Noah was wearing a cool-toned tailcoat that accentuated the strengths of his elegant and strong body lines.

His hair was naturally parted, revealing his round forehead and beautifully shaped eyebrows.

Around his eyes was a mask of the same dark blue color as his jacket. The lack of decoration on the mask was the best choice. His blue eyes stood out beautifully between the dark mask.

Nigel stared at that face, mesmerized.

Whoever had dressed him so perfectly deserved a standing ovation.

At that moment, Noah unnecessarily touched his neatly parted hair.

“I tried adjusting things here and there at Allen’s urging, but it still feels awkward, doesn’t it?”

No, it’s too perfect to be real.

“…It does feel quite different from usual.”

Nigel’s face involuntarily frowned as she tried to hold back the nonsense about to burst out. Noticing Nigel’s expression, Noah smiled awkwardly.

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have just come in my usual shirt and pants.”

“…I suppose.”

Nigel was too busy scanning every inch of Noah’s face to hear what he was saying.

“Nigel…”

The gaze looking down at her quickly scattered.

“You’re beautiful as always.”

“…Is that all?”

The words that would make the girls who spent hours dressing her up want to grab her collar immediately burst out without passing through her brain.

After all, thanks to the children’s precious moisturizer, her dry skin that had been cracking from kicking the blankets late at night because of someone was now glowing with moisture, and her hair that had been as dry as roadside reeds was now softer than silk, startling even herself when it brushed against her neck.

Thanks to the children’s efforts, she had transformed from a country girl who just arrived in the city to a lady who looked like she stepped out of a ballroom! For this incredible change to be described as merely the same as usual, her emotions rose without her realizing it.

“…Ah.”

Noah’s face turned red.

“Th-that’s not what I meant, I meant you’re beautiful even normally…”

Then Noah’s firm posture crumbled. He covered his face and quickly rambled on.

Saying things like she was so beautiful today he could barely look at her, but she was beautiful in everyday life too. The longer Noah spoke, the redder Nigel’s face became to match his.

“…Alright, that’s enough, I get it.”

Despite having someone else he truly liked. How could his tongue be so long and disgustingly sweet? Irritation welled up.

‘…It’s just a fleeting love anyway, so let’s enjoy today without regrets and end it cleanly.’

Nigel was about to roughly shake her head, but quickly stopped as Charlotte’s anguished groan came to mind. Instead, she extended her arm to Noah.

“Are we just going to stay here?”

At those words, Noah quickly lowered the hand covering his handsome face and pulled Nigel’s arm onto his sturdy forearm.

At the same time, magic flowed out.

“…”

Though it was just a normal physiological reaction, it felt like a strange feeling of pink sweet liquid bubbling up.

“Shall we go then?”

The blue eyes visible through the mask curved. Afraid strange words might burst out, Nigel bit her lip tightly the entire way to the ballroom.

There was an unpleasant face at the entrance to the ballroom.

“Nigel! Noah!”

Oliver, looking slightly better than usual, waved happily. Then he looked at Nigel lecherously.

“Wow, even your eye color changed, and your complexion too. If it weren’t for my sharp eye, I might not have recognized you.”

“…Be quiet. By the way, you look hardly different from usual, senior.”

“Whether dressed up or not, this handsome figure can’t be hidden. Every morning when I look in the bathroom mirror, I give thanks to the goddess.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“Yeah~ Looking at this, that exaggerated advertisement claiming cosmetics are another blessing from the goddess wasn’t wrong. Anyway, freshman, I heard the news…”

Oliver’s face, which had been chattering excitedly while staring at Nigel, suddenly disappeared and her vision darkened.

“Senior, could we continue the rest of the conversation inside the ballroom? Our party is inside.”

Noah’s calm voice was heard in front of Nigel.

“Oh! Of course, of course. This tactless senior should quickly get out of the way so Lord Beselion can dance face to face with Nigel and have a cozy chat, right?”

“Senior…!”

“Alright, alright. Go on in. Welcome to the Sienna Autumn Ball. There’s only one rule today. Enjoy yourselves.”

Oliver opened the ballroom doors wide with a mischievous smile.

“…!”

