Chapter 147: The First Dance [Part-1]
What lay behind the door was something they hadn’t expected. Not in their wildest dreams had they ever thought that they would see such a grand view inside the Ascension Realm.
A massive, sparkling ballroom stretched out in front of them, filled with thousands of people who seemed to be high-ranking nobles.
As the door opened, several pairs of eyes turned toward them, inspecting the sudden presence of the two new figures.
Alen stood in a daze as he felt thousands of curious gazes landing squarely on him. Before he could decide what should be done, a soft hand tugged at his own, pulling him forward into the room.
He stumbled forward in shock but immediately calmed down as Lyris led him inside the ballroom. Her steps were incredibly graceful compared to his own awkward, hesitant pacing. But she guided him perfectly, smoothly synchronizing with his own movement.
Alen whispered quietly while walking. His eyes were soft, but they held an intent.
"What are you doing?..."
Lyris kept her steady pace while looking straight ahead. Her movements were elegant, perfectly reflecting the poise of noble ladies.
"Just play along with it for a bit..."
Alen pursed his lips, not answering as he didn’t even know what should be done to conquer this floor.
Thankfully, the clothes they wore were clean without any sign of dust, it seems the floor had made them clean according to the city’s look.
As the two figures entered deeper, the hall was filled with a quiet chaos as both noble ladies and gentlemen looked at them. A girl with raven-black hair featuring a stunning face and a beauty which was completely out of place, and a silver-haired boy walking right alongside her. He was incredibly handsome, possessing a delicate face along with his smooth, messy hair. Both of them looked like a picture-perfect couple as they walked inside the ballroom. The observing ladies and gentlemen quickly looked away, not daring to meet their eyes as they felt a warm redness catch their cheeks.
"So, where should we go first?" Alen asked curiously while expertly ignoring the constant stares of the annoying girls. For a second, he felt like he had become some kind of famous celebrity attracting unwanted attention. But as he also felt several jealous gazes lock onto him, that fun celebrity personality thinned out quickly.
"Well, let’s take a seat somewhere... Do you want to eat something?..."
Alen looked around, noticing a small table situated near the luxurious catering area. He gestured toward it as they walked there together.
"Of course... God knows how long I have been starving up to now. I had to eat the disgusting meat of monsters while on the way to climb the spire... I still feel my stomach aching from eating that disgusting, uncooked meat and other weird stuff... Sigh, forget it. Let’s just dig into whatever is here..."
Lyris looked at him, noticing that he was able to keep his calm demeanor maintained even though it was probably his very first time entering an actual high-society ball.
’It seems he learns quickly... Well, what am I even thinking? He is my little student after all. Hehe...’
As she noticed Alen’s constant gaze lingering on her face, she realized she was smiling like a fool for some reason. She quickly turned away and calmed down, but he had already noticed the bright blush on her cheeks.
She excused herself and walked toward the catering tables to bring some snacks for them to eat. Alen sat comfortably on the chair across the small circular table. The gazes remaining on him were constant. He felt even more suspicious of the environment.
’Well... We are entering the ball completely uninvited... Are they staring at us because of that?...’
As he was completely unaware of the destructive charm emitted from both of their pretty faces, he remained seated silently like a well-behaved child.
Lyris brought the snacks back and placed them gently in front of him. She sat beside him calmly while maintaining her poised, elegant behavior.
"You are looking like a well-behaved noble lady. Have you been to a ball before?"
Lyris looked at him while picking up a small piece of pastry she brought for herself. She ate it delicately while replying calmly.
"Not many times... But yes... I learned about how to behave..."
Her gaze paused at nothing as she kept eating, her violet eyes becoming a little distant.
"That’s good. I didn’t know a single thing about how to act at a ball. If you weren’t with me, I don’t know what I would have done..."
The earlier redness on her face appeared again as he casually complimented her.
"Thanks..."
"So, will you tell me who you actually are and how you know me?..."
Lyris’s eyes widened at the sudden change in topic. She narrowed her eyes as she realized he was just trying to butter her up to pry for the answer.
But there was no way in hell that she was going to answer him. She didn’t want to complicate the things between them, and it would be much better for his own safety to know as little as possible about her true identity.
"Hmph, how does it taste? Do you like it?..." she said, actively deflecting while cutting a piece of pastry with the silver cutlery and eating it elegantly.
Alen noticed her obvious change in topic. It seemed she was not planning to tell him the truth anytime soon. Since he couldn’t force her to talk in the middle of a crowded ballroom, he remained quiet, at least for now.
"The food is... tasteless..." Alen said while forcing himself to chew the food. His face was wrinkled in pure disgust.
Lyris almost choked on her pastry. Her elegant composure faltered; she looked at the platter of cookies and tried one herself, picking it up curiously.
The taste was completely normal. It didn’t taste weird or disgusting, which was vastly different from the dramatic disgust shown on his expression. She pursed her lips and didn’t comment on it.
’It seems his taste buds may have been severely affected by eating monster flesh for months; that’s exactly why he isn’t able to feel the proper taste of normal food... Sigh... How pitiful...’
She looked away. Just as they sat in a silent and peaceful moment, a young girl with pink hair wearing an elegant gown came forward. She walked directly toward where Alen was seated. Her face was flushed bright red as she nervously stepped closer to him, all while Alen was busy forcing down the tasteless cookie just to fill his empty stomach.
"Hello. My name is Sarah Veilsoan, the daughter of the well-known merchant of the Valra Kingdom." She bowed slightly in greeting while tugging the edges of her gown elegantly.
Alen looked up at the girl. It seemed he hadn’t even noticed her presence approaching, as he was too busy battling that disappointing food.
"Hello... I am Alen..." Alen replied politely.
He didn’t know how nobles actually greeted each other. He had read about it in novels and anime in his past life, but never did he focus enough to know how to properly greet a lady or what specific greeting to give to whom. So he just chose to go with simple, polite words.
The girl smiled softly at his friendly reply. She glanced sideways at Lyris and quickly looked away, her competitive spirit instantly ignited.
"If it’s okay with you, do you mind having a dance with me?..."
Alen’s face went entirely blank at her mention of a dance. It was a completely unknown topic which he had been entirely unaware of. He knew well about how to use musical instruments, but dancing? This was never a topic he had given any thought about, as he had no one to dance with him growing up. He had practiced it once in his past life, but he barely remembered the steps now. It required dedicated practice to become perfect, which he had never given it.
He quickly looked at Lyris seeking a lifeline, gesturing with his eyes that he didn’t know how to dance.
Lyris remained seated calmly. As her gaze caught his panicked look, a small, mischievous smile tugged on her lips. She wanted to take a little revenge on him for making her blush earlier, so she turned gracefully toward Lady Sarah.
"I apologize, Lady Sarah, but my fiancé doesn’t like to dance with anyone else."