Another few days passed. Under Miss Fíliya's persistent efforts—driven by a determination akin to a spiritual awakening—she finally managed to perform a dance routine that was barely passable.
As for how many pairs of Solitär's shoes she trampled in the process, that was a solemn issue neither she nor Solitär wished to recall or investigate too deeply.
The time for the gala quietly arrived. Fíliya and her group donned their respective formal attire and began their final preparations before departure.
"This is really quite exaggerated."
Fíliya looked at herself in the mirror, feeling exceptionally unfamiliar with the reflection. After all, it was her first time wearing this kind of evening gown, with a hem long enough to trail on the ground.
Usually, she wouldn't miss a chance to narcissistically admire her own beauty, but now, due to the stark contrast, she appeared somewhat dazed.
"Lady Fíliya is so beautiful."
Linie's voice chimed in at the perfect moment to play the hype man.
Hearing this, Fíliya immediately turned in her direction, then reached out to pinch the other's cheek.
"You're not bad either. Who are you planning to charm to death today?"
Fíliya chuckled softly.
"Mm... In Linie's case... will Lady Fíliya be charmed by Linie?"
Linie tilted her head slightly, looking at Fíliya.
"Of course. Aren't I already charmed?"
As Fíliya spoke, she slowly moved her hand up to pat the top of Linie's head.
"By the way, Solitär, to think you could even make something like this... I thought those daily outfits were exaggerated enough, but I didn't expect you could even make an evening gown."
Fíliya ran her hand over the velvet embellishments and the intricate gold and silver embroidery on the dress. Feeling the exquisite quality, she immediately expressed her admiration for Solitär's craftsmanship.
"That is only natural. I haven't lived this one thousand years for nothing, you know? The number of things I can do is absolutely beyond your imagination."
Solitär wore a confident expression, holding her head a little higher.
"Umu... I absolutely believe that."
Fíliya nodded in full agreement with Solitär's statement.
"Not only have you honed a transcendent level of magic, but you've also mastered countless practical human skills... Compared to some 'Nameless Great Demon,' you seem more like a 'Prophet' of the Demon Race. You are completely different from a certain idiot who has muddled through five hundred years, good for nothing but eating, drinking, and sleeping—aside from developing her innate magic quite well."
"Hey! I heard that! Why are you subtly mocking me again?! I'm working hard now too, okay! Can we stop bringing up the past?!"
Fíliya's passive-aggressive remarks immediately provoked a protest from Miss Aura.
"Subtly? How many times have I said it? I, Fíliya, have always been mocking you openly. I never speak in code, alright?"
Fíliya laughed softly.
"Tch... Enough, stop with this nonsense! I feel like a similar scene has happened at least three times already. Don't you get tired of it!"
Miss Aura crossed her arms over her chest, puffing up her cheeks in anger. Her flushed, shy appearance, combined with the elegant and pure evening gown, actually had quite a distinct charm, causing even Fíliya to involuntarily offer a compliment.
"Clothes really do make the person... Aura, wearing this outfit, I feel like you've become a lot smarter."
Fíliya rested her chin on one hand, looking Miss Aura up and down with a satisfied gaze.
"? Really?"
A trace of surprise instantly surged onto Aura's face, which then immediately transformed into joy.
"Then should I wear this outfit all the time from now on?"
"Up to you. As long as you like it."
Fíliya replied casually.
"Mm... better not. I feel like it really impacts my movement."
After a moment of thought, Aura actually abandoned the idea. Her remark drew Fíliya's agreement.
"Yeah, indeed... It's not even to the extent of 'impacting movement,' it's simply 'restrictive'... The guy who invented these clothes should be nailed to the pillar of shame! Though, it is indeed quite pretty..."
In the span of a breath, Miss Fíliya demonstrated to everyone what it meant to have one's left and right brain fighting each other. Fortunately, no one stepped up to roast her for it.
"Feels like something is missing? Since it already affects movement, might as well go all the way..."
Fíliya muttered something under her breath, then began rummaging through her travel backpack. Before long, she found her target.
What she was looking for was the bracelet Sense had given her years ago, when she first left home to head for the Northern Plateau.
"Speaking of which... this thing has been gathering dust for over two years. If it had thoughts, it would probably be complaining about me, right?"
Fíliya chuckled lightly, slowly putting the bracelet on her wrist.
Just then, Solitär leaned in closer to her.
"Is that the 'Coming-of-age gift' from Sense that you mentioned?"
Solitär's tone sounded very calm.
"Yeah."
Fíliya nodded.
A trace of hesitation appeared on Solitär's face. Fíliya naturally noticed this, but just as she was about to ask, the hand Solitär had hidden behind her back voluntarily reached out.
In Solitär's hand was a gift box.
Fíliya raised an eyebrow slightly.
"When did you buy this? Haven't we been together these past few days?"
"When you weren't looking, of course."
