CH 293

Sidestory: Mia’s Ballroom Dance Club (Part 1)

“Mhmm…”

Mia was taking it easy in her room three days after the Horsemanship Tournament. She no longer had the crippling muscle pain that had been bothering her, and she was back to being her normal, fully functional self. Unfortunately, something else was also adamant about being the same old thing…

“Ugh, nothing seems to have changed,” she said with a groan of disappointment.

The Princess Chronicles that she had borrowed from Bel were still as thin as ever, which meant that her life was still short.

“This is awful. When I see this book, it makes me feel bad and I don’t want to do anything.”

She was about to give Bel the book back when she saw something else on his desk.

“This is… My…”

She had found the results of Bel’s exams..

“Oh yeah, that’s right. She had to stay here and go to summer school over the holidays.  I wonder what happened.”

She turned the pages because she was curious. Luckily, Mia wasn’t a cat for curiosity didn’t kill her. Not yet, anyway…

She was so shocked by what she saw that she held her chest and gasped for air. It was terrible.

“How on earth does that girl get to sleep at night with those grades?”

But sleep she did. And also well. Mia was amazed by how strong her granddaughter’s nerves were. And more scared than amazed, actually.

Just then, she looked at a line and stopped.

“Her grade for dancing…is E?”

Since dancing was the only thing Mia was good at, her granddaughter’s terrible opinion hurt her even more.

“E?! That is awful! What did she do to get an E? Oh, no, wait…”

Even though it took a while, she finally figured out why. Bel had never had a formal education like an imperial princess should have. Mia, on the other hand, had been taught how to dance, as well as all the rules of high society, such as how to behave and what to do. Their childhoods were very different.

“I might have been too hard on her…”

Bel said that Ludwig had been teaching her, but it’s likely that he didn’t spend enough time teaching her important skills like dancing.

“…On the other hand, she’s not doing much better in school either.”

Even though there were still questions, Mia decided not to find out more.

“Anne and Elise could teach her etiquettes, but I guess she was out of luck when it came to dancing.”

She remembered that she had said she would teach the girl how to dance at some point.

“Hm, I think it might be time for me to do my sweet granddaughter a favour,” she said, feeling a sudden rush of grandmaternal love.

“I did sign her up for Saint-Noel, after all. Miss Rafina might start giving me dirty looks if she keeps failing so badly at everything.”

Even with the sudden increase, her grandmotherly love was only about 20% of what drove her. Like always, the rest was self-love.

Mia went right ahead with her plan once she had made up her mind.

After dinner, Bel took a bath and was just about to go to bed when Mia asked her, “Bel, can I ask you something?”

“Eh? Uh, yes. What’s the matter, Miss Mia?”

She put Bel on the bed and looked her in the eyes.

“Tell me, Bel. Do you not like to dance?” she asked as a safety measure.

Tearmoon princesses were expected to know a certain amount about their culture, and while she’d like Bel to have as many of these skills as possible, she wouldn’t make her do something she didn’t want to.

Even though I didn’t like vegetables, the head chef tried to make them taste good to me. Something like that should be done for Bel. If she doesn’t like to dance, I’ll have to find a way to make it more fun for her…

This thought, though, turned out not to be necessary.

“Hate dancing? Not really, no… “Why?” asked Bel, looking confused.

“Good,” said Mia, who was happy. “If that’s the case, I’ll teach you how to dance.”

“Huh? Teach me how to…dance?”

Bel’s eyes got bigger.

“What do you mean, that dance? The legendary one…”

Mia nodded.

She wasn’t sure what Bel meant when he said “the legend,” but she nodded anyway.

“Yes, just like I promised you. Get ready, because I’m going to make you remember it. As a member of the imperial family and a princess, you need to know a lot about dancing. We can’t let you make a fool of yourself.”

Bel straightened up right away and stood at attention like a soldier.

“Yes, Miss Mia, I get it. I’ll do my best to learn your dance so I can live up to your name!”

“That’s the way to do it! I’ll make you a dancer yet,” Mia said with a smug chuckle and crossed arms.

—

The next day, Bel started taking dance lessons.

Mia said, “All right. First, we need to decide what our short-term goals are.”

“Oh, I have a short test on dance in ten days. What do you think?”

After a short discussion, they decided that their first goal would be the practical exam.

So I have 10 days to get her in shape. I’ll make sure she gets a perfect score on her next test. Oh, I can’t wait to see what her classmates will be thinking when they watch her dance.

“About these clothes, Miss Mia, by the way…”

Bel pulled at the bottom of her half-sleeved shirt, which was paired with knee-length shorts.

The sporty clothes she wore were perfect for the activity she was about to do, but…

“Shouldn’t you wear beautiful dresses when you dance? With those long, flowing bottoms so you can strike good poses?”

She looked at her shorts with her lips sticking out.

“The pretty dresses are coming, Bel. Right now, you need those. Wear clothes that are easy to move around in. You only need a partner now. I’d like to ask one of the boys for help, but…”

Mia didn’t want to do it because she cared about her granddaughter. A person who is just starting to learn how to dance isn’t exactly a pretty sight. Even though Bel has pretty thick skin, I’m sure she wouldn’t want a boy to watch her practise.

That would be terrible. It would be nice if someone who knows how to dance, like Sion, could help her, but I guess we’ll have to wait until she’s at least halfway good. After all, I don’t want to make her feel bad.

Just so you know, Bel would have chosen the other option if she had been given the chance. She might have to deal with some shame, but she would get to dance with Sion. So, it was probably best that Mia didn’t bring up this pointless thing she was thinking about.

“First and foremost. Fundamentals. When it comes to dancing, the basics are the most important thing. I have to start by teaching you all the basics, and I know exactly where to start!”

There was a dance called “the Dance of Moonlight” that had been passed down through the royal family for generations.

It was a well-made exercise piece that was made for dancers to practise their technique. It covered all the basic techniques of ballroom dancing and had parts that were hard on the body to strengthen the muscles.

Mia usually solved most problems, whether they were related to school or dancing, by using numbers (the former, of answers memorized, and the latter, of sheer mind-numbing repetition).

Since she had been doing this dance since she was young, it was clear that she knew every step and twirl by heart.

“Bel, I’m going to teach you a secret dance that only the royal family of Tearmoon knows. It’s called the Moonlight Dance. First, I’ll show you, so just watch.”

Mia began the dance right away.

“The feet are where we start. Un, deux, trois… Un, deux, trois…”

She moved around easily, and the rhythm of her steps matched the rhythm of what she said.

“We turn here. Turn your right foot around and keep your left foot as still as you can,” she said, showing the move a few times.

“The hands are next. They should be in good shape. Elegant. Move them gently, like they’re being blown by the wind.”

After that, she did a series of graceful spins.

“When you spin, you have to get a sense of how far you’re going. I’ve heard that distance is also an important part of swordsmanship. They need to know where they are in relation to their opponent and the rest of the area. In dancing, it’s the same. You need to know how far away things are. How far you go with each step. What kind of room you have. Getting good at that takes a lot of work. If you keep doing it, it will start to get easier.”

As she danced, she could feel Bel’s intense gaze on her. Pleased by the girl’s attention, she carefully demonstrated every movement, slowing down during fast parts and repeating complicated passages for clarity.

When she was done, she shook her hair out and said, “Well, that’s about it. It’s not too hard, so you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Let’s review the first few steps once more—”

“No, it’s okay.”

Bel stopped Mia in the middle of her story.

“I remember everything, Miss Mia. I believe I can.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, because my veins are filled with Grandmother Mia’s blood!”

“I…suppose it does.

Well, go on.

Then try it,” Mia said, hoping to be impressed.

After all, the girl was her kin, and she seemed sure of herself. She might have been fine with just a few hints.

Then, Bel did something she didn’t expect. In the worst way that could happen. After she was done, she looked at Mia with excitement.

“I did it! What do you think, Grandmother Mia?”

“Hm… Hmmm…”

Mia’s eyebrows twitched as she tried not to furrow them.

“I see, I see… What was that?”

She looked at her granddaughter’s chest, which was proudly puffed out, and found herself…impressed.

Where does this girl get the nerve to tell me, “I did it,” after putting on such a show?

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but you can’t just copy all the steps to a dance after seeing them once. Bel’s performance was exactly what you would expect from someone on their first try.

And yet, there she stood, very sure of herself and very proud of what she thought was without a doubt a great example of the Dance of Moonlight.

The guts alone were something to admire. With that smug look, she might be able to make a few people think she did pretty well, but she can’t fool my eyes.

Mia cleared her throat in a showy way and said, “It’s not bad for your first try. You’re going in the right direction.”

So that her granddaughter wouldn’t feel bad, she started by saying what she thought in a nice way.

“Accuracy will be the most important thing you need to work on,” she said. “That is, making sure you do each move the right way.To dance well, you need to know the basics well, so take your time learning them.

Don’t get sloppy, or you’ll regret it later.”

“Understood!”

Bel’s strong nod made Mia happy, and she smiled.

There was still time. We didn’t have to hurry.

She could take this race slowly and steadily, making Bel better and better as she went. The next thing she knew, three days had gone by, and she hadn’t done much of anything.

“This is very odd… Why are you still not able to do it right? It’s just a light flick. You move your hand like this and swish swish… See? Nice and stylish.”

“Hnnngh, Miss Mia, it’s hard…”

Bel hung her head in discouragement. Mia’s head was turned back so far in confusion that it looked like it was going to break off.

Unfortunately, Mia had no idea that all of her education and practise since she was a child had changed the way she thought about dancing and given her teaching style a “genius” vibe. In other words, she taught in a way that was so hard to understand that only a genius could figure out what her vague descriptions meant.

“Hmm… I think we should try something different…”

Mia murmured while thinking. Bel’s excitement was clear to see. At this rate, she might start to hate the idea of dancing, which would be terrible.

Just as Mia started to think about it…

“Excuse me, milady.”

“My, Anne. What’s going on?”

“You’ve got a guest. It’s Princess Rania.”

“Rania? I wonder what she wants.”

Mia took a quick look at Bel’s lazy body.

“Okay, let’s just call it a day. Go take a shower and clean up, Bel. I need to talk for a while with Rania.”

She left the dance lesson early after that and went back to her room.