The Elven Evolution: Starting With 1 Million SSSR Skills-Chapter 176: [] Bad For Me

As the jealous nobles began to filter away, the band began to play some of the most blissful music Eliron had ever heard.

As it was the final dance of the night, it had to be the most grand.

All the lights shut off, and then up above them, some lamps that had earlier looked like decorations, floated down from the room, hovering just a few feet above the crowd.

When they lit up, their crystal lights filling the hall—it was as though the space had been transformed.

♬♪♬♪

Eliron took this moment to bow slightly, a smirk on his face as he offered Artie his hand. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

Artie took his hand, mirroring his smile. "Of course you can."

As everyone and their partners took to the stage, the tone of the music shifted. The lights were rotating, creating beautiful patterns of light all over the floor.

Eliorn held Artie’s hand in his right hand, and his left hand rested on her waist, while hers was placed on his shoulders.

They moved, slowly, pattering to the beat of the music, their eyes locked on each other.

Their steps were gentle, but expertly crafted. Each move was perfectly placed, each step placed with artistic grace.

Anyone who saw them would think they were no strangers to the ballroom, no one would believe that Eliron had just learned to dance in recent days.

"Oh? You actually seem to know what you are doing." Artie teased, a small smile on her face as she stared into his eyes.

"I told you I was a natural didn’t I?"

She nodded. "I guess you did."

The tune shifted. The dance pace increased, and this time they held themselves more closely.

One step was taken to the right, two steps forward and then three back. Eliron held her hand high as Artie did a spin, just before she fell back, her head resting on his chest.

The scent of forest flowers reached his nose, her fiery red hair splayed all over his body, her emerald green eyes locked on his.

He stared for a second.

A second more.

The song shifted and she returned to her position, a sly smile on her face.

"You’ve been really quiet, Lord Eliron. Should I believe you are at a loss for words?"

Eliron’s lips curled up slightly. "You confuse me, Lady Artie." He said, using the same formality she had used on him.

The two dancers detached, Artie dancing backward while Eliron remained standing, his hand outstretched.

She executed a rather complex move, before stepping forward, interlacing her soft fingers with his.

"How so? I would not like to think myself a puzzle."

Eliron took a deep breath.

There were a lot of things to be confused about when it came to Artie. She was like a box of mysteries, one that would show a different side depending on where it was unravelled from.

Everything she did was not without purpose, every step she took, every word she said. Even her alliance with him had been based on a common goal.

But there was one thing that did not make sense. And that was her relationship with him.

What was its purpose? Was he part of her grand plan? Was he some pawn that she would discard at the slightest whim?

That question bothered him, and secretly he did not want an answer.

"What are your goals? All of this..." Eliron’s voice dropped to a whisper. "What is the point of it all?"

Dressing up, the little game they had been playing for months now, how did it fit into her agenda?

Artie’s expression did not even twitch, she stared at him with that same aloof look. Then she sighed.

"You’re a little too sharp for your own good my lord. Can you not simply believe my maiden heart has fallen for you?"

"As if..."

Artie smiled.

A few seconds passed in comfortable silence.

Eliron glanced at something in the distance, while Artie took a moment to stare at him. With their bodies this close, she saw him in far more detail than she had ever done.

The blue strand of hair that fell down his back, gracing his face. His azure eyes that were more beautiful than the starry sky, and that smirk that had a way of getting to her.

"Maybe I have."

Her voice was low, yet Eliron caught it.

Those words, they were sincere. At least as sincere as Artie could ever get. For a moment, he nearly missed his step.

He stared at her, and unlike usual. Artie actually looked away...

And... was that a blush? No, he must have seen wrong.

Artie cleared her throat, her expression turning steely. "You worry too much, Eliron. I never shared any plan with you did I? Maybe you’re just a lovestruck, I have that effect on people."

Eliron frowned lightly. "Love struck?"

He smiled, but his eyebrows betrayed his annoyance. "Maybe it’s because you’ve been a little too focused on me these days."

"F-focused on you?" Artie’s eyes sharpened. "Don’t flatter yourself. I enjoy you, but not to that extent." She said bluntly.

The two of them stared at each other, just before breaking out into laughter.

In that moment, the world around them blurred into nothingness. The nobles dancing around them, the lights, even the music was just like a faint murmur as they glided through the ballroom with artistic grace.

Eliron pulled Artie closer to him as the song demanded. Her chest was pressed gently against his, and he could feel the gentle warmth and softness of her bosom.

While his hands rested on her waist, her arms were wrapped around his neck, her head placed on his shoulder.

♬♪

The tune had transformed into a slow dance, the highlight of the night. The lights changed colours, vibrant glow melting into a soft pink that bathed the hall in its warm hue.

Both Eliron and Artie were silent for the majority of the dance, both of them enjoying the silence, both of them enjoying the presence of each other. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I wouldn’t be so bothered, Eliron. For now, our paths align." Artie whispered, her voice dangerously closer to his ear.

Eliron was quiet at first, before he replied. "And the day they do not?"

Artie removed her head from his shoulder and stared into his eyes, her gaze searching his.

"Then I guess I’ll have to stab you in the back." She said with a smile.

The words had slipped out of her lips with ease. No lies, no jovial laugh, just pure, uncompromised truth.

She meant what she said, and yet, Eliron did not seem to care.

’This woman.’

Artie was beauty that bore countless faces.

She was bad for him. The cursed fruit he should never have, sweet on the inside, but several times more poisonous once eaten.

Yet...

Maybe he was a glutton for punishment, because it only seemed to make him want her more.

Her nature, everything about her, from that piercing aloof gaze, to her sharp tongue, her drive, her ambitions...

Everything seemed to draw him to her like a magnet.

’I’m in love with this woman.’

Eliron had tried to push it from his mind, he had denied it at times, called it infatuation. But now, staring at her, both of them bathed in the soft lighting above them, he was sure.

Eliron stopped dancing.

Artie raised a brow.

"Stab me in the back? I would like to see you try?" Eliron whispered back.

"Oh?" Artie smiled.

That same sly smile that had a way of tickling his heart.

"Is that a challenge, my lord?"

At this point, Eliron was no longer listening. His mind had gone on overdrive, and he could no longer control himself.

He pulled Artie closer to himself, one hand on the small of her back, while the other interlaced with her lush hair.

Then slowly, as though not to startle her, Eliron planted a kiss right on her forehead. Then whispered.

"You can’t run away from me forever..."

Artie tried her best to hold it in, but Eliron... he had gone too far.

Her face remained stoic, but her cheeks had turned a nasty shade red all up to her pointy ears.

(2-1)

As the two of them stared at themselves in silence.

Neither of them realized...

The dance had ended a long time ago.

..

A/N

Thanks for reading.

Discord link is in bio!

New character art will drop there soon, I’m trying to revamp the place :3