“Ufufufu~ No need to be nervous, my little one~ The only people here to watch are your friends after all~”
That is precisely why I’m nervous, Mother!! If I were to trip, stumble or fall, I’d lose my face in front of them! Plus they would remember it too!!
If it was just strangers, I could at least be assured that I will never see them again after this if I were to screw up… But that’s impossible with this group of people since I will see them in school almost everyday!!
Mother either didn’t believe I would even embarrass myself or she didn’t care and I very much believe that it’s the former.
But even if she has confidence in me, I don’t have confidence in myself!
I don’t know how to dance!
Ok, I know how to, but I highly doubt that my kind of dance suits this World. And by that, I meant the kind of dance you might do when cheering for your idols with your light sticks.
Yeah, you know the one… The wotagei.𝗈𝒱𝑙xt.𝐜𝒪𝓶
No, I did not have an idol that I supported, I just thought the dance was cool and learnt it myself.
“Mo… Mommy… I don’t know how to dance…”
“Ufufufu~ No need to worry my dear. You just need to follow my lead~”
She took my left hand in hers while her other hand took my right to place it on her waist before moving that hand to my shoulder.
I realised that my heels seemed to be made intentionally higher than Mother’s so that our height difference would not be as great.
Even so, Mother was still about half a head taller than me right now but it was not too much of a difference for this dance to be awkward.
I was brought out of my thoughts as the band began to play a slow, haunting melody that soon filled the hall with its gentle tune.
I did not have time to think as Mother took a step back while pulling her right hand back, forcing me to take a step forward with my left foot to occupy the space her foot had been moments ago.
She then pushed her left side against me, prompting me to take a step back with my other foot which allowed her to step forward to match me.
This repeated several times and I quickly learned the pattern of the dance thanks to [Machine Learning] and Mother’s guidance through her gentle pushing and pulling, the boon also helped me adjust my posture until I was at least moving my feet on my own.
Mother smiled at me, “As expected of my little one~ You learn so quickly~ Ufufufu~”
“Unn… It’s thanks to Mommy guiding me,” I muttered, focusing on my feet to make sure I don’t step on her.
There were already a few close calls where I narrowly missed her foot and I’d hate it if I were to hurt Mother while dancing.
“Ufufufu~ I have yet to say it, but happy birthday, my dear~ It feels not so long ago that Mama was just holding your egg in my arms~”
“Uuuu… I’m already thirteen, Mommy…” I pouted.
“Ara, ara? Is my little one being rebellious already? Ufufufu~ You’ll always be my little dearest child~”
Mother held me closer to her as we spun around the hall, matching the song as it crescendoed until we reached the other end of the hall.
My skirt billowed around me but that did not seem to bother Mother as she guided me to stop near the edge of the crowd before making me dip her low, her hair almost brushing against the floor.
And just as suddenly as the dance had begun, our dance came to an end as Mother straightened herself just as the music ended.
There was a round of applause from our audience which seemed to be the cue for the musicians to start their next song.
The others also started to find their own partners for their own dance. Apparently, my dance was supposed to be the opening dance or something that was a standard for birthday parties like this.
I was just about to let out a sigh of relief before Odeta came up to me with a wide grin on her face.
“Sister Aster! Dance with me!”
E… Eh? Wa… Wait, wait!
I didn’t even get to voice out my worries before Odeta had swept me up with a dance of her own.
Unlike the one where I did with Mother that was reminiscent of a slow waltz, Odeta’s dance with me had no technique and was basically just the two of us spinning around the hall.
That was when I realised I had been worried about embarrassing myself for nothing.
Everyone here is around my age or younger and most of them were clueless about matters like etiquette as well. They’re all here just to have fun which includes dancing as well.
Looking closely, most of them also did not know how to dance and were simply just having a good time jumping around in the hall.
The musicians also understood this considering the fact that the music was more upbeat and lively as compared to the slow gentle melody they had played for my dance with Mother.
I really was silly for worrying about something like this just now…
“Wahahaha~ Is sister Aster enjoying your birthday?” Odeta asked while still spinning around with me.
“Ehehehe~ Of course I am~” I admitted, letting myself go of my inhibitions for now to just enjoy my time with Odeta.
“Wahahaha! Being with Aster is fun for me too!” She laughed before abruptly stopping the moment we reached the side of the hall where we had first started our ‘dance’.
There, I found Lisa waiting for me with a mature looking smile on her face.
“Good evening Lady Aster, may I be so bold as to ask for your hand in marr– Ahem… I mean if I may have the honour of a dance with you?”
Eh? What’s with Lisa and speaking so formally like that? And don’t think I missed you trying to ask to marry me there, I totally heard it!
As though reading my mind, Lisa leaned in to whisper in my ear, “We’re in the presence of other students, my dear… I can’t show them my usual self, could I? Besides, wasn’t it Aster’s idea that we keep our relationship a secret for now?”
Ah, that’s right… I invited some of my classmates from the Alchemy class too so it would definitely catch their attention if they were to see Lisa act differently around me.
I’ve become so used to seeing Lisa acting frivolous and flirty all the time that I forgot how she would usually behave in front of other people.
Despite her perverted nature, she was still a teacher in Aerialla Academy and she does know her subjects really well, so the students still have a certain level of respect for her. Or perhaps calling it fear would be more accurate since she’s pretty strict in her Alchemy class?
Oh… I just realised this might be the reason why Aaron was falling for her…
He might have known about Lisa’s reputation as a strict and cold teacher, yet she’s being so ‘affectionate’ in her Lumenmancy class that he might have thought the reason for the change was because of him.
Poor guy.
I returned Lisa’s invitation with a curtsy of my own, making sure I got the pose correct like what I had learned in the books I’ve read.
“Of course, Miss Lisa. It would be my pleasure.”
I already knew Lisa had also learned noble etiquette so I’m assuming she would also be dancing the same way as mother did.
At least she was also wearing a simple dress instead of the revealing clothes that she would usually wear when it was just the two of us. Not to mention the fact that she’s using the ring to change her outward appearance right now.
She adopted the same position as Mother and I took my own position as well.
The musicians must have noticed our positions and quickly transitioned to a slower melody. It was still fast enough that the children could still be jumping around but also slow enough that there was a rhythm for Lisa and I to do a waltz of sorts.
I don’t really know if that was considered a waltz but it sure does feel like one, not that I know since I’ve never tried that before.
Lisa let me lead her and that made me more nervous again as I realised that I was now in control of our pacing and direction.
It was made even more difficult with the fact that the floor was now occupied with people as well.
“Happy birthday Aster,” Lisa whispered as we spun past a group of girls who were also trying to mimic us, still maintaining her dignified air.
“Fufu~ Thank you, Miss Lisa.”
She took a moment to make sure that there was no one else near us before she moved closer to me.
“I really, really want you to fuck me in that dress… I’m really wet and hard right now, you know? Could we go to your room later to do it?”
Ah, there’s the Lisa I know.
Well… I have a feeling that there won’t be any sleep tonight…