Chapter 19: Invitation to a Dance
The next day.
“I’m here to clean~!” (Marin)
“Come on in~!” (Dorami)
As promised, Marin-chan came to our house.
She wore a cloth over her forehead while on one hand, she held a broom, and on her other hand… the mithril shield.
If Garnet-san was here, she’d definitely tell her that she doesn’t need that.
“Has Garnet-san already gone to work?” (Jade)
“Yeah. She woke me up before going to work but I ended up falling asleep again…” (Marin)
“Well, this isn’t anything urgent, so you don’t have to worry about it.” (Jade)
“Did you eat already?” (Dorami)
“My sister left me some food so I ate it in a hurry!” (Marin)
I’m envious~ I want to taste Garnet-san’s home cooking too.
We already eat together, but having a homemade meal is also its own happiness.
“Should we start cleaning now?” (Jade)
“I’ll make it all shiny!” (Marin)
“Dorami will do her best too! Where should we clean first?” (Dorami)
“How about the hallways first?” (Jade)
After handing Dorami a rag, she immediately started cleaning.
Marin-chan was sweeping with a broom while Dorami was wiping with the damn cloth.
As expected of friends, they have a nice combination. The hallway was cleaned in no time.
The two of them ran up to me—looking for their net job.
“What should we clean next?” (Dorami)
“Then… I guess I’ll leave the bedroom to you two.” (Jade)
“Understood!” (Dorami)
“I’ll make it pretty!” (Marin)
The two of them replied with vigor and ran upstairs.
I saw them off and went to clean the dining room.
While wiping the table and polishing the floor, the two of them rushed over to me.
“You’re done already?”
“We haven’t cleaned under the bed yet.” (Dorami)
“You don’t have to go THAT far.” (Jade)
“Then, we’re finished~!” (Dorami)
“Good work. As a reward, I’ll buy you two sweets at the square today too.” (Jade)
“Yay! I want a lollipop! Ah, I almost forgot. While cleaning, we found this letter.” (Dorami)
“A letter?” (Jade)
“Here it is! It was stuck in the bookshelf!” (Marin)
Marin-chan handed me a letter.
It was still sealed with wax.
“I forgot about this. Thanks for finding it for me.” (Jade)
“You’re welcome!” (Marin)
“Who is it from?” (Dorami)
“The king.” (Jade)
“You’re acquaintances with the king?!” (Marin)
“Dorami knows him too!” (Dorami)
“Dorami-chan knows him too?! That’s amazing…” (Marin)
“It’s not that great. There are all sorts of people that do…” (Dorami)
Dorami was a bit embarrassed and talked humbly.
Marin-chan looked at the letter curiously.
“What does it say?” (Marin)
“I’m sure it says ‘Please keep on protecting this country. Say hi to Dorami for me.’!” (Dorami)
“The king knows you by name?! A-amazing…” (Marin)
“Well, today’s letter probably won’t mention Dorami. This is an invitation.” (Jade)
“An invitation to what?” (Dorami)
“A party. It happens every year around this time. It’s the king’s birthday celebration. All adventurers at eight petals and above are invited.” (Jade)
“Is there going to be delicious food there?” (Dorami)
“Definitely… Maybe they even have things like super soft meat…” (Marin)
“I don’t know cause I never went before.” (Jade)
“Why not?” (Dorami)
“Quests are a higher priority for me.” (Jade)
I’m a bit sorry for the king, but having a conversation with Garnet-san, even if it’s just a formal one, is way more important.
On top of that—
“Also, this is a ball. You can’t dance alone, so you have to bring a dance partner with you.” (Jade)
“Then, you can just go with my sister!” (Marin)
“Eh?! W-with Garnet-san?! W-why?” (Jade)
“Because you two are really good friends!” (Marin)
C-certainly, this year is different from the ones before.
I’ve always wanted to go with Garnet-san, if possible.
But, I already gave up thinking about it because it wasn’t gonna happen if all we did was talk about quests in the guild.
But… it’s different now.
I’ve already become friends with Garnet-san.
If I muster up the courage to invite her, she might accept…
Alright! In that case, I’ll need to practice asking her out!
“If Garnet doesn’t want to go, Dorami will go with you instead!” (Dorami)
Don’t say something so disheartening…
Forget about dancing, if I get rejected, I wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed for a few years.
“Let’s put that aside for now and finish up so we can go out.” (Jade)
“Yeah! Let’s go out and play~!” (Dorami)
“But, wouldn’t we be laughed at if we went out like this?” (Marin)
Marin-chan seemed to care a lot about the dirt on her body.
Her arms and knees were all dark because she worked hard to clean everything.
