Chapter 18
“Ugh!”
The moment the door opened, a horrendous stench hit my nose. It smelled exactly like rotting garbage.
I instinctively covered my nose with my hand and stepped back, only to hear Sishe’s shocked voice in front of me.
“…What are you doing here?”
I looked up reflexively and saw Sishe’s pale, horrified face. Blood was even running down it.
“Ah! Blood!”
Startled, I reached out my hand, but before I could touch him, Sishe turned his head to avoid my hand.
“It’s not my blood.”
“Then whose…?”
Muttering to myself, I glanced inside and saw something moving in the dark.
‘What is that?’
Before I could figure it out, Sishe came out and locked the door behind him.
“How did you get here?”
Sishe’s tone was usually sharp, but right now it was even more piercing.
“I was looking for you. I wondered if you might be here while I was wandering around.”
“…You wandered aimlessly all the way here?”
“Yes. Since you weren’t anywhere else, I thought I’d try a place I’d never been.”
Of course, that was a lie, but it seemed to soften Sishe’s fierce demeanor a little.
“This isn’t a place you should come to. Don’t ever come here again, understood?”
I nodded and offered Sishe a handkerchief.
But he declined, lifting his sleeve to wipe the blood off his cheek himself.
‘Judging by the situation…’
There must be the assassin who attacked the carriage in there. Even with Sishe, the sage of the Magic Tower, stepping in, he still hadn’t been able to extract satisfactory information.
‘So it must be one of two things: either the target really knows nothing, or there’s stronger mental protection magic than expected.’
Either way, it was a hassle.
“Sigh.”
Seeing me sigh, Sishe bent down to meet my eye level. His blue eyes filled my vision.
“Why?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you sighing?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, yet you sigh? I went looking for you for this?”
“Ah!”
Sishe’s question reminded me of the real reason I came here.
“The dance!”
“The dance?”
“Yes. There will be a party in the capital, and you have to dance at the party. But I can’t dance…”
“You want to learn from me?”
“Sir Zedin said your dancing is the best.”
“Hm. Fine, I’ll be your dance teacher.”
Sishe’s lips curved slightly, as if he didn’t mind the compliment.
“But!”
“But?”
“Not now.”
He looked too pale to teach anyone how to dance.
Reading the concern in my eyes, Sishe chuckled lightly and tapped my forehead with his finger.
“What does a kid know?”
“I know you need rest right now.”
“What?”
“So let’s go! To bed!”
I took Sishe’s hand and started leading him toward his room.
The servants gawked at him being pulled along without resistance.
I stubbornly laid him on the bed and tucked the blanket over him. Sishe, seemingly amused, let out a small laugh but quietly closed his eyes.
“Do you need a lullaby too?”
“Am I a child?”
“I am a child. So I’ll sing you a lullaby.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
Even so, Sishe didn’t stop me. I sang, and before I knew it, I had dozed off too.
‘Let’s keep that embarrassing part a secret.’
“Why can’t you follow this?”
Sishe looked down at me, baffled, his expression filled with disdain.
‘I hate that I can’t argue against that look.’
Today I realized something new—I’m terrible at dancing.
‘I was fine swinging a sword!’
I had been confident, thinking I could pick up dancing quickly. But dancing was a completely different skill. My body wouldn’t follow the sequence I remembered in my head.
I kicked off my shoes and sank to the floor in frustration.
“See? Why can’t you just follow? It’s just moving your feet!”
Holding my head in my hands and glaring at my messy feet, Sishe squatted in front of me. His gaze fell on my sore feet from the shoes.
“You’re too independent.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s a great trait. But when dancing, you need to suppress yourself a little. It’s about syncing with your partner.”
“But if it’s about that, Sishe seems the least talented, yet he dances well.”
“Exactly.”
Sishe grabbed my cheek and asked:
“Can’t you trust me?”
“I do.”
I’d seen his skill firsthand, so at least while dancing, I trusted him.
“Then why can’t you let your body go?”
“Well…”
I’d never relied on anyone in my life. I had always done everything myself.
Seeing me at a loss for words, Sishe sighed deeply.
“If you really can’t, put your feet on mine. From a distance, it’ll look like you’re dancing.”
“And what about with someone else?”
“Planning to dance with someone else? I don’t think the Duke would allow that…”
Sishe tilted his head. Before I could ask why he thought that, the door opened and Baratheon barged in.
“Hey! You’re learning swordsmanship from Hedin!”
“Not yet. Planning to, though.”
“That’s basically the same thing! But…”
Baratheon froze, seeing me with Sishe.
“What? Why are you here?”
“Teaching dance.”
“Dance?”
“Yes. Needed in the capital.”
Baratheon’s face twisted more and more at Sishe’s calm reply.
“What? Learning swords from Hedin, dance from Sishe! Why am I learning nothing?!”
“You’d need something worth teaching, you idiot.”
“I could teach you well too!”
“So what?”
“That is—”
Baratheon’s confidence faltered as he scanned the room, then shouted again, half confident.
“See? Nothing to teach you.”
“Uh, like… how to drink water fast?”
“What use is that?”
Sishe shook his head at Baratheon and helped me up from the floor.
“Let’s stop for today. Plus, we had an intruder.”
“Wait, you mean me?”
“Oh, you caught on?”
“Hmph. I can catch on too!”
Sishe clapped exaggeratedly as if impressed. Baratheon puffed up his chest but soon frowned.
“What? That’s not praise!”
“Ten seconds. Noticed quicker than I expected. Improving.”
“To my brother!”
“Being born a few minutes earlier hardly makes you a brother, doesn’t it?”
“Minutes aren’t time? How long is that?”
I smiled internally watching the bickering and put my shoes back on. My swollen feet hurt but were bearable.
“You two seem busy arguing, so I’ll leave now.”
“Leaving? Where?”
Baratheon stopped his bickering and quickly picked me up.
“Your feet looked awful earlier.”
“When did you see that?”
“How could I not? I’m a Sword Master.”
“Where are we going?”
“First, to the garden…”
I had intended to enjoy some tea, but a bluebird flapping near the window caught my eye.
<…>
“Ahhh!”
I shouted to cover Blanche’s beak before he could make a sound.
Baratheon stared, stunned, and Sishe looked at me like I was insane.
“Inside!”
I was speaking to Blanche.
“I want to rest inside.”
Fortunately, Blanche seemed to understand and flapped away somewhere.
“Really? Then why shout?”
Baratheon tilted his head, and I let out a relieved sigh.
