Chapter 215: A Change of Venue
Chapter 214: A Change of Venue
Lyria’s POV
Lucian remained silent for so long that I began to think he did not intend to answer at all.
The garden stretched quietly around us. The fountain continued its gentle murmur. Somewhere nearby, leaves rustled softly beneath the morning breeze.
And still he said nothing.
I lowered my gaze slightly.
Perhaps I should not have mentioned it.
Perhaps he thought it foolish too.
The embarrassment settled more heavily in my chest with every passing second.
Then Lucian finally spoke.
"I could teach you."
I blinked.
For a moment, I was quite certain I had misheard him.
My head lifted so quickly it nearly hurt.
"What?"
His expression remained perfectly calm.
"I said," he repeated, "I could teach you how to dance."
My eyes widened so much they almost hurt.
Surely I had heard incorrectly.
There was no possible way—
"Do r-repeat that," I said immediately. "Please repeat e-exactly what y-you just said so I may know whether my ears are p-playing tricks on me."
Lucian chuckled softly.
"Your ears are obviously not deceiving you," he said. "You heard me perfectly well."
I continued staring at him.
"I told you," he repeated patiently, "that I could teach you to dance."
I blinked again.
Then again.
"Where," I asked slowly, "did y-you even get such a thought from?"
One of his brows lifted slightly.
"What thought?"
"That one," I said, gesturing toward him vaguely. "The thought that y-you could simply decide to teach me d-dancing."
His lips twitched faintly.
"Because I can."
"That is n-not an explanation."
"It is an entirely sufficient explanation."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"And why," I continued, "are y-you saying it as though it is not completely absurd?"
Lucian looked genuinely confused by that question.
"It is not absurd."
"It a-absolutely i-is."
"You need lessons."
"Y-yes."
"I know how to dance."
"Y-yes."
"I can teach you to dance."
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it again.
That sounded far too simple.
Lucian, meanwhile, appeared entirely unbothered by my growing confusion.
In fact, he looked almost thoughtful.
Then suddenly his expression brightened slightly.
"Ah," he said. "I know what we should do."
Before I could ask what he meant, he stepped forward and took my hand.
I startled immediately.
"Do try not to jump from shock this time," he said calmly, as though discussing the weather. "You nearly frightened yourself to death earlier."
"I did n-not nearly frighten m-myself to death."
"You looked deeply alarmed."
"You s-startled m-me."
"You are startled very easily."
I frowned at him.
Lucian only looked faintly amused.
Then, without another word, he began leading me out of the garden.
I blinked.
"Where are y-you taking me?"
"You shall see."
"I m-must inform y-you, t-that is not r-reassuring."
"You distrust me far too much."
"I barely k-know w-where we are g-going."
"You are being escorted by a Duke in broad daylight through the palace corridors while accompanied by three maids."
"That does s-sound rather r-ridiculous when p-phrased that way."
I glanced behind us.
Diana, Sally, and Theresa were indeed following several steps behind, all wearing expressions of varying confusion.
I looked back toward Lucian.
"If this is your a-attempt at k-kidnapping," I informed him, "it is p-particularly poor."
A laugh escaped him then.
"I assure you, Princess, I am not kidnapping you."
"That sounds e-exactly like s-something a k-kidnapper would say."
"I shall remember not to offer assistance to you again in the future."
"You are t-the one d-dragging me t-through the p-palace."
"You are walking quite willingly."
I looked down.
Unfortunately, he was correct.
That was irritating.
The palace corridors stretched around us in long ribbons of polished marble and tall windows. Morning light spilled across the floors in pale gold patterns. Servants occasionally bowed as we passed, though several looked mildly startled by the sight of us hurrying through the corridors together.
Lucian paid them no attention whatsoever.
He walked with the same composed ease he always carried, one hand loosely around mine as though this entire situation were perfectly ordinary.
It was not ordinary.
Nothing about this morning had been ordinary.
Eventually he turned down a quieter corridor, one I vaguely recognised.
Then he stopped before a pair of large double doors.
Without explanation, he pushed them open.
I blinked as light spilled across the room beyond.
It was enormous.
That was my first thought.
The second was that I had not been inside this room in years.
The music room.
Or rather—one of them.
The palace possessed several smaller parlours intended for private performances, but this one was different. It was larger and more open.
Sunlight streamed through tall arched windows that stretched nearly from floor to ceiling, illuminating the polished wooden floors until they gleamed warmly beneath the light. Pale curtains stirred gently near the windows where the breeze slipped through slightly parted glass.
There were remarkably few furnishings.
Enough to make the room elegant, but not crowded.
A grand keyboard stood toward one side of the room beside shelves of neatly arranged music books. Several cushioned chairs rested near the walls, along with small tables holding crystal vases filled with fresh flowers.
The centre of the room, however, remained entirely open.
An empty expanse of polished floor.
A place meant for movement.
For dancing.
I stopped walking completely and Lucian finally released my hand.
Then he began unfastening the cuffs of his sleeves.
I stared at him with wide eyes.
"W-what are y-you doing?"
He rolled the sleeves upward slightly with calm precision before looking toward me.
"We are changing the venue of our date. And perhaps what was planned for it."
I blinked.
"...What?"
"You require dancing lessons."
His voice remained perfectly matter-of-fact.
"And I informed you I would teach you."
He finished adjusting one sleeve before beginning the other.
"Therefore," he concluded, "the date has now become dancing lessons."
I simply stared at him.
The room around us seemed absurdly bright all of a sudden.
"You c-cannot simply d-decide such a thing on your o-own."
"I already have."
"That is n-not how d-dates work."
"Who decided that?"
"I..." I paused.
I truly had nothing to say to that.
