Maude sighed heavily, wishing for the thousandth time that she had declined Duke Rosenberg’s offer for her to have a society life in the kingdom.

“Again,” her dinner etiquette teacher commanded. Maude picked up what had been deemed as the “salad or appetizer” fork. She put it down after watching her teacher nod. She then lifted the “soup” spoon, and put it down. Then it was the dinner fork, the bigger of the two. Lastly, the dessert spoon, the smaller of the two spoons.

“Excellent,” the etiquette teacher said. “Now practice cutting with your knife again.” Maude picked up her dinner fork, catching herself before she grabbed the incorrect one, and picked up her knife with her left hand. It was surprisingly difficult to cut left handed.

In the weeks that had followed her lessons of the sword with Duke Rosenberg, he had set up etiquette and dancing lessons for her, in hopes of helping her to not commit a faux pas against someone of the nobility in Aulbert. And for the first time in her life, she agreed with her father, and wished she had been born a man. There were so many small rules she was expected to remember to be considered a “proper lady,” and dancing required her to let her partner lead, and was the complete opposite of sword fighting in nearly every way. She had previously thought that she was relatively graceful and light on her feet, but that perception of herself had been utterly crushed the first time she’d trampled on her instructor’s feet, and he’d promptly declared that they were done for the day.

It had been torture!

On the bright side, Maude thought, while attempting to air cut an invisible steak, I at least know why there were so many people I unintentionally offended.

“Great work!” her etiquette teacher said. “You’ve been improving a lot this week, Lady Maude. Keep it up!”

Maude smiled. “Thank you, Lady Cora,” she replied. She’d spent hours going over what she had learned with Helena. It was nothing short of painstaking work.

“Just in time,” Lady Cora said as Maude’s dancing instructor strode into the dining room.

“Excellent, excellent!” the lanky tall man said. As per usual, his suit was crisp, while his wild curly gray hair was everywhere. “Right this way, Lady Maude,” he said, opening his arm to let Maude hook through it. She did, as this was her first lesson everyday; letting someone escort and lead her.

They walked slowly to the ballroom, as it gave Maude ample time to practice matching her partner’s speed. Swordplay wasn’t really a partnered sport, all of the “partners” she’d had were more like opponents. It was all about matching the opponent’s speed, while also attempting to change that speed through blows of her own. Being escorted was similar, but she struggled to use any speed but her own.

“We have a visitor today, as I am still dealing with some pain in my toes from last time,” he said with a curt smile.

Maude grimaced. Last time he’d been worried that she’d accidentally broken one of his toes, she’d stomped so hard.

“Does our visitor know that I’m not the best dancer?” she asked.

“Worry not, dear,” he said, patting her arm. “He is very well aware that is the case.”

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Maude still felt her stomach turn at the thought that her new victim wouldn’t understand how despicable she was at dancing.

They rounded the corner and stepped into the doors of the ballroom. There, in the corner, in a well-fitted suit of his own, was Duke Rosenberg.

“Duke Rosenberg,” she said. “What are you doing here?” It felt like she’d barely gotten to see him at all since her sword lessons. She had wondered if it was the war that had been keeping him so busy.

“I was told that you needed a different partner for this afternoon’s lesson,” he said. “So I cleared my schedule.”

Maude glanced at her dance instructor. He was very closely inspecting some artwork that had been painted on the ceiling.

“Did he inform you that my dancing is atrocious?” she asked Duke Rosenberg.

He broke out into a grin. “I would expect nothing less from you, Lady Maude.” He strode over to where she was standing. “My lady,” he said. “Would you give me the honor of this dance?”

Maude felt her cheeks warm. He held his hand out in front of her. “Of course,” she murmured, gently placing her hand in his.

The instructor walked over to his violin that was on a stand by one of the the columns of the room. Duke Rosenberg guided Maude toward the center of the room.

“Ready?” Duke Rosenberg asked her.

“I think it’s more appropriate to ask if you’re ready,” Maude replied. “I’m definitely never ready to dance.” He chuckled at her response.

The violin began playing the music that had become extremely familiar to Maude over the past few weeks. “Follow my lead,” Duke Rosenberg said.

“I don’t know how to do that,” she answered. “I only really know how to stomp on feet.”

“Stomp on my feet all you’d like,” he replied with his handsome smile, making her heart flutter. “You’re definitely the first and you most certainly won’t be the last.”

“I hope for your sake that I’m the last,” Maude answered, trying to keep up with Duke Rosenberg’s movements. She gestured her head towards her instructor. “He always acts like I’ve committed the gravest of sins!”

Duke Rosenberg laughed, and in the corner of her eye, she saw her instructor grimace.

“Marvin has always been the dramatic type,” Duke Rosenberg said.

“Ah, Marvin,” she said. “I’ve been trying to remember his name all afternoon, thank you.”

“Of course,” Duke Rosenberg replied, with a low chuckle. Just then, she stomped on his foot hard. He visibly winced. “I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, what with you being a sword saint and all, but you definitely stomp a lot harder than most women I know,” he informed her.

“Sorry,” she said, cringing. “I just can’t seem to get my steps right.”

Duke Rosenberg pulled her closer. “What are you doing?” she asked. She stomped on his foot again. “Closer is not necessarily better.” Her heart was pounding in her chest. If I stomp on him too many times, he may have me killed.

“Listen to me, Maude,” he said softly in her ear. Chills ran down her spine, giving her goosebumps. “You are my sword,” he murmured.

“What?” she asked. Her voice was too loud from their proximity to one another.

“Think of yourself as my sword,” he said. “My body leads yours. Where you go, I go. Stop worrying about your feet and start paying attention to my movements. Your feet will naturally follow.”

She switched her attention to his body’s movements, but not before stomping on his foot again. He recoiled a bit from the blow and cleared his throat.

She felt the way he was moving his body, and she could feel the rhythm that Marvin had been trying to drive into her head for weeks. “One-two-three, one-two-three,” she could hear the eccentric older gentleman’s voice in her head.

“There you go,” Duke Rosenberg said. He moved his body forward, so she moved hers back. He moved his right leg towards her, so she moved her left leg back. “You’ve got it now,” he said. “Just like that.”

“The way you explained it makes so much more sense,” she whispered. “Thank you.” She was sure that she still could use more improvements, but at the very least, she would be able to not injure any partners that she might have to dance with.

“Of course,” he said. “Now that you are ready to go to society events, shall we take the time to get you some things to wear?” he asked. “It would also give you a chance to see the capitol.”

“I’d love that,” she replied.

“Wonderful,” he said. “I’ll have Jakob escort you tomorrow morning then.”

Maude felt her heart drop and droop in her chest. So Duke Rosenberg wasn’t going to be able to come with her. “Sounds great,” she replied softly.