The ball wasn’t particularly dangerous so far for Nikolai and the others.

With a professional orchestra playing in the ballroom, many people were eager to enjoy a dance. After the host of the event had danced with his future wife, it came to Nikolai and many other noble monsters to take their partners to the dance floor.

“Well, who wants to dance with me first?” Nikolai asked the girls who sat at the table.

Nikita turned her head towards Risa, who then looked at Selene.

The amusing thing was that Selene didn’t look at Amphitrite or Kumiko but gazed back at Nikolai with her beautiful scarlet-red eyes.

“Princess Tepes, would you do me the pleasure of having this dance?”

Once again, Nikolai asked for a dance upon hearing the musicians preparing for another song. All eyes watched their table, wondering who he might pick. It wasn’t a secret that Nikolai Volkov was said to be a lustful man with four fiancees.

‘Not that I mind… what about Kumiko?’

He just wanted to make sure since Nikita seemed to enjoy the prawn dish. He ignored her, and Risa appeared to be collecting bottles of expensive wine. Then there was Kumiko, who appeared to be doing something amazing.

Five clones, all with different hair, makeup and styles…

“How can my future wives be so amazingly talented?” Kumiko’s brows lifted upon hearing his words.

She turned to him and gave him a brief wink and sly comment.

“I’ll rise to any occasion, my dear.”

Nikolai wanted to pick her up and run away to a private room and let her know just how much he appreciated her efforts and the work she did for him. However, now wasn’t the time, because a soft pair of delicate fingers wrapped around his hand.

“It would be my pleasure, Prince Volkov.”

A right only given to the royal families of each race, Selene’s hips lowered to show her respect before linking with Nikolai’s arm and approaching the dance floor. What amused Nikolai about this event was the classical music, as if it was from the forgotten past.

He quickly glanced toward Selene’s beautiful eyes and could see that she too noticed the strange music selection, which seemed fitting considering the war they were fighting.

“This song was created by the humans protected by the Volkov family… before it was devastated in war with my families human clans.”

Selene giggled as they grasped hands, and he wrapped his hand around her waist before they waltzed slowly to the sombre tone. A piece that signified the freedom granted by the Tepes clan, driving back the Volkov savages. At least, that was the sentiment of the song, a vampire clan’s propaganda against the werewolves.

However, the irony of a Tepes princess and the Volkov’s future leader danced romantically, their gazes intertwined.

“Your ancestors must be turning over in their graves,” Selene joked, noticing the stares of many vampires and werewolves.

Some turned their heads with shame, while others laughed mockingly at the werewolves, especially the allies of Volkov. “Like I care for fools that couldn’t appreciate a bloodline that could make a beauty like you.” Nikolai whispered his compliments, and the pair continued their slow, graceful movements across the floor until Selene made the first move.

Her body twirled with grace before her hands rested upon Nikolai’s chest, and their lips barely touched each other. Her beautiful, scarlet eyes were full of joy as she gazed upon his face with admiration, a look he had seen several times.

“I love you.” She whispered before twirling in the opposite direction away from his body, forcing him to take the lead.

Nikolai wasn’t used to this dance; he had taken many lessons leading up to the event, but he could feel the elegance and skill of Selene, a born and bred princess. However, he didn’t feel insecure or inferior, but tried to rise to the challenge, to follow her steps and improve on the spot… because he was having the time of his life!

‘I am dancing with the woman I love.’ He thought with a grin on his face.

The music was picking up the pace, as were their movements.

When the song changed the pair barely noticed… their steps became more synchronised. The laughter and mocking glances faded as they became the most vibrant and beautiful pair.

Meanwhile, at the previous table, Nikita watched the pair dancing, her hand holding a small prawn entrée.

“My chest feels strange…”

Nikita didn’t want to feel this way, but watching the pair made her feel a sense of emptiness or loss. The dance was just so beautiful, and seeing Nikolai’s face full of joy made her regret letting Selene take the role.

“I understand you.”

Risa drank from her cup, several empty wine bottles around her, while she focused on the couple, a bitter smile on her lips. “What about you, Kumiko?”

The kitsune gazed back, obviously fixated on her clones gathering information and curled her lips. “I am happy to see him so relaxed and happy, and this is what he needed. To enjoy our relationships as they are… not some kind of statement or benefit for our clans.”

Kumiko’s clones all had different expressions when they gazed at the dancing couple.

Obviously, Risa couldn’t notice this, but there was amazement, jealousy, anger, and hatred but they all felt happy for him.

Kumiko sipped the last of the wine, a red liquid with a rich taste.

“Let’s get ready for our turn,” Nikita muttered before she ate her final prawn.

“No… I don’t think we’ll have the chance, Nikita. We should prepare for the real main event, Kumiko muttered, as her various clones started to vanish and her eyes became sharp, gazing at the handsome male sitting at the Nosferatu table. “The enemy wants to kill Nikolai tonight. That is their goal.”

“What? To kill him, what a petty goal!”

Nikita’s thoughts were correct, but Kumiko shook her head. “No… they want his dead body, so they can complete their research, one of the branch families was bragging about it to me on the balcony.”

“What makes you think it’s believable?” Risa asked, curious by her reasoning.

They couldn’t take action for a mere rumour and destroy the relationship between the vampire clans and the werewolves. There needed to be a good reason to attack a fellow clan.

But then she noticed the gaze of all the main Nosferatu clan members… never once left Selene and Nikolai.

‘Even before that, he gazed over here. Was it for Nikolai… but why… wait?! His blood?’

She remembered the member of Volkov they kidnapped using the Faust family, and suddenly, things started to make sense.

Risa couldn’t help but cover her face and try to link her thoughts.

“Kumiko, how are we going to tell Father-in-law and the others?”

“Yeah!”

Nikita also joined the conversation, seeming to understand, while Kumiko tapped the table and showed a seductive smile.

“My clones have taken care of that, now we must be careful… look to the left and right, but don’t be obvious, we’re being watched.”

“I see, then what should we do about those two?”

“Don’t worry, they are probably aware by now, but it’s all part of Nikolai’s plan.”

Risa’s gaze drifted back to the pair, and she saw Selene’s lips almost touching Nikolai’s cheek, but it was clear if you carefully observed them you would notice she whispered something to him.

“I see.”

Risa grabbed the final bottle of red wine from the table and started gulping it down, preparing for the fight as she parted her thighs and revealed two long blades taped to her creamy thighs… something that the security check had failed to notice.

‘Haha to think they wouldn’t search a woman’s body.’

“However… I cannot help but worry, about all the high tech military gear at the entrance.”

Kumiko nodded but narrowed her eyes as she focused all her energy into a single close. The dark figure, with black hair and a shadowy appearance, lacking Kumiko’s beauty and form, looked quite terrifying as it slipped into the garden.

“I will take care of their cannons and bunkers…”

***

Back on the dance floor, the third song came to an end, the music fading as Selene narrowed her gaze towards the now empty table apart from Kumiko, who leaned forward as if sleeping or drunk, and her lips curled into a smirk.

“It seems the girls have figured out what to do.”

“Kumiko is already moving for us, Selene. You should take care of the girls and be ready to leave with them.”

Nikolai noticed his father gave a danger signal once they started dancing. His grandfather disappeared with the current patriarchs of the main families, and somehow, he couldn’t shift the bad feeling.

“We should be careful, I have a weapon you might like in my inventory.”

Because of the situation, they couldn’t bring their item rings, but Nikolai used Alchemy to fuse his rings with his body, using his mother’s help to make a small copy of the rings as a tattoo that wrapped around his neck.

He just worried that something might happen to his grandfather…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep