Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 54: The dance practice

Chapter 54: The dance practice

The princesses’ jaws fell open at the sight of what Ave was wearing. They had never seen such degrading attire in all their lives, and the fact that she wore it and even walked in to meet them like that without shame made them all stand up from their seats and stare at her in astonishment.

Were those supposed to be men’s trousers and a courtesan’s top that shows one’s belly? Whatever it was, the princesses were fascinated as well as speechless as they’d never seen a woman wear trousers before.

Regardless of how degrading it was socially, they couldn’t deny the fact that the so called shameful attire looked marvelous on Selene. It gave her an otherworldly beauty they had never seen before, like something far beyond they couldn’t witness... fascinating.

"Are you ready to break a leg, girls?" Ave beamed as she walked to stand in the middle of the room, her hands on her waist as she watched the look on their faces.

"Break a leg?" Celeste muttered in terror as she snapped out of her daze. "We came here to learn the butterfly dance, not break our legs. And what do you think you are wearing? Aren’t you ashamed?"

Ave raised a brow and then scoffed, "Ashamed? And why should I be ashamed of wearing this? Don’t you guys ever get tired of wearing those tight corsets and long to breathe freely?" she said, stretching her legs and arms to show them how comfortable and free she felt in her jogger pants and crop top.

"Look at what I can do with this," she said, lifting her leg up above her head as if she was doing yoga stretches, causing them to gasp.

"Are you certain Princess Selene is fully alright in the head?" muttered Isolde to her twin, who looked every bit fascinated by whatever Ave was doing and was subconsciously trying to imitate her but hurriedly stopped when she heard her sister’s words.

"I don’t know, but whatever, I shall own an attire like that. It looks comfortable indeed," Celeste said. "I’ve always wanted to wear something more comfortable."

"Mother will kill us if she learns we are converting to dress like courtesans when she’s taught us to be modest and feminine. Besides, sister Thalia would never allow such—"

"Princess Selene, can we also get an outfit like that?" Thaila asked, her gray eyes glimmering with excitement, surprising both her sisters. Their mother had always told them to look up to their older sister’s example and be as feminine and calm as her.

Ave smirked. "Sure. All you have to do is get a dressmaker here tomorrow. And now that we’re on the same page, you can just call me Selene and drop the princess formalities." She declared, knowing once they got the dressmaker, she could use the opportunity to create even more comfortable outfits for herself.

Thalia nodded in agreement of dropping the formalities even though it was against the rules for anyone other than the parents and siblings of royals to address a princess by name. "You can call me Thalia as well, but only in private. And don’t worry, I’ll request for the royal dressmaker to come here so you can tell her how you got your... trouser made."

"Alright, let’s head into the hall and start our practice. You wouldn’t want to delay any longer!" Ave announced as she led them toward the hall prepared for their practice.

Catherine, who had been watching from the sidelines in astonishment, quickly snapped out of her daze as she watched them walk out of the room. She would be a fool to believe this crazy woman was her stepsister. Either the accident had damaged Selene’s head so severely she now behaved like this, or Selene was up to something the Empress didn’t know about.

Whatever it was, Catherine knew one thing: she would make sure Selene failed in her mission so the Empress could have her killed soon enough. She should have been the one with a royal title and married to a prince, but Selene had been chosen for her beauty and grace, which she was starting to lose now. Imagine her wearing such disgraceful attire?

Shaking her head, Catherine moved to follow them out of the parlor room so she could get on with her own business inside the palace when Isolde, who was yet to enter the hall, stopped and glared at her in disapproval.

"And where do you think you are going? Didn’t I ask you to go outside and wait where the rest of the maids are? Who allowed you into the palace? Get out!"

Catherine would have talked back or even hit her if it were her stepsister, but just like Princess Thalia, she dared not disobey this young princess. Bowing her head, she decided to leave and would come back inside once they were in the hall. However, to her frustration, Isolde looked towards the guards in the corridor and ordered,

"Make sure this servant doesn’t step inside the palace again. Keep an eye on her."

The guards bowed in acknowledgment, and then Isolde glared one last time at the lowly maid she didn’t like because of how she had caused the first prince to scold Thalia the other day. She huffed and walked inside.

Catherine was escorted out by the guards.

Inside the spacious hall that was supposed to be used for banquets but was empty now as Lucian had never used it nor had a banquet in his palace before, Ave stretched and moved around with the princesses as she told them to warm up first.

