'What?!' Nico screamed internally, on the verge of a panic.
He stared blankly at the blue-haired girl.
"I would like to thank you for helping me with Helian," she clarified.
'Ah…'
That made sense… but even though it was logical, Nico did not like it. She was a princess, and he was a commoner, they were not supposed to interact.
"You don't want to?" Seeing that he appeared reluctant, Annie's face fell.
Nico's heart twisted like a knife had gone through it.
'Dammit!' he cursed.
"N-No, it would be my pleasure," Nico stuttered over his words.
"Really?" The girl's ocean-deep eyes lit up.
"Really," Nico repeated, another pit forming at his own words.
"Great!"
She quickly took his hand and led him to the swaying crowd. Nico blushed furiously sensing the gazes of most men in the room bore into his back.
He mentally apologised to Leon for leaving him by himself.
Finally, they stopped just as a new tune began to play. Nico belatedly realised it was a waltz.
'Crap…'
"I don't know how to dance," he blurted out.
Annie laughed, the noise sounding like honey to his ears. Shaking his head, he focused on her words.
"Don't worry. I've been to enough of these balls that I can lead you through this song with no problem."
Guiding his hands, the blue-haired girl placed one right beneath her shoulder, while the other she held in her grasp. Then, she stepped forward slightly, leaning closer to Nico.
He gulped, now more nervous than he had ever been in his whole life.
Annie giggled, "Relax, it's just a dance."
Nico bit down on the urge to give a sarcastic reply. He gazed into her crystal-clear eyes and found nothing but sincerity and a little mirth.
Allowing himself to loosen up a little, Nico tried not to think of the softness of her hands or her body as they began moving. She instructed him when to move left, when to move right, when to take a step back, and when to take a step forward.
Soon, Nico found himself enjoying the challenge.
He viewed it akin to a battle, where deft feet were the key to victory. He had to match his tempo to Annie's own, otherwise he would just end up making the horrifying mistake of stepping on her toes. As the dance progressed, Nico came dangerously close to doing so a few times.
Only his quick reflexes stopped him from doing so.
The princess in his arms laughed each time that happened.
A chagrined smile appeared on his face. It was good that she was having fun, but he had mixed feelings about it being because of his inability to waltz.
"What's your name?"
Nico almost stumbled and brought both of them down. He blinked, strangely stupefied by the unexpected question.
Annie just sighed, "Isn't it proper manners to ask for someone's name when conversing with them? Besides, I'm interested to know. You seem like a Jerry or a Richard."
The boy gaped at her for a moment before bursting into a fit of chuckles.
After he composed himself, he answered, "My name's Nico. Nico Knox. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Highness."
Nico dipped his head towards her, a sign of respect for her status.
Annie frowned. "None of that "Your Highness" stuff, please. I'd rather you just treat me as you would any other normal girl."
'... But that's impossible.' is what Nico wanted to say.
In his opinion, that was true in more ways than one.
Noticing the strained smile on the brown-haired boy's face, Annie sighed.
She knew it was an impossible ask, but couldn't help but request it, nonetheless.
"You know I'm royalty, but you don't know which race I'm from. Aren't you curious?" She posed, at the same time indicating for Nico to lead her into a spin. Picking up the hint, he allowed their fingertips to graze each other as the princess spun gracefully.
Thinking over her question mentally, Nico's mind whirred.
'She's not an Orc, since they're recognisable at first glance. She's also not a Giant, since they're very tall. She might be a fairy in disguise…'
He knew she could not also be a dwarf, so that was ruled out.
That left the Dragons, Humans and the Fairies.
Nico had a thirty percent chance his answer would turn out correct.
He wanted to increase those odds.
Thinking deeper, he could also rule out that she was a princess from his race. If that had been the case, the Emperor would have announced that his daughter would be attending in advance. Furthermore, there was no way the Academy would miss a chance to boast about that.
Now the odds were around half.
Biting his lips nervously, Nico spoke, "You're a Fairy?"
Annie's eyebrows rose, "Do I look like one?"
Caught off-guard by that response, Nico averted his eyes, "Y-Yes…"
The blue-haired girl's eyes twinkled as a giggle escaped her mouth. "I'm not a Fairy, but I appreciate the compliment."
'Then what are you…?' is what Nico wanted to ask before his eyes widened in understanding.
'No, no, no, no, no….!'
"Seems like you finally figured it out," The corner of Annie's lips rose as she sensed Nico stiffen like all the strength had left his limbs. Her shoulders trembled slightly, watching the comical expression on his face.
Nico, meanwhile, almost fainted on the spot.
'She's… she's… she's the Dragon Princess? The daughter of the most powerful being in the world?!'
The air left Nico's lungs. Suddenly, he seemed very short of breath.
"Hey, relax…" Annie frowned, sending the boy a reassuring squeeze.
"But you're THE dragon princess?" Nico replied, absently leading her into another spin as he took a few calming breaths.
"So? What's the big deal?" The girl failed to see his point.
A bead of cold sweat travelled down Nico's back as the tune reached a crescendo. He could feel the glares of his peers intensifying, almost turning to where he felt they wanted to murder him right there and then.
There was one gaze in particular that was stronger than the rest.
'I've gone and done it now…'
Nico released a deflated sigh which caused the princess to pout.
"Geez, if you don't want to associate yourself with me that badly, fine." Annie made a move to disengage, as the song entered its outro.
"No!" Nico tightened his grip on her hands. He sweated as the princess frowned at him, the mana around her figure signalling her displeasure. "It's not that I don't want to associate with you… rather, wouldn't it be bad for you to interact with someone like me? Also, do you think people would want to let a Heaven's chosen get close to you? What if I have bad intentions?"
"Well, do you?" Seeing the confused expression on Nico's face, Annie clarified, "Do you have bad intentions?"
"Fates, no!"
As she saw the fire in the boy's eyes, the princess's lips curled into a faint smile. "Then, that's all that matters. Who cares what the rest of our peers think? What's important is what we think of each other and how that influences our actions."
A sad smile then graced Annie's face. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend, not everyone can handle the pressure that comes with it."
There it was again, that feeling like his chest was being squeezed.
Nico couldn't bear to see her so sad!
'What's happening to me? Have I already become ensnared by her beauty?'
Casting aside his doubts for now, Nico cleared his throat and tried not to think of the consequences of his next words:
"I'll be your friend."
Annie blinked, not expecting to see such determination and sincerity in his eyes. Her chest warmed.
"Thank you!"
On a whim, she hugged the brown-haired boy.
Nico stiffened, awkwardly returning the embrace as he tried to ignore the increasing number of glares fixated on his back.
A few moments later, the waltz finally came to an end.