One step left. Two steps right.
A little twirl here. A fast turn there
—Ouch! Stepped on my toes again!
I raised my leg in an attempt to massage my toe. Apparently, Carine's training shoes had some rock hard tips. Nearly crushed Feyt's toe there.
My muffled winces of pain echoed throughout the large expansive dance hall.
Okay, why am I suddenly sucking at this? I nailed all of the dance moves with the instructor just fine! In fact, I could say I did them all perfectly last time!
I took a step back from myselves, glaring once again into my eyes. Could I really be the problem? How nervous was I against myself?
No, something else has to be involved. I refused to believe that was all there is to it. That’s right, with every step I took, I was probably overthinking about stepping on myselves. The fear of being hurt must be a main factor. The fear of punching myselves had reappeared, huh?
That said, the windows here were pretty large as well. Perhaps I was nervous that someone might be peeking in. I didn’t know how likely it was though, considering the windows didn’t really show much of the courtyard.
Agh, who am I kidding? Of course, the main reason for this was clear!
These bodies… I was afraid to admit it, but they were made for each other.
I recalled back to Luke and Kloe, the couple I saved by sacrificing myself. I remembered how chummy they were with each other, and how close they were while blushing. That scenery by the balcony, I could totally see it happening to us right now!
I averted my gazes away, shaking my head in disbelief. Was this the price of cheating someone’s death? If yes, this is pretty cruel, not gonna lie.
But I was determined. These weird feelings, they either gotta go, or I gotta get used to them. If I couldn’t even do a basic dance routine with myselves, how was I supposed to fight with both bodies efficiently?
...I couldn’t help but wonder, though.
Perhaps all this nervousness was just because we weren’t that familiar with each other yet. If I could get my bodies used to being around one another, I might actually kiss those weird feelings goodbye!
All this time I had been separating myselves in order not to spread rumors. But really, for the sake of my survivability, I needed to hang around myselves more often.
But what about the rumors? They were an inconvenience, that much is sure, so how do I avoid any annoying misunderstandings in the future?
Hmm…
Hmmmm...
Hmmmmmm…
I was stumped.
Alright, alright. Enough with overheating my only two brains for now.
Lunch was coming up soon, and if I didn’t stop now, the maids would probably start looking for Carine. If I wasn’t careful and lost track of time… Gods, I could already imagine the scene. A maid politely knocks on the door, nudging it open to peek in, only to see the cold ice queen dancing alone with the commoner, trying to stay out of public sight.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I felt my body shudder. That would be disastrous.
I sighed, both of me, and stepped back. I loosened the tension on my shoulders. Didn’t know that just holding my own palms would wreck my nerves this bad, but I couldn’t afford to get stuck on it.
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If I wanted to make full use of both bodies, I needed to get used to acting together. Fighting together. Living together.
Which meant I had to change things.
I needed to be in the same places more often, work on my coordination, and… probably come up with some excuses for why Feyt and Carine kept hanging around each other all the time.
How to do that though? With how isolated Carine usually is, her being near Feyt all the time, even with a proper explanation, would still spark some talks.
It was a problem for future me though. For now, all I wanted was to clean up, get some grub, and relax for a bit.
.........
......
...
I was refreshed, sweat all gone. All I needed to do was to head for lunch. For Carine, it was the usual. Roasted ham with a few nice side dishes.
I was sitting alone in the dining room by the way, if you don’t count the servants. I heard Father already headed out for the castle just an hour ago. With Mother still out interrogating the suspects, I really was alone here.
Man, it's so quiet here...
No matter, eating in peace was a nice change of pace. Not like I was unfamiliar with it, since the last few days were the exact same.
For Feyt, as usual, the food would be sent to my front door, most likely by Eliza. Sure enough, when I arrived, there she was, standing with a wooden tray topped by a large metal cloche.
“Oh, Sir Feyt?” Her eyes widened slightly. “I thought you were in your room.”
Judging from the way she reacted, she must have just arrived herself.
“Sorry, Miss Eliza. I was out training by the courtyard, haha.”
“I see…” she trailed off, then mumbled under her breath, “You must be trying your best to keep your mind off of things, right? I get it.”
…Huh?
What is she talking about?
I held the urge to tilt my head in confusion. She doesn’t know I could hear her clearly after all.
Before I could say anything, Eliza perked up. “Ah, forgive me, Sir Feyt! You must be hungry after all that training.” She cleared her throat, straightening up. “Allow me to present today’s lunch.”
She bended forward to gave me a better view of the tray. She placed a hand on the top of the cloche and opened it all dramatic. Light steam billowed out of the cloche, slowly revealing its content.
I was expecting the usual. Probably steak with some enticing side dishes, or probably stewed fish coupled with garlic and vinegar. But, today’s lunch was… a bit different.
Behind the steam sat a singular bowl with a wooden spoon. Inside the bowl was a hearty vegetable soup. I could see carrots, kale, a few pieces of meat, and a mix of other ingredients I couldn’t immediately pick out.
I was… speechless?
I hadn’t expected this kind of dish at all, especially in this house. What? Did the budget for lunch ran out? Or were they starting to treat me differently now that Mother and Father weren’t around today?
I looked up to see what Eliza’s reaction was, only to find her smiling gently.
“What do you think, Sir Feyt? I tried my best to make my favorite meal back home, but…” she said, her smile turning wry slightly.
I pieced together what she said.
“I tried my best.”
Did she cook this herself?
This kind of food would only really be seen in common households, not in a ducal manor. And frankly, it does remind me of home a little bit, especially with how Mom used to make her vegetable soups.
Does that mean Eliza made this soup specifically for me? Why though?
I didn’t do anything special, right? In fact, I kinda ditched her back then when the whole fireball incident started. Come to think of it, I hadn’t apologized for that yet…
But before I could even dwell on it, my stomach made the decision for me. Just from the smell alone, it was practically screaming at me to hurry up and dig in.
I gave an energetic nod and faced Eliza. “Thanks, Miss Eliza. Really.”
Her eyes widened for a moment before she let out a small chuckle. “It’s my pleasure, Sir Feyt. Please, enjoy.”
And with that, I took the tray from her hands and was left all by my lonesome in the hall. Looking down at the soup again, I realized… I really was starting to miss home, wasn’t I?
Maybe it’s time to send some more letters to Mom and Dad.
