97 Part 2

“Eh-?”

Tiararose gasped when she saw the tanned guy’s dance.

Unlike his earlier flashy and playboy appearance, his figure when dancing was so beautiful that even his fingers looked elegant. Each movement was carefully carried out, and she’s entranced by it unknowingly.

-this dance, isn’t it the Dance of the Sandrose Witches?

Sandrose is a desert kingdom.

The dance of the tanned guy greatly resembled that of the ritual dance which was performed by witches in the deserts.

Tiararose has never been to Sandrose herself, but she has studied about the traditional customs of various kingdoms.

Of course, that included the Dance of the Sandrose Witches.

“Wow, that’s amazing. I thought he’s going to put on a flashy dance but it’s beautiful!”

“Y-Yes.”

Akari was so excited that Tiararose smiled too.

At the same time, she thought who could that tanned guy be?

-Only women are allowed to be the witches of the desert.

In that case, men will not perform that dance. However, there’s only one exception. That would be if the tanned guy is the king of Sandrose.

Sandrose has a custom of performing ritual dances as a show of appreciation to the gods. While it was usually a ritual dance that’s performed by the witches of the desert, it could also be performed by the king.

-In other words, that person if the king of Sandrose!?

If there’s really the case, this is a terrible happening. It’s absurd for the king of another country to desire Tiararose, the queen of Marineforest.

Realizing this fact, her head started to ache.

The sound of bells echoed and the dance of the tanned guy, who was probably King Saravia of Sandrose, has reached its climax.

“…Ah.”

Saravia danced as though he’s controlling the movements of the cloth, and flew in the air like they were wings. He quietly landed onto the ground and did a pose like he’s offering his prayers, before ending the performance.

“Wow, amazing!”

“I was so surprised to see such a wonderful dance performance!”

Promptly after the dance performance, loud applause came from the guests. They gave him a round of applause that was clearly full of admiration.

“…Phew, thank you.”

Saravia smiled as he tried to regulate his breathing. He bowed and left the stage. Right then, he walked past Aquasteed who’s going to perform next.

Aquasteed thought that it’s not very mature of Saravia to raise a proposal of a dance competition, something that he’s very good in, but it cannot be helped it since the latter was vying for Tiararose.

“That kitty… are you seriously going to give me a chance to grab her?”

“There’s no way I’m going to do that.”

“I heard that the king of the Marineforest is very gentle… I guess that’s not true.”

Aquasteed and Saravia said softly, such that only the two of them can hear the conversation. Saravia grinned and watched Aquasteed as he walked towards the centre of the stage.

“Wow! Lady Tiara, it’s finally Sir Aqua’s turn!!”

“I wonder what kind of dance performance will he put on. It’s not an official setting so we definitely can’t miss it!!”

Right after Aquasteed appeared, Akari raised her voice shrilly. Olivia’s breathing was also intense, and she’s excited to see what kind of dance performance will be shown by him.

Conversely, Tiararose was of course worried about Aquasteed. There’s no way she can calm down, after seeing how Saravia stood out on stage with his calm and impressive dance performance.

-Please win, Sir Aqua!

Tiararose prayed and warmly looked over Aquasteed who was standing quietly.

Unlike Saravia, Aquasteed has no accompanying music.

The guests wondered what he’s going to do, and there’s a whistling sound of air being sliced.

“Eh…! A sword dance!?”

With his beloved sword, Aquasteed put on a sword dance performance with smooth movements… at interjections the swords made sounds when he exerted his strength. Like what Tiararose has exclaimed, Aquasteed was performing a sword dance.

It’s quiet but strong; Tiararose was surprised that Aquasteed could do something like this.

“I did not know that he could do something like this…”

Tiararose was captivated by it and expressed her astonishment without realizing it. She covered her mouth and stared at Aquasteed with an enchanted look.

He was controlling the sword as though it’s a part of him, like the god of warrior. He will probably not be able to dance that well if he does not use his swords diligently every day.

-He could have told me that.

Tiararose thought that it was like a surprise event and gave a wry smile.

The guests also gave a loud voice of astonishment and excitement. It’s clear that Aquasteed was more powerful than Saravia who performed a beautiful and gentle dance.

Aquasteed placed his lips on the sword and ended the dance.

Right at that moment, a loud round of applause filled the venue with shouts. It was a powerful applause that does not lose out to those that Saravia received. There were also ladies who were enchanted and impressed by him.

It was an unplanned competition, but it has clearly enlivened the masquerade ball.

“…Hmm, both of them have received loud rounds of applause! It’s hard to tell which was louder- so let’s make it a draw, shall we?! Please give the two performers a loud round of applause once again!!”

After hearing Levy’s statement, an even louder round of applause filled the party venue.

At the same time, Tiararose was flustered by the outcome of a draw. They competed so was it really good that there’s no definitive outcome from it?

She was flustered but there’s no choice since the announcement was already made.

Right after the end of the dance performances, Aquasteed and Saravia were in a separate room with just the both of them.

“Sigh. I thought that I’d definitely win but it’s a draw.”

“That’s no way I will let you win that easily. I never expected that you’d come to my country… what do you intend to do?”

While removing his mask, Aquasteed said that he has not received any information about his visit.

Saravia grinned and removed his mask too, while sitting on a random sofa. At the narrowing of his beautiful eyes, he replied ‘Nothing in particular.’

“It’s not an official visit so it should be fine. Also, I did not plan to reveal my identity.”

“Stirring things up… is that the etiquette of Sandrose?”

“Haha, of course not! However, I really want that girl. I did not know that she was the queen of this country though.”

Aquasteed thought that Saravia should really return to his country quickly, and sighed for the umpteenth time today.