Final Preparations

And then, suddenly, the days had flown by, and it was the day before the engagement party. And while I still wasn't looking forward to it—how could I, after all?—I felt pretty good about it. I would be able to make a good impression.

With that feeling, I got up, giving Nela a quick kiss on her forehead before showering and getting dressed for the day. I glanced at my outfit for tomorrow, hanging next to Nela's. It would be a tad uncomfortable, but that would be no issue. I had other, much bigger things to focus on, after all.

I stretched, and went out to go over all the important steps again for the day. First off, I met with Meike in that little kitchen room. I knocked, but there was no reaction. Maybe she was not here yet?

“Meike?” I asked. “I’m coming in.”

But when I opened the door, I saw not only her, but Sören as well. He hung around her quite a lot, huh?

"Good morning," I told them both.

"Knock next time," she hissed at me, red in the face. "That's rude."

"But I did knock?"

"Knock louder, then." She smoothed her dress, and waved for me to sit down. "Come on, get going."

And so I sat down and breathed in. Focus, I told myself. And then I went through the various cutlery, showing which to take when, how to hold it, and what to eat first with which utensil. I even remembered when to drink, and when not to. Meike didn't look impressed, but at the end, she nodded.

"You did well enough," she said, and that was probably the highest compliment she had ever made in her life. "You will at least not completely embarrass yourself tomorrow."

I smiled at her. Even though her words and expressions were rough, the last few weeks had shown me that she cared. And maybe, just maybe, not only for Nela, but even a little bit for me.

"What are you staring at?" she snapped.

"Just... thank you. You taught me well."

"It wasn't like you were easy to teach. Get out, now. I actually have work to do today, you know?"

I got up, and gathered all the cutlery up for her. She didn't say anything further, but her face wasn't full of worries anymore as it had been in the beginning. That should be a good sign, right?

I got to the door. I was pretty much on time. Ulfret, after all, also had some things to discuss with me. I turned around once more. Sören was talking to Meike again, in a low tone, so that I couldn't hear what he actually said. But whatever it was, it made her ears burn.

"We'll see each other later, right, Sören?"

Suddenly, he looked at me, with a big grin on his face. "We will."

Meike once more glared at me, but I couldn't help but grin. A little revenge for all the times she had gotten between me and Nela.

But then I really had to go. In my head, I already turned over and over the words of my speech again. It still felt clunky and not like me, but I had gotten to a point where I looked at it more like a piece of poetry to be recited, rather than a sudden, heartfelt love confession. That could wait until after the dance.

After the dance... my heart raced. I had worked day in and day out for Seppe, so the ring should be mine. I had to go check on him before I could go to Ulfret. I just had to.

Seppe was already out there, displaying his wares, as he saw me approach.

"Ah, Leo," he said. "Thank you for your work."

I shook my head, and smiled at him. "No, thank you for this opportunity. How is little Balte doing?"

"With his homework? Much better," he grumbled. "I have no idea how you taught him, but it seems that even he has some talent for the numbers. Now it even seems viable for him to become my successor!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Suddenly, my throat was dry. "So, uh... about the ring?"

"Right, right," he said, and turned around. "Here it is."

He took out a small, velvet ring box, which I opened on the spot. There it was. The small beetle on the golden ring gleamed in the sunlight, the iridescent wings shifting from blue to green to pink in delicate hues. It was beautiful.

"I don't know why you want it, but I'm glad to be able to pay you your fair share," he said.

I only nodded, and carefully put the box in my pocket. "I'm really happy.”

"I'm glad to hear it. Tell me when you want to make some more pocket money, yes? I've got a few more kids growing up that could benefit from you as a teacher."

"I'll let you know."

Me, a teacher? It was difficult to imagine. Back at home, I simply wanted to survive school, survive the day. But here, even though it was exhausting, learning new things—and immediately putting them into practice—had been fun. And it was great to hear someone else had benefited from it.

Then, with a sudden jolt, I snapped the box shut.

"Sorry! I have to go!"

"Don't worry. Have a great day."

He waved after me as I sprinted to the library. I had almost forgotten about my meeting with Ulfret, and he looked like he was just about to throw a book at me, if it wasn't for harming the books.

"I'm sorry," I huffed, "I had something else come up" I said at the same time as his "You're late."

He shook his head. "We're only doing a review today. Get going."

I straightened, and with just a little squint of the eyes, remembered the first line.

"We are gathered here today..."

After that, sentence after sentence flowed out, and I fell into a comfortable rhythm with it. By now, none of the words felt wrong on my tongue. Once or twice, he raised his eyebrows, but I didn't let that deter me. When I was done, I let out a sigh.

"How was it?"

"Good enough," he said. "You mixed up a few parts here and there, but without any loss of meaning. Even if you do that again tomorrow, you should be fine."

I grinned at him. Everything was going so well!

"Do you have any other tips?"

He shook his head. "Just don't let Mother intimidate you."

I let out a nervous laugh. "I think that's easier said than done."

"Of course." He got up. "Oh, and I know that you're mostly memorizing these lines, but try to put a little feeling behind them, will you? It would make it more meaningful."

"Right..."

I straightened. There was still so much I had to learn, but I still felt pretty confident with it all.

"Well, we will see tomorrow how you fare." Ulfret pushed his glasses up. "Get going, then. I have some studies to attend to. And don't forget: after tomorrow, you will teach me more of your language, ne."

I grinned at him. "Of course! That was my part of the deal."

"Away, then." He shooed me out of the room, which I left with a big smile on my face. As I made my way over to the ballroom, it felt like I was already dancing. And in my pocket, I could feel the little box, safely kept.

There was nothing that could go wrong tomorrow.