Chapter 642: Too Late

Selena felt as though she had been pushed into an awkward position, all because her aunt had insisted on making her say something that was almost unbecoming of a lady of her status.

It was not a normal situation for a Lady of high standing.

And when that Lady happened to be a Flower of Britannia like Selena Galehart, the matter became even more unusual.

She was supposed to be the one receiving invitations.

Young Gentlemen usually approached her to request a dance.

Some would gather their courage and speak to her directly, while others would spend half the evening looking for an opportunity to introduce themselves.

It was hardly unusual for a young Noblewoman of her standing to receive more invitations than she could accept.

Yet here she was, preparing to approach a gentleman herself.

Worse still, her aunt was standing beside her, waiting for her to do it.

Selena maintained her elegant posture.

Her emerald eyes moved across the girls gathered around her, and she offered them a composed smile before speaking.

“You see, ladies, I haven’t forgotten how my first dance was taken by Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke. Honestly, I can’t begin to imagine having a dance with another person. However, Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke and I aren’t quite close enough for me to assume he would request for another one.”

She spoke calmly, making sure her words sounded reasonable.

Sadly.

That was how Selena felt inside.

She had already danced with Ezra once.

The memory remained clear in her mind, and she had no particular desire to replace it with an experience that would not feel the same.

But the fact remained that she and Ezra were not close enough for her to act as though she had some special claim over his time.

She could not simply approach him and expect him to accept.

That was why she had to ask.

It was a simple matter, yet Selena found herself explaining it to the girls as though she were giving them a lesson on proper conduct.

“So, since I’m the one who wants the dance, it is still appropriate for a Lady to ask a Young Gentleman to be her dance partner.”

She concluded her explanation with a small nod.

The girls around her exchanged looks.

“As expected of Lady Selena.”

Several of them nodded in agreement.

Their expressions brightened as they considered what Selena had said.

It was not merely the explanation that pleased them.

They had also remembered the first dance between their Lady and Ezra.

That moment had been a true spectacle.

The way the two had danced together had left a strong impression on them. Even those who had only watched from a distance remembered how lovely the scene had been. For them, the possibility of seeing Selena and Ezra dance together again was enough to make the idea of her asking him seem perfectly reasonable.

Besides, Selena had made her intention clear.

She wanted to dance with him.

Why should they object to that?

Their earlier discussion about Ezra’s situation gradually slipped from their minds.

The accusation had certainly been shocking, but the thought of seeing their Lady dance with him again was far more pleasant.

They were young ladies attending a party, after all.

They had come to enjoy themselves, not spend the entire evening worrying about an incident that had already been addressed by the Duke of Ashenlocke.

At least, that was how they saw it.

Beside Selena, Professor Liliana Galehart watched the exchange with a faint smirk.

Nice.

I get to have more good positions for my Selena stocks of pictures.

Her thoughts were far less serious than the discussion that had taken place only moments earlier.

Liliana had been waiting for this opportunity.

Seeing Selena explain herself to the girls had only made the situation more amusing, especially when her niece was trying so hard to maintain her composure.

It was a pity she could not keep teasing her in front of everyone.

Or perhaps she could.

The moment Selena turned toward her, Liliana changed her smirk into an innocent smile.

“Then go get your man before it’s too late.”

She spoke softly, as though she were offering a simple piece of advice.

Selena narrowed her emerald eyes.

Something about her aunt’s smile was suspicious.

Very suspicious.

She had known Liliana for long enough to recognize the expression.

Her aunt could look perfectly innocent while planning something that would leave Selena regretting ever listening to her.

Still, Selena did not let that suspicion show for long.

She had already decided what she wanted to do. Whatever her aunt was thinking, it would not change that.

“I will go alone.”

Selena reached into her small handbag and took out her hand fan.

With a gentle movement, she opened it.

The fan spread out in her hand, and she held it before her as she began walking toward Ezra’s position.

Her steps were measured.

Her back remained straight, and her expression carried the same calm elegance she had shown throughout the evening.

From a distance, nothing about her suggested that she was nervous.

Liliana watched her leave.

The professor’s smile widened slightly.

She did not follow Selena.

Because there was no need to.

Her niece had finally taken the first step, and that was enough for now.

Besides, Selena had said she wanted to go alone.

Liliana had no intention of ruining the moment by chasing after her.

Not when there were better things to look forward to.

At Ezra’s position…

“I’m sorry, Big Sister.”

Veda raised both hands in front of himself.

His posture resembled that of a little boy being scolded by his mother.

He stood still, keeping his hands raised while looking at Vera, who had apparently decided that he needed a reminder about his behaviour.

“Get it into your head next time that you shouldn’t freeze up in a moment like that.”

