Transmigrated as the Villainess Fake Young Lady, Please Spare Me, Female Lead Sister - Volume 1 Chapter 54

Chapter 54: The Rose-Colored Dance Steps

 

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On this day, the etiquette class covered table manners.

 

How to use napkins, how to hold wine glasses, how to cut steaks…

 

When sitting in a chair, one should only occupy 3/4 of it, keep the spine straight, elbows off the table, and maintain a beautiful posture while dining.

 

One must always remain quiet, elegant, and not disturb others.

 

And how to hold knives and forks, how to cut meat, even if it’s difficult to cut through, one must control the force and not make scratching sounds on the plate… and so on and so forth.

 

Various details, extremely complicated.

 

Although Aurora’s explanation was vivid, it couldn’t change the fact that these complex etiquette rules were quite torturous.

 

Claire and Lavendia practiced face-to-face at a round dining table.

 

From being seated, folding napkins, to drinking wine, cutting meat, and dining, Lavendia performed everything well.

 

As for Claire… Claire discovered she could sleep quite soundly even while sitting.

 

Listening to the sound of Lavendia cutting meat, she even dreamed of making a guest appearance in “Hannibal.”

 

…Though she played the role of someone who got cut up and eaten by her sister.

 

In her half-asleep state, Aurora pushed up her glasses and explained some of their country’s power structure on the whiteboard.

 

Noble ranks from lowest to highest were Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, Duke…

 

And then there were various young ladies, nobles, the royal family, king, princess, and so on.

 

Plus the academy scholars from the magic school standing independently.

 

Their respective status, how to address each other, how to bow when meeting, what to usually chat about during afternoon tea…

 

“Oh—! Romeo!”

 

“Why are you Romeo!”

 

Getting caught up in the moment, Aurora even gave an immersive performance, expressing herself dramatically with exaggerated body movements, like performing multiple roles in a play.

 

Lavendia sat with perfect posture, listening attentively.

 

While Claire slept even more soundly.

 

As she slept, this child’s head tilted to the side, resting on Lavendia’s shoulder.

 

Lavendia slightly lowered her gaze to look at her.

 

From this angle, Claire looked particularly docile and quiet.

 

Her profile had a slight hint of baby fat, with long eyelashes casting shadows on her eyelids marked with dark circles.

 

Lavendia hesitated for a few seconds but didn’t wake her up.

 

After all, Claire really looked exhausted.

 

And besides…

 

Perhaps these noble secrets weren’t interesting to Claire anyway.

 

—————————

 

『Host, oh host.』

 

『When will you ever wake up.』

 

『Must we wait until the chicken has finished the rice, the dog has licked up the noodles, the fire has burned through the lock…』

 

『Until Claire has been burned to a skeleton by fire, then weathered away…』

 

“What, what skeleton?!”

 

Claire suddenly woke up with a start.

 

Aurora, who was playing the prince on stage, and Lavendia beside her both looked at her.

 

“…”

 

Meeting their gazes, Claire’s mind went blank for a moment.

 

Haha, it’s just social death.

 

Not actually dead, I’m used to it.

 

Lavendia spoke first: “Young Lady Claire must be too tired lately.”

 

Aurora agreed: “One can tell she has many worries on her mind. Just now I thought I heard something about a skeleton…”

 

“No, you misheard,”

 

Claire cleared her throat and said without blushing or panting: “I meant that your portrayal of the prince without airs shows how approachable you are.”

 

“Oh my, really?” Aurora bloomed into a smile: “Teacher thought you were hungry and wanted to eat lamb bones.”

 

“Since teacher has lived for so long, I somewhat understand what young people nowadays consider when gnawing on bones. I can teach about that later too…”

 

Claire massaged her temples.

 

Lavendia was still sitting beside her, her gaze occasionally falling on Claire’s profile, as if she had something to say.

 

“What is it, sister?” Claire asked.

 

Lavendia remained silent for a moment, raised her hand, and lightly pointed at her own cheek.

 

Claire blinked: “…?”

 

What does that mean.

