seiraâs smiling face froze for the first time the moment she heard baronâs request.
âis that man crazyâ¦?â she gasped.
however, aven didnât seem to understand her embarrassment at all.
âyou didnât know that was going to happen?â he asked in curiosity.
seiraâs eyes turned to aven without even realizing it, âthen you guessed he was going to do that?â
âhe obviously canât stay still, can he? iâve been following you around for years, so i know. plusâ¦â he tilted his head and whispered so that only seira could hear, âafter spending the night, iâm sure he couldnât give you up.â
any alpha who hugged a pure-blooded omega at least once would understand what aven meant. there was nothing more addictive scent than drugs, nor was there anything to take its place.
if baron gave up on something like that, it wouldâve been similar to losing oneâs only companion whom he imprinted. however, seira was still confused even after hearing avenâs words.
âbaron isnât particularly special because he is pure-blooded,â she thought at the back of her mind.
of course, she wouldnât deny that she enjoyed it. baron had a formidable weapon that shook her world that night, his strength overwhelming to the point she almost collapsed. it had been intense and dizzying that she both felt dead and alive.
but her relationship with aven was no less than that.
âam i only thinking this because aven is special to me in a different manner?â
he was a very precious person. a man who wanted to protect her at all costs, an alpha who really wanted to be tied by the boundaries of her family. seira always felt great joy with her relationship with aven.
perhaps she gave them too many meanings that was why she felt that way.
although, it may as well have been a burden to him.
âbut,â aven paused, âif you donât want to, then just reject him. you donât have to consider every situation. isnât he to blame in the first place for burdening you?â
avenâs words revealed his disapproval of baron. it didnât even need much explanation, but seiraâs heart felt warm whenever she looked at avenâs handsome profile.
âyes, thank you, aven.â
how can she not feel sorry for him? the only thing he didnât give her was a love affair that was worthless. everything else was laid out neatly at her feet.
âmy greed was just excessive, and my wish for vanity.â
seira turned sideways to look at his gloomy and dark eyes for the last time. she was curious how things had progressed on the other side, and she needed someone to be her human shield.
although his face might have turned rigid, calrad granted baronâs request, while louis took a step back. anyway, the main characters for tonightâs banquet were those that took part in the subjugation war, including baron jeff and seira askan.
baronâs request was only reasonable.
with the consent of his competitors, baron walked with pride towards seira. he then proceeded to stand tall in front of her and said, âthis is how it should be done â to dance with you once.â
seira glanced at his bright yellow eyes, which were blazing fiercely, âi donât like it. iâm really not in the mood to dance right now.â
no matter how much he paid for calradâs permission, she wasnât obliged to do anything. as aven said, there was no need to do anything if she didnât want to.
but despite her refusal, baron didnât show signs of backing down as he held out his hand towards her.
âyou canât fix pommel on your own,â he said. âit would take a whole box of gold to fix it.â
seiraâs expression was greatly perturbed with his words.
âdoes it really cost that much?â she whispered.
it was only after she knew the specific amount that seira realized. avenâs words were true after all â baron wonât give up easily on her.
seira emptied the champagne glass in one drink, and then lowered her voice as she said, âwell⦠thereâs nothing to eat anyway.â
âof course.â
baron took the empty glass, handed it over to the servant, and then reached out to her again.
the music naturally changed as they walked out onto the dancefloor. the song that played was in the form of a rondo that wasnât very fast.
seira heaved a heavy sigh as she felt the pressure of eyes pouring from the crowd.
âdonât worry about the eyes around you. it would be a shame for you not to dance when you are this pretty,â baron slipped her a compliment.
she instantly felt better with baronâs words.
this was her first time dancing in a formal event, but she moved leisurely. baron matched her pace, and then quickly narrowed their distance as if they were hugging. his feet were light as if he was a flower petal in the wind, like a butterfly circling and flapping its pretty wings.âyou dance much better than i imagined.â
âwhy did he do that when it attracted so much attention?â seira asked herself as they continued to dance with the music, âwhatâs so big of a deal about a dance like this anyway?â
âour commander-in-chief is not bad at this,â she commented after a couple of minutes into the dance.
he smiled back at her nonchalant praise.
âiâm good at everything i do with my body,â he said with a smug grin.