21 - Chapter 21

There was a break after dinner, and the dance would begin after the moon rises. Burris sat under the vine, looking at a group of court ladies by the fountain from a distance.

Estel was circling among the nobles, with a restrained smile on her face. She controlled her face with a spell to manipulate corpses, just to smile at her partner while dancing. This was not only related to the mood of the dancer, but also to how other nobles perceive her relationship with this man. This is the princess, the first heir of the kingdom. A female wizard could smile as much as she wants, and she could be cold if she didn’t want to smile, but the princess couldn’t.

Thinking of this, Burris couldn’t help sighing. Over the years, he was not only teaching spells to Estel, but he was also trying to help her solve the sequel of being unable to smile. Estel’s spellcasting ability continued to improve, but the sequelae of poisoning still existed.

The prelude music was played in the hall and the dance was about to begin. Estel approached Sir Naylor, the smile on her face became more natural and sweet. She habitually stretched out her hand to hold Naylor’s arm, but Naylor shivered and avoided her.

She didn’t catch up to him, but moved awkwardly, pretending to talk to the other person behind Naylor.

Burris was staring at her. She moved her finger and let a leaf float gently towards Burris, carrying a message that could only be heard between master and apprentice. “Mentor, what should I do? Sir Naylor saw it, he saw me casting a spell.”

Burris didn’t know how to answer for a moment. What kind of advice was she asking for? About magic? Or was it related to relationships? Or was it about love? After thinking about it, he replied: “Don’t be afraid, he doesn’t dare to do anything to you. If he breaks your heart, he’s not worthy of your love. If he can give up the proposal, it will be a blessing in disguise. You won’t be happy with a follower of Otarot, so it better to break up early and feel better sooner.”

After receiving the message, Estel frowned, glanced at this side, turned and hurried into the hall. Burris shook his head with a bitter face and sighed. The young man did not know what to say.

At the dance, Burris sat in the back row of the rest area. He had been talking with the mage Haida about the library and the Tower of Truth. The two of them didn’t know each other well, but the reason they could talk was only because they were both mages and they didn’t know how to dance. For them, talking about work was the best choice.

Roth couldn’t dance either. He could participate in the kind of group dance of kicks and jumps that country folk do at the beginning of the spring, but it was clear that there would not be such thing in the court. Burris wouldn’t participate if he couldn’t dance, while Roth was more active and would try to find someone to learn.

During the first song, he invited a court lady who seemed to be of low status. She did not know the origin of this nouveau riche, so she reluctantly danced with him. Roth didn’t know the dance steps, so she had to teach while dancing. After all, it would be very impolite to leave her partner before a song was finished…

During the second song, Roth had learned the basic dance steps. Because each piece had a different beat, he had to keep learning. This time he invited a tall lady who was the staff officer of the Royal Knights. The female knight was not good at dancing like Roth. Fortunately, she had been specially trained before participating in the ball. Although she had heavy steps and a stiff posture, her dance steps were very skillful and rigorous. Roth learned a lot when dancing with her and used it more flexibly than she did.

Time passed slowly with the beautiful music, and without noticing, it was already late into the night. Haida yawned frequently and was dozing off with a hand on her head. Burris looked at the princess on the dance floor from a distance and could not help feeling sad.

Estel never danced with Naylor. He often looked at her in the crowd, but never came to invite her.

At this time, a dark shadow blocked some light. Burris raised his head. Roth had returned. He bent down and held out his hand.

“How much….do you want?” Burris habitually took out his wallet.

“Who asked you for money?” Roth couldn’t wait and pulled Burris directly from his seat. “Come on, let’s dance!”

Burris refused. “I can’t dance at all!”

“I can, I’ll lead you. You don’t have to dance seriously, just follow my movements.”

“If you like dancing, you should continue to invite the court ladies…. how could a normal person invite a mage? Besides, it’s not decent for men to invite men!”

Burris couldn’t resist Roth’s strength and was pulled directly into the crowd, being half lifted and half hugged. Roth adjusted their posture to dance and said in his ear: “You are right. A normal person wouldn’t invite a male mage, but I’m not a normal person, I’m not even a human.”

“You are really like this…” Everyone around cast them a surprised look, making Burris feel a burst of weakness. “If this goes on, I don’t know what rumors will spread out in the future…”

Roth didn’t care: “What other rumors could be? It’s nothing more than ‘Burris’ illegitimate son likes men and has an affair with a handsome warlock from nowhere…”

Burris avoided the ‘likes men’ part and decided to discuss just another important point: “It seems you are very comfortable playing the role of a warlock.”

