For someone being teased by a couple of noble women, Melody was really composed. Lectius was impressed, but he did not realize that Melody was hiding her true feelings under that fake smile. At that moment, Melody was in fact extremely flustered. That was because she could sense Lucy glaring at her.
Just as Lucy's mother was about to introduce her to her daughter, Melody ran to Lectius, asking to dance.
The action she took was a breach of etiquette. Not only did she interrupt the lady's words, but it was the man's role to invite the woman to dance. The woman must quietly wait for an invitation. However, the noble women thought it was super cute.
Lucy was getting more pissed, because Melody had run from her. Beatrice and Millaria then asked if she would be participating in the next event. Looking at the paper they gave her, Lucy went to Maxwell, completely ignoring etiquette, and asked him to dance with her. It was a moment when cuteness triumphed once again.
Melody was relieved to have gotten away from Lucy. She planned to slip away into the crowd and go home unnoticed once they were done dancing. Then she noticed Lectius was nervous. And why would he not be? Who would not get nervous when asked to dance by a woman they were interested in?
At that moment, he wondered if he actually liked Melody. With her letting him know that he did not need to worry so much about dancing, Lectius no longer had any doubt about it. He really liked her.
They danced so wonderfully. Melody was enjoying herself. The crowd marveled, watching both Melody and Lucy as they danced.
And afterwards, before Melody could get away, Lucy grabbed her by the arm.
As the same-sex couple dance commenced, Chris knew the heroine's choice of dance partner affects how the game plays out. Dancing with a friend will increase their support for you, while dancing with the villainess lowers the game's difficulty. The player chooses their dance partner based on how they want the story to advance. Chris had heard male dance pairing was rather popular with BL lovers. He did not like the idea of dancing with another guy.
That aside, the fun only lasted up to this. Once it was over, Anne knew that event should occur. She should be ready, but the heroine was not here. With the key person missing, one false move and they might end up with casualties. She knew they needed to stay on their toes, but she was too distracted by wanting to dance with Lucy. It would be a few more minutes before Anne even realized the same-sex couple dance had already started.
While the dancing commenced, Melody could see her lady's eyes were not smiling. Onlookers thought they really danced in sync with each other. What they did not know was that the two had practiced for this ball right up until tonight. It was Lucy's first time taking on the male role. Yet she was leading Melody properly. Even the part she had advised her to correct yesterday — Lucy did it so well, and it looked like she was having so much fun.
Melody got so lost in the fun that her steps started to dazzle up the floor with magic light. Lucy began to panic, but she could see the other guests did not know Melody was the cause yet. She stepped on Melody's foot so she could make her realize what she had been doing. Her mana had been seeping out from excitement. She suppressed it, and the light disappeared into small sparkles.
The people stared in awe and clapped. They all thought it was just special effects.
Lucy asked Melody if they could leave, and so Melody used a spell to make it so that they were difficult to notice, even though they remained visible. It is a magic spell created as a safeguard for maids on duty in case of an emergency.
Somewhere behind them, Anne wondered where the same-sex couple dance had gone. The two of them had completely missed it.
Lectius went to see Cloud. The count was still looking at a picture of Selena. Watching Lady Cecilia had made him think of Selena for some reason. While the hair and eye color were completely different, he just felt they were so similar.
Lectius thought about how the first time he had met Melody was when he went to Aton March to search for Lady Selena. He could not believe he had fallen for the girl who lost her way back then. She was obsessed with maids to the point that it consumed her mind. Most maids usually quit once they get married, but he just could not imagine her accepting a marriage proposal.
He found the two girls outside, and when Lucy came his way, she gave him a nasty glare. She credited him for giving her the chance to enjoy the ball with Melody, but she would not let him off if he ever pulled that stunt again.
At this point, he realized Lucy had seen through Melody's disguise. He was sure no one would have ever suspected Melody was a maid, the way she looked now. But now he wondered if she really had black hair and black eyes, or if perhaps there was another version of her.