Though, it wasn’t to the extent that people would laugh at her…
“Do you want to take a bath before we go out?” (Jade)
“I do!” (Dorami)
“I want to go too!” (Marin)
“It’s decided then. Dorami, can you guide Marin-chan?” (Jade)
Dorami cheerfully took Marin-chan to the bathroom.
As the two of them disappeared to take a bath, I secretly headed to Garnet-san’s house.
To practice for the actual thing, I decided to try and do a mock invite.
“…” (Jade)
Just standing in front of the door makes me feel nervous.
Even though it’s just practice, my heart is pounding… At this rate, wouldn’t I collapse when I do the real thing?
No, that can’t happen. That’s why I’m going to practice.
Garnet-san will accept if I speak straight from the heart!
I hit myself on the cheeks and knocked on the door.
I then imagined Garnet-san opening it.
“Hello. The weather is nice today. Would you like to dance with me?”
…Something’s not right.
Should we be really talking about the weather? I’m not even sure if it’ll be sunny on that day.
Let’s keep it simple.
“Would you like to dance with me?” (Jade)
…Hmm. Maybe that’s a bit too simple.
If I said that, she’d ask: “Dance? Where? Why all of a sudden?”. She’d be puzzled.
I need a simple but easy-to-understand invitation…
“Let’s celebrate the king’s birthday and dance at the castle!” (Jade)
How’s that? I wonder if that’ll be enough.
The purpose of the dance is clear, and people might say, “If you just want to celebrate a birthday, you don’t need to dance”.
But I don’t really want to celebrate the king’s birthday, I just want to dance with Garnet-san.
It’d probably be better if I was straightforward with my intentions.
And then…
“Garnet-san! Please come to the ball with me!” (Jade)
“What are you doing?” (Garnet)
Uwaaa?!
Why is Garnet-san standing right behind me?!
“W-w-w-why are you here?! Aren’t you supposed to be at work?!” (Jade)
“Since I had to take a meal break anyway, I came back to see how Marin is doing.” (Garnet)
“U-umm… After cleaning, they got a bit dirty so the two of them are taking a bath…” (Jade)
W-what should I do? Did she hear me earlier?
…No, I probably only just barely made it!
She asked what I was doing, irrefutable evidence that she didn’t know.
Though, she did see me shouting at the door all by myself…
She probably thinks I’m weird…
…Just in case, I should probably check with her.
“Umm… What do you think of me?” (Jade)
“What do I think of you?” (Garnet)
“Y-yes. If possible, please answer honestly. I will accept it no matter the answer…”
“I think you’re kind.” (Garnet)
“I-is that it?” (Jade)
“I also think you’re a serious person.” (Garnet)
“Kind and serious…” (Jade)
“I think that you’re good with children and that you’re a very hard worker.” (Garnet)
T/N: Actually says, “I think that you like children (それと、子ども好きだとも思ってるわ)” in Japanese and it doesn’t sound wrong untranslated but in English, it sounds… yeah. I had to check with the manga to see what they did.
“R-really…?” (Jade)
I’m happy!
She doesn’t think I’m a weirdo, and she even complimented me!
As I was unable to hide my grin, Garnet-san began talking.
“Were you trying to invite me to the ball earlier?” (Garnet)
“…Eh? EH?! You heard me?!” (Jade)
“I heard you loud and clear.” (Garnet)
W-well, I WAS shouting.
…What should I do? The intended practice suddenly became the real thing…
“I-is that so? So you heard me… B-but, it’s a ‘no’, isn’t it?” (Jade)
“If you’re alright with me, I’ll go.” (Garnet)
“I knew it… You’re busy, after all—wait, what did you say!?” (Jade)
“I said that I’d go to the ball with you.” (Garnet)
“A-are you sure?! It’s a ball, not a martial arts gathering! A-are you really fine with dancing with me?” (Jade)
“I am.” (Garnet)
“I-I did it! I did it! Alright!!!” (Jade)
“You’re too excited.” (Garnet)
“That’s because I’m really happy! After all, Garnet-san—I mean uhh… because I really like dancing!” (Jade)
I nearly confessed.
We got along well, but it’s too early to confess.
The confession has to be made once we act more like lovers.
I don’t know when that will be, but if the dance goes well, it might go in that direction.
Alright, I’m going to do my best!
I’ll practice dancing so hard that it’ll make Garnet-san fall for me!
“I’ll also do my best to dance.” (Garnet)
“I’ll also do my best practicing!” (Jade)
“You’re suddenly really good at it.” (Garnet)
I was so happy at the thought of dancing with Garnet-san that I ended up dancing right there.