“Yes.” Roth embraced him and turned around, making Burris’s toes almost off the ground. “You see, this is good. You get together with me in your current appearance, and everyone will doubt that you and the princess are a couple.”

“Well…” Burris sighed. “I should thank you for considerate that child.”

Roth raised his hands to the music and motioned Burris to turn around, but he was stunned and didn’t respond at all. Roth reluctantly hugged him again, leading him to keep up with the next rhythm.

“No need to thank me.” Roth said triumphantly. “I don’t feel aggrieved at all. Now we have attracted a lot of attention, just like the stars of the dance, I am so happy! ”

I’m not happy! Burris kept his head down slightly, his eyes rested on the jewel pin that flashed on Roth’s chest. The other people’s eyes on the dance floor caught his vision.

Looking at Burris’s gloomy look, Roth asked him if he had any worries. The mage sighed and said: “I talked about some things with people before, which affected my mood a bit.”

“Tell me, what’s the matter?” Roth looked like he wanted to hear a romantic anecdote.

He might be disappointed; the topic was not new or interesting at all. Burris said, “I don’t know if you still remember… More than sixty years ago, there was a little young man among the knights who escorted me. He was about the same age as me at the time. He often walked by the prison cart and talked to me.”

“To tell the truth, I don’t remember. They wear uniform armor and cloaks. I can’t recognize who is who.”

“His name was Manero.” Burris said. “I thought he died in the ice lake, but he didn’t. Today, I talked with the prince’s son for a while, and that child’s history teacher was Manero.”

Roth’s dance steps slowed down, and he asked worriedly: “Why, this Manero wants to trouble you?”

Burris shook his head. “No, he is dead. From the description of the Prince’s son, I guess Manero hated me all his life…he even hated all the necromancers. How many people he has influenced in his life, how many young men like Sir Naylor have been taught by him?” Burris wanted to look for the princess in the crowd. He glanced left and right and was forced to withdraw his gaze by the curious eyes of others. “Then I thought again, why should Estel suffer such grievance? Why? I am more or less responsible for her present situation; she is obviously a good child…”

Roth couldn’t understand. “How could the princess be involved in things sixty years ago? Even King Passia hadn’t been born yet.”

“No, it doesn’t matter.” Burris said, staring at the floor in embarrassment. “I’m just a little upset. Did you know that Estel casted her control spell again, forcing her facial muscles to smile? This spell will make her face completely numb; her facial expressions will slow down, and even her taste will disappear temporarily… For the time being, she turned herself into a silly, smiling doll. But…that dammed knight ignored her! All because he found out that she was a mage! Everyone knew that she had lived in my tower, so the knight would naturally think that she learned necromancy. Estel exposed herself to save others. If she didn’t cast spells, maybe the knight wouldn’t have time to save the prince and his entourage She was trying to save people, but he actually…”

Roth changed his dance posture, from holding Burris’ waist with one hand to directly embracing him. “All right, all right…” He soothed softly in the mage’s ear. “I understand. I know why you are in such a bad mood… You thought about the things in the rime forest, and the frozen river. At that time, you…”

“It’s nothing.” Burris spoke much faster than usual, and he could see that he hadn’t calmed down yet: “It’s been so many years, and it’s boring to think about it… Maybe it’s just a matter of age. It’s easy to make random associations and split hairs. It makes you laugh.”

Roth said nothing for the time being. Under his guidance, although Burris still didn’t know how to dance, he was able to follow him naturally. After passing a few people, Burris saw two familiar colors from the corner of his eye…a black robe and a rose dress?

He raised his head and was surprised to see Estel and Sir Naylor. Even so, were they dancing? Could it be that Sir Naylor could accept that the princess was a mage, maybe even a necromancer?

“Do you know why?” Roth asked in Burris’ ear.

“What ‘why’?”

“Because it’s almost midnight.” Roth said. “Now everyone is dancing the last song of the night. You can dance with anyone at the dance, but when the last song starts, people will walk towards their true partner. Look, the Passias are dancing too.”

Burris didn’t look at anyone. He also knew the meaning of the last song, and because of it, he didn’t dare to look up.

Roth continued: “In human romance novels, if you don’t dance the last song with your destined person you may regret it forever. So even if both Sir Naylor and the princess have doubts, they still don’t want to miss the last song. The future dilemma will be solved slowly in the future, at least for now, they don’t want to give up each other.”

“You are right.” Burris was tormented with the beautiful music. He had a feeling that the topic would soon fall on himself.

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Sure enough, Roth said: “I also want to dance the last song with you. I practiced for a long time just now just to prepare for this moment. Honestly, can you accept it?”

“Accept what?” The hairs on Burris’ back stood up.

“Accept a demigod higher undead creature.”

Thanks for reading! 🙂