The music changed to a slow song and soon couples started going in pairs encircling the entire town square.

"Do you want to... Huh? What the?"

When Ann turned to her left, Noah was nowhere to be found. He had vanished into the crowd leaving her alone with Raeden.

'Where did he go?'

Ann searched everywhere. She was about to ask him for a dance. But he had disappeared without a trace.

"What to dance?"

When Ann turned back to the sound of the familiar voice, Raeden was looking at her.

He was not evading her. His black eyes were gazing into her emerald ones.

"What?" Ann blinked.

She felt surprised for a moment, wondering if she was hearing things.

"Was that not the right way?" Raeden asked himself confused if he was saying the right words.

"May I have this dance, Young lady?"

He held out his hand to Ann with a warm smile on his face.

To Ann, the most unexpected words had come from the most unpredictable person.

For the two years she had known Raeden, she had never seen him smile like that before.

It was more than enough to turn any girl's heart into a race car. And she was no different.

'Did he just ask me for a dance?'

Although Ann was stunned at first, the surprise soon faded away and a wide smile bloomed on her face.

"I would love to"

She grasped Raeden's hand and half dragged him into the dance floor.







Meanwhile, on the other side of the square, Will watched Ann and Raeden dance with a gloomy expression.

"There goes your last chance" Gallahan put a hand on his grandson's shoulder to console him.

"Sometimes it's best to know when to move on. Don't hurt yourself kid. There is a lot more you have to experience"

He ruffled Will's hair and walked away, leaving him alone to figure out his feelings. Since it was something he had to go through on his own.

"Yeah" Will smiled wryly.

He felt a prickle in his heart. He may have only known her for a short period of time, but it was hard watching his first love go into the arms of another man in the center of the dance floor.

And the worst part was that the only thing he could do was stare at them hopelessly from a corner.

But there was something else that was concerning him.

He was sad and sorrowful from watching his first love being squished. But,

'What's his problem?'

Will was muddled.

Standing next to him and staring in fury with clenched fists was Kalan or Kalan Verglas, the leader of the Orion merchants. And the person on the other end of his intense gaze was his first love.

Will had only learned Kalan's full name hours ago from his Grandfather. He was standing alone without his assistant Ezra, who was usually always around him.

Will felt a chill in the air.

For some reason, Kalan has been exhibiting a murderous aura that was too hard to ignore. Even the people around him started to scurry again feeling uncomfortable.

Kalan was a stranger to her, just like him. He had no reason to feel agitated. At least that Will knew of.

'Why is he looking like he wants to kill someone?'

"Hey, are you alright..?"

When Will called out to Kalan to check if he was alright, he ignored him and trudged his way towards the center of the dance floor.





Ann felt excited.

It was her first time dancing with someone since she left her home. She put one hand on Raeden's shoulder and held his other hand.

As expected of a strong beastman in his prime, Raeden had a firm and strong physique. His hand on her waist was holding her tightly so that in case of an accident she doesn't trip.

But unbeknownst to him, Ann was an ace dancer. So much so that she was praised by Countess Norton for her excellent skills. There was a billion-to-one chance of her tripping in the middle of a performance.

Though the people around them were not dancing the exact steps, they were moving to the rhythm of the music.

To her astonishment, Raeden was a much better dancer than she had expected. He knew the basics to the point that it was flawless.

"Wow.... Raeden I never knew" Ann exclaimed with an impressed smile.

A step back, a step in, and a swirl.

Ann was enjoying the dance just as much as everyone else.

Suddenly Noah, who had disappeared without a word, bumped into her back.

He was dancing with a woman in her sixties right behind her. He nodded his head when their eyes met and swirled the lady into his arms like a spinning toy.

Right then, the music changed again and everyone started switching partners. This was the final part of the dance, where people swap partners in a circle until the end of the song.

Unsurprisingly Ann's next partner was Noah.

Raeden let go of her hand and went into the audience instead of going for another dance partner.

"Why'd you disappear?" Ann asked, placing her hand on Noah's shoulder and letting go of Raeden's hand.

"Why should I reject my chance to dance with the most beautiful women in this town? For you? No way that's gonna happen" Noah smirked and winked at the woman he was dancing with before.

"Oh my... young people these days" The lady blushed at the sight of Noah's flirting.

"Haha... idiot. Look her husband is glaring at you" Ann turned away laughing.

"The music is changing" Noah said and swirled her around.

And so as the music continued to change, people swapped partners as they spun to the rhythm of the sound.

When she looked around to spot her friends among the people, Ann noticed Kalan dancing with a little girl a few steps away from her.

'Awww..'

Though the girl was less than half his height, Kalan was doing his best to match her pace.

When she searched through the crowd again, she caught Raeden standing beside Eugene in the audience.

'There he is'

While Ann was still distracted from spotting Raeden, the music stopped marking the end of the dance.

"Wait, the music stopped!"

Not taking the cue, the person she was dancing with, an over-excited elderly gentleman spun her around with momentum towards the next person.

Ann raised her hands and balanced herself inches away from crashing into the man in front of her.

"Whoa! Sorry about that"

When she looked up to see who it was. Kalan was standing there motionless like a statue. He was holding out his hand, as if ready for the next round of dance.

In a second, the square was filled with cheerful applause.

Ann followed suit and clapped her hands, along with Kalan for the wonderful dance along with everyone.

