The Ball

A day later.

In the castle's tower where prisoners were kept.

The experiences of the past half month made Ma Linna feel as though she could write a travelogue. Not every human got the privilege of being kidnapped by demons twice in a row.

During the twenty-four hours she had been imprisoned, Ma Linna had not found it particularly unbearable. The piano music that rang out from time to time within the castle had completely absorbed her.

Suddenly, Ma Linna heard footsteps approaching. She moved to the edge of her cell and saw someone who absolutely should not have been here—Belle.

What happened next was just like it was written in the story. Kind-hearted Belle resolutely decided to remain in the castle in her relative's place in order to save her family.

The elderly Ma Linna was completely unable to resist Zennas's strength. He roughly dragged her out of the castle and threw her into the garden beyond it.

The castle gates closed once more, and Ma Linna collapsed into the snow, engulfed by grief and despair.

"Madam Ma Linna! Madam Ma Linna!"

At the moment when all hope was lost, Ma Linna heard her servant's voice.

Her servant led the old horse through the thorn-covered garden and hurried to her side.

"You... you actually haven't left." Ma Linna looked at her in disbelief. This servant had merely been hired with money; there was no bond between master and servant.

As a merchant, Ma Linna knew very well that no relationship was more fragile than one maintained by money. Yet this servant had risked being killed by demons to hide within this estate.

"Honesty is the most basic principle of being a person. That's not important right now, Madam Ma Linna. Get on this horse and leave. It will take you back to the village. Perhaps Gaston can help save Miss Mage," the servant said.

"Gaston... right, I can ask Gaston for help." Ma Linna remembered that she knew a great mage who could move freely through the Demon Realm. She immediately mounted the horse, moving with an agility that did not suit an old woman past seventy.

"What about you?"

This was the only horse Ma Linna had brought from the village.

"Don't worry. I found a place nearby to hide," the servant said.

Ma Linna did not refuse. She knew how to prioritize. After leaving behind a quick farewell, she kicked the horse's flank, and it set off toward the castle gates.

The servant watched Ma Linna vanish into the forest outside the castle, then removed the Shapeshifting Ring from her hand.

"I can't believe you managed to say the word 'honesty' with a straight face just now."

Ciri emerged from the woods on the other side of the garden and looked at Joshua standing before the snow. As the director behind everything, Joshua had handled the planning, scriptwriting, and filming himself, even personally taking on quite a few supporting roles.

But the servant role was not merely a cameo.

"Why not? I'm a demon."

Joshua strode quickly toward the interior of the castle.

Joshua's retort left Ciri speechless. If Joshua had not deliberately reminded her, Ciri might have forgotten that this guy was a Demon Prince.

The castle's great hall was nowhere near as gloomy as the outside. Ever since I Nuo had arrived at the castle yesterday afternoon, Joshua had been working overtime to film Beauty and the Demon.

The scene Joshua was about to film was the most heart-stirring moment in the entire story, and one that could make countless young girls scream—the scene where Belle and the Beast danced in the castle's great hall.

When Joshua entered the hall, I Nuo was already holding Zennas's hand and dancing gracefully with him in the center of the room.

The succubus was now dressed in a gorgeous princess gown. Combined with her distinctive charm, she had been destined to become everyone's focus the moment she appeared. The eyes of any man—or even woman—would be drawn to her.

Three minutes later.

The music gradually drew to a close, and I Nuo and Zennas slowly came to a stop as well.

The moment they stopped, both demons turned their gazes toward Ciri at the edge of the dance floor rather than Joshua.

Even Joshua himself could hardly believe that Miss Mage, who had once been so poor she could only chew bark every day and was lucky to eat rabbit meat once or twice, had become I Nuo and Zennas's dance instructor.

"Passable. I hate to admit it, but you learned quite quickly."

This sort of ballroom dance was not difficult. Anyone could learn it easily as long as they mastered the rhythm. Though it was called a dance for nobles, to Ciri it was just two people spinning in circles together. There was nothing interesting about it at all.

"Then let's stop here for now. Zennas, I Nuo, go rest for a while, read through the script, and prepare for the next scene."

Joshua held the Source Crystal Stone Banshee had handed him. Filming this scene had consumed seven Source Crystal Stones in total, each recording a different shot. Joshua borrowed all seven stones Banshee had provided, pale white magic spilling from his hand as he edited the footage together according to his memories and merged it into a single Source Crystal Stone.

Joshua inscribed the number seventy-two onto the crystal's surface with a Rune and placed it in the Suitcase used for storage.

"Come to think of it, you don't know how to do such a simple ballroom dance?"

Ciri suddenly leaned over beside Joshua and asked.

"If I did, I wouldn't have asked you to be the instructor."

After Joshua had grown familiar with this female mage, she had become increasingly unconcerned with his identity as the Demon Prince. If not for the "collar" Joshua had given her still hanging around her neck, Ciri might very well have picked up her little staff and started fighting Joshua again.

"I see. If you ever go into human society, you'll definitely need this. Do you want to learn?"

Ciri had finally found an opportunity to hold her head high. Whenever she spoke with Joshua before, she always felt something called an "intelligence gap." What Joshua said would always touch upon Ciri's blind spots in knowledge. This time, she had finally found something Joshua did not know!

"..."

Joshua looked at Ciri and suddenly thought of the husky he had raised on Earth... Comparing a girl to a husky was wrong, but for some reason, that was the impression she gave him.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Miss Ciri."

What Ciri had not expected was that Joshua would actually choose to humbly ask her for instruction.

"Fine... I'll... teach you."

Ciri admitted that she had spoken impulsively just now. Compared to her childish desire to show off before Joshua, she had been more affected by Zennas and I Nuo's performance.

Even as an observer who knew I Nuo and Zennas were acting, she had still become immersed in the beautiful scene from Beauty and the Demon... Any young girl who saw it would be moved.

That was why she had acted so impulsively. But regret was useless now. Joshua had already extended his hand toward her, so Ciri could only brace herself and take it.

"Put your hand... on my waist." Ciri's body stiffened for a moment before she finally said it.

Following Ciri's instructions, Joshua gently placed his hand on her waist, while Ciri rested her other hand on Joshua's shoulder.

The music began at just the right moment, and Ciri led Joshua onto the dance floor for another performance of Beauty and the Demon.

It truly was another performance, but Ciri did not know whether her fate could be as beautiful as Belle's...

It should be possible, right? Ciri lowered her head, secretly glancing at Joshua. But after only a few steps, Joshua utterly shattered her beautiful dream.

"You stepped on my foot!"

Reality could not be as perfect as it was in films. Joshua, a complete beginner at ballroom dancing, mercilessly ruined the romantic scene Ciri had built in her heart.

"Sorry..." But Joshua's apology had no effect at all.

"You stepped on it again! Did you do that on purpose?"

"Can't you be a little more forgiving toward a beginner?"

Though Joshua said that, his mind was elsewhere. When he held Ciri's hand, Joshua noticed that it bore many scars, and there were scars on her arms as well. Even though Ciri deliberately concealed them, at such close range, Joshua could still see those marks, so different from her fair skin.

Those were not hands a girl should have.