As Iguan and I stepped onto the dance floor, I offered her my left hand, which she took, prompting her to gently grab my shoulder while I placed my hand on her shoulder blade. Since I was the man, I led the dance, the two of us stepping side-to-side along with the music while slowly spinning in a circle.
While dancing, I started small talk with her; as I found this whole dance a bit awkward, I wanted to do anything to ease the feeling.
"If you don't mind, Princess Iguan, may I ask why you wished to know if I could use space magic?" Faintly smiling, I glanced down at Iguan, who furrowed her brows and shifted her gaze to her father, the King. "There are two paths for a princess, Count Alexander. Either they become a mage and join the Mage Guild, or they're married off in a political marriage."
"Oh, I see. I apologize that you must worry about such things in your future." She seemed slightly taken aback by my response as she silently stared at me before lightly closing her eyes. "Think nothing of it, 'tis the life of a princess." "I assume you don't wish to be married off, likely to, well, a man like me, and wish to become a mage. Am I correct?" "From what I can tell, you seem like a respectable man; I would be fortunate to be married off to a man like you."
"To receive a compliment from you, my day has just been brightened." A brief smile graced Iguans' face at my words before she nodded. "I have an aptitude for space mana; however, finding anyone willing to teach me is extremely difficult." "Ah, I could imagine, princess. Finding someone who not only has an aptitude for space magic but can also proficiently use it? You might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack."
Ever since I'd left the forest, I've come across only one person who can use space magic, Kurama; however, just like Master, she had no aptitude for it. It just went to show how rare people with space and time magic are; when it came to those types of magic, there was no in-between. Either a mage was powerful and proficient, or that wasn't a mage at all; space and time weren't a magic one could learn by themselves, not like fire, water, earth, and wind.
"Well, if you don't mind me, I have no qualms about teaching you; if I could help you avoid the fate of being married off, I'd love to." With a smile, I looked down at Iguan, who was shocked silent for a good few moments before she averted her gaze. "I-Is that so?" "Yes, but I do not live in the capital; I'm sure you know, but I live in Cassandra."
As if I'd poured a bucket of cold water on her, Iguan furrowed her brows while lowering her gaze. "That could be troublesome." Before I could open my mouth to propose a solution, the song ended, prompting us to stop and lower our hands.
"Thank you for the lovely dance, Princess Iguan." "It was enjoyable, Count Alexander." Faintly smiling, I stopped bowing and stood upright, walking her to the royal table, where the King addressed me. "I see you've gotten to know Iguan. How do you feel about her?" Hearing the King's words, I briefly froze, glancing at Iguan, who was sitting down, looking at me, seemingly waiting for my response.
"Impressive, your Majesty. I take her to be a very determined lady who strives for what she wants, and I personally find such an admirable lady impressive." Slightly bowing, I glanced at the King, who stroked his beard and slowly nodded before glancing at Iguan. "I was expecting a response regarding her beauty, though I liked your words more." "Honesty is the best medicine, they say."
Faintly chuckling, the King nodded, clearly liking my response once again. "Until medicine is too much for them to handle." "Then they shouldn't have asked for it." He grinned before erupting into full-blown laughter, causing me to glance at Iguan for help, but she also seemed surprised.
"I agree. Cowards who can't handle the truth should just shut up and accept the lies thrown their way." While the King seemed to be in a good mood, I excused myself, earning a faint smile from Iguan, before returning to my table, sitting between Michelle and Jasmine.
"So, how was it?" Taking a sip from her glass, Jasmine looked at me with a raised eyebrow, her question serious, not a teasing remark, but for some reason, it just felt that way to me. "Ugh, I don't even want to talk about it; I feel like I need to turn myself in." "Haa, relax, you didn't do anything weird, you just danced with her, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less." Seeing how uncomfortable I felt, Jasmine rubbed my back while I sighed.
"Is this what you had to deal with, Jasmine?" Glancing at her, she raised an eyebrow before wryly smiling, downing her cup, and nodding. "Yes, and unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to dance with a charming man like you." "You wouldn't happen to remember the names of the men you danced with, do you? If you know where they lived, that would be immensely helpful as well."
Smiling, I wrapped an arm around Jasmine's waist, pulling her chair closer to mine while she suspiciously eyed me. "Um, why do you want to know that?" "Ah, I just want to beat them up." "Not even trying to hide your intentions?" "Nope. They were creeps lusting after my wife when she was a child; they're lucky I'm being benevolent."
As I imagined myself beating up those creeps, Michelle leaned against me. "You should show your possessive side more, Alex, it's so sexy." "Yeah, it really is." Now it was my turn to be taken aback; I was just talking about beating up men, but now, Jasmine was looking at me while biting her lips, and Michelle was licking hers.
"Um, o-okay." Hesitantly rubbing my head, I stood up and grabbed Michelle's hand, causing her to squeal as I pulled her onto her feet. "C'mon, I need to dance with someone older." "Eh, w-wait, but I don't know how to dance, Alex. I-I don't want to embarrass you." Leading Michelle onto the dance floor, I grabbed her far more intimately than with Princess Iguan, my hands rested just above her hips, and Michelle's hands were wrapped around my neck.
"It's fine if you don't know how to dance, just step on my shoes, I'll do the moving, all you need to do is stand there and look absolutely gorgeous." Pecking her lips, pulled her body flush with mine, causing her blush while she nodded, hesitantly stepping onto my feet. "Ho, have you been losing weight?" "I-I've been trying-" "Well, I forbade you from losing weight; how do you expect me to grab your love handles if you lose weight?"
Looking at Michelle in disappointment, I began moving, performing the same dance I'd done with Iguan, as I didn't know any other dance. "Just so you know, no one is paying us that much attention, Michelle." Raising her head from my chest, Michelle looked around, observing the surroundings, and just as I'd said, there was hardly anyone paying us any attention.
Seeing her nervousness ease, I faintly smiled while our dance continued; after the first song, Michelle was all smiles, her nervous energy nowhere to be seen.
"A-Alex, your hands." "Huh, oh, oops, sorry, it was instinctive." Raising my hands from her butt to her waist, we danced until the second song, finishing it before returning to our table, where Jasmine was standing. "Dance with me, Alex." Grabbing my palm, she led me to the dance floor, leaving behind a chuckling Michelle.
"You're not planning to make a fool of me, are you?" "Fufu, no, of course not, that would only make me look foolish as well as I'm your wife… I'll embarrass you only in front of family." A sigh of defeat quickly replaced my sigh of relief. "Are you a sadist, Jasmine?" "Hehe, stop being so stupid, Alex. Follow me."
Wryly smiling, I followed Jasmine's lead, copying her as we did a different dance; however, halfway through the dance, Jasmine grabbed my hands and pulled them back onto my waist, causing me to awkwardly smile. "Instinct." "Sure, Alex. Also, my eyes are up here." "At least let me have one." "So you admit grabbing my butt wasn't just instinct."
Coughing, I raised my head, shifting my gaze from her cleavage to her beautiful golden eyes, causing her to shake her head while chuckling. "I'm glad you didn't bring the others, especially Yuki; she has no public decency. She'd probably grab your butt." "Heh, well, not like there's much of that to grab." "Oh, don't say that, you've got a great butt; I'm sure Michelle will agree."
While dancing, we ended up bumping into another person; well, more like they bumped into us, as I could tell it was deliberate. 'Oh, she's the elf from before. Yep, this probably won't be a friendly talk.'