Even though it was the opening ceremony, there were no rituals.
And because the headmaster and the teachers don't have any more right than what's needed, the general vibe of the opening ceremony was a bit different than the previous era. And although it was called a ceremony, it was basically just an evening party; a place for socialising.
The crown prince and Emilia finished dancing without any problems and the ones among the students, who wanted to dance surrounding the hall, came advancing to the center, changing places with the ones who had already finished dancing.
As an unspoken agreement, it was decided that the official families would dance starting from the 2nd song and so Erik and Grays chose a suitable partner and participated.
The crown prince entrusted me with Emilia's escort and disappeared into a corner of the hall with Sieghart.
He probably plans on staying back until the tension in the atmosphere loosen ups a bit.
–Or possibly to rest a bit. His pale face I saw at the royal palace crossed my mind for a moment.
"Emilia-sama, shall we rest a bit?"
Maybe from nervousness, Emilia's face had also turned pale when she returned.
It is understandable. The reservedness, hostility and unpleasant feelings towards her from the students is much more direct and bare unlike those from the adults. On top of that, this was her high society debut and her dancing partner was the crown prince. It was probably the most overwhelming few minutes of her life mentally.
She also seemed a bit dazed, so I grabbed her hand and took her to the next hall.
It was a space filled with couches and tables prepared for meal and break, and when we made our way towards the table, the waitress there guided us to the second floor.
Although the second floor was a bit narrow, the seats were much wider and it was made like a terrace from which the two halls could be seen.
Is this what they call a VIP seat? Either way, I am very grateful as an escort.
Tira and Reka, who had been standing by at a corner of the hall after changing place with a waitress, and Ratoka, who was wearing a uniform of an attendant, all three came to tend to us and were worried seeing Emilia's dazed expression.
They also snuck a glance towards me, asking if she was okay. Hmm, well, she did do her best but she isn't quite okay and so I brought her here.
"…..Tira, please bring warm, black tea with milk."
"Yes, Eliza-sama."
She disappeared into the staircase quickly.
And in the meantime, Ratoka and Reka promptly prepared the tables and a light meal.
"….Um, Kaldia-sama."
And while looking at all this uninterestedly, finally Emilia opened her mouth, although her voice was almost inaudible. Seems like she calmed down a bit.
By the way, I made her change the way she calls me, thinking that she might enter the high society even as a student since she is an archduchess now.
The name Einsbark generally means Volmar. Although there is a difference in the lower and higher class, you wouldn't normally refer to their name when calling them and so in my case, while it is different when I am talking one-to-one, I am known as the Kaldia count in the high society.
"Did I not make a mistake somewhere? Maybe due to the nervousness, I can't really remember much after his Highness Alfred's greetings…"
Seems like Emilia is in the 'my mind is blank' state.
Although she had just told me that, as if she just became aware of how severe an archduchess not being aware of her surroundings in a public place is, her expression just got more and more grim. Well, she was stiffened from the start, though.
Now then, how shall I pacify her? I glanced towards Ratoka and he glared back, while jerking his chin, as if to tell me 'Do it. You do understand, right?'.
Haa……… are we really doing that?
Going back a few days in time.
After finishing the arrangements in my new hostel, when I welcomed Emilia, there were only 10 days of spring break left.
As I had too much free time on my hands, I decided on improving Emilia's behaviour and had already built up some trust between her.
When it was decided that Emilia and I would be living together, I had planned on calling Mrs. Marshan to the capital as Emilia's private tutor but Mrs. Marshan was quite a capable tutor in the territory and so couldn't be moved that easily.
Either way, Tira, Ratoka and I taught her all the required manners and etiquettes for the opening ceremony.
–Well, it would have also been quite simple to make someone from the royal family or archduke family be her private tutor but letting someone completely unknown into the house would be a bit bothersome.
And naturally, Emilia mastered the general etiquettes very well.
We prioritized specially on the dance.
In case of greetings, as she is a woman, it is more or less fine if she just stays silent but that wouldn't do for the dance. There was also the problem of dancing types being different between Arxia and Rindall.
As a result, Emilia was able to learn the Arxia dance quite well for a hasty preparation but–
"Hey, can't we do something about the way we handle Emilia-sama?"
"Ha?"
Ratoka suddenly came saying yesterday night, while preparing my hair for the opening ceremony.
"No, just that… you and Emilia-sama aren't really in sync, are you?"
That seems to be Ratoka's impression after having seen Emilia and me up close for the past 10 days.
"There's no need to be in sync either, is there?"
"No, I actually think there is a need."
He ended up discarding what I had to say instead of letting me do it so I stayed silent. When it comes to this, he wouldn't move until I hear what he has to say. What a stubborn guy he has grown to be.