[TKOSINM] 103 - First Dance

“Start playing again.” Just as there was only silence that did not suit the festivity of the 700th banquet, one of the grandest events of the year, the voice of the Great Kristen resounded through the hall.

When he looked at the orchestra that had stopped playing, the quartets remembered their duty and started to play the waltz again. A calm and soft melody of strings began to spread through the hall. Noel let go of her hand and held it out to Irene, as if he were escorting her to her carriage.

“Irene, would you like to dance with me?” His tone was polite. But despite Noel’s stoic face, his voice was infinitely considerate. Irene loved this contrast in him.

 Irene and Noel’s hands were quite different in size. Those large hands gave Irene a sense of security. 

“I’m willing.” Irene placed her hand on Noel’s. As he took her hand in his, Noel wrapped his opposite arm around Irene’s waist and began guiding her to the melody of the waltz. Wherever his feet went, Irene moved her feet too. Before she knew it, the two were close enough to share their breaths.

When she felt Noel’s gaze looking down at her, Irene avoided his gaze at first, then raised her head to meet his and her eyes. Dance to her was nothing more than a difficult and complicated gesture for Irene, who rarely had lessons and had poor coordination. When she danced, she was always prone to making her mistakes, and every time she did, people pitied her. They said it was to be expected. Her family members even said so. Irene’s mother had told her “You are not good at dancing, so stay out of sight as much as possible, so that you don’t receive requests to dance.” Her memories of her at that time echoed in Irene’s mind, and whenever she danced, she was dazed, causing Irene to make even more mistakes.

Thus, Irene concentrated on her dance with all her might. If she made a mistake in front of so many people, how could she face Noel?

“...” 

Noel whispered quietly again, looking at Irene, who was concentrating on where her feet landed, deeply focused.

“Irene, watch me when I’m dancing. Not my feet.”

“But... I think I’m going to make a mistake.”

“It’s okay. A mistake is not a mistake unless it is visible. No one will know of Irene’s mistake, so trust me and look at me.” At his reassurance, Irene took her eyes off her feet and looked up at her Noel. Only then did he let out a satisfied smile. Irene, entranced by that face, unknowingly surrendered herself to Noel and they moved across the ballroom. Even the sound of her music could not reach her ears.

How much time had passed? She finally came to her senses only when she realised the waltz was over. Irene stopped when Noel’s movements stopped. She looked up at him, trying to keep her breathing in order. Noel looked peaceful, and not at all tired.

“See, it ended safely, didn’t it?”

“...Noel.” 

Irene’s eyes fluttered.

In fact, Irene had made several mistakes along the way and stepped on his foot. However, without grimacing, Noel led Irene gracefully across the wood floor. As a result, at some point in time, she realised she was able to dance with confidence. When the waltz was over, she looked around her. As Noel had said, no one seemed to have noticed that Irene had made a mistake. Noel took Irene’s hand, crossed the crowd, and stepped in front of the Great Kristen. Kristen the Great sat in his chair and looked down at Noel and Irene. The gazes of the vassals and elders shot daggers at them.

“Forgive me for being late.”

“I really enjoyed watching your dance.”

“Thank you.”

People gasped at the conversation between the two. Most understood their relationship to be a bad one, but the Great Kristen’s voice towards Noel was kind!

It was not only the spectators who were shocked. The vassals and elders could not hide their bewilderment and took turns switching their glances at the Great Kristen and Noel. Meanwhile, Irene was looking elsewhere. 

That picture is... 

The original banquet hall could only take specially selected artworks. The paintings displayed must fit well with the banquet hall so as not to spoil the atmosphere, and the artist’s reputation should lag behind their art and contemporaries. That meant to say: ‘the best of the best’. They selected paintings by analysing how the colour saturation, hue, tone, changed when exposed to light. Many artists aimed to have their paintings hung at a nobility banquet. But the picture hanging in the centre of the banquet hall was destroying the unspoken rules. Unlike the splendid banquet, the saturation was dark, and the artist’s reputation was low. It was an unknown piece of work, with its artist virtually unknown. Anyone who was well versed in the arts, hadn’t even heard of the painter before. The title of the work was ‘Room’. It was the painting that Irene had presented to Kristen the Great.

At that time, Irene presented the painting, hoping that the Great Kristen would understand its meaning. Under the guise of a gift, she dared to give him advice. Like in the picture, before the room was empty, one did not lose their precious things.

“I really liked the painting Miss Chase gave me, so I hung it up to show the people gathered here, what do you think?” At the Great Kristen’s next words, the startled murmurs around them grew louder.

All the nobles who attended the banquet were wondering what on earth that picture hanging there was, but it turned out to be a gift from Irene Chase. Everyone who gathered there knew that it wasn’t just because he liked the painting. The world of nobles was essentially a place where the outside was obscured, and conversations were held on the inside. They, who were adept at deconstructing well-disguised horses*, could not have failed to notice the significance of William’s intention to openly show affection.

*Allusion to Trojan horse

Even Irene, who was not familiar with society, could see that. She bowed her head and answered, suppressing her trembling voice.

---