“Oh…?”

The arms wrapped around her waist lifted her body very easily.

Relying on her strength, Hazel managed to keep her balance and stood up. She felt a slight sprain in her leg from the fall, and a sharp pain shot through her.

Before long, the dragon, the source of her defeat, hummed majestically as he waded through the crowd of people.

“Thank you.”

She expressed her gratitude and tried to untangle the arm around her waist. But the arm around her waist didn’t shake off with her strength in the slightest. Most importantly, the owner of the arm didn’t seem to be willing to let her go.

“Well, remove your…”

Even after she asked, the owner of the hand remained still. Hazel raised her head to look at the man’s face, but what she saw before her was the black man’s outfit. His body was so large that it blocked all of Hazel’s vision.

Hazel’s eyes level was fixed on the man’s chest, and his black outfit stood out from the crowd of people dressed in all kinds of colors.

He even wore black silk gloves on his hands, hiding all the skin.

“I…..”

The moment Hazel lifted her head, the tempo of the music suddenly became faster.

The gestures of the circling people also quickened in time with the fast music, and Hazel, snuggled against the man’s chest, was instantly in the middle of the vortex.

There was no time to shake off her surprise. And In no time at all, she was being pushed out into the middle of the hall and forced to dance.

It was just strange that her legs were moving on their own. She almost fell over and was flopping around, getting run over everywhere by people, but the dance went on smoothly.

The man holding her skillfully continued to dance. She tried to find out who he was, but the strength of the arms holding her was too strong. She was just pulled along like a marionette.

“When this song is over…”

Hazel looked around and then decided that for now she had no choice.

Everyone was busy dancing like crazy to the fast music. The hall was so tightly packed that it seemed impossible to get out or get in.

‘Who the hell is this?’

She couldn’t tell since he was wearing a mask, but it felt strange to be dancing in the arms of a strange man. However, they were perfectly in sync, as if they had already tried dancing together many times.

‘How many times already?’

Hazel was engulfed in an somehow ominous energy. The man’s body heat, his body’s scent, even the feel of his arms around her. It reminded her of someone.

Meanwhile, Hazel danced against the man’s chest. She groggily tried to pull her face away from him.

The first thing she saw was a mask as black as his clothes. And…

“…”

The deep blue eyes were looking down at her. Hazel forgot how to move her body the moment she met the eyes of the man in the mask.

‘Achilleon.’

She almost spat the name out of her mouth.

It didn’t matter if he was hiding behind a mask or wrapped up in a costume. Every nerve was responding to him.

For all the time she had lived as his wife and Empress of Demophos, his presence was clearly imprinted on Hazel.

When the flowing steps got faster, the man picked her up, and placed her feet on his own feet, and danced away like that. The man’s blue eyes remained fixed on her. It was just like that day.

“So rude.”

That day, Hazel glared at the man who had his arm wrapped around her waist.

“Can I shake it off then?”

Achilleon glanced at Sisef, who was asking Lorette to dance. In the end, Hazel quietly finished her dance in his arms.

“…… don’t ever do that again.”

As soon as the dance was over, Hazel abruptly moved away from him. She had thought that was the end of her encounter with Achilleon.

The day she had first met Achilleon, the day he had taken her to dance with impunity, the moment when Lorette had stolen all the attention from her, it was Achilleon who unwillingly saved her.

The light from the chandelier hanging on the ceiling brought Hazel back to her senses. The blue eyed man was still not looking at Hazel.

Hazel hastily lowered her head. But the feeling of the gaze looking down at her from above was not going away.

The song was almost at its peak. Hazel clung to him like a puppet with a broken chain, and continued to dance helplessly.

Thump, her heart that had seemed to stop for a while, started again. It felt as if a telegraph was ringing.

Hazel bit her lip in frustration, wondering if Achilleon could hear the thumping sound of her heart. It had never been so fortunate to be wearing a mask.

‘I don’t think he recognized me.’

Hazel believed that. On the other hand, she couldn’t completely escape Achilleon’s insistent gaze.

In the midst of chaos, the dance song was finally over. Hazel still couldn’t move in his embrace.

“…”

For a few moments between songs, someone excused themselves for a break, while those who continued to dance adjusted their posture, waiting for the next song. Then the others changed partners.

Hazel stared at them in a daze. Among them was Sisef, who was still searching for Hazel.

Achilleon didn’t seem to want to let her go, so he finally opened her mouth after a series of hard swallows.

“I’d like to take a rest.”

She said in a deliberately low voice, hoping Achilleon wouldn’t remember the voice she shouted at him the night he saved Titty.

Surprisingly, he let her go in a straightforward manner.

“Are you alright?”

“…?”

“I think I sprained my ankle when I fell earlier.”

“…”

Hazel finally remembered the pain she had forgotten. She also realized why the man was holding her the whole time so that her foot didn’t touch the floor.

“Oh, It’s okay.”

Startled, Hazel removed her feet that had been placed on top of his to the floor. For a moment, the sharp pain returned, and Hazel wrinkled her brow in her mask.

“Thank you, I’m going to….”

At that moment, the dance music began to play, much slower than before. The movements of the people dancing to the slow music also slowed down.

As the man picked Hazel up casually and pushed his way through the dancing crowd, there were murmurs of discontent here and there, but all such commotion soon died down as everyone concentrated on dancing again.

Hazel was helpless as she was being held by him. In no time at all, Achilleon had made all the way to where there was a balcony with open curtains, and it was not until after he entered it that he lowered her onto the spacious railing.

Hazel sat nervously on the balcony railing and looked down behind her.

Would it hurt to jump down from here? It wasn’t like her leg was broken, so she could just manage to hold on and run. Achilleon’s arms trapped her sides while her thoughts mingled.

“…”

Hazel looked up softly at the man who had cast a bow shadow. She had no idea what Achilleon looked like in the mask.

“You won’t be able to run away with that foot.”

Hazel held her breath as she gazed at the man, who seemed to have read her mind. It felt like she was facing his bare face despite the mask he was wearing.

The blue eyes inside stood out even more as they went pitch black, and Hazel felt suffocated even more.

It was quiet on all sides. The sound of music and the laughter of people could be heard from very far away. Even just out on the balcony, it was a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the dance hall.

She couldn’t run away, and was trapped in the silence, alone with him, a troubling situation that she couldn’t describe.

“I’m going back.”

Hazel managed to spit out the words.

“Step aside, please.”

“I’m sure we have a lot to talk about.”

“What…”

Achilleon stuck his hand under my mask and took it off.

Hazel sucked in a hasty breath as the man’s face appeared like a delicate piece of sculpture in the moonlight.

He looked down at Hazel as he lightly brushed off her pale, shiny blond hair, and she bit her lip softly behind her mask.

“You still don’t recognize me?”

The tone he threw slowly had a horrifyingly sharp edge to it. Hazel’s hand, gripping the railing, tightened.

Waiting for an answer, Achilleon laughed and, in a very natural manner, flipped up Hazel’s dress as he knelt on one knee in front of her.

“Ah…!”

She was startled and tried to pull the dress down, but Achilleon’s hands were faster.

Hazel was confused and didn’t know what to do when her white, thin legs appeared under the dress, which was quickly rolled up to her knees. The man examined her legs, keeping a firm grip on them. He was too brazen.

“What are you doing? Please let go of me. I’ll scream….”

“Scream.”

He replied nonchalantly and began to look carefully at Hazel’s ankle again.

“Let me go!”

Hazel twisted her legs, trying to escape from his grasp. But she was no match for his strength.