188 – Behind the Scenes (4)
She barely left the dance club building, holding the basket with both arms, when someone suddenly appeared in front of her. Then she took the basket without any hesitation and said.
“Why are you suffering alone?”
It was Damian who appeared in front of her. Trisha’s face lit up.
“Damian!”
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Despite her hospitality, Damien took her basket in one hand and looked at the dance department building for a moment with her grim face.
“What’s wrong Damian? What’s wrong?”
As Trisha was staring at him with wide eyes, he turned his head again and spoke.
“What errand is this?”
“The dance department has recovered the borrowed clothes!”
“Are you going to hear all this by yourself?”
Damian’s tone was quite serious. Although she might have complained, Trisha responded resolutely.
“It’s okay! Originally, first graders took turns doing duty.”
“… “I’ll move it.”
“Listen to one side at a time!”
Tricia stood next to Damian and held the handle of her basket together.
Damian continued silently, lost in thought for a moment.
“Do people in the dance department hate you because you’re in the theater department?”
“At the beginning of the semester, I rejected the offer of the dance department and joined the theater department. Well, as a pretty and kind member of the theater club, I have to endure it!”
“… By the way, it worked out well. Let’s ask now that we’ve met. “What on earth did you tell Cecil about me?”
Trisha said, quietly avoiding Damien’s gaze.
“Star… “I didn’t say anything.”
“So what did you say?”
“I just said we eat together, play together, and sometimes even share a bed!”
Damian closed his eyes tightly for a moment without saying anything.
“Is that all?”
“And! “He said that while we were playing together, he, um, accidentally touched my sensitive area.”
“…… “What am I touching?”
“My sensitive place!”
As she shouted loudly, other students passing by her looked at her strangely.
She spoke as if Damian was being unfair.
“Are your wrists the most sensitive?”
“Not there! You touched it anyway. “You idiot.”
“When?”
“Before, when I was playing in the water!”
“Playing in the water?”
“When I saw a unicorn! “When we fell into the water together, he was struggling and touched my body!”
Damian looked at the distant mountain for a moment and massaged the back of his neck in silence. He had an attitude as if touching his body was not important.
“Don’t say anything strange to Cecil from now on.”
“Why! I didn’t lie. And I watched it. If you had told that to my family, you would have been in big trouble. “I really wouldn’t have left it alone.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
When I saw Damian’s calm attitude, I felt annoyed for some reason.
“… Joy.”
Damian sighed deeply and changed the topic.
“By the way, do you get along well with the people in the theater department?”
“Yes, but these days, everyone only talks about prom partners rather than club activities.”
“Partner?”
“Everyone puts class behind them and that’s the story no matter where they go. Who partnered with whom? Who got dumped? Who betrayed me? “You’re just saying these things!”
“Really?”
“They keep coming and harassing me too. Who did you partner with? Who would you like to be? Always ask! “It’s so annoying I’m dying.”
Trisha then glanced at Damien. When he looked at Trisha without much awareness, she turned her head back.
“Trisha, who are you going to sleep with?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really feel like it unless it’s someone I’m close to. “I don’t know how to dance, so I hope we get along well!”
“….”
“Damian, you must have a lot of worries too. “You have to take off your mask at the ball, so you won’t have any close friends!”
“I have to think about it. I’ll have to learn how to dance too.”
“If you learn to dance, teach me too!”
“I’m in a situation where I have to catch someone and ask them to teach me.”
These two arrived in front of the small theater building of the theater department. Trisha took her basket from him and went to the door alone.
“I’ll move from here! Outsiders are not allowed to enter the theater department without permission! Bye!”
She didn’t even give him time to say goodbye. She suddenly entered the small theater, leaving Damien standing there blankly.
As she closed the door with the large luggage on her own, one of her male classmates in the theater club ran towards her.
“Trisha!”
He was fidgeting as he blocked the front.
“Hello, Icarus!”
“I’ll help you with this, too. Is it difficult?”
“I’ll just take your heart! Will you please get out of the way?”
“Don’t do that, I’ll help you, Trisha.”
Icarus suddenly took her luggage. She was heavier than expected and her body stumbled for a moment, but she smiled calmly and walked out first.
“Can we just go to the dressing room?”
“….”
Trisha reluctantly followed him with a shocked look on her face.
So, I moved to the center of the costume room located behind the stage of the small theater and put down the basket. He glanced at Trisha, pretending to catch her breath and spoke to her.
“Did you carry this heavy thing alone?”
“No! My friend helped me. Then I’ll go!”
As Trisha was about to leave, he urgently called her out.
“Now, wait a minute Trisha!”
Trisha turned around without trying to leave.
“Why?”
“During the Aesthetics of Deviance play. How was my acting?”
She answered a little indifferently.
“Hmm… It was good.”
“It seemed like we got along pretty well, didn’t you?”
“Hmm, I guess so.”
“So, by the way… Has anyone chosen you as your prom partner?”
Trisha quietly blinked her eyes and answered with a bright smile.
“I decided to do it with my friend!”
***
I was leaving Trisha and moving to the art department greenhouse.
I still have a lot of time left to deal with Cecil, so I decided to think about it slowly.
It is too early to make a hasty conclusion about Trisha’s problem in this situation.
Next… I’m going to meet Zion, but I honestly don’t know what to do when I meet him. How do I call him out again? Will Shion come out if I call her in a friendly tone like her friend?
It might be better to send a challenge to a real sword fight.
Then I stopped for a moment at a place where I could see the greenhouse in the distance. This is because it was possible to look inside from afar thanks to the transparent window.
