When the call for the Skargardian Waltz was announced, Ulrich did not share the excitement rising through the hall.
The other nobles responded exactly as expected.
Voices lifted, smiles spread. Men straightened their sleeves and adjusted their cuffs. Women exchanged glances, lowered their lashes, or pretended not to notice the attention already turning toward them. For unmarried men and women in particular, a shared Skargardian Waltz was never only a dance. It was an opening, a chance to impress, to charm, to linger in memory. Entire courtships had begun from less.
It was because of that reputation that the dance held so much weight in Skargardia.
