บท 46: Dancing
Austria, January 2nd 1795
3:32 PM
Lukas was walking through the hallways of the mansion without a particular destiny. This usually was the time when he would train with Herman, however, that was no longer the case now.
Lukas sighed. 'I never thought I would be missing the training sessions! How can it be? Before I wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible, and now I am missing them!' he thought.
Soon, Lukas came across Olivia in the hallway. She soon showed a smile. "Oh, young master! I was just looking for you!"
Lukas raised his brow. '"Young master"? Is anybody else here?' he wondered. "What do you need, Olivia?" the blonde boy asked.
Olivia smiled once again and soon another woman showed up behind her. She seemed to be in her late thirties.
The woman showed a smile. "Mr. Von Neumann. I am glad we found you. My name is Ingrid Bauer, and, as of now, I am going to be your dance instructor," she said.
Even though Ingrid was not young, she was very good-looking, she had long brown hair and hazel eyes.
Lukas raised his brow. 'It's weird to hear someone calling me "Mr Von Neumann",' he thought.
The blonde boy tilted his head. "Dance... instructor?" he asked.
Ingrid nodded her head with a smile. "Yes, I will be teaching you how to dance. It's a very important thing for nobles to learn. Principally someone like Mr. Von Neumann, the heir of the Von Neumann house," she said.
"Huh... I understand that, but please, call me Lukas," Lukas asked.
Ingrid tilted her head in confusion, but she still accepted without questioning. "Very well, Mr. Lukas," she said as she nodded her head.
'It'll do,' Lukas thought.
"So, when is our first class going to be?" Lukas asked.
Ingrid chuckled. "I see you are excited for that. It's going to start tomorrow at 4 PM. There will be 5 classes per week and each one of them will last 1 hour," she explained.
Lukas nodded his head in understanding. "I understand. I have another question, though," he said.
Ingrid nodded her head with an encouraging smile. "Please, proceed," she said.
"Who am I going to practice with? I believe it is obvious it is not going to be with Ms. Ingrid because... well..." Lukas struggled to keep speaking. 'How should I say this?' he wondered.
"...our proportions do not match," the blonde boy finally said.
Ingrid was a bit taken aback by Lukas's statement, on the other hand, Lukas could notice that Olivia was controlling herself not to laugh.
Lukas raised her brow. 'What's so funny?' he wondered
Ingrid chuckled. "Of course not! Usually, when I have a pupil who "doesn't match my proportions", I call my daughter to play as their pair. Even though she's a bit taller than you because she's 2 years older, I'm sure she will be a good match for you," she explained.
'Looks like she took it to heart, why?' Lukas wondered.
Ingrid then turned her head to the side. "Elisabeth, please, show up," she said.
Soon, a little girl who seemed to be a little older than Lukas showed up. She seemed to be an exact copy of Ingrid, with the only difference being their age.
Lukas raised his brow. 'Was she hiding? No, now that I stop to think about it, Ingrid was also hiding. What's this? A theater?' he wondered.
Ingrid looked at her daughter with an approving smile. 'Beautiful, as always,' she thought. "Please, introduce yourself to Mr. Lukas," the brown-haired woman asked.
"Yes, mother," the little girl said with a smile.
She slowly approached Lukas with a bewitching smile, however, Lukas was taking it with a grain of salt. 'This is weird, let me just watch her a bit longer, so I can come up with a conclusion,' the blonde boy thought.
"My name is Elisabeth Bauer, it's very nice to meet you," the girl said.
'Kinda bold of her to be the one to start the greeting... are her social status higher than mine?' Lukas wondered.
Lukas smiled back. "My name is Lukas Von Neumann Hügel, it's nice to meet you as well," he said.
After that, the both of them shook their hands.
Elisabeth then looked at Lukas with a charming smile, which made him raise his brow. 'Why is she smiling at me like that? Not even Violett does that to me,' the blonde boy wondered.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth was doubtful. 'What? He didn't even blush? What's going on?' she wondered.
Suddenly, Lukas noticed that Elisabeth frowned for a moment, but she quickly went back to her usual smile.
'I guess I already understand what is going on here,' Lukas thought.
When Lukas saw Ingrid, she seemed very calm. 'On the other hand, this one doesn't seem suspicious at all. Is the other girl just nervous? No, I don't think so, her smile seemed very calm back then,' he concluded.
"Very well, now that we have already introduced each other, we are going to leave," Ingrid said. After that, she looked at Lukas with a smile. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Lukas," the brown-haired woman said.
Lukas nodded his head with a smile. "Yes, see you tomorrow," he replied.
After that, Elisabeth, who was still in front of Lukas, grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes with a wide smile. "See you tomorrow, Lukas. I'm looking forward to our classes," she said.
Lukas struggled not to snort, but instead, he just smiled casually. "Yes, me too. See you tomorrow," he replied.
Elisabeth chuckled as she nodded her head. After that, the both of them left.
Lukas looked at Olivia beside him. "Olivia, what are their social status?" he asked.
Olivia looked at him with a frown. "Huh... they are commoners, Lukas. Rich, but commoners," she explained.
Lukas nodded his head. 'Now I see perfectly what's going on,' he thought.
After a while, he looked at Olivia. "Why did you think I would refuse to have dancing classes?" Lukas asked.
