When they had reunited in the royal capital, he had been asleep in the drawing room. He could not remember it, but he thought he had seen Melody looking different. It had happened by pure coincidence. As Melody bathed in the silver moonlight, her hair color had appeared silver.
Lectius knew about Count Leenbarth's former lover, Selena, and the daughter they had together, Celeste. He knew Celeste had inherited her father's silver hair and her mother's lapis lazuli eyes. He knew what Selena looked like. He knew that Melody Wave had arrived in the royal capital the same time Celeste went missing. He knew that Melody could change the color of her hair and eyes. And now he remembered that the first time he saw her in the royal capital was in his bathroom. Her silver hair. Her lapis lazuli eyes.
Melody apologized for making him come all this way to get her.
He began to tremble. Around the time of Selena's death, with the same hair and eye color, hailing from the domain where she lived — he wondered what the chances were of her being anyone else.
Now he knew. He had actually found her. Melody is Lady Celeste.
If he reported this to the count, she would not be able to work as a maid. But he could not possibly be disloyal by not telling him, especially when he looked so distressed. Lectius did not know what to do. He could not imagine a future where everyone was happy. He wished he had not noticed.
While Lucy walked back, she hoped Lectius had not said anything weird to Melody. She was happy he had helped her get to spend time with Melody, but she did not like that he did not have the guts to ask Melody out directly, when it was clear he was interested in her.
Lucy was also possessive, though. She wanted to make sure Melody only saw him as a friend, and Melody answered, "He's a very good friend."
Hearing that let Lucy know his crush was definitely one-sided. That aside, Melody had also become friends with Paula, Lectius's all-works maid. She was so impressed by Paula and her makeup skills. Yeah — now Lucy could see for sure that Lectius had no chance. She had no intention of helping him, but she almost felt sorry for him.
Before Lucy could return to the ball, Melody cast a perceptive spell on her that would let her know if someone was watching her.
Back at the ball, Maxwell wanted to make the rounds with Lucy. He noted she was no longer with the angel. It was a shame, because he had wanted to dance with the angel — referring to Melody, of course — and that made Lucy pouty. Max suddenly broke out into a chuckle, because he thought she was being cute. And that was when she remembered she was the one who had left him first, to go dance with her maid.
He told her anyone would want to ask such a beautiful lady to dance. It was only natural a fairy would invite an angel to dance. Lucy was confused, so he clarified: everyone referred to her as the fairy princess. She was shocked.
The magic placed on her suddenly began responding. Melody had told her that if someone looked at her with malice, a beam of light only visible to her would be emitted toward that person, and it was coming from another girl looking at them. Lucy sensed something similar to jealousy. She wondered why someone so beautiful would feel that way.
Maxwell told her that the lady glaring was the daughter of Duke Renat, most likely concerned with Lucy since her moment in the spotlight had been stolen. The couple that was to be the center of attention at tonight's ball was the crown prince and the daughter of Marquess Victarium, and the second to shine was supposed to be of the Renat household, the highest noble family. However, Lucy had received the most attention, the fairy princess who danced with the angel. Thus, Lady Renat basically got no attention. And now Lucy's school life might take a turn for the worse moving forward.
He told her not to hang her head, though. That was exactly why he wanted to introduce her to them. Anne and Christopher pleasantly greeted her. Lucy was so flustered. She was just an impoverished noble compared to the prince and the marquess's daughter.
When Lucy mentioned dancing with Cecilia, the two got frantic and asked about her. They wanted to know about this Lady Cecilia and what she looked like. Maxwell told them to calm down. Lucy told them Cecilia had gone home, and the two became depressed, and wondered if Cecilia was the heroine. She had golden hair, and Lectius had escorted her, like how it is supposed to go in the game. Anne wondered who she was, if not Count Leenbarth's daughter.
The evening at the ball remained pleasant. Chris suddenly kissed Lucy's hand. And Anne now thought about how he had not appeared: the ball raid incident. According to the game scenario, someone is supposed to break through that window. But since that was not happening, she would need to reconsider her plans. Also, she told Chris to let go of Lucy's hand already.
But all Lucy could think about was why Melody's magic was responding so strongly right now.
Above them, an assailant was flying toward the prince to strike, but Lucy pushed him out of the way and got struck.
Chaos erupted in the ball, with Lucy passed out, and Anne could not believe she had let this happen.
The ball raid incident: the first major in-game event, initiated by Bjork Quishell, a tragic figure whose heart was stolen and manipulated by the dark one. He uttered, "Now let the ravaging begin."
The guards attacked him with fire blasts, but he easily blocked them with a barrier. Then the kingdom's archmage shot a high-level wind spell, but to no avail. Bjork asked our heroes if they were done playing around.
Melody thought the Rutlebergs should be returning home any minute now. She needed to prepare their tea. A strong gust shook the house, and Lucy's favorite cup fell from the cupboard and shattered.
Lucy's parents called her name over and over with worry and angst, but they could not cross the barrier between them.