The first thing that came into view was the magnificent chandelier on the ceiling, followed by the students inside the ballroom. The faces of the students, who usually looked years older from exhaustion due to assignments and exams, were filled with a rosy vitality befitting their age.

They were forming friendly pairs, looking at each other shyly or affectionately.

Among them were many Magic Department and Political Science Department classmates who used to glare at each other murderously whenever they met in the hallway, which made Nigel chuckle.

“…As expected, Nigel isn’t nervous at all.”

“What?”

At the sudden question, Nigel looked up at Noah, who turned his head to avoid her gaze and spoke softly enough for only Nigel to hear.

“…Actually, I’m nervous.”

‘Did they coat his tongue with honey while styling his hair? Why is he suddenly like this?’

Nigel raised her empty hand, but unable to bring herself to mess up her styled hair, she just left deep nail marks on her palm.

Just then, a lively and elegant waltz melody began to play.

Noah lowered his head to meet Nigel’s gaze, and elegantly extended the hand that usually gripped and swung a sword fiercely.

“Nigel, would you like to dance?”

As if his words about being nervous were true, the corners of his gently raised lips trembled slightly.

Thump. Thump.

Nigel slowly placed her hand on Noah’s large one, savoring the pleasant trembling.

The feeling of Noah’s hand on her waist was distracting for a moment, but as she began to move to the lively dance tune, Nigel’s mood naturally lifted.

Thanks to the memory of dancing with Andy a few times during the Flores Festival, she didn’t even step on Noah’s feet. Proud of that small accomplishment, she smiled slightly.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself, Nigel.”

Noah’s laughter was heard. The pretty smile she met when she looked up shook Nigel’s heart in an instant.

Noah freely gave his smile to the dazed Nigel.

“Actually, I didn’t even notice your eye color had changed until Oliver mentioned it. Embarrassingly, I was too nervous the whole time.”

“…You get nervous too?”

Are you worried you might step on my feet while dancing?

At Nigel’s muttering, a refreshing laugh like raindrops falling one by one from a tree after a sudden shower was heard above her head.

“I’m human too. Well, no matter how much I think about it, I’m not confident I can be a good partner for Nigel.”

Does he mean he’s lacking compared to Meriel?

Nigel’s head tilted to the left at words whose meaning she couldn’t understand at all.

“…Even now, I can’t look you properly in the eye.”

Noah’s blue eyes, which had been avoiding her gaze, finally met Nigel’s directly.

“You’re very pretty today. So much that I can barely look at you properly.”

The feet that had been constantly tracing beautiful curves suddenly stopped. Fortunately, the band’s hands stopped at the same time, covering up Nigel’s mistake.

“I… I have something to take care of, so I’ll be back in a bit.”

Nigel hurried away from Noah, not even knowing how she said goodbye. Then she fled to the nearest visible balcony.

“…Hello, lady.”

And of all people, she encountered Ashton standing alone holding a drink.

Ashton’s mouth opened faster than Nigel’s feet could leave the balcony.

“Are you enjoying the ball?”

“…Yeah.”

Nigel answered with a sigh.

“Well, you looked like you were. You were flying solo during the waltz. To the point where I regretted not being your partner.”

“…Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

Ashton smiled leisurely as usual.

“By the way, does your partner have terrible taste? To leave such a beautiful lady alone, it must be quite serious.”

“It’s fine, I ran away.”

Nigel frowned, recalling Noah’s sweet voice that sounded like he had fallen into a vat of honey. Being with him made her feel like her heart would beat so fast it might burst and kill her.

Just then, she saw Noah laughing and chatting with Allen beyond the balcony curtain.

…Yes, that smile was the biggest problem. That smile accounted for 80% of the issue.

“If you dislike your partner enough to wrinkle that pretty face, you could still change partners now.”

“…Stop joking.”

As soon as she turned her gaze to Ashton, her heart calmed down.

“By the way, have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

No sooner had Nigel asked than the ballroom, which had been filled with the soft melody of string instruments, became noisy.

“Duke Dien is coming to the ball today.”

Ashton said calmly as he finished his drink. At the same time, Nigel’s face turned deathly pale.