The sun went down and a crescent moon came up as the people headed into the mansion.

It was time for the ball, but Adrian looked forward to the drinks and dinner more. All those sweets didn’t seem to have filled his stomach.

Just as he was about to grab a glass of wine for himself and a glass of apple juice for Aria, a familiar face appeared between him and his true goal.

He felt a flicker of annoyance, but flashed a polite smile instead, "Lady Felicia, you look gorgeous in your new dress! That food looks just as good by the way."

The corners of Felicia’s lips twitched as she tried to keep a polite smile.

’He’s comparing me to the food and I don’t even know if I should take it as a compliment or an insult.’ she thought as she took a step towards him and offered her hand, "Aren’t you going to ask me to dance with you?"

Adrian finally gave her his complete attention. He was from Earth but he still had access to this body’s memories so he knew that in a ball, if the hosting party’s lady picked someone to be her first dance partner, it only had one meaning. She was interested in that man.

And there was another rule, which was that no one would dance until the lady finished dancing with her selected partner.

’... I can’t even reject her. Welp, at least I can say no through my dance.’ he thought as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles before looking up at her.

She really was a pretty woman, but Adrian wished to dedicate all of his time to Aria for now.

Unbeknownst to him, Aria stared daggers at Felicia and for the first time, she was really angry. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

’I do not want a step mother... I do not want my past life’s cycle to repeat again...’ she thought, her small hands shaking with fury as something childish bloomed within, ’My papa is mine and mine only.’

The rules for the first dance were simple. If the man was interested in the woman, he would lead her. If he wasn’t, then he would have to simply follow along. If he was indecisive and needed some time to think about it, he would let her lead at the start and he’d lead the second half.

’I can’t outright reject her since I’ll need to forge a connection with the viscount but I don’t wish to involve myself in romance either. If I give her mixed signals, I’m nothing but a scumbag.’ he thought as he took her hand and both of them walked to the center of the room.

Leon and Bastian glared daggers at Adrian while he didn’t even notice their existence.

Felicia waited for the music to play and while she did, she couldn’t help but notice that he was completely relaxed.

Usually, when a guy planned to take the lead, they’d give a silent signal by holding the woman’s hand tighter.

Which only meant one thing.

Adrian either wasn’t interested in her, or that he was not sure yet.

’This will be harder than I thought...’ she mused as she got ready to take the lead. The music soon began to play and the two danced, making smooth moves that had a wide range of motion.

Felicia, not wanting to give up yet, pressed her body against his and looked up straight into his eyes, only to see that he too, was looking straight at her.

She had always been confident with men but all of a sudden, her face turned a bright shade of red as she looked down.

She could suddenly feel her heartbeat and every single point of contact between their bodies felt like they were burning.

’Why is he looking at me like that?! I chose my best dress, my best perfume and even hired the best make up artists for this... ugh, don’t falter Felicia, you can do this. Look up at him and be confident.’ she pep talked herself and just as she was about to change her dance style, she slipped.

As the dance started, Aria looked around and saw a few people standing with the guests with trays of wine glasses.

Seeing an opportunity, she smirked and used her father’s favorite spell, telekinesis.

She grabbed one of the server’s shoe laces and tied them together. Just as she was about to put a little bit of force on the guy to make him fall and spill the wine on Felicia’s dress, she heard the crowd gasp.

Adrian casually went along with Felicia’s steps until he felt her balance falter. Out of pure instinct, he pulled her back toward him and glanced down at the floor, only to see the heel of her shoes lying there.

One of her heels had broken halfway through the dance and if she actually ended up falling, it would be a very shameful image for her.

Thinking quickly, he moved his hands from her own, to her hips and twisted his hips before lifting her up. Felicia felt it and immediately changed her stance as she raised her hands sideways right before he spun her up in the air.

She kept her body straight and Adrian did his job giving her enough time to think of a solution to save herself from the deadly situation.

The two of them made eye contact once again and this time, she didn’t look away.

Instead, she kicked her heels off and nodded at him.

Receiving the signal, Adrian put her back down and continued the dance until the music stopped.

"Oh gosh, that was stressful." he whispered as he let go of her hand and was about to go back to Aria when Felicia grabbed him by his sleeve.

He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow but the girl just smiled at him.

"Thank you. You really saved me back there."

"Don’t mention it." he said and thought for a moment before grinning, "Actually, is there a way you can arrange some ice cream for me? Aria loves it and I love it more than her."

Felicia just blinked as she wondered how he could suddenly go from making the greatest saves to asking for ice cream shamelessly.

Once it registered in her mind properly, she chuckled, "Of course, I’ll arrange it for you right away."