Vera pointed her index finger at Ezra.

Veda blinked.

He was the one apologising, yet Vera had turned her attention to Ezra instead.

Ezra, for his part, had already noticed the incoming finger.

He shifted his head to the side.

Vera’s first poke passed by without touching him.

She did not stop.

Her finger moved toward him again, forcing Ezra to take another small step back.

“Why are you attacking me instead of the person you’re scolding, Vera?”

Ezra asked in his usual flat tone.

He watched her hand approach, then moved just enough to avoid it.

His expression remained unchanged, as though dodging his sister’s finger had become another ordinary part of his evening.

Vera looked at him.

“You’re a real troublemaker, Ezra.”

Her voice was plain.

“It’s like trouble loves the scent your body produces and always finds a way to sniff out your position.”

She moved her index finger again.

Ezra leaned away from it, simply avoiding the poke and watching her with his usual calm black eyes.

Vera continued poking at Ezra, her expression as indifferent as ever.

Each time he dodged, she simply adjusted her finger and tried again.

Nearby, Veda noticed that Vera had become occupied with Ezra.

He slowly began lowering his hands.

He had been standing with them raised for long enough.

Surely, he could put them down now that his older sister had found someone else to bother.

“Did I ever say you could drop them?”

Vera’s cold voice reached him without warning.

Veda stopped halfway.

His hands rose again.

For a moment, he stood there with his arms held up, wondering whether his sister had eyes at the back of her head.

She had not even turned toward him, yet she had noticed his attempt to escape punishment.

Ezra glanced at him.

He said nothing.

Veda’s expression grew a little more troubled.

“Stop disturbing Ezra, Vera.”

Willow spoke in her usual calm voice.

She had been watching the exchange, and the sight of Vera repeatedly poking Ezra had apparently become enough of a nuisance for her to intervene.

Vera didn’t even look at her.

“Stay out of it, Homewrecker Two.”

Her attention remained on Ezra as she answered.

Willow froze for a moment.

“Homewrecker Two?!”

She placed her right hand against her chest, clearly offended by the name.

Her left hand tightened around the walking stick she was holding.

The fingers around its handle pressed firmly against it, and her expression became more serious as she looked at Vera.

She had been called many things before by Vera.

But Homewrecker Two?

That was an entirely different matter.

Vera still had not bothered to turn around and face her properly.

Willow’s irritation only grew.

Ezra watched the exchange for a moment before speaking.

“If trouble likes my scent, then you’re definitely the biggest trouble in my life.”

His voice remained plain.

As he spoke, he reached out and caught Vera’s index finger gently.

Her hand stopped.

For the first time in the exchange, Vera did not immediately move again.

Ezra held her finger without applying much force.

There was no need to wrestle with her, and he had no intention of turning their little argument into anything more than it already was.

He simply looked at her.

Vera met his gaze.

“Obviously.”

She answered without hesitation.

Then a faint smile appeared on her face.

“That’s why you’re my Troublemaker.”

Her words came so naturally that she did not seem to see anything unusual about them.

Ezra remained expressionless.

For a brief moment, the people around them fell quiet.

It was not that anyone had expected Vera to give a normal answer.

They had long since learned that her conversations with Ezra rarely followed the same rules as everyone else’s. Still, the ease with which she had accepted his words and returned them with her own left the group with little to say.

Cyrus stared at the pair.

His expression became serious.

“Somehow, seeing these two flirt all the time pisses me off.”

He sounded genuinely troubled by the situation.

Nina stood nearby, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Ezra.

“You aren’t the only one.”

She did not appear any happier about it.

Lyra, on the other hand, let out a light laugh.

“But I find it cute. Hehe… Hehe…”

She seemed to be enjoying herself far too much.

Cyrus turned toward her.

“It’s cute, but the fact that it’s so unnecessarily cute is the problem. How can the most blank-expression boy of all time and the most deadpan girl be the cutest? It’s too illogical.”

He raised both palms and stared at them as though the answer might somehow be written there.

There was nothing.

He turned his hands over, still looking confused.

No matter how he considered it, he could not understand how Ezra and Vera managed to make such ordinary exchanges seem so irritatingly natural.

Perhaps that was the real problem.

They did not even appear to be trying.

Ezra had barely changed his expression, and Vera had delivered her answer without the slightest hesitation.

Yet the two had somehow managed to turn a simple complaint about trouble into something that made the people around them uncomfortable for entirely different reasons.

Cyrus lowered his hands.

He had no answer.

And he disliked that fact.

Before he could complain again, a voice rang through the Grand Royal Hall.

“All dance couples taking the stage for the first Dance Core should get into position, please.”

