The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 37

By the time Corvina went back inside, the party was slowly starting to wind down. Only a few of the more determined couples were still out on the dance floor. The Bastards' Club and their various hangers on had taken up residence at a few small tables in a spot near the stairs.

"Nice of you to make an appearance," said Collette, seeing Corvina climbing up the stairs.

"Sorry," said Corvina, with a sheepish smile. "I'm not feeling very well today. I thought the fresh air would do me some good."

"Sure, that's a believable story," said Collette. "Get up here. Pull up a chair. Jay was just regaling our new friends with the tale of how he and Belle met."

"You mean Sir Gladrovod," snapped Belle. "You should show some proper respect to people."

"Oh come on," said Collette. "You know very well I don't respect anyone. And calling people by their names is how I show my affection, which is much better than respect anyway. You wouldn't want your little boy toy to feel like I hated him, now would you?"

Jay started blushing. He was a rather prim and proper-looking young man, currently standing at attention behind Belle's chair. He had short, carefully styled blonde hair, pale skin, and deep-set blue eyes. He wore a suit that was nice, but plain. Overall, he rather gave the impression of the sort of person who would be knighted for accountancy.

"You took too long," said Sebastian, who was leaning against a wall nearby. "You missed seeing my dance with the Saintess. We cut quite the elegant pair, if I do say so myself."

"I danced with a bunch of other people, too," said Anne, cheerfully. She sat at one of the tables, sipping from a glass of wine. "I barely even stepped on anyone's toes. Although when I made Agis dance with me we both ended up falling down." Anne laughed.

"They knocked over a waiter carrying a tray of drinks," said Nia, with a wry smile. "It was quite the spectacle."

"I told you, elvish dances aren't like human ones," said Agis, defensively. "They don't have so many steps to remember they're more... interpretive. I'm better at that."

"Holy shit," said Anne. "I have got to see this elvish interpretive dance some day."

"Yeah, well, I'm always saying you should come to the palace sometime," muttered Agis.

Anne went to take another sip of her wine, but Corvina carefully lifted the glass out of her hand, while sitting down in the empty seat next to her. "You should watch your drinking, Saintess."

"Awww," said Anne.

"Everyone be quiet!" said Collette. "Jay was gonna tell his story!"

"Do I have to?" asked Jay.

"It's cute!" said Collette. "Are you really going to deprive the Saintess of hearing about your adorable love story?"

Jay took a deep breath. "Fine," he said. Still blushing, he continued. "I was visiting a small book shop in the city one day. The streets were rather crowded and I'm afraid that, after dodging out of the way of a cart, I accidentally bumped into this lovely lady. It was only a small bump, and she we immediately both apologized. She hurried on her way, but I notice she had dropped a handkerchief, so I bent over to pick it up. It was so beautifully embroidered that I'm afraid I stood and stared at in awe for a long moment after. By the time I came to my senses, she had made it quite a far way down the street, so I had to hurry to catch up with her in order to return it."

Belle smiled, looking down bashfully. "He was quite out of breath when he finally caught up with me."

"I'm sure I didn't make the best impression," said Jay. "But she immediately made an great impression on me. She was so beautiful. I completely lost my sense of propriety, and without any other greeting, simply handed the handkerchief back to her and asked her who had embroidered it. Of course, she had embroidered it herself."