Solitär responded with a smile.
"Come to think of it... I don't seem to have given you anything."
"Who said that? You have clearly already given me something very precious."
As Fíliya spoke, she looked at Solitär with a gentle expression.
"Hmm?"
Solitär was momentarily confused. She understood that Fíliya wasn't referring to the box in her hand, but something else, yet she didn't react immediately.
"If you don't know, then think about it slowly. There's plenty of time anyway."
Fíliya laughed softly but had no intention of explaining. Instead, she directly opened the box.
Inside was another silver bracelet, but this one was embedded with a red gemstone.
After Fíliya put this bracelet on her hand as well, she finally revealed a helpless smile.
"One on the left and one on the right... and one is a ruby while the other is a sapphire... It feels like I'm being tethered by two forces, tied up tight."
After roasting herself, Fíliya led the group to set off, heading for the gala venue.
Upon arrival, there was naturally the unavoidable exchange of pleasantries with the Lord. Fortunately, this segment didn't last too long.
Soon, the group began to move freely and leisurely around the gala venue.
"Well then... the timing is about right. How much longer do you need to mentally prepare?"
Solitär smiled at Fíliya, then extended her hand.
"It's the first time, you know. I should have some mental preparation."
Fíliya's expression appeared slightly awkward; after all, live combat is always different from drills.
But after taking several deep breaths in succession, she placed her hand in Solitär's palm. Together with Solitär, she stepped onto the dance floor.
This 'Beauty matched with Beauty' pair attracted everyone's attention the moment they entered. After all, whether it was Fíliya or Miss Solitär, as long as they kept their mouths shut, they were indisputably beauties.
The praises of those boring humans were automatically filtered out by the two of them. In this instant, it could be said they only had eyes for each other, oblivious to the world around them.
With an apprehensive heart, Fíliya controlled her muscles to the utmost limit. Finally, she successfully completed the dance with Solitär without stepping on Miss Solitär's shoes.
When the two returned to their original spots, Fíliya let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
"Phew... finally over. I thought I was going to die..."
Fíliya spoke with great exaggeration, even lifting the hem of her dress to fan herself. Luckily, their location was secluded enough that this 'indecent' behavior wasn't seen by anyone.
"If you practice more in the future, it should slowly get better?"
Solitär comforted her with a smile.
"Forget it... who wants to experience this if they don't have to... By the way, Solitär, are you satisfied?"
Once Fíliya felt a bit better, she immediately observed Solitär's reaction.
"Of course. There is nothing better than this."
Solitär's answer held not a single shred of hesitation. This made Fíliya happy as well, because she could tell Solitär's words came from the heart and weren't just feigned to comfort her.
"Then let's end it like thi...?"
Just as Fíliya was preparing to declare the end of the dancing, she suddenly realized—when had Linie unknowingly stood in front of her?
"Eh? Linie?"
She looked curiously at the young girl who usually had a slightly lower presence in the team.
"I can dance too... Can Lady Fíliya accompany me for a bit? I've been waiting in line behind Lady Solitär..."
Linie asked tentatively in a calm tone.
Hah? You've got to be kidding! I already felt like dying of embarrassment just once, and you want me to accompany a second person?!
Fíliya naturally wanted to refuse in her heart. However, when she saw Linie's eyes full of expectation, she simply couldn't bring herself to say the words of rejection.
"Uh... Solitär, what do you think?"
Fíliya swallowed and began to seek Solitär's opinion.
"Oh my? How rare, you actually asking for my opinion... Why not agree? You like Linie quite a bit anyway, don't you?"
Solitär chuckled softly. Since she had already claimed Miss Fíliya's 'First Time,' she was willing to be very generous and cede this second time to Linie.
"Alright..."
Fíliya took a deep breath, then stood up and rallied her spirits, taking Linie's hand to enter the dance floor once again.
Watching those two departing figures, there was now only one person who couldn't stay calm. That was Miss Aura, who had stuffed food into her mouth but froze for a good while, unable to swallow it down.
She hadn't thought much of Fíliya dancing with Solitär; after all, that was the purpose of Solitär teaching Fíliya to dance. But she hadn't expected Linie to pull a move like this...
Not good!
Solitär knew how to dance herself, and Linie could use [Magic Imitation] to directly steal the dancing skill... So, the only one who completely couldn't dance... wasn't that just her?!
Miss Aura, realizing with a start that she had been excluded again, felt the cake become hard to swallow... At this moment, she had only ten thousand regrets in her heart.
Why was it that she was the only one who chose to rot away, sleep, and eat when Solitär was teaching dancing, without ever thinking to learn a little bit along with them?!
This time... it really is a huge loss...
Aura bit her lip indignantly, her expression at this moment one of pitiful lovableness.
But since things had come to this... better just eat.
After taking a deep breath, Aura continued to stuff the cake into her stomach, swallowing it down along with her aggrieved feelings.
____
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