To understand why the situation had come to this, one had to go back a little in time.

The start was when Louis accepted Elodie’s dance request.

“……It would not be proper to disappoint Your Highness who has bravely requested the first dance. I look forward to it.”

“Wow, I’m so happy! I look forward to it!”

Elodie was overjoyed as if she were about to jump, and Louis smiled at her.

Only then did he seem to have finally found his pace.

However, Odette’s eyes had seen everything he tried to hide.

‘Count Clovis… he definitely looked at me before accepting the dance request.’

Odette was approaching him, so he must have noticed that she was going to request a dance as well.

Louis was not a newcomer to society like Elodie, all the more.

So, in the end, Louis knew everything but chose Elodie.

He wrapped it up as if it was a situation he could not refuse, as if he had no choice.

‘If he wanted to make excuses, he could have made as many as he wanted.’

It is not always the case, but it is common for the first dance of the ball to be danced with a partner.

So, he could have refused Elodie’s dance request by breaking such an unspoken convention.

He did not do so, probably for two reasons.

‘One, because he was uncomfortable with me.’

The other, because he liked Elodie.

Of course, it could be both.

‘They say he’s a flirt. I didn’t expect to see that side of him so soon.’

Elodie held Louis’s hand and glanced at Odette.

The triumphant look in her eyes was exactly the gaze of a winner.

However, Odette herself was more bewildered than annoyed.

‘I thought Count Clovis and I were on pretty good terms.’

Did she mistakenly think their relationship was shallow enough to be broken by Walter’s meddling?

Until the moment they arrived at the ballroom, Louis and Odette had had a pretty strong bond.

[Dash]You said you’re going to meet Regis Xavier? Then I will guard the place nearby at that time.

[Dash]I’d be really grateful if you would, but can I ask you that?

[Dash]Is there a reason it cannot be done? You are my partner.

As if Louis’s attendance at the banquet to help Odette was not a lie, he said he would help Odette meet Regis safely.

[Dash]This time… I will not leave you alone.

It was a word spoken in the carriage on the way to the ballroom, so it must not have been a mere formality.

Even the way he spoke felt strangely serious.

Though she couldn’t understand why he was going so far, at least for today, she thought she could feel at ease.

‘It can’t be helped.’

It was not a big problem if Louis danced one song with someone else.

Odette was willing to spend the ball without dancing since it had come to this.

She wasn’t very good at dancing in the first place.

So Odette was looking for a place to stand back.

Until she saw Regis’s head coming from a distance.

‘Count Xavier…!’

He was coming towards Odette, looking straight at her. Without a doubt, he seemed to be asking her to dance.

It was unexpected.

Regis was the host of the ball, so he had been in the ballroom from the beginning, but he had neither glanced at nor acknowledged Odette.

‘I thought he wouldn’t pay attention to this side because there are many people.’

So she thought the opportunity to talk to Regis would come after the ball had settled down a bit.

Is he approaching so directly?

Especially since this is the first dance, and without a partner, she had no good reason to refuse Regis’s dance request.

‘It’s too late to avoid it.’

Odette stepped back, struggling to keep her composure, not showing her confusion.

In the meantime, Regis had come almost right in front of her.

“Now I finally have a chance to talk to you. Your Highness, the Fourth Princess, would you honor me with the first dance[Dash].”

And at that moment.
“Sorry, but that’s going to be tough. His Highness has agreed to share the first dance with me.”

A weighty warmth enveloped Odette’s arm.

Balto simply reached out and embraced her, but Odette felt as if she had instantly fallen into Balto’s arms.

She felt such relief. Ridiculously so.

“Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”

“……Yes. Thank you for the invitation, Count Xavier. I wish you find a good partner.”

And there was no way Odette could miss this opportunity of knightly life.

However, she had earned the punishment of dancing with Balto.

‘Still, it’s better than dancing with Count Xavier.’

More importantly, this wasn’t a punishment for Odette.

“Ugh.”

“……Sorry, ah.”

“It seems like you did that on purpose.”

“It was really a mistake.”

“……This too?”

“……This too.”

Whenever a step got a little tangled, Odette’s foot inevitably landed on Balto’s instep.

Yes.

Odette…… was quite bad at dancing.

“……I’m good at other things, but dancing needs a lot of practice……”

For the seventh, no, the eighth time, Odette mumbled an awkward excuse as she stepped on Balto’s foot.

Of course, practice is essential, but Odette was aware that her skill was objectively inferior to others.

So she wanted to avoid the misfortune of dancing as much as possible.