The next night at the Campbell palace, clueless nobles are wandering everywhere, and there is our guy standing right in the middle of them.
A mustachioed gentleman shows up with his third daughter, loudly announcing how wonderful it would be if she got to meet young Mr. Campbell. The girl glances at him, starts trembling wildly, and dashes off, dress fluttering as she yells out for her mother.
Honestly, that reaction looked way more like pure terror than anything else. The father quickly apologizes, saying she is just a bit shy.
Moon plays it cool, but that is when he starts noticing. None of these girls actually look happy to see him. Clearly, his terrible reputation precedes him.
Still, the father places a hand on his shoulder. He says he is pretty impressed with Moon's recent behavior. He is really stepping up. And tonight he stops being a boy and finally becomes the man of the Campbell family.
Moon thanks him, promising to do his absolute best.
Suddenly someone at the main entrance calls for silence. The third in line to the Leopold Empire throne is about to arrive. Blessed with the purity of snow, and known as the ice goddess. It is the third princess, Celia.
Good lord, the girl has some real presence.
Lon mentions he needs to go mingle with the other guests, and asks Moon to personally take care of her.
Moon steps right up, calling out to the princess and noting that it has been a while. He compliments her appearance. She even has little sparkles set in her hair.
She politely thanks him for the compliment. He is acting so sweet and gentle that she immediately starts thinking something feels off. Then he says she must be exhausted from the long trip, and suggests she go rest for a bit.
As she walks past, all the nobles respectfully bow, and she is just thinking to herself, what is up with this guy today? He is being way too polite.
At that exact moment, Moon overhears some people whispering about an illegitimate daughter. Apparently she just had a nasty duel with her own husband.
Honestly, it is pretty confusing. Folks hate her because she is an illegitimate child, recently got divorced, and now wants to qualify as a formal heir. The rest of the party quickly tells them to stop whispering such things. Pure crazy talk.
Of course, guess who is arriving right now. The actual main character of this entire world. Ariel Bogart, the girl with the black hair.
Honestly, she looks pretty basic, but it actually makes total sense if you really think about it. Protagonists usually have that standard plain-faced black hair combo.
And there she is, acting totally normal while greeting Mr. Moon. He acts super awkward, responding that he is doing great and politely welcoming her.
But then, out of absolutely nowhere, this massive guy steps in. He aggressively demands to know how she dares speak so casually to the young master.
Our boy immediately tells the big guy to just shut it, saying it is totally fine. She can talk however she wants. She has already been polite enough.
At that point Ariel practically has a total mini meltdown. She wonders why this exact guy, who always treated her like some horrible illegitimate daughter, now suddenly knows how to properly say her name.
Her friend just stands there watching Ariel in pure confusion, until someone reaches out a hand calling for Miss Leah. The girl jumps back completely startled, because Campbell somehow knows her full name. Miss Leah Angel.
He tries to take her hand, but Ariel slaps it right away, telling him to drop the shady scheming immediately. She grabs his collar and tells him to listen up. She is only here for his father, so he had better not try anything funny. If he even thinks about hurting her or Leah, she will make sure he never walks out of this place alive.
With that warning, she walks away. You have got to respect that energy. She is playing the righteous hero, and yet you can tell she really wants him to cause massive trouble.
Moon thinks to himself, just as expected, dealing with the main protagonist is going to be incredibly rough. But honestly, he does not care at all. Once this night wraps up, she goes her way and he goes his. They will never have to cross paths again.
Soon after, there is a speech, and it turns out it is actually his birthday. Who knew. He has just turned eighteen. Everyone claps and calls him totally amazing. The guy almost has another episode, but it is finally time to get down to serious business.
He glances around and spots the princess just chilling by the mirror. He walks right up, introduces himself properly, and apologizes, hoping he is not being too rude. He asks for the honor of a dance.
Seriously, does this guy think he is actual royalty now?
She accepts, of course. That girl, though. She is rocking some absolutely serious firepower in that outfit. Whatever accessories she has on look practically ready to burst right out of her.
Meanwhile the nobles are all stiff and awkward, prancing around the floor. The protagonist is off to the side just eating cake, watching him share a dance with the third princess.
Celia compliments his footwork, and he humbly claims he is still a beginner. She remarks on how much he has changed, saying he is finally acting like a proper noble. What she finds weird is his earlier dance invitation, the one where he called her a warrior and said he would personally grant her the mercy of a dance.
He awkwardly tells her to just forget all of that, and leave it in the past.
The music plays. Things are getting really interesting now. They keep dancing. She keeps praising his moves, the usual routine.
And then he slides in super close behind her.
That is when she says they really need to have a private conversation. She already knows this whole marriage is just a political arrangement forced by their families.
He replies that if she wants to cancel it entirely, they can work together to make that happen.
She pulls back slightly, saying they will talk more about that later. Then she asks how about they head to his room.
Right now the man is completely caught off guard, but it is way too late. She is already pulling him away.