Althea: The Legendary Saintess [Shoujo]

The graduation farewell party was held on the second and third floors of the central building, so the area near the entrance of the central building was bustling with people meeting up with their partners.

Althea had arranged to meet Siegfried under a tree a little distance away from the central building. However, she had been so engrossed in helping others choose their dresses that she was late in getting herself ready, and by the time she reached the meeting spot, it was only ten minutes before the party started.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting, Your Highness.”

Siegfried responded with a wry smile to Althea, who bowed her head vigorously.

“It’s not a problem since you made it on time. More importantly... you seem to have been quite busy.”

“Huh...?”

“Many of our classmates seemed grateful to you. They were all thanking Regalus.”

Apparently, during the day, the students whom Althea had helped with choosing dresses had expressed their gratitude to Regalus.

“So... both my brother and Your Highness know about it...?”

“Yes. At first, Reg was wondering ‘What is she doing?’ but since he received thanks from so many people, he ended up proudly saying, ‘As expected of my sister.’ As for me... I thought it was very like you, Althea,” Siegfried said, laughing cheerfully.

Noticing the gazes around them, Althea looked around to see many female students blushing and staring at Siegfried as they headed towards the central building.

Is it because they’ve never seen His Highness laugh so happily before...?

Unbothered by the attention, Siegfried extended his hand to Althea with a courteous gesture.

“Lady Althea, thank you for agreeing to be my partner today. Also... you look beautiful in your dress. It suits you well.”

The dress Althea was wearing today was a gift from Siegfried. It was an A-line dress made primarily of white fabric with pale blue lace, adorned here and there with yellow and purple ribbons.

Startled by the unexpected compliment, Althea’s eyes widened in surprise. Although Siegfried had been doting on her much like her brother since they first met three years ago, she didn’t recall ever being complimented on her attire or --so she thought. Even though it was just a school party, being praised for her appearance made her genuinely happy.

“Thank you,” she said, placing her hand on Siegfried’s extended hand.

“Shall we head inside?”

Nodding at Siegfried’s words, they walked together into the central building.

Inside, the graduates, accompanied by their partners, were being guided into the venue in turn.

“Althea!”

As soon as they entered, Regalus hurried over.

“I was worried because you were late... You look very beautiful. Beautiful, but... too beautiful, which makes me worry.”

Saying this, he glanced at Siegfried, who indicated with a nod of his chin,

“Reg, you should go back. Your turn is coming up. She’s waiting for you.”

Following Siegfried’s gaze, Althea saw Lady Olivier in a splendid yellow dress bowing elegantly.

Regalus leaned close to Siegfried and whispered something, then turned to Althea.

“Althea, don’t be alone. If Sieg has to leave for greetings... come to me. I’ve got Lady Olivier’s permission. Understood?”

With that, he went back to escort Lady Olivier into the venue. Cheers that sounded almost like screams could be heard from the venue as Regalus entered.

“My brother is as overprotective as ever.”

Watching his departing figure, Althea muttered, to which Siegfried responded with a wry smile.

“Well, I can understand. Althea.”

“Yes?”

“As Reg said, I’ll have to give a speech as the representative of the graduates. During that time...”

“Yes, I will stay with my brother and the others.”

“I’ll make sure to get you to them as soon as we enter.”

“Geez, Brother Sieg, you’re just as overprotective.”

As she laughed and said this, their turn to enter the venue came.

“Shall we proceed, Lady Althea?”

Siegfried extended his left arm, and Althea gently placed her right hand on it, nodding. They then walked straight into the venue.

As they entered, cheers erupted.

Althea felt as if everyone in the venue was watching them, and she suddenly felt her legs go weak.

Noticing her trembling right hand on his arm, Siegfried bent slightly and whispered in her ear.

“Are you alright? If you can’t walk because you’re nervous, should I carry you?”

Althea’s face turned bright red in surprise, and she stammered,

“What?!... I-I’m fine. I can walk!”

With that, she took a determined step forward.

“...I see, that’s a pity.”

Siegfried’s unexpected smile as he walked alongside her caused shrieks of excitement from all around.

Once all the graduates had entered the venue, the head of the academy gave a speech, followed by an envoy from the Kingdom of Royal Grand Central delivering a congratulatory address on behalf of the king. It was customary for an envoy to give a congratulatory address at the graduation farewell party if there were any royals or head of states’ relatives among the graduates. This year’s envoy was Duke Franc, the king’s brother.

Afterwards, Siegfried gave a speech as the representative of the graduates, and his speech marked the beginning of the farewell party.

While Siegfried was away giving his speech, Althea quietly stayed by Regalus and the others.

“—Tonight marks the last night of our school life. Let’s all enjoy it to the fullest,” Siegfried’s words signaled the official start of the party.

Music began to play, and the graduates with partners started to dance on the floor. However, Siegfried seemed to be caught up with Duke Franc and hadn’t returned yet.

Waiting for Siegfried to return, Regalus was about to stay with Althea when she said,

“I won’t move from here, so please go dance with Lady Storia.”

Reluctantly, Regalus headed to the floor, casting worried glances back at Althea.

Even after one song ended, Siegfried had not yet returned.

Although he had moved away from Duke Franc, he was still surrounded by female students and couldn’t seem to make any progress.

As Althea waited quietly in a corner as promised, a voice unexpectedly called out to her.

“Althea, are you alone?”

Turning towards the voice, she saw Ritch Tormandi smiling at her.

“Lord Tormandi, it’s been a while. I’m currently waiting for His Highness, so I’m not really alone. I do have the important role of being His Highness’s partner tonight...”

“Oh, I see, an important role, huh... By the way, Althea, you look really cute today. No, actually, you look beautiful. Since you’re so beautiful, I’d love to ask you for a dance, but since you’re Siegfried’s partner, I guess I can’t invite you to dance with me... How about the second dance, then?”

“If that’s alright with you.”

“Yay! Oh...”

Ritch’s innocent joy turned into a frozen expression as he noticed something. Following his gaze, Althea saw Siegfried standing there.

“Tormandi, what are you doing here?”

His voice was very low and menacing, but Ritch responded casually and unbothered.

“Well, since you hadn’t returned, I was playing the role of bug repellent.”

“...I see, I apologize for that. But now—”

“My thanks will be in the form of a dance with Althea. She promised to dance with me after she dances with you, right?”

Interrupting Siegfried, Ritch directed his comment to Althea.

“Um... yes.”

Hearing Althea’s response, Siegfried shook his head slightly before speaking coldly to Ritch.

“If you promised, then it can’t be helped. But only one dance. Make sure to bring her back after it. Understood, Tormandi?”

“Of course. Thank you for the permission, Your Highness.”

After glaring at the bowing Ritch, Siegfried turned to Althea with a warm smile and extended his hand.

“Lady Althea, may I have the honor of this first dance?”

“Yes...”

Althea, unaccustomed to such a graceful invitation from a prince, placed her hand awkwardly in his and replied.

As Siegfried led Althea to the center of the floor, the music began to play.

“It’s our first time dancing together, but you’re very good. Your steps are light.”

Siegfried spoke cheerfully as the dance started.

“I’m honored by your praise, Your Highness. My mother used to compliment me on my dancing.”

“I see. Your skill makes it very easy for me to dance. Shall we speed up a bit?”

“Speed up? I’ve never done that, but it sounds fun.”

“Yes, it’s fun. Let’s go.”

With that cue, their dance picked up a little speed.

The flowing and light-hearted dance of the two captivated most of the audience, and as the song ended and they bowed, the hall erupted into applause.