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Chapter 77 Part 4 – The prelude to the ball. Alisa clashes against the Light Bat Tribe. Then, I reminisced about the night of 「Thunderbolt」.

…… At that time, male candidates for the succession to the throne were in the majority and women, who were not as physically strong, were not even considered as rivals. So I danced all night without rest and won their respect. In just a single night, I had jumped to the top amongst the women candidates, and even the men, who considered capability and competence as the most important, acknowledged me. It was a bit of a Cinderella story.

When talking about a ball, its image is too often associated with the Viennese waltz, where the dancer twirls around like a flower, and the image of elegance is all that comes to mind, but that is not accurate. That is only one of the various types of dances. In my case, I had to perform more intense dances brilliantly one after another.

If I had to use a simple analogy, the ball is …… a bit like a marathon. Moreover, you always have to have a smile on your face. The young ladies and madams are like swans that frantically wade their feet beneath the surface of the water. It is not just for show that there is always a tea room next to the ballroom. If you continuously dance too earnestly without hydrating yourself, you might become dehydrated.

Therefore, the ball participants usually take appropriate breaks. There are no reckless young ladies who would keep on dancing continuously.

And yet I dared to do it. I continuously danced against the group of leading candidates.

Although there are some slow and relaxed types of dance like Quadrille that is performed by four couples in a rectangular formation and the Viennese waltz which consumes little physical energy, still, beginners will not be able to withstand the high speed rotation and will not be able to stand properly. For Polka dance and Galop dance, the dancers have to bounce around from start to finish. While the Mazurka dance nearly made my legs cramp. Scottish dance requires the dancers to perform a series of high jumps while standing on tiptoes the whole time. During the dance, the dancers sometimes meander, sometimes intersect, sometimes make a circle, sometimes go around, and sometimes switch places with the dancer in front or beside them at a dizzying pace, creating a chaos in which even the dancers themselves are unsure of whether they are in the correct position.

However, I flawlessly danced them all at the friendly ball of the candidates to the throne.

And all while having a discussion with all the candidates for the throne.

The dance that is done at that ball is no ordinary dance. It was specially done to screen the candidates and was even crowned with the title 「Thunderbolt」. The tempo speeds up frighteningly fast. In the final part of the song, if the dancer jumps too high, by the time he lands on the ground, he would already be left behind by the song.

It is not an easy task to refute the opponent who started the discussion without making any mistakes. It’s equivalent to perfectly singing a memorized song with a loud voice while running at full speed. Physical stamina, intellect, and grit are all required.

A talented and well-known female candidate even broke down and wept bitterly in public when she realized the terrible result of her own performance. With the exception of myself, the female candidates suffered a crushing defeat in no time at all.

The men laughed.

「A king must be able to calmly make decisions about the affairs of the kingdom even when he is sick, exhausted, and busy. Hydrangea is currently in the midst of a turbulent period. A woman’s slender limbs can’t possibly support that pressure. It is clear from the fact that the women could not handle performing the『Thunderbolt』. I predict that Miss Scarlet will soon give up as well.」

The female candidates trembled with humiliation.

But the male candidates who had scoffed at the women’s lack of stamina began to pale when they saw me dancing so triumphantly, even after the candidates gradually dropped out and the majority had disappeared. In the end, they got desperate and started to throw a barrage of arguments toward me in a concentrated fire.

「…… Oh my, are you guys ganging up to verbally attack a frail, dainty girl? Aren’t you in too much of a hurry because I can only dance with one partner at a time? I wonder if men that are so impatient are actually fit to become the king?」

At my sarcastic words, the male candidates’ facial complexion turned pale.

「…… Scarlet-san, keep up the good work ……!! Please ……!! Show them the strength of a woman’s willpower ……!! I wasn’t able to do it ……!! It’s so frustrating ……!!」

The firm-hearted young lady who would never entrust a fight to other people were covered in tears and sweat as she pleaded. It was the first time I had ever seen her cheering for another person.

「Leave it to me. This …… is not my personal fight. This is a fight for all of us female candidates.」

The ladies clenched their fists at my words.

I refuted the arguments of the male candidates one after another. Each time I did, the ladies cheered.
The exclamations of admiration that came from several people among the men group soon turned into thunderous applause.

After a while, only me and one other person were left.

I will never forget that last dance.

The haughty candidate who was considered the most promising candidate bowed reverently and asked me to another dance.

「…… You’ve changed my view of women. Women are …… amazing. If you were to become the queen, I’d be happy to serve you for the rest of my life. That’s why, if I could become the king, will you stay by my side forever?」

He had a bashful smile on his face that I didn’t know he could make.

Yes, yes, I understand. You want to keep excellent and capable people close to your side.
I feel the same way.

I returned the bow gracefully and took his outstretched hand.

In the end, the final match ended in a draw, but after that, I got along with him like a comrade in arms. After talking to him, I found him to be an interesting person. The only thing I didn’t understand about him was that he was strangely wary of the idiotic Alisa …… It was an unexpected bond made possible by the dance ball.

He used to sigh and say, 「You’re so sharp and capable, but also so dense at the same time」.

That’s rude. What the heck does that mean!? Is that supposed to be a present meant to please me? You must be underestimating me. But well, I’ll gratefully accept it.

…… But I remember that he protected me from the evil clutches of the four princes for quite a long time.

「It’s because you’re the only woman that ever won against me. If you get trampled by those guys, it would be an insult to my dignity.」

Are you a tsundere-rival-battle-character ……

He had a rude mouth, but he was always there for me in the shadows and in the sun.
When I was informed that he had died in an unforeseen accident, I burst into tears.
I hugged the red dress that came back instead of him and cried in silence.
He had arranged for it to be shipped on my birthday.

That idiot. This is what happens when you conceitedly do something you’re not used to ……!!
You liar …… you promised to help me all the time.　
Let me see you stand next to me and snicker like you always do while telling me that anybody can look good with the right clothes ……

…… Hic, hic, g-goh.

I’m sure that mother feels the same way as I do about that dance ball!!
As expected of a mother and daughter!! I completely understand that feeling!!

「…… Um, that’s not it, Sca-chibi. Cornelia-san is probably recalling the horror of that intense training session. Even from my point of view, that was really crazy.」

The carriage skylight meant for emergency escape slammed open and Bradd peeked in from there.

Hey, how rude!! I don’t want to be told that by you, the representative of the inhumanly strong〈Lawless Crew〉.

Besides, even though it’s called a special training, its contents are very basic.

Dancing is not something you can master by just memorizing it in your head. It is only the real deal when you thoroughly memorize the movements with your body. That’s why I asked my mother to repeat the exercise over and over again to refine her accuracy. So that gradually there will be only 1 mistake out of 100 tries. And then only 1 mistake out of 1,000 tries. And further so. Once she has done that much, her head will not be occupied by the dance. If she can dance smoothly without having to think, the consumption of her physical stamina will be minimal. If she had to think hard about how to move her body every single second of the dance, her head would get tired before her body.

The 「Thunderbolt」 was not listed in the program that was sent to us, but we would be in the presence of Countess Rosenthal, the mastermind behind the bullying. There’s no telling what could happen there. If we don’t have our head ready to go full throttle at any time, we won’t be able to respond immediately when trouble comes knocking.