Stella finally let go of him and the Grand Mage recovered her regular look in seconds... her expression smoothing out as if the blush that had been burning across her cheeks monts ago had never existed.
"That was a wonderful dance." She said, her voice soft but composed. Then she looked at Azel’s face and frowned slightly.
His brows were knit together as if sothing was bothering him. "What’s wrong?"
Suddenly Azel reached down, took her pale hand gently, and lifted it.
With a smoothness that surprised even himself, he bowed his head and kissed the back of her hand like a nobleman from an old tale.
"Thank you for the dance, milady... I hope to dance with you more next ti."
Her cheeks flushed instantly... an involuntary bloom of color that betrayed even her impeccable self-control. She snatched her hand back just a little too quickly.
"Sure... next ti." She said, clearing her throat as she lifted the hem of her dress to walk away, doing her best to appear unaffected.
Azel let out a breath the mont she turned.
’Told you that wouldn’t work...’ He thought with a defeated sigh. ’Look at her reaction. She’s probably embarrassed to death.’
"Are you dumb?" Gwendolyn floated beside him with her hands on her hips, outrage and disbelief written all over her face. "Didn’t you see how red she got? She wasn’t disgusted... she was lting."
Azel opened his mouth to reply, but the atmosphere around them suddenly shifted.
The entire ballroom grew quiet and the musicians lowered their instrunts slightly, the murmuring nobles paused mid-sentence, and the crowd parted subtly.
Because the second birthday girl had risen.
Mynes stood up from her throne, her violet hair bouncing behind her as she descended the steps.
The line of noble boys who’d been waiting near her throne... desperate for a chance to ask her for a dance stared in horror as she walked right past them without even sparing a glance.
She passed her mother, scowling.
"Old hag."
Stella’s eyes sparkled with amusent, and she let out a light laugh. She truly did enjoy her daughter’s fiery attitude.
Mynes marched right up to Azel, cheeks puffed with indignation.
"You’re like twenty minutes late..."
"I got held up sowhere." He said.
She grabbed his wrist imdiately as the musicians began to set up a new tune. The lights softened over the ballroom, forming clusters of warm glow over each dancing pair.
Gwendolyn drifted behind him with narrowed eyes. "Don’t think this will be your last dance for the night..."
Azel followed her gaze to a certain table.
Four girls sat there... Flare, Sybil, Sylvia, and Es all staring at him like predators waiting for a chance.
"Well thank goodness you learned enough dances to compensate for their numbers..." Gwendolyn muttered.
Azel placed his hand gently on Mynes’ waist. Her breath hitched and she stiffened.
"Let’s dance our hearts out." He said.
She nodded, her voice barely a whisper. "Okay..."
[After Many, Many Dances...]
’I feel physically, ntally, and psychologically drained...’
Azel collapsed onto a chair at one of the small tables, pouring himself a generous amount of wine.
His hands shook, his knees trembled and even his breathing was uneven.
The man looked like he had just survived a war.
Gwendolyn hovered behind him, pressing her big ghostly breasts into his back while patting his head gently.
He would never admit it out loud, but it felt heavenly.
"There, there..." she cooed. "Those girls really drained you completely. You didn’t even get thirty seconds between each dance."
Azel groaned and buried his face in his hands.
Gwendolyn wasn’t wrong. Each girl had insisted on a different dance, with different tempo, different holds, different spins, and different closeness.
And each one had wanted their dance to feel special.
The result?
Azel felt like his soul had left his body at least twice.
He glanced toward the girls’ table. All four of them sat there... Sybil fanning her red cheeks, Flare pretending not to look flustered, Sylvia smiling like a fox who had already won sothing, and Es staring at Azel like he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
’Yeah... they enjoyed it too much.’ He thought as he took another sip of wine.
His eyes widened a little. ’Wait... this wine tastes good. And why does my body feel less tired? Is this magical wine or sothing?’
Before he could ponder it, Sebastian... the head butler of the Duvraine household stepped onto the platform and clapped his hands loudly.
The entire ballroom fell silent.
"Thank you all for dancing!" he announced, bowing. "Before we proceed onto the Gift Giving Event, my lady has instructed to present the reward for the best dance!"
A buzz of excitent swept through the nobles.
Everyone already knew who the winners were.
Sebastian opened a velvet case, revealing two gleaming necklaces. The gemstone at the center shone with an ethereal luminescence, it made so nobles gasped softly.
An Everlight Crystal.
It was extrely rare and found only once every ten years. Its mana purity was unmatched.
Stella stood from her throne with poise and elegance.
The room fell even quieter as the Grand Mage descended the platform... her gown flowing gracefully behind her.
She approached Sebastian, accepted the necklaces, then made her way directly to Azel.
The crowd parted as if she were royalty.
She reached his table and smiled down at him, her eyes sparkling.
"Congratulations... We won the dance."
Azel blinked, then smiled with surprising gentleness. He lifted the necklace ant for him and lowered his head so that she could slip it on for him.
Then he raised the second necklace in both hands.
"Wear it for ." Stella said softly.
He stood, and she lowered her head, exposing her neck. Azel placed the necklace around her and secured the clasp.
Stella exhaled softly, almost inaudibly.
It looked good on her.
She smiled at him... this ti, not the smile of a Grand Mage but the smile of a happy woman.
"Good." She murmured, stepping back.
As she turned toward her throne, she glanced over her shoulder at him one last ti, her eyes glowing with curiosity. ’I wonder what kind of gift he’ll give ...’
Regardless of the value... rare item or simple crafted trinket, she would cherish it because the dance they shared was the real gift.
She returned to her throne just as Sebastian raised his voice again.
"And now... the Gift Giving Event comnces!"
