“Oh… I-Is that so? It’s… It’s very kind of you to compliment me like that on my meager skills, Lady Eris, but-”
“Stop that.”
Eris’s eyes, which had previously been averted in shame, quickly snapped back to meet with Siffia’s, capturing them.
“I will not accept such foolish modesty as this in the face of true ability like yours.”
It was something that Siffia had done time and time again that Eris couldn’t quite fathom. Why was someone so gifted so adamant that they weren’t? She’d encountered many who painted a picture of modesty out of politeness or to win favor with her, but never had Eris met someone like Siffia, who would refuse to admit the truth of their own greatness so vehemently. It was somehow quite infuriating to see every time that it cropped up.
Eris made a vow that she would one day remove such modesty from Siffia.
“Speaking of, where is it that you train?”
Her eyes roamed around the room, looking for any of the signature tools or targets that mages typically used to practice with, or perhaps even a leftover training gem from Siffia’s younger days. But no matter where she looked, Eris was unable to find even a trace of any such necessities.
“...Surely even with the war having ended, a mage as capable as you must regularly keep up with her training.”
“Ah… I, um… There’s an area behind the manor that the family’s knights and mages sometimes use. On occasion I’ll sneak out of the house when everyone's asleep and practice there. But usually, um…”
Siffia fidgeted uncomfortably, her eyes visibly flickering around the room as she hesitated for a moment, before finally going to her trunk and pulling out a slightly smaller than fist-sized sapphire to show to Eris.
“...U-usually I just sit in my room and use my free time practicing my channeling into this.”
Eris lifted her hand and gently traced her fingers over the sapphire, feeling the large amounts of residual magic left on the gem. Truly, Siffia must have spent much time practicing with it. She must have been very diligent.
However, Eris couldn’t help but frown disappointedly at the sapphire.
“...This?”
Though the gem was indeed the kind that a mage would train channeling and refining their mana with, it was hardly suitable for someone as advanced as Siffia. Well trained as she was, Eris could easily see that Siffia’s magic core would have worked better with a gem at least four, perhaps even five times higher tiered than just a simple sapphire meant for a beginner mage. Such a small gem would only have throttled her progress.
Noticing the look on Eris's face, Siffia quickly closed her hand around the gem, holding it tight and pressing it to her chest as if it were something very precious.
“Yes. It was my first and only training gem. …My nanny got it for me when I told her I was interested in magic. It was quiet to do, and didn’t require buying any additional things to continue doing like painting or reading, so… it was one of the few fun things that I could do that wouldn’t irritate my father.”
Eris’s frown only threatened to grow deeper at hearing this. If what Siffia had said was true, then it was no wonder why she had mostly used telekinetic magic; It was the starter magic that a sapphire like that was the best attuned for training. Certainly she could use it to train her magic in other disciplines, but attempting to do so with such a low level gem would be quite a bit more arduous than it should have been. The fact that she’d ever witnessed Siffia using other kinds of magic during the war was absolutely astounding.
Growing to the level that she had with only a starter gem to work with would have taken countless years of endless practice, and even then, many wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.
“...Truly, you must be quite talented, Lady Siffia.”
“Ah… You keep saying that. …Th-Thank you, Lady Eris.”
Though Siffia’s eyes were already turned towards the floor, she still turned her head slightly away in embarrassment. And like that, the conversation ended, and the room was once more shrouded in awkward silence.
Eris should have been pleased that she’d learned more about the mystery that was Siffia, but all she could do was blame herself for ruining the atmosphere once more. Again, she turned to the task at hand to gain herself time to think, but only one dress remained to be put away. It was truly only a brief respite, only affording her less than a minute to stall.
Luckily, that was enough time for her to remember another, hopefully much safer, topic.
“...Speaking of practicing, have you had any time to practice your dancing as well?”
Siffia blinked, surprised by the unexpected subject being brought up, and fidgeted as if she didn’t know what to say.
“D-dancing? Hmm??? …Um, why do you ask?”
Thankfully Eris, who had planned out her reasoning for this conversation during her carriage ride here, already had what she would say prepared. She didn’t even have to bat a single eyelash, simply repeating her preplanned excuse.
“As you know, the next banquet heavily encourages young women and omegas of age to dance. I’ve focused so far on making sure that you’ll look presentable this time, but I’ve only just remembered to check on your dancing prowess as well… After all, it wouldn’t do to give you such fine dresses and then have you move like an unruly monkey in them in the ballroom, now would it?”
“O-oh…”
Siffia’s eyes slowly grew wider, seemingly realizing the truth of Eris’s words. She nervously bit her lip for a moment, looking around the room as if searching for what to say, before bowing her head like a sinner and hesitantly murmuring out her answer.
“Um, no, I… I can’t say that I’m very well practiced in it at all. It’s been almost ten years since I was last taught how to, and… Um…”
“That’s perfectly fine then.”
Eris stepped closer, causing Siffia to raise her lowered head and look up at her.
“The solution is quite simple. I’m sure this manor must have an appropriate room for dancing in, correct? All we must do is go there and practice until you become acceptable.”
“Ah, pr-practice? But who am I going to practice with? No one here but my father would-”
“Why would you speak of such an unwanted man in my presence?”
Eris flipped her hair over her shoulder, striking a powerful pose, and speaking with a commanding tone.
“I’m here, aren’t I? Clearly I will be your partner in this practice.”
“...What?!”
Siffia covered her mouth in shock, her eyes once more growing wide. Her words came out fast, almost sounding as excited as they did confused.
“B-but Lady Eris! How could we both dance together?! We’re both women, and-”
“It’s fine. I know how to dance both the male and female parts. Clearly that makes me the most appropriatepartner for you to learn with, no?”
Though she phrased the end of her words as a question, Eris had put too much force into her voice, as well as her gaze, for it to possibly be mistaken as such. And just as expected, the perceptive Siffia quickly ceased her meaningless objections and nodded along, just as Eris had wanted.
For what felt like the first time today, things were finally going along as planned for Eris.