"Gastone? Gastone!?" Daniel shouted from the inside. He was searching for him for the last ten minutes.
Gastone’s eyes widened. He wasn’t able to sll Daniel’s scent nearby as his focus was on Lucia. "Lucia, I have sothing to tell you," he whispered hastily.
"Huh? What is it?" Lucia’s brow furrowed as she saw Gastone began to panicked.
"Daniel, he will ask you to be—" Gastone couldn’t continue his words when the door burst open, and Daniel went out.
"Gastone! Oh— Lucia! You’re finally here!" Daniel exclaid with a bright smile. He imdiately ignored Gastone and went straight to Lucia.
Lucia imdiately stepped back as Daniel tried to initiate contact. "Hello Daniel, I didn’t know it was your birthday. So I have no gift to give," she explained since Daniel might have asked for it.
"Ah! Don’t worry. I have tons already. I’m just happy that you’re here. I was searching for you everywhere earlier!" Daniel pouted, acting like a child before Lucia.
"Daniel..." Gastone called out from behind. He wanted to talk to him about his plan to ask Lucia to be his girlfriend. After hearing what Lucia shared with him, he wanted to prevent it from happening tonight.
"We’ll talk later, Gastone. I need to show sothing to Lucia," Daniel stated, barely glancing at Gastone. He held his arm toward Lucia, urging her to hold him.
Lucia looked at the two n and realized that Gastone knew what Daniel planned for the night.
"Wait, I’ll have to end my conversation with Gastone," Lucia stated as she brushed off Daniel and walked toward Gastone. "Is there sothing you need to tell ?"
Gastone stared cautiously at Lucia and Daniel. He felt torn between them since one wrong move would ruin their progress.
"I just want to say... You look good in that lavender dress," Gastone complinted nonchalantly. He took a deep breath and decided to let the decision fall on Lucia’s hand.
"Oh, thank you," Lucia replied. She looked down before turning to Daniel.
"Let’s go?" Daniel asked, offering his arms again, which Lucia took.
Gastone watched as the two entered the ballroom and left him on the balcony alone. He felt as if soone had punched him in the guts as he watched his mate taken by another man.
"Ah," Gastone lingered on the balcony, the cool night air doing little to soothe the turmoil in his chest. The sounds of laughter and music from the ballroom echoed back to him, a stark contrast to the silence that had now settled within him.
Summoning every ounce of courage, Gastone pushed through the doors and strode into the ballroom. He navigated through the crowd, his eyes locked on Daniel and Lucia.
Inside the ballroom, Daniel was already leading Lucia into the dance floor. They moved together gracefully, drawing the attention of many onlookers.
Lucia forced a smile, but Daniel could see through it— there was sothing else in her eyes, a hesitation, perhaps even a flicker of doubt.
"Don’t worry, you’ll be fine," Daniel whispered to comfort Lucia. He stopped in the middle as the music started. "Just follow my moves."
Lucia pursed her lips as she nodded. She knew how to dance since it was taught to her in the Orphanage where she grew up. However, she decided to follow Daniel to make her look uneducated in case Giselle was looking from the crowd.
"Lucia, will you have this dance with ?" Daniel asked, offering his hand.
The crowd began to circle around to watch them have their mont.
Lucia forced a smile as she placed her hand on top of Daniel’s. "Sure," she replied timidly.
The dance went smoothly at first; the crowd watched in awe as they gossiped about Lucia, a mysterious girl Daniel had brought to his first dance of the night.
As they circled, Lucia saw Gastone’s figure among the crowd. He looked at her intently, his eyes hinting with sadness.
"You know, Gastone really had a bad taste. I would prefer you to wear a more... glamorous gown. You wear a very simple one and what is that necklace? It looks cheap. Is it a family heirloom or sothing?" Daniel asked curiously. He knew Lucia wasn’t that wealthy compared to him, but he disapproved of what she was wearing.
Lucia snapped at Daniel in disbelief. She looked down at herself and started to get anxious as they were the center of attention at that point. However, Gastone’s complint rang in her brain more than Daniel’s.
"Is that so?" Lucia replied, forcing a smile.
"Yes, but don’t worry. After this night. I will take care of you, and that includes all the material stuff a woman ever wanted," Daniel replied, feeling proud of himself.
Lucia’s eyes twitched in annoyance. She purposely stepped on Daniel’s toes and showed a surprised expression. "Oh my, I’m sorry. I’m so bad at this."
Daniel grimaced in pain, but he tried to keep his cool. "I-It’s okay, but try not to do that again— ouch!" he exclaid as Lucia stepped on him again.
"Sorry!" Lucia whispered. Deep inside, she was delighted to hurt Daniel even with that simple gesture.
The crowd began to notice Lucia’s small mistakes, especially the young ladies who fancied Daniel.
Daniel glanced around with a frown. "Maybe we should finish this dance," he muttered, avoiding more embarrassnt.
"Sure," Lucia exclaid joyfully. In her mind, it was finally over, but she was wrong.
"Lucia," Daniel said. He found it was the right mont to do the act. "You know how much you an to . I’ve been thinking about this for a long ti..."
Lucia’s mouth hung open in surprise. She was about to leave, but Daniel spouted nonsense remarks.
"What do you an by that?" Lucia beca nervous. Her gaze flickered to the side, searching for Gastone, but instead, she saw Giselle looking at them intently as if she were watching an entertaining movie.
Lucia froze on her spot. She imdiately diverted her gaze and acted normally, even though her heart was pounding so loud that it made her nauseous.
"... I believe we’d be perfect together," Daniel continued as he knelt on one knee, his eyes never leaving Lucia. "Will you marry , Lucia?"
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