Sidestory: Mia’s Ballroom Dance Club (Part 2)
“Good morning, Princess Mia. I’m sorry for stopping by unannounced,” Rania said as Mia walked in and stood up to greet her. She stood out because of her beautiful black hair and smooth, tanned skin.
In particular, it hit Mia’s stomach, which made a gurgling sound. Not because Mia’s friend looked good enough to eat, of course. That would not be right.
And a little bit scary.
Instead, it was because Rania always brought tasty treats when she came to visit, so Mia’s stomach was trained to grumble when she was around. By this point, it was just a habit. Mia kept talking in her usual tone, even though her body was doing something weird.
“I’m also sorry that my gift is so simple. Today, I only brought plain cookies…”
Mia followed her gaze to a nearby table where the plate of treats was sitting. Her smile got bigger.
“Those cookies…! My favourite kind!”
They were the kind that kept well, just like the ones Anne had given her before. She liked how useful they were and how simple they tasted. Easy and nice. She could never get enough of the taste.
Anne probably made the rest of the food on the table. She added black tea to the cookies and a few of Mia’s own sweets, along with some black tea.
Moons, this is a bit of a feast for us!
As soon as Mia sat down next to Rania, Anne poured two cups of tea. It was just about room temperature, which was just right for Mia, who had worked up a sweat and wanted a drink that was more refreshing than hot.
Aaah, Anne does it again. She really cares.
She felt better after taking a sip of tea, so she asked Rania in a calm voice, “So, Rania, what brought you here today?”
“I wanted to actually ask your advice about something.”
“Advice? What seems to be going on?”
Mia asked as she ate her first cookie right away. With a satisfying crunch, it broke. As she chewed, the treat slowly broke down in her mouth, leaving a sweet taste behind.
“Aaah… This simple sweetness and the satisfying taste of wheat… Mmm, it’s so good. I love them.”
Its texture was nothing special, and it wasn’t so good that you couldn’t stop eating it. Its appeal probably came from a feeling of nostalgia.
It had a comforting taste, like a taste of home, and it was the perfect medicine for her mind, which was hurting from her constant worry about how thick the Chronicles were.
Oh, that’s right on the mark. Right in the middle of my heart and soul. So simple, but so tasty… Just what I was in need of…
Rania spoke slowly while Mia did her holistic cookie therapy.
“So, uh, about the advice… It’s more like I want to ask you for a favour.”
“Oh? A favour? Go ahead. As long as I can, I would be happy to help.”
After biting her lips for a while, Rania finally got up the courage to ask for what she wanted.
“Um, I heard that you’ve been teaching dance lessons lately.”
“Oh, my… Where did you hear that?”
She had been keeping the lessons a secret for Bel’s sake.
“From Miss Bel. She seemed very happy and told everyone she met about it.”
Dark moons, that girl…
Mia scratched her head in anger. Bel didn’t seem to care at all that people would find out that she was learning how to dance.
“Well, I guess that’s good for her. It’s true that I’ve been giving Bel dance lessons in one of the school’s special-purpose rooms. I think it’s been three days now.”
Rania’s face lit up when she heard this.
“I- Then, could you, um, teach me, too?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Mia made a face. She didn’t know how many times Rania had danced before. Maybe she was having trouble with a certain move. Even so, she could just ask one of the teachers in Saint-Noel. It was strange to ask Mia for help.
Rania asked, “Do you know about the Thanksgiving Festival in Perujin?”
“Of course. The people of Perujin gather in the capital city for a big party to give thanks for the harvest. I’ve heard there’s going to be a big party with lots of delicious food…”
Mia knew about all the food events in the countries next to hers.
She was thinking about going to one of Perujin’s Thanksharvest Festivals if she ever had the chance.
All that fresh food from Perujin… I’m hungry just thinking about what they could make with it…
“Then you must know what we Perujin princesses do at the festival,” she said.
“Oh, yes, I do. You do the Thanksgiving Dance as a gift to God, right?”
As leaders of their people, Perujin princesses take care of the harvest themselves and work with the farmers. At the same time, they act as priestesses by giving thanks to God for providing them with food.
After Ludwig told her she was stupid for forgetting Rania’s name in the previous timeline, Mia made sure to do her homework. Because Perujin Agricultural Country was a source of food imports for Tearmoon, she had learned all the important facts about its princesses.
“So, what’s going on? Is it because of the dance?”
“Yes… If I’m being honest—oh, this is so embarrassing! I’m not very good at dancing, so I’ve never really been able to do it right…”
“Ah, now I see what you mean…”
Rania’s request finally made sense. The teachers at the academy could teach her to dance, but only ballroom dancing. They didn’t know how to do ritual dances. She had asked Mia for help because she was known to be a good dancer and thought she could teach Rania.
“But how did you do over the summer?”
Mia thought that Rania had gone home to Perujin during the summer like she always did. This meant that she should have done all of her usual priestess duties.
“Most of the time, I was helping my sister Arshia. I’m like her assistant. But I might have to do everything myself next summer…”
“Right, of course, since I asked Arshia to come to my academy…”
Rania was worried that Arshia might be too busy teaching at Saint Mia Academy to go home for the Thanksgiving Festival. Without Arshia, the whole dance would have to revolve around her, which was a lot of pressure for anyone to take on.
“But she won’t be tied to her desk or anything. I won’t mind if she takes some time off to go to important events.”
Rania gently but firmly shook her head.
“It would be fine if Arshia came back to enjoy the festival. I don’t want her to have to miss work because of me, though.”
Her voice was soft, but it sounded like she had made up her mind. Mia nodded to show that she understood.
“Well, that’s the end of that. I’ll just have to teach you how to dance.”
Mia also thought it would be better for Arshia to focus on her wheat research. So what if that meant she had to add Rania to her list of students? For a possible faster breakthrough, taking more lessons was a small price to pay.
Mia said, “We should start soon. You can join me and Bel tomorrow, in fact. We’ll both work on it.”
Bel might also get some much-needed support from Rania’s presence, which is a good thing. The girl had been feeling pretty sad lately.
“Oh, but I should be careful. I can be a tough teacher at times.”
“No problem! Try me out!”
Mia’s dance class officially had more people after that.
