It is a wonder you’ve made it this far without tripping over your own feet and falling out of the nearest window.

“Again,” Aki says, tone weary as he repeats himself for the umpteenth time this hour. He ignores your pout and gestures for the band to restart the music.

As your knight, Aki takes his duties very seriously. After being caught in the crossfire of an attack and being the only surviving member of his family, Aki had enlisted immediately to the kingdom’s military. Revenge had been the only thing on his young mind, and when the military refused to let such a scrawny child into their ranks, he had gone directly to your father.

Aki’s boldness had, at the time, amused your father. He had listened to Aki’s pleas to be sent out on the front lines before encouraging him to start small. To prove himself worthy of being in such an important position.

Starting small somehow meant being your personal guard.

Only a year younger than him and softer than silk, Aki hated you at first. Your clumsy ways meant he had to save you from yourself near daily. You were clueless about the idea of tragedy, pampered from the day you came into the world. He would watch with an impassive eye when you tripped over carpet or bumped your head, but with your twentieth birthday on the horizon, and his twenty-first just passing, maturity was inevitable for you both. You grew sensitive to his past and made attempts whenever possible to include him in your world.

At least that’s his reasoning for why he’s grown soft in your presence. Why he’s allowed you to drag him into something as time consuming as teaching you how to dance for the upcoming ball your father insists on throwing for you. He should be training, getting ready for his first step into (what he considers) real knighthood.

Yet, his hand tightens around yours as he leads you in around the room.

“You’re horrible at this,” Aki chastises as you trip yet again, but there’s a noticeable lack of malice in his tone compared to the other times he’s taught you anything.