The atmosphere inside, felt from afar, was noticeably different from usual.
It seems like all the other club members are gathered together, so it’s the right time for the art club’s activities, but it bothers me that there’s someone I haven’t seen hanging around there.
Detecting an unusual energy, I put my guard up and moved closer to the greenhouse.
And when I saw Hayley, head of the art department, through the window, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
She always sticks to her style of tying her blonde hair back in a tight ponytail, but this time, she left her hair down and combed it elegantly. Her jewels were encrusted with her hair. She was all decked out, even wearing a headband.
A luxurious dress with lots of frills that made it difficult to move was a bonus.
The usual casual clothes have disappeared and she has become the daughter of a noble family.
And next to Hayley stood an old man wearing an imperial tunic, his shoulders puffed out and his waist cinched.
It seemed as if Hayley was welcoming a special guest from afar.
I was suspicious of the appearance that was very different from usual, so I carefully opened the greenhouse door and went inside.
Then Hayley said, pointing her hand in my direction.
“Ah, he’s coming now. That’s the new junior in the art club.”
If it were like usual, I would snap out and say, ‘Hey, newbie!!’ I would have shouted. What on earth is going on?
The old man next to her brushed off her donkey-like mustache, straightened her chin, and looked at me disapprovingly.
He glared at my face with a frown that made me wonder if he had some kind of grudge against me, and then opened his mouth.
“There is a saying that there is no difference between men and women. If a hot-blooded young man suddenly enters this place full of ladies, wouldn’t there be a crack in the quiet and studious class atmosphere that has been maintained so far?”
Haley smiled softly and spoke in an unusually calm tone.
“Junior Damian is also an example of a person who trained under the great wizard Silverine. He knows how to thoroughly distinguish between public and private matters and takes the lead in creating an atmosphere for learning more than anyone else, so he has become an example to me.”
Perhaps it was because Silverine’s name was mentioned that the old man cleared his throat and agreed.
“Hmm, you are Silverine’s disciple. I guess you didn’t know this precious person.”
Then, Xenia, the vice-president who was sitting in the last row behind her, motioned towards me.
Without much response, I nodded to Hayley and sat down next to Xenia.
Xenia was also wearing a modest and calm white dress, not her usual attire that showed a lot of her bare skin.
What on earth is going on?
The atmosphere of the art department is also heavier and more solemn than usual.
I slightly leaned towards Xenia and spoke softly.
“What on earth is going on?”
“….”
Xenia just stayed still with her focus fixed on one place, and she did not respond.
When I looked at Xenia’s condition again, I saw that she was not normal either.
Her face is red. She took short breaths and looked like she was about to pass out.
“…Senior?”
Only then did Xenia grit her teeth and answer with difficulty.
“Huh, don’t talk to me. Ooh, it looks like it’s going to be funny.”
Xenia was dangerous, as if a catastrophe would occur if she was touched.
Soon after, Hayley spoke to the old man.
“…It’s soon time for the art department’s class. As you know, Eternia strictly restricts the attendance of outsiders except for some invited people.”
“Ah, of course it is. I will tell the matriarch exactly what I saw. To the ladies of the art department, Miss Xenia, and Miss Hayley, who is like a bouquet of roses to the empire, thank you for your precious time. Then.”
“Please say hello to your father.”
The old man bowed to Hayley and gave him an imperial salute before leaving the greenhouse.
The greenhouse was quiet even after the old man left. After a few minutes had passed and his back was so far away that she couldn’t see it through the window, Xenia burst into laughter that she had been holding back.
“Fuha!”
Xenia fell to the floor holding her stomach and burst into laughter that was close to wailing. Looking at that scene, Hayley clenched her teeth.
“uuu, imperial rose, emuuu.”
“That crazy b*tch splits?”
“Bwak bwak. Ugh huh huh.”
Xenia couldn’t breathe. Hailey roughly undid the shoulder straps of her dress and looked at me and screamed.
“Hey! Newbie! Bring a club. I’ll split that b*tch’s head open.”
***
As the situation calmed down and Haley went to change into her usual clothes, I heard the whole story from Vice President Xenia.
“The Hayley family is one of the most prestigious families in the empire, and they are so strict about their daughter’s education.”
The family would periodically send retainers to Hayley to check on her condition as she lived alone in a place far away from her hometown.
“I am very serious about men’s issues, as well as family education. Physical contact with men is prohibited until marriage is concluded. Being alone with men is also prohibited.”
Hayley said that if she hadn’t been accepted to Eternia, she would have been sent to an all-girls school.
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“And of course, dancing with men is prohibited. The family knew it was dance season and sent a retainer on purpose.”
“…Yes?”
“I’m going to give you a female dance teacher dressed up as a guy, and she’s not to touch any boys at the dance. Haley does that every year.”
It’s surprising. Because of Hayley’s free-spirited and lively personality, I vaguely imagined that she would have come from a family with a free spirit, but she turned out to be the opposite.
It is understandable that Hayley was particularly nervous today.
“Is Xenia-senior okay? She seemed to be from a family close to Haley-senpai.”
“Me? My family is fine, but things are bad on the other side. Do you want to see this?”
She stretched out one of her legs. Her right foot was stained black.
“What’s going on?”
“I got injured during the sparring evaluation.”
Looking at the condition, it seemed difficult to even walk properly, let alone dance.
“….”
Xenia said, looking at the expression on my face as if it was strange.
“Huh? What’s new? Why is she so sad? Her heart breaks because her senior got hurt? Huh?”
It’s a shame. The fact that things were not going well for these two meant that learning dance from a senior in the art department, one of my few connections, was a waste of money.