The ballroom erupted into applause.
Azel took another sip of wine.
’...Here we go.’
...
Stella really didn’t have that much hope for this Gift giving event... nobles apparently didn’t seem to understand that she was already rich enough.
Filthy rich, actually.
She had lived long enough, earned long enough, and collected enough treasures across the continent that nothing a noble could purchase would ever surprise her anymore.
The first person who stepped onto the stage was a middle-aged man with a stubby beard and a thick belly that strained against his embroidered coat.
He bowed deeply, his voice booming with formal weight.
"Good evening, my ladies. My na is Jeremiah of the Hartwell Clan. I have co to present my gifts to you."
His tone was formal, overly rehearsed, and dripping with the sa noble arrogance Stella had endured for decades.
He turned toward Sebastian, and with a flick of his wrist, sothing appeared from his storage ring.
Docunts. A bound sheaf of them.
"These are the deeds to one of the many mana springs that I own," Jeremiah continued. "Please feel free to use it at your discretion."
Stella nodded once... not out of excitent, but politeness. "Thank you."
Jeremiah brightened at the smallest acknowledgnt and turned toward Mynes.
"My lady... you are highly regarded for your skill in Runes and Enchantnts. As one who has made a great na for yourself, I have taken the liberty of preparing for you a complete compilation of all enchantnts within the Empire."
He passed the thick to to Sebastian.
Mynes’ eyebrow twitched the mont she saw the book cover.
’People really don’t put effort into birthday presents anymore...’ she thought with a deadpan stare. ’I wrote this book. I wrote this damn book under an alias. Does this man not even read the author’s signature?’
Her lips nearly curled into a sneer.
She fought it back only because Stella would smack the back of her head later for being "improper" in public.
Jeremiah bowed and exited the stage.
More nobles ca forward. And their gifts were as painfully bland as she had expected.
Decorative vases, magical paintings that were centuries outdated, alchemical elixirs Stella already produced in her sleep, and so many luxurious items repeated for what felt like the thousandth ti across all her birthdays.
Even Mynes, who was normally far easier to please, sighed with her chin in her palm as she accepted yet another lazy, predictable gift.
And when a noble arrived with an oversized teddy bear... two of them, in fact... Stella genuinely contemplated evaporating the bear on the spot.
She nodded out of courtesy. Again.
’Can Azel just co up...?’ she prayed internally, dragging her eyes toward the back of the hall where he was likely waiting his turn.
She didn’t know what he would bring, but at least his presence alone was refreshing compared to this parade of disappointnt.
And then... finally...
Azel stepped forward onto the stage.
The shift in atmosphere was imdiate.
He had unbuttoned the top of his suit and his sleeves were rolled back slightly making him look effortlessly handso.
"Good evening my ladies," Azel said politely. "My na is Azel Thorne, and I have co to present my gifts to you."
He turned toward Sebastian.
"Can I approach the Grand Mage?"
Total silence.
Sylvia buried her face in both hands as if preparing to hear a legendary blunder play out. She shut her ears too... she was not going to listen to Stella calling it "cheap," "simple," or "improper."
But...
"You may," Stella answered before anyone else could react.
Gasps echoed and even Sebastian blinked.
Azel approached behind her seat. Mynes’ eyes followed him sharply, narrowing... and softening... and narrowing again as she tried to guess what he was planning.
"Do what you wish," Stella said without looking back. "As long as it’s not inappropriate."
Azel placed both hands gently into her hair.
She flinched... not from discomfort, but from the shock of feeling soone’s hands in her hair after so many years.
It had been a long ti since anyone dared touch her in such an intimate, unguarded way.
He began his preparations.
Gwendolyn was practically yelling at him to do it right.
"Yes! Do it like that... then twist!"
Azel brushed his fingers through Stella’s long brown hair, gathering a section from the left side.
His fingertips moved slowly, carefully, almost reverently shocking Stella with how natural he was at this.
Then, he twisted the section for stability, folding and sweeping her hair into a soft, elegant arc that frad her cheek.
Mynes’ mouth fell open slightly and Sylvia’s eyes widened so much they almost sparkled.
Even Stella couldn’t hide the slight rise of her shoulders as her body reacted instinctively to his touch.
Then Azel revealed the hairpin.
It glowed.
The entire hall murmured.
It was nothing like the pieces Sylvia had helped him choose during their shopping trip. It wasn’t even remotely comparable.
The hairpin was crafted of gold, but refined to a soft polished sheen rather than garish shine.
And at its center... a jewel pulsed softly with mana.
’This... isn’t from the shop,’ Sylvia thought, throat tightening.
Azel slid the hairpin into place securing the sweep perfectly.
"I made it myself," he said softly. "The hairpin has a special effect that activates only in dire situations."
A collective shiver passed through the nobles.
Stella’s face reddened imdiately... not subtly, not elegantly, but a full bloom of pink spreading across her cheeks.
She reached up subconsciously, touching the place where the pin rested.
"And I think your hair looks better in this style," he added.
Her breath hitched.
Sebastian instantly appeared with a mirror and Stella nearly choked on air.
She looked... beautiful.
Not just beautiful... She looked much younger, brighter, and softer.
The sweep shaped her face elegantly; the hairpin glowed against her hair; the combination of his craftsmanship and his hands moving through her hair had sohow created a style more flattering than anything she had worn in decades.
’He made it himself...’ she thought as her fingers trembled slightly. ’I can feel his mana woven through it...’
"Thank you very—"
Before she could finish, a hand grabbed Azel’s wrist.
Mynes.
She yanked him away from the stage with a flustered, furious, burning-red face.
Without saying a single word, she dragged him upstairs.
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