Olivia frowned. "W-What do you mean?" she asked.
"Don't play dumb. In normal circumstances you would let me know that they were going to visit us and would also tell me about the purpose of their visit, however, you didn't do it because you thought I wouldn't refuse in front of them," Lukas said.
Olivia sighed in defeat. "Yes, you are right, Lukas. I am sorry," she said.
Lukas laughed. "Don't worry, it wouldn't work, anyway," he replied.
-----
Austria, January 2nd 1795
3:50 PM
After a while, Elisabeth and Ingrid were sitting across each other in a carriage while drinking tea.
"What is your opinion on that boy, mama?" Elisabeth asked.
Ingrid shrugged her shoulders. "It's still too early to jump to conclusions, but if there's one thing I noticed is that he didn't seem interested in you at all," she said with a disapproving expression.
Elisabeth looked down in embarrassment. "S-Sorry, mama. I-I don't know why he reacted like that, I did to him what I do to everyone else," she said.
Ingrid sighed. "It's okay. According to what I have seen, the rumors are true. That boy does seem sharper than most kids his age," she said.
Elisabeth looked at her mother with anxiety. "What are we going to do, mom?" she asked.
Ingrid grinned. "Don't worry, honey. Just do what you usually do and he'll eventually be kissing your feet," she said.
-----
Austria, January 2nd 1795
3:51 PM
Lukas was laying on his bed while he stared at the ceiling. He was blinking slowly and seemed to be close to falling asleep. Suddenly, he sneezed.
'Well, that was sudden,' Lukas thought.
Lukas then sat up. 'It was good, though. Made me wake up,' he thought.
'Okay, I noticed that both Ingrid and Elisabeth are not what they seem to be. It was Elisabeth who screwed up with a few expressions she
unconsciously showed, on the other hand, Ingrid is truly impressive, she doesn't show anything that she doesn't want to. Even I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for Elisabeth,' Lukas thought.
The blonde boy stood up and went to look out of the window of his room. 'It all started with our greetings. They are commoners, but it was Elisabeth who took the initiative to greet me, even though our etiquette clearly says that the people with higher social status are the ones who should take the initiative. It was probably meant to convey that they have higher social status than me, it actually tricked me for a while, I even had to ask Olivia about their social status,' he thought.
'Then it was her daughter. It was a bit obvious that she was putting on an act, it was very exaggerated. Actually, it was the most suspicious thing that she did, she needs work on that. She did all that to try to seduce me,' Lukas concluded.
Lukas sighed. 'Why, though? ...Oh, I see! Ingrid's trying to make her daughter marry a noble, they already have the wealth, now they wanna be able to reach a higher status too! Elisabeth's initiative to greet the noble will make the kid think that she's also a noble, so his pride will not make him try to play difficult, besides, with her good looks and the physical contact they will have with the dancing classes it will be very easy for Elisabeth to make the kid fall in love with her... why did they choose me, though? I'm already betrothed, so it'll be more difficult. That's the question I still have,' he wondered.
-----
Austria, January 3rd 1795
3:59 PM
Lukas was heading towards the room where Olivia told him the dancing classes were going to be. When he got there, he saw that the door was still closed.
Lukas raised his brow. "What? Nobody's here yet?" he murmured.
He gently leaned his head against the door and heard a feminine voice. 'Ingrid,' he thought.
"Did you understand, honey? That's what you'll have to do, he'll not resist it!" Ingrid said.
"Yes, mama! I'm sure he'll be bewitched by me!" a voice, which seemed to be Elisabeth's, replied.
Lukas could barely control his laughter as he heard their conversation. 'Their strategy is a very smart one, but I can see they are not very cautious.
Besides, do they really think I'm that easy? I'll tag along with it for a while. It's gonna be fun,' the blonde boy concluded.
Lukas knocked on the door, making Ingrid and Elisabeth go back to their usual postures. "Come in," Ingrid said out loud.
Lukas then opened the door and casually walked in.
As the blonde boy walked in, he just saw Elisabeth coming to hug him. "Lukas!" she said as she pulled Lukas against herself. "I couldn't wait to meet you again!"
Lukas had to control himself not to roll his eyes. 'This is so forced that's making me dizzy! Still, I can't help but play along with her for a while,' he thought. 'By the way, when did I tell her that she could direct to me so formally? Well, I'll let it slip.'
After a while, Elisabeth pulled away and saw that Lukas was blushing deeply. Ingrid immediately showed a satisfied grin, however, she quickly hid it.
Elisabeth giggled. "Lukas, you are so red! Are you okay?" she asked.
"Y-Yes, I am okay," Lukas replied.
Elisabeth giggled once again. 'He was just playing difficult back then, but now he's totally bewitched by my looks,' she thought.
Lukas cleared his throat and went back to normal. 'I'm not going to play the shy boy all the time either! I won't be able to handle it!' he thought.
Ingrid walked closer to the both of them with a smile. "Well, shall we start our classes?" she asked.
"Yes!" Elisabeth said with a forced enthusiasm.
Lukas cautiously looked at her. 'Who likes girls who are so enthusiastic about everything?' he wondered
Ingrid saw Lukas looking at her daughter and internally grinned. 'It's happening! He doesn't show as much as the others, but he's thoroughly bewitched by my daughter already!' she thought.
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