The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Magical Saint Seraphina
Chapter 47
“Practice?”
You practiced?
Arden nodded sheepishly at my words.
I widened my eyes as I spoke.
“Why did you practice alone?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“If you were going to do it, we should’ve done it together. Why sneak off and practice by yourself?”
Wasn’t it agreed we both didn’t know how to dance? And now you’ve practiced in secret and you’ll dance perfectly while I flounder around like an idiot.
“Well. I can practice too. But Arden went and practiced alone.”
……
“That’s really underhanded.”
I’m hurt. I grabbed the hand he was offering and used it to wipe my eyes.
“Senior, that’s—”
“No excuses needed.”
……
“I’m so sad—will you wipe my tears with your hand?”
……
“Wipe the tears and… the snot too… sniff!”
I mimicked a block of tofu sneezing—pfft!—and dotted the area under my eyes with his knuckles. My cheeks, pressed against his hand, burned despite my best efforts to hold back a grin.
“Senior!”
Only then did Arden realize I’d been teasing him, and he protested.
“Ugh, seriously!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Though I really don’t know how to dance.
“Since you practiced, you’ll have to teach me, right?”
I laughed and clasped his hand in both of mine.
Arden, who’d looked displeased a moment before, saw me laughing and mumbled something under his breath, his lips pressed firmly shut.
Following everyone else’s lead, I placed my hand on Arden’s shoulder.
‘Is his germaphobia going to be okay with this?’
Only then did it hit me that Arden, who hated being touched, had been the one to ask me to dance—and he was now holding my bare hand without hesitation.
‘If he hasn’t pulled away, I guess he’s fine with it.’
His bare hand, held for the first time, was large enough to enclose mine entirely; it was cool and dry, befitting someone fastidious about cleanliness, and the inside of his palm was rough with calluses.
And it was trembling faintly.
His expression was cold as always, but his hand quivered slightly.
“You’re not shaking because you hate holding my hand, are you?”
“Your hand is so small, I can barely tell I’m holding it.”
“I don’t even remember washing my hands when I came back from the restroom earlier.”
“You’re lying!”
I laughed.
“…Really?”
Asking “Really? Really?” over and over, I held his hand—which he didn’t pull away—and stepped out onto the Dance Floor.
The center spotlight stood empty, waiting for its starring couple.
But we had other ideas.
“Should we stand at the edge?”
“Yes. The far corner.”
“That’s a good thought.”
In agreement, we claimed a spot beside a pillar in the corner.
“Please move along.”
Arden shot a wide-eyed glare at the young couple already standing there, herding them toward the center spotlight. Then he swallowed visibly, hard.
His hand settled on my waist.
Not a grip, exactly—barely a touch, light as a feather, so faint you’d miss it if you weren’t paying close attention.
His shoe brushed the edge of my dress hem.
Head bowed, Arden murmured softly.
“When the music starts—”
“Mm.”
“Just turn to the right.”
“Round and round?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“That’s all there is to it.”
“Right.”
Did you actually practice? But before I could verify, the music began.
I realized it the moment we started.
‘They said they practiced — that’s a lie!’
While the other couples pressed close, then drew apart, executing their steps with measured grace, the two of us were just spinning round and round like tops.
I caught the eye of the bewildered couple beside us over their shoulder.
“You didn’t practice at all.”
I protested to Arden.
“How was I supposed to practice this dance? The kind where you have to hold another person this close.”
He answered without a hint of shame.
“Good grief.”
Why did you lie, then?
“It’s fine. They’ll just think we’re ordinary people who can’t dance.”
“This is ridiculous, honestly.”
Suddenly the absurdity of it all struck me, and I started laughing.
Here I was — a commoner like me — at the Imperial Palace Ball I’d never even dreamed of, spinning in a Silver Dress that caught the light.
In a storybook situation like this, the partner is usually the crown prince.
But mine was Arden.
Fastidious, two years younger than me, and nearly bankrupt from buying handkerchiefs.
My strange junior.
That alone was remarkable enough.
My life had changed so much lately.
I, who’d been the most ordinary of people, had become a Magical Saint, running across moonlit rooftops each night. Helping people. Seeing their joy.
Wielding a toy mallet and casting Magic alongside a dog who insists he’s a Divine Beast.
Even if only three times a day.
“You live long enough, you see everything.”
I murmured to myself, ordinary as I was.
Arden, catching my words somehow, shook his head.
“You’re not ordinary.”
I looked up, and Arden’s face was right in front of mine.
His grip tightened around my hand, cradling it gently.
“There’s only one person in the world who thinks like you and acts like you — and that’s you, senior.”
……
“You’re absolutely not ordinary. At least not in my eyes.”
As he said this, Arden’s face suddenly seemed so beautiful.
Not that I hadn’t known he was handsome before — but right then he was shining like a star.
And that star was hurtling toward me.
My reply came a beat too late.
“Thank y—”
“And another thing.”
“What?”
“There’s probably only you in the world who can step on their partner’s feet twenty-nine times in a single dance.”
“Oh.”
“A remarkable achievement.”
“Sorry…”
I’d have to scrub my shoes after the Ball.
“There!”
Since I’d already stepped on his feet twenty-nine times, I might as well make it thirty!
Arden, quick to catch on that I was aiming for his feet, swiftly pulled away.
Aim, dodge. Aim, dodge.
We were so caught up in our game that neither of us noticed when the song ended.
“You’re really good at dodging!”
“Because I practiced.”
“Liar!”
“This time I’m telling the truth.”
Silly, but fun. We were laughing and focused on each other when—
I noticed the world had gone quiet.
Everyone was staring at us.
Couples dancing together. People chatting without dancing. Musicians. Servants.
A group of elderly women far off caught my eye and broke into knowing smiles.
“Young love.”
“What a lovely time of life.”
“Those were the days.”
“My husband and I were just like that forty years ago. Hehehehe.”
Yelp!
I stumbled backward, pulling away from Arden.
The problem was.
I’d missed the moment to let go.
Our bodies had separated, but our hands remained clasped.
Why wouldn’t they come apart?
“Sh-sh-should we, should we let go?”
“M-maybe we sh-should?”
Arden’s face flushed as red as mine, and he nodded in agreement to my stammered suggestion, but.
“…….”
“…….”
“Why won’t you let go?”
“How about you?”
“That’s the thing!”
I couldn’t remember how to let go of someone’s hand!
Do I peel my fingers back? Lift them one at a time? Thumb and forefinger first?
No—!
“What if we count to three and let go together?”
“That works.”
“O-o-one….”
“Two….”
“…Three.”
Pop! We jerked our hands apart as though burned, and I cradled my stinging palm with my other hand.
“I n-need some water!”
“Yes! Hydration is important!”
“Definitely!”
A clean cup!
“Let’s go!”
Bumping shoulders with Arden, I fled down from the Dance Floor like a fugitive.
I gulped down the ice water a servant offered me—one who seemed to be suppressing a smile—and chided myself internally.
‘Get a grip. Why is your heart racing right now?’
Make it stop.
‘It’s because Arden is far too handsome.’
And because the Imperial Palace is far too beautiful.
Ceilings three times the height of our home, the space awash in gold leaf dazzling my eyes, windows open yet the air warm still, and the scent of strawberry champagne far too sweet in the air.
Yes. That’s why.
Get your head straight.
Pass the rest of the water to Arden. Calmly. Like a proper senior.
“Arden, do you want some water too….”
I was just opening my mouth to speak when I turned to face him.
“There’s been an emergency!”
An apprentice knight of the Imperial Knight Order burst into the hall, shouting.
“Fire! There’s a fire!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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