"Hm?"

Behind Kalan, she could see people gathering around a large tent. There was a sign at the entrance of the tent that read 'Annual Wine Fair'.

The very place where the most exquisite collection of flower wine was arranged. Following the fragrance drifting from the tent, she walked towards it as if it were by instinct, ignoring Kalan.

"Phew... that was awkward" She signed, taking a seat on one of the tables inside the tent.

'That was the second time I almost crashed into him'

Ann chugged down her first glass of wine to clear her mind.

Now was not the time to feel awkward about needless things. It was the time to celebrate her victory over the novel.

Before entering the tent, she had signaled the rest of the Nero mercenaries to follow her there. But they might arrive late due to the number of girls surrounding them, all trying to give flowers.

So even if Ann were to pass out after drinking, they would take her back to the inn safely.

It was the perfect setting to let loose and enjoy.

Ann raised her glass in the air and announced,

"Here's to victory!"

She started piling up empty wine glasses each the size of a beer jug one after the other, much to the awe of the organizers of the event.

"Not again"

Eugene facepalmed at the sight, while the rest of the guys each grabbed themselves a glass and sat beside Ann.

Eunseo had three stages in which her alcohol meter could be measured.

Stage one: Drops truth bombs regardless of the place and people present.

Stage two: Starts singing imagining herself in a Karaoke bar

Stage three: Blacks out and forgets everything after a certain point.

"My ex was an absolute piece of human scum"

Ann took a sip of the blue wine. Her face was starting to get red owing to the amount of alcohol in her system.

The blue wine was a newly developed product derived from the petals of the flower Caze, a small blue-colored flower the size of the button that was native to Lorem.

Contrary to its size it had higher alcohol content than the rest of the wines and was also the main attraction of the fair.

"But.." Ann giggled.

"Even being the worst of the worthless sh*t he was. He was a man of fine taste"

She emptied the rest of the wine in her glass and shouted,

"And I'm pretty sure that he would love this! Manager, give me one.. no three! Bring three boxes of this luxurious delicacy!"

"Don't listen to her" Eugene laughed awkwardly trying his best to maintain his cool. He sent the manager away before coming back to his seat.

Inside the tent filled with tables of loud drunk people, they were the loudest.

"So what stage are we in now?" Oliver asked while holding down Ann so she doesn't climb on the table.

"Stupid fox! Levv go of me" Ann bit his hand.

"OW!"

"It is stage one transitioning over stage two"

Noah's eyes widened at the sight of the empty glasses. There were enough glasses to build a large tower.

Suddenly Ann started giggling and laughing like a maniac.

Oliver let go of her and peered into her face confused.

"Hehehe" Ann stood up.

"Why are you so excited?" Jade frowned as he dodged her hand trying to grab another glass of wine.

"It's the best day of my life!"

"Ok but. Why are you crying?"

"I'm just.... ss-so happy" Ann said, holding back the tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall.

"You're drunk" Raeden wiped the tears on her eyes with his thumb.

"I'm not *hic* drunk *hic*. I wanna sing my joy to the world!"

Ann declared and tried to climb on the table again. However, Raeden caught her and held her to the ground.

"Wha... *hic* I wanna *hic* sing" She pouted.

Her tipsiness had reached its peak. The redness on her face made it clear that she was on the verge of reaching stage three.

"I'll take you to the inn" Raeden said, putting her arm around his shoulder.

"Fine. I'll just have it in the room. Noah, bring a trolley full of that blue liquid to the room" Ann blabbered on the way out.

"Yeah sure" Noah smirked and waved her goodbye.

The rest of the members let Raeden take care of Ann alone since he was the only person she properly listened to in her drunk state.

Earlier that day, when Raeden, Jade, and Eugene went back to the inn during lunch, the innkeeper told them about the sudden opening of a single room on the third floor. Though they never asked for a spare room, he handed them the key and went back to his business.

Since there was a difference in height Raeden had to crunch down all the way to the third floor of the inn.

"Raeden. He has a girlfriend now. He is going to have a big fat wedding soon" Ann said in a low voice as he laid her down on the bed and removed her boots.

"Hmm mmm"

"That mathaf*cker!"

In an instant, Ann changed from a docile sleeping puppy to a ferocious fox. She sat up in a fury and stared into the unknown.

"How dare he get a girlfriend! I'm gonna beat his ass up to a freakin' pulp. That conniving... piece... of... shhii-..."

"Calm down" With a light nudge on the shoulder Ann fell on the bed again.

"Sleep" He smiled, gently closing her eyes.

"..."

"..."

After a few minutes, Ann called out in her sleep.

"Raeden"

"..."

"If you keep being this nice to me. I might misunderstand"

"It's fine" He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

"You won't remember anyway"

Just as Raeden stepped out of Ann's room, his eyes were on a rather unexpected person.

Kalan was standing in the hallway with his hand on the doorknob of the room next to Ann's.

After a moment of silence, Raeden turned away and leaned on the door as he closed his eyes. He was standing as if he was about to stand guard for the room for the rest of the night.

"..."

Having understood the meaning behind his action Kalan's grip on the doorknob tightened.

A deep handprint was left behind on the knob as if it was crushed under immense pressure.

"Not yet..."

Kalan mumbled under his breath as he closed the door behind his back and disappeared into the darkness of his room.