Embrace

The music faded, and the hall quieted somewhat once more.

"Ladies! Gentlemen!" Cyril cleared his throat, trying his best to make his voice sound as resounding as his father's. "Please enjoy—Majesty of the Eagle Claw!"

The music began again, this time with an intensely rhythmic drumbeat.

Cyril suddenly flung his head back, his body starting to convulse and shake violently as though he'd been electrocuted.

His arms, shoulders, neck, even the muscles on his face moved in an incredibly bizarre manner!

Then Ferdinand and Otto joined this "dance of demons." They copied Cyril's movements, but with their stiff limbs, they looked more like two puppets being yanked around by tangled strings.

"..."

An eerie silence fell over the hall.

In the shadows of the VIP seats, Baron Ul's face darkened as though water could drip from it.

He stared fixedly at the twisting figure in the middle of the dance floor.

This was the performance that useless fool had prepared?

His true target tonight had been Isla—the Maiden whose talent and beauty were equally outstanding, whose resolute nature made her an ideal future mistress of Eagle Claw.

He had deliberately told Edwin to bring Isla over so Cyril would have a chance to win her favor.

But what was the result?

That brat from the Atmesia family!

Watching Isla laugh and chat with him all night, the Baron felt as if his arrangements had become a complete joke.

A surge of regret and fury rose in his chest.

He never should have allowed that cursed bloodline to enter his manor.

And yet—

"Pfft!"

Someone was the first to lose control and laugh.

Then, as if a fuse had been lit, the entire hall erupted in deafening laughter!

"Hahahaha! Good heavens! What is Young Master Cyril doing? Exorcising ghosts?"

"Noble dances really are something else!"

"Look at Otto! That fat guy's about to shake himself apart! Hahahaha!"

"Ferdinand! Hahaha! That brat! He's dancing harder than his father does when plowing a field!"

The residents of Plint were soon laughing so hard at this dance full of "Postmodern Artistic Sense" that they nearly doubled over. The applause and laughter practically blew the roof off.

The atmosphere became even more lively than before.

But He Xi's toes were curling together.

It was too abstract! So abstract that he wanted to slap himself twice and erase the sight from his memory.

While everyone's attention was drawn to Cyril's "spectacular" performance, he quietly tugged on Isla's sleeve, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Isla, there'll be a lot of people when this ends, all pushing around. How about... we quietly slip away now?"

The flush had yet to fade from Isla's cheeks. Hearing that, she nodded softly.

Outside the manor, the night had already grown deep.

Cool moonlight spilled across the small road leading to town, stretching their shadows long behind them.

Isla had changed back into her usual knight's uniform, her golden hair once again tied neatly behind her head.

He Xi had also changed back into his plain burlap clothes.

They walked side by side in a somewhat delicate silence.

But He Xi's thoughts became lively.

He had to admit that although he'd initially found this ball unbearably boring—even less straightforward than paying a few gaming companions to play games with him in his previous life—

Now... it really hit the spot.

The evening breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and trees from the woods, along with the faint fragrance drifting from Isla's body.

It was more intoxicating than any perfume he remembered.

He Xi let out a satisfied sigh inwardly.

Life in another world really isn't bad.

—It'd be even better without that damned contract.

Suddenly!

"Stop!"

An angry shout came from the shadows beside the road.

William, accompanied by two attendants, blocked their path.

His face was gloomy as he glared at He Xi.

"He Xi Atmesia!" His voice was deliberately raised, arrogant. "I challenge you to a duel!"

He Xi frowned, just about to refuse such a pointless provocation—

"What? Too scared?" William immediately cut him off, a mocking sneer curling his lips. "Coward! Wimp! And you call yourself a noble? Have you not even the courage to accept a challenge?!"

He took a step forward, pressing aggressively. "Stake the honor of your family—that honor that has long since rotted and stunk! Like a real man, have a fair duel with me!"

