You're late desuwa!"
"Excuse me, I had some businesses to attend."
Lady Karina rebuked me as soon as I entered the state guest house's hall where she was doing special training.
The ones in this room are Lady Karina's maids, the dance instructor, and our girls.
Arisa is accompanying Nina-san in her work, so she's not here.
"Karina-sama, please concentrate."
"Satou will be my practice partner. You watch and instruct from there."
Lady Karina tells the instructor, and then she extends her hand to me.
Her cheeks blush a little, but her face looks somewhat sullen.
Well, I am late, guess I can be her dance partner.
I'll dance with our girls too once Lady Karina's practice is over.
"Then, I'll be keeping you company."
I take Lady Karina's hand and go toward the center of the hall the size of a classroom.
I lead Lady Karina while matching the dance music that Mia is playing.
When I dance with Lady Karina, my chest is too happy my consciousness feels like it'll soar, but I weather the storm with the help of prime number and pi.
Her dance is straightforward and manly like usual.
However, it seems she's been working hard, she's improved leap and bound better compared to the dance before.
"You've worked hard. You're quite better than before."
"--T-that's obvious! Because I endured it even while the knight order were watching the practice. Sa-Satou will dance with me in the real thing too!"
--U~n, isn't it impossible in the real thing.
During the dance party the night before the Kingdom Conference, the party where upper nobles higher than and including viscounts gather is separated with the party where lower nobles lower than and including baron gather.
There is no such rule, but like an unspoken agreement, it seems nobles that don't have much rank don't mingle with them.
To be more specific, the upper nobles side are the dukes, marquises, earls, and viscounts, but there are some cases where baron and baronet can also participate. A chevalier like me is prohibited from participating.
Lower nobles side are barons, baronets, and chevaliers, but viscounts can also participate. Nobles higher than and including earls never participate in this side.
Of course, Lady Karina is going to escort Baron Muno who's treated like an earl as a territory lord, she's going to attend the upper noble dance party, so it's impossible for us to dance together.
It's probably going to be another story if I were her fiance, but that's exactly why doing that means announcing we're engaged, so I'll be refraining.
"I cannot participate in the dance party of upper nobles so--"
"You can't desuwa!"
From her line of sight that was a bit higher than mine due to her heels, she interrupted my denial with a child-like anxious voice.
--Even if you said that.
"Excuse me. Karina-sama, some visitors have come for you."
Pina appeared right then, telling us about visitors. Good timing.
"They are waiting in the parlor, please come with Chevalier-sama."
"Visitors? Not for Father?"
"Yes, they are Sera-sama and Toruma Shimen-sama."
They're quite fast even though I was told that they were coming yesterday evening with an airship.
The two's blue luminous dots are in the parlor of the guest house alright.
I postpone the problem and go to the parlor where the two are waiting.