The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 967: A Noble Disaster

Could it be the fallout from intervening with Prince Eren’s plans?

No.

What about the threats posed by highly interested and possibly malicious parties?

No.

Was it related to the number of citizens clamoring and petitioning for an extension of the Annual Expo?

Nope.

Hmm, maybe it had something to do with the organizer’s increasingly desperate pleas to allow for more leniency?

Also no.

Then what about the impending Mechanic Licensure Exam that his good brother needed to face under the intense and non-stop campaigning of the master mechanics?

Well, there was also that, but as of the moment, Luca, who had immense confidence in his good brother, didn’t think it would be much of an issue.

"..."

Of course, one blonde would have a very different opinion about his impending doom, but in truth, Ollie wasn’t the only one suffering. Because in such a rare scenario, the golden-eyed miracle actually encountered a problem.

One so unusual that in the face of a crashout from individuals likely headed for hell, and in the midst of the palpable excitement and panic of the citizens of the Empire, one couldn’t have expected Luca Kyros to be stumped by dance lessons.

Yes.

Actual, honest-to-goodness dance lessons.

Because for some unknown reason, Luca was as rigid as granite.

Then again, what did dance lessons even have to do with said heir who already had so many other concerns he needed to focus on?

Well, ideally, nothing much.

If not for the unexpected realization that the Closing Banquet would serve as Luca’s first formal Imperial event.

Practically a debut in lieu of the coming-of-age ceremony that he didn’t really have.

Now, it wouldn’t have been much of a problem if not for the explosion of articles, threads, and posts on Star Net about their banquet expectations, with Luca’s name sitting comfortably at the top of the search engines.

The leader of DG.

The heir to House Kyros.

The Empire’s original flower vase, now simply known as the flower.

He had become the center of countless conversations and the recipient of the most over-the-top dance invitations imaginable.

When Luca came to Solara for the Duke’s mecha, people already thought he was finally going to debut. But when he also skipped those events, the netizens were left wondering about what the dukedom was up to.

Did they not want their heir officially recognized by the public?

But after learning about what DG had been up to, they realized that maybe Luca Kyros was just extremely busy and had no time for such trivial things.

Well, that was actually true.

However, all that didn’t kill the dream of having fated encounters with a man as wondrous as Luca Soren Kyros. If anything, his elusiveness just heightened the interest brewing around him, and now people spoke about their excitement in seeing him with the same intensity as they spoke about chicken eggs.

It was mind-boggling to say the least.

The first time Butler Gary came running in with the stack of formal and ostentatious invitations, the gallant members of House Kyros, particularly one father, had simply stared at him in disbelief.

Butler Gary looked like he had seen a ghost.

And honestly, he wasn’t that far off.

It took a good minute before everyone remembered that, yes, they were a powerful noble house with an extremely coveted heir who, to the general public, wasn’t exactly known to be married.

Duke Leander had nearly malfunctioned on the spot.

The moment he thought about all those predators itching to get close to his child, he seriously considered hunting down several noble houses right then and there.

But if the father was reacting like that, the in-laws were honestly just trying to keep it together.

It felt like being gutted under their own roof.

The event was happening at their estate.

It had been sanctioned by them.

And yet it was now serving as a convenient opportunity for people to go after their son-in-law simply because they couldn’t publicly declare that he already had a family.

Of course, that was another problem entirely.

But aside from those rather delicate complications, the other issue they realized was that, in the span of all those chaotic months, they had been so preoccupied with everything else that they had completely overlooked one ideally simple thing.

Noble etiquette.

Frankly, that wasn’t an issue for most of them.

Growing up with that kind of upbringing meant that even Ollie, who had been determined to slack off since he was young, actually knew everything he needed to properly represent the Mylors at formal events.

It simply came naturally to them.

Even Jax, who could often be found covered in mud from head to toe, was perfectly capable of executing proper twirls.

Then again, if it involved his body, that could already be considered a done deal.

However, that wasn’t the case for a certain returnee.

Because Luca had realized, somewhat belatedly, that he didn’t know how to dance.

A lesson that every noble child was normally taught from a very young age.

And with barely any days remaining before the banquet—

One Luca Kyros was now desperately playing catch up.

But unfortunately, it didn’t matter how patient Butler Gary, Duke Leander, or Duchess Amelia were while demonstrating the steps.

It didn’t matter how many times the music was replayed.

And it apparently didn’t matter that the people watching had already started sweating from secondhand anxiety.

Because every time Luca tried to move, the result looked less like dancing and more like a wooden training dummy being pushed around by invisible hands.

Step.

Pause.

Step.

Pause.

Stop.

To be fair, memorization had been rather easy. He knew the steps he needed to take and had learned which music was associated with which dance at a speed that would have made imperial tutors weep with joy.

However, knowing was most definitely just half the battle.

Executing it was apparently an entirely different ball game.

Safe to say, everyone was stumped. Because for someone as strong and capable as Luca, how could he not dance with the same grace he showed when fighting?

For a brief moment, they even considered finding ways to keep Luca away from the dance floor entirely.

But eventually they realized that doing so would raise far too many questions.

So while the rest of them were busy with harvesting, seaweed schedules, securing the Empire, managing the Expo booth, and even monitoring the movements of the parties they were deliberately baiting—

One little chipmunk had dedicated all his free time to learning how to dance.

Luca was diligent.

As diligent as anyone could possibly be.

And somehow that only made things more painful for the people watching him.

Still, the hardworking heir didn’t give up. He would only rest long enough for Butler Gary’s feet to recover after encountering Luca’s rather weaponized steps.

If only Luca could use spiritual energy to dance.

That was honestly one of the biggest problems. Whenever the returnee faced a difficult task, he usually found a shortcut by using his abilities.

But how could he possibly do something like that in front of everyone?

Not only would that attract more attention, but it would also be unsafe for those who couldn’t exactly control their spiritual energies. While he wouldn’t be flaring to instigate a fight, others may not take it as such.

Eventually, he sat down for a moment, muttering quietly under his breath about how he wished he were more flexible.

If that were the case, maybe he wouldn’t be giving everyone such a hard time.

But surprisingly, Luca—who had been plagued with distress the entire afternoon—suddenly heard the voice of someone who had supposedly been busy dealing with imperial security.

"You’re definitely flexible. And graceful too."

"Huh?"

Luca turned around.

Only to see his husband, who had just ported in and was now looking at him calmly.

"Xavier!"

The perplexed wife stood up in surprise and was extremely glad to see his beloved. But as he did, he also processed what Xavier had just said.

"What?! Me? Oh no!"

Luca waved both hands immediately.

But then the Imperial Prince spoke again.

"My wife," he said in his usual voice, though there was a faint trace of teasing hidden in it, "if there’s anyone here who would know about your flexibility and grace, wouldn’t it be me?"

Eh?

Luca blinked, only to realize that his husband’s hand was already by his lower back.

Once.

Twice.

And then—

"!!!"