 

It couldn’t be that she wants me to give her a kiss.

 

No, that wouldn’t make sense given any context, unless I’m still dreaming, wake up.

 

『That’s right, you need to wake up.』

 

The system coldly displayed subtitles: 『This system suspects that the female lead might mean that you slept so soundly, there are marks on your face.』

 

“Impossible, absolutely impossible, I clearly dreamed I was resting on a soft pillow—”

 

『You were resting on the female lead’s shoulder! Her clothes today have buttons on the shoulder! Is the host an idiot!』

 

Though they were just subtitles, one could feel this system’s long-simmering frustration.

 

Claire complained: “Why are you so fierce, I didn’t miss any tasks.”

 

『Does the host know how long I’ve been calling you?』

 

『To avoid Aurora noticing, I could only use the lowest volume, but couldn’t wake you up at all!』

 

『You missed a lot of background story information, and didn’t cause any interference with the female lead, you failure of a villainess!』

 

“I…!”

 

Claire couldn’t argue back, and could only retort in a small voice: “Your insults are harsh.”

 

At this point, Aurora finished her explanation.

 

She clapped her hands and said cheerfully: “Then today’s class ends here. The formal dress is almost ready too.”

 

“We have 2 days left, victory is in sight!”

 

Lavendia stood up, lifted her skirt to curtsy, and watched Aurora disappear into the darkness.

 

She looked like an excellent student with both good character and academics.

 

Meanwhile Claire was still drowsy, not knowing why she was so sleepy.

 

She followed Lavendia to the dining hall in a daze, feeling like a wandering ghost the whole way.

 

After eating without tasting anything in her sleepy state, Claire went straight back to her room, fell into bed, and slept through the afternoon.

 

She had originally planned to try horseback riding at the stable.

 

Even though the maid had brought the riding outfit to her room, Claire didn’t get around to trying it on.

 

She closed her eyes and went right to sleep.

 

She slept through heaven and earth, through darkness and light, through the universe and primordial chaos, through the beginning of the world, through Pangu creating heaven and earth…

 

It wasn’t until evening, when the crimson sunset was quietly shining through the window, that Claire finally woke up naturally.

 

She sat up in a daze, and her first thought was…

 

…Damn, my head hurts, should have just stayed awake.

 

Whether it was because she had been getting up too early lately, or because recalling the plot had consumed too much energy, Claire just felt headache and couldn’t think clearly.

 

The system coldly announced the time: 『It’s already dinner time, host.』

 

“Oh…”

 

Claire rolled over in bed.

 

『You might as well sleep straight through until 4 AM tomorrow.』

 

“That won’t work, I’ll be hungry.”

 

Claire stared blankly at the ceiling.

 

At least after sleeping so long, she finally felt alive again.

 

She got out of bed, stood up, and pushed open the window to feel the breeze, just like she had done the previous night when she had a headache.

 

As the window opened, the cool night wind and the gorgeous light and shadows of sunset flowed into the room together.

 

The rain had stopped, and the sky had been washed clean, showing a beautiful, gradient light purple color.

 

It was just sunset. The full sky of crimson twilight piled layer upon layer, burning as intensely as flames.

 

Waking up from an afternoon nap at this time would usually warrant a brief moment of emotional meditation.

 

But Claire had no time for that. Because in the garden grounds visible from her window, she saw Lavendia again.

 

This time she wasn’t walking while balancing books, but rather…

 

Dancing?

 

Lavendia held her arms up gracefully, as if dancing with an invisible partner made of air opposite her.

 

The evening breeze carried the scent of roses, gently lifting her long hair. Her feet moved in rhythmic, measured dance steps, forward, backward, turning… very elegant.

 

When she spun, her skirt bloomed like flower petals.

 

Claire was mesmerized.

 

Oh right, sister must have finished her dance lesson today…

 

After just one lesson, she could already dance so well.

 

She leaned on the windowsill, resting on her arms, suddenly lost in thought.

 

At the ball in two days, that male lead is supposed to dance with Lavendia, right?

 

How nice.

 

…I really want to dance with sister too.