The announcer’s voice carried across the hall, reaching the guests gathered around the tables and those standing near the dance floor.

The music and conversations began to shift as people prepared for the next part of the party. Young Gentlemen moved toward their partners, while the ladies who had already arranged their dances began making their way to the appropriate positions.

The announcement gave everyone a reason to stop what they were doing.

Veda, in particular, seemed to welcome it.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me…”

He spoke calmly, though there was a trace of nervousness in his voice.

He glanced at Vera.

She was still standing beside Ezra, and her attention had already moved away from him. That was probably the best opportunity he was going to get.

“I have a dance partner to meet.”

He slipped away.

Vera did not even pay him any attention to his escape.

Instead…

She turned toward Willow Derlis.

Willow was still looking at her with a serious expression.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment.

“What?”

Willow asked.

Vera tilted her head slightly.

“You couldn’t keep your hands to yourself and asked my Dancer to be your dance partner for the first Core, Miss Perfectionist.”

Her voice was casual, as though she were pointing out a simple fact.

Willow’s expression tightened.

“Stop with the ‘my, my, my’ words. I don’t remember him being yours in the first place, Vera.”

She walked closer, refusing to back down.

Her walking stick moved with her, its tip tapping lightly against the floor as she closed the distance between them.

Vera watched her approach.

She did not appear bothered by Willow’s objection.

Instead, she tilted her head slightly to the right, as though she had just noticed someone else entering the conversation.

“And the Homewrecker One is here.”

She said it without looking back.

Willow’s expression stiffed slightly, because she thought Vera was talking to her.

Until she looked at the person approaching from Ezra’s back.

“Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke.”

Selena had arrived.

She greeted Ezra lightly, her hand fan held neatly in front of her.

Her emerald eyes settled on him, and her posture remained as elegant as ever.

Ezra turned toward her.

“Greetings, Lady Selena Galehart.”

He returned the greeting with his usual calmness.

Selena had barely finished approaching him when Willow spoke.

“If you’re going to ask him to be your dance partner, then you’ve missed your spot, Selena.”

Her voice was plain.

Selena’s gaze shifted toward her.

Willow moved to the left side of Vera, then placed both hands on the top of her walking stick.

Her crimson eyes locked on Selena.

“I’m taking the whole of the first Core.”

She delivered the statement without hesitation.

Selena remained composed.

Her face still carried the elegant expression she had maintained throughout the evening, but the words had struck a little too close to the reason she had come over in the first place.

She had intended to ask Ezra to dance.

Now Willow was telling her that the opportunity had already been taken.

“I took the Second Core.”

Diane lazily raised her right hand.

She was now leaning against Vera’s back, resting as though the conversation around her had nothing to do with her.

Her half-closed light-blue eyes were now open, though she still looked as if she would rather return to sleep than explain herself.

She lowered her hand after making her statement.

There was no sign that she felt the need to justify it.

Willow nodded slightly.

“And obviously, the last Core is Vera.”

She spoke calmly, as though the arrangement had already been settled long before Selena arrived.

Vera did not object.

She remained beside Willow, her expression unchanged.

Selena’s fingers tightened around her fan.

She slowly turned her face toward Ezra.

Her elegant expression remained in place, but there was a clear question in her emerald eyes.

How did this even happen?

She did not need to say the words aloud.

Ezra looked at her.

For a moment, he simply returned her gaze, his black eyes as calm as ever.

He understood what she was asking.

Unfortunately, he was also beginning to wonder the same thing.

Had he known someone would expose the story about the Sterling Massacre, he might have refused all three requests from the beginning.

The thought came to him without much emotion, but it was not without reason.

He had accepted the requests because he wanted to avoid a far more troublesome situation. Before the Ashenlockes had even landed at the Royal Airport, he had received messages from Willow, Vera, and Diane early that morning.

Each had asked him to be their dance partner.

At the time, accepting their requests had seemed like a practical decision.

With the Dance Cores already booked by three prominent young ladies, the other ladies would have to look elsewhere for their dance partners.

It would save Ezra from being surrounded by a crowd of girls all trying to secure a dance with him.

That had been the entire point.

He had wanted to avoid trouble.

Yet somehow, he had managed to create another problem for himself.

Ezra looked at the three girls.

Willow stood with her walking stick, apparently satisfied with having claimed the first Core.

Diane had already settled back against Vera, looking as though she might fall asleep again at any moment. Vera, meanwhile, watched Selena with her usual deadpan expression.

None of them seemed inclined to give up their positions.

Selena stood before Ezra, her fan open in her hand.

She had arrived intending to ask him to be her dance partner, only to discover that every Dance Core had already been taken.

The worst part was that she had come too late.