolk show a talent for physical tasks that surpasses humans. Elsi seed to have perfectly mastered the step after seeing it just once.
Sieri gasped for breath after taking the last step. The dance teacher was talking with her partner about Elsi's talent. As she had said, Elsi was a woman who knew how to dance.
"What is it?"
"No. That was good. Since we've tried it once without music, this ti we'll try it with music."
The dance teacher took a small bead out of her bag. Then she placed it on a chair and began to manipulate it. Elsi asked.
"That bead?"
"This is a magic tool that produces sound. It's quite an expensive item, but for soone teaching dance like , it's a very useful object."
"Is that so."
When the dance teacher finished her adjustnts, music began to flow from the bead. Sieri looked at the dance teacher with a surprised face, and the teacher began to dance the previous step with her partner in ti with the music.
Even though it was just simple steps, it beca a dance depending on where the feet moved. Sieri had no confidence she could perform this complex step to the music. Because she had never danced a day in her life.
"How is it? Simple, right? For now, I plan to focus on mastering this step through repetition."
The dance teacher had no credibility in Sieri's dancing skill. She was more convinced of the possibility that Sieri would step on all of Lusius's toes with her terrible steps, rather than becoming the protagonist of the ball with her brilliant dancing skill.
In any case, social dancing was less about flashy dance skills and more about the prelude to a front of love, where partners confirm their affection by making eye contact and moving in elegant steps. What was needed for this was solid fundantals. The dance teacher planned to make Sieri practice only this step endlessly.
As long as you could do the steps well at the ball, no one would say anything. In fact, the dance teacher had used this thod to save countless noble young ladies from disgrace at balls.
Sieri faced Elsi and got into position again. The dance teacher began to rewind the music by manipulating the crystal bead. While the music was rewinding, Sieri, with nothing else to say, said to Elsi.
"Th-Then, I'll be in your care, Elsi."
"I'll be in your care too, Nun."
Sieri once again took Elsi's hand and began to dance. The fur on her hand provided a very soft grip. Elsi, just in case her claws ca out, made sure to point her fingertips outwards so Sieri wouldn't get hurt.
The mont the music started, Sieri felt her mind go blank. Forcibly moving her body, she tried her best to move her feet to the beat. But the body that had sohow managed to move without music, now that music was playing, moved on its own, not knowing what to do. Sieri unconsciously stepped on Elsi's foot.
"S-Sorry."
"It's fine."
Compared to the startled Sieri who had stepped on her foot, Elsi brushed off the mistake with a very indifferent tone. But the mistakes didn't end with just one. Once she started making mistakes, Sieri completely forgot the dance sequence. The plan she had of where to place her feet was completely tangled. Sieri began to flail her feet wildly, sequentially stepping on Elsi's feet.
"S-Sorry."
"It's fine. Mistakes can happen."
And once again, Sieri stepped on Elsi's foot.
"S-Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize every single ti."
As she persistently pressed down on the sensitive area where the claws erge, Elsi's lips twitched as she looked at Sieri.
"S-Sorry."
"......"
As Elsi said nothing, Sieri felt like this mont was hell. And so, the first dance practice ended. The mont the music stopped, Sieri moved far away from Elsi and spoke.
"W-Was it very painful, Elsi? Are you okay? I'm so clumsy..."
"It's fine. Nun, you're light, so it doesn't hurt much when you step on . But I'd appreciate it if you'd avoid this part here. It's where my claws co out, so it's dangerous."
Elsi said, pointing to the tips of her toes. Sieri still had a face full of apology. The dance teacher looked a little surprised at how docile Elsi was. The beastfolk she knew were a very aggressive race. In fact, she had been slightly intimidated ever since Sieri started stepping on her feet.
The dance teacher said.
"Then, let's start again."
The sound orb was rewound. Sieri carefully asked Elsi.
"Elsi. Really, are you okay?"
"If you're sorry for stepping on my feet, then practice hard so you don't step on them."
Elsi grabbed Sieri's hand, who was trying to back away a little, and prepared to practice. Sieri took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thought of Lusius. She was lucky it was Elsi; the re thought of stepping on Lusius's feet at the ball was terrifying. She began to move her feet to the music once more.
****
"You've worked hard."
The practice was over. The first lesson ended with little to show for it. The dance teacher advised her to keep practicing that step until she returned. Sieri had only stepped on Elsi's feet all day and hadn't been able to dance properly. Elsi fiddled with her feet as she sat down on the floor. Sieri spoke.
"I'm sorry, Elsi. Did it hurt a lot?"
"Not really. It's fine."
"Th-Then, maybe I should just quit..."
Sieri's confidence was hitting rock bottom. She felt sorry for repeatedly stepping on Elsi's feet, and she felt like a fool for her mind going blank whenever the music played. If she made such a scene at the ball, Lusius would surely be the one to get insulted. At this rate, wouldn't it be better if Eve went instead? Sieri said, shrinking into herself.
"Th-Elsi. I really... this kind of thing..."
"Nun. I don't know why you're being like this. You didn't step on my feet on purpose. It can happen when you're practicing."
Elsi said to Sieri with an expressionless face. Sieri stared blankly at Elsi. People said that beastfolk were stupid, but Elsi was deep. She relaxed her feet and stood up again. There was no music, but there were two people who could dance here.
"We have to practice. Nun. Because the cleric will want to dance with the nun."
"You're right."
Sieri smiled brightly. She took Elsi's outstretched hand and said.
"Because I have to dance with My Lord. Let's do our best together. You'll help , right, Elsi?"
"I'll help. But, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"The cleric asked to do sothing called a belly fart. I don't know what it is. I asked again, but he keeps saying he was just kidding and won't answer. I think the nun might know what it is."
"...I'll answer you, so please don't tell anyone else."
Sieri was unknowingly trying to protect Lusius's honor.
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