Ave’s mind kept wandering to Lucian and his injuries, but she tried to keep herself busy and think less of him or worry about him. He was a big guy; he could take care of himself, and he had made that obvious by stopping her from going inside his chamber, she thought to assure herself.

But then, what if he died in his chamber because of his ego and pride in asking for help? He could be bleeding to death at this moment, but because he thinks he doesn’t need anybody, he won’t call or send for a doctor. She hated that he was making her worry for him.

’I’m only worried because I can’t afford to lose you when I haven’t left yet. You are my ticket to going back home.’ She thought in frustration as she absentmindedly moved around the hall.

"When are we going to start the butterfly dance? My legs are hurting from moving around," Celeste complained, snapping Ave out of her thoughts.

Ave stopped and turned back to them. She had momentarily forgotten that she wasn’t the only one in the hall and was here to be a dance teacher. Putting Lucian’s thoughts aside for now, she said, "We will start now. However, before we start, I’d like to let you all know that we won’t be dancing the butterfly dance this time."

"Why? We came here to learn the butterfly dance," Isolde said with a frown.

"Well, I dance the butterfly dance every year on the Emperor’s birthday, so I thought we should do something new this time around. Something that will amaze everyone and come as a surprise to the Emperor," she said with a persuasive tone, hoping they’d agree with her. And if they didn’t, then she would be doomed, as she had no idea how to dance this so-called butterfly dance.

Thalia looked thoughtful for a moment, her finger tapping her chin before she asked, "If we are not going to be dancing the butterfly dance, what other dance do you think would work?"

"How about we dance the Pendragon traditional flower dance?" Celeste suggested excitedly. "Last year, the Banzai Kingdom’s elder princess presented it to Father, and she got rewarded for it. I know she’d want to do it again this year and flash her grace in our faces. It would be good for us to do it before her."

Banzai Kingdom, Ave thought as she recalled the Empress mentioning the kingdom and saying her son would marry one of the princesses. However, that wasn’t her concern here. She didn’t know how to dance either the flower dance or the butterfly dance.

"Well, since she already danced it last year, we should do something new and unique. Something unexpected."

"Like what?" Thalia asked, intrigued by the idea of trying something new and unique.

Ave shrugged, trying to feign nonchalance before she announced the dance she had in mind all this while and couldn’t wait to present to everyone else. "Like the Water dance by Tyla?" She asked, knowing they wouldn’t even know it but just because she wanted to appear less enthusiastic.

The princesses exchanged confused looks. "Water dance by what? I have never heard of a dance called Water Dance by Tyla before," Celeste muttered.

"Which kingdom did it originate from?" Thalia asked.

"Is it a new dance that hasn’t reached our empire yet?" Isolde questioned, confused as she knew she was on trend with every dance and dress in the entire empire, but she’d never heard of that.

Ave sighed, "You’ve never heard of it because it’s a famous dance from a far, faraway land. When I danced it in the past and posted it on TikTok, I gained over two million views, and trust me, everyone is going to be amazed when we present it here."

Her words further confused the girls, who had no idea what she was talking about. TikTok? What was that?

"Is TikTok supposed to be another kingdom?" Isolde asked in curiousity, as she’d never heard of that.

Ave nodded her head, "Yeah, TikTok is a world of its own with many talented and crazy dancers," she said, half-true. However, talking about TikTok only made her miss home so much that she wished she could disappear back there and get her phone and check her account to see how many followers she’d gained from that award ceremony before her accident.

"Then let’s see how the Water dance by Tyla is danced," Thalia said.

"Of course, I’ll first show you how it’s danced, then we can dance it together," Ave beamed and got into position.

She stood in front of the girls, their curious eyes fixed on her. They expected a graceful, elegant dance similar to the butterfly dance. But when Ave started, none of them could close their mouths.

The princesses exchanged confused glances, but Ave didn’t give them time to question what she was about to do. She positioned herself with a confident stance, singing Tyla’s "Water" under her breath.

"Make me sweat, make me hotter, make me lose my breath, make me water..." she sang, stepping forward and swaying her hips with ease while she moved smoothly in time to the beat only she could hear in her head, her body flowing effortlessly.

"How is she rolling her behind like that? Won’t her hips break?" Celeste wondered out loud.

"You are worried about her hips breaking," Isolde muttered, "What kind of dance is that? I think mother will kill us if she finds out we will be dancing the Water dance by Tyla. But why do I feel like moving along with her?"

"Me too," Celeste added.

Ave finished in time to turn around and see the princesses trying to mimic her movements, and she beamed widely. Nobody could resist the pull of the water dance.

"Now let’s dance it together!"