"Who are you?" Isla stepped forward and stood in front of He Xi, a trace of anger in her Sapphire Blue eyes. "Why should He Xi duel you?"

Seeing Isla defend He Xi, William burned with even greater jealousy.

He forced out what he believed was a charming smile. "Beautiful Madam, things were too hurried at the ball. I even forgot to introduce myself. I am from Oak Town—"

"Who cares who you are?" Isla cut him off without the slightest courtesy. "Move! Don't block the road!"

William's smile froze, his face turning alternately pale and green.

Seeing this, his two attendants immediately moved forward, trying to stop them.

"Get lost!" Isla flicked her wrist. With a clang, the training longsword at her waist was already out of its sheath.

A pure white holy light sliced through the night like a ribbon, carrying a piercing chill.

"Mother of—!"

The two attendants were so frightened by the sudden sword light and sacred aura that they scrambled backward, nearly crashing into William behind them.

Isla snorted coldly. Without even looking at them, she took He Xi by the hand and continued down the road.

William didn't know that the two of them lived in the same direction.

Watching them leave side by side, the flames of humiliation and jealousy nearly consumed him whole.

Whenever he revealed that he was a Viscount's son, which girl he fancied hadn't eagerly thrown herself at him?

That country girl, and that damned sickly bastard!

What he found even more unbearable was that they had actually left in the same direction!

At this hour... where were they going?!

A lone man and woman... his mind instantly filled with obscene images.

Those scenes should have belonged to him!

"Stop!"

William's voice twisted with jealousy.

"Don't let that sickly bastard fool you! The Atmesia family is finished! He's nothing but a useless wretch plagued by a curse, a short-lived ghost who won't survive much longer!

Beautiful Madam, look at him! He looks like he'd collapse in a gust of wind. Can he satisfy you? Can he give you the true pleasure a woman deserves?! You'll never be happy together!"

"Won't survive much longer?"

"Plagued by a curse?"

Isla instinctively looked at He Xi beside her. There was no sign of denial on his face.

William noticed He Xi's reaction as well and assumed his words had worked. A smug smile appeared on his face.

Even a fallen noble would still care about such things in the end...

However, William had chosen the wrong person for his provocation.

He Xi felt no ripples inside. If anything, he wanted to laugh.

Just a spoiled young dandy overcome by lust.

He had seen plenty of people like that in his previous life. Aside from wasting breath, they had no value whatsoever.

Trying to provoke him with a noble identity he had no sense of belonging toward, or with family glory that had long since rotted and stunk?

What the hell did any of that have to do with him?

When one lacked strength, restraint was the most basic survival rule for an adult.

Those empty titles weren't even worthy of provoking him.

"It's fine, Isla. Don't mind him. It's already late. Let's head back first."

He took Isla by the wrist, his voice calm and unruffled, as though the filthy insults had been nothing more than wind passing by his ears.

Their figures soon vanished into the night, leaving William behind to rage impotently in place.

The small road returned to silence, with only insects chirping and the rustle of wind through leaves.

Silence spread between the two of them.

Isla lowered her head, weighed down by her thoughts.

William's words circled through her mind like a curse.

He Xi's physical condition... that so-called curse... could it be true?

Had he suddenly given up training before because of it too?

"Isla," He Xi's voice broke the silence, carrying a trace of apology. "Sorry."

Isla raised her head and looked at him in confusion.

Before she had fully recovered from the shock of earlier events, she heard him say something about "sorry."

After a moment of stunned silence, she looked at He Xi's gentle face and felt the warmth from his hand. Complex emotions rose in her heart.

After hesitating, she thought He Xi was seeking comfort.

She gently bit her lower lip, preparing to open her arms and give this young man burdened by a heavy fate the warm embrace of a friend—

"You're right," He Xi said as he looked at her, his gaze sincere. "I really shouldn't have given up halfway."

"Can I continue training with you tomorrow?"

Isla's outstretched arms froze in midair.

Under the moonlight, two clouds of red once again bloomed across the Maiden's cheeks.