Curse the Mainframe! 347 Dance in the Ballroom

That night.

The ball held by the ship was inside the massive ballroom that was located at the bottommost of the ship levels, and it spanned the entire ship's length.

With how large the ship was, this was truly a feat and a stunningly beautiful scenery unfolded before them.

The place looked like it was sparking with the chandeliers and high-classed furniture that were placed inside. The crystals shone delicately, each crystal refracting a few different colours of light.

The servers were obviously the guards that doubled as the ship's security, but they didn't look out of place with their black, sleek suits and ties. Instead, they appeared rather amiable and helpful as they waited in the background.

Standing around, they looked just like the help that the nobles had back home, which helped them to blend into the background more.

If a person didn't know that they were on a ship, they could have imagined that they were in some noble's ballroom. The ship was stable and didn't have any rocking motions that were present in a more low-class ship, showing absolute stability.

It was so grand that they could even imagine it as the royal ballroom.

So, it was expected that most of the nobles were delighted to be here.

The class of this place even surpassed those of the higher-ranking nobles, which made some of them feel inferior, but they were also determined to use this place to the best of their ability.

They were surprised that the ship had spontaneously held a ball for them, but none of them were complaining after seeing the decorations and service that came with this place.

Even if they did have complaints, the ship wouldn't care – something which further confirmed to them that the backers of this ship could not be messed with.

They had just expected to have a normal bit of fun whilst they travelled to the Kaoriht continent, but instead, they were given a treat at the ship's expense.

That night, Alec brought Elysia to the 'ball' spontaneously held by the ship, and he felt like he was going to die.

All these people, cramped in the same place, with him unable to deflect their attention to something else.

Even more so because both of them were attracting a lot of attention, and it was over his dead body if he left Elysia alone.

She could take care of herself, but…

Let's be real here.

She was a Main Character. There was no way this wasn't going to end peacefully.

Chaos was their bread and butter.

Alec nodded to the guard at the side, who opened the doors for them.

Elysia had her hand tucked on the crook of his elbow, and they were walking forward together as they kept up their little act.

They made a stunning couple. One with black hair, the other with silvery-white hair. Under the gentle light of the chandeliers at the top of the ballroom, they almost sparkled under the light.

They looked like a fairy-tale couple that had come out from the books, and they drew attention left right and centre.

The man had a gentle smile on his face, while the lady was smiling in delight. Hand in hand, they descended the steps, and it took everyone's breath away.

Alec was more dressed up than he had ever been, and he was uncomfortable, but none of it showed on his face.

With his hair partially put up, the people in the ship were able to see the clarity of his blue, crystalline eyes that shone like jewels. Paired with his smile and his elegant looks, he stole the hearts of another portion of the people there who had been resistant to him before.

Elysia on the other hand, looked like a fairy. She had the lightest bit of makeup on her face, and her lips looked slightly shinier than normal. With her hair held up by a golden clip inlaid with sparkling stones, her eyes looked bigger and almost sparkled.

The lace of her dress matched her eyes perfectly, and her dress flowed gently with every movement she made.

When she smiled up at Alec, Alec could almost hear the collective breaths that had been held just looking at her.

He himself had to exert all his self-control to act like he usually did. It was like a layer of acting that he had luckily prepared for in his clan training.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, the people below had already parted, giving them some breathing room.

The ladies and gentlemen that lingered around, chatting and socializing, kept casting glances at the both of them. All of them had smiles on their faces, and they generally looked like they were having a good time.

There wasn't a single sad face in the ballroom, which made Alec's skin prickle immediately when he saw it.

He was used to seeing smiles, but he couldn't help but see that most of them were fake, hiding their other intentions.

It was at this moment that Elysia disentangled her hand that had previously been in the crook of Alec's elbow.

This seemed to be the movement the crowd needed and caused them to almost surge in a wave, as if it was some sort of signal to them that all bets were off now.

Alec twitched as he smiled disarmingly at the lady that had dared to grab his hand, then swept Elysia away, to the middle of the dancefloor.

Elysia, on the other hand, looked like she was having the time of her life.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes sparkled under the lights.

Alec's lips twitched, and his eyes shone mischievously. He dipped her, whispering at her surprised look, "I'm surprised you know how to dance."

Elysia pouted and looked at him with an offended look. "What if I didn't know how to?"

Alec smiled. "Then, you'd be stumbling around stepping on my foot all night."

She was instantly speechless, but her lips quirked all the same, and she eventually ended up laughing.

Her laugh lit up the ballroom, and they attracted even more attention, but for some reason, Alec couldn't bring himself to care at this moment in time.

Somehow, he felt that as long as he had Elysia by his side…

Alec harshly bit the inside of his cheek, causing himself to bleed. It didn't hurt at all, but the taste helped him snap back to reality as he regained his senses. How could he think of such things?

This was the result of him not locking away these extraneous emotions that he didn't need.

It caused him to think of things that he would rather not think about, as well as the fact that his 'fate' was not controlled by himself.

He couldn't accept it.

He could accept that he was attracted to Elysia, but he couldn't accept that it was because he was a Cher that he felt these feelings.

What if he wasn't part Cher?

Was it even possible that he would have fallen in love with her in the end? He didn't think so.

How could he, Alec, be part Cher when he was already a Sin?

He still didn't understand.

He thought that perhaps he would be able to answer some of his questions if he saw his mother again, but she'd gone to find his father while he was away, which meant that he was still in the dark.

He couldn't find any written texts about this even in the depths of the royal library. Alistair had certainly given him enough time to comb through the library, and there was no part of it that had been kept from him, so what was happening?

Elysia, who seemed to notice that Alec was distracted, leaned lightly on him as they swayed gently together with the music.

"What's wrong?"

Chapter end

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