Arthur felt his scalp go numb. In front of him stood Gu Yue, cool and distant as moonlight, and behind him was Na'er, grinning brilliantly, while off to either side he could sense several appraising gazes lurking. It was, in every sense, a trap closing in from all directions.
Damn it!
Where were his troops when he needed them? Someone come save him!
Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, and the rest all pretended not to see a thing.
The very men he'd counted on were themselves surrounded from both sides.
Xu Xiaoyan pressed in close.
"Brother Arthur, are you lost?" she asked, blinking her big eyes, her voice sweet to the point of cloying. "Should Xiaoyan take you to find a seat?"
On the other side was Ye Xinglan. "Do you want to get away too? I find this boring as well. Let's go together."
At that moment, General Arthur found himself besieged on all sides.
Trapped to the point of death!
Now it was perfect: Na'er on the left, Xu Xiaoyan on the right, Gu Yue behind him, and a crowd of noble young ladies eyeing him hungrily in front. For Arthur, even turning around had become a luxury.
Xie Xie watched with envy. "Now that's a man surrounded by admirers."
Yue Zhengyu, standing nearby, was so sour his teeth ached. "We're both blond, so why is the gap between us so massive..."
This was the first banquet, and among all the delegations present, the young women were making their way one after another onto the dance floor to show off their grace.
The young men mostly just stood around chatting, entirely at leisure.
That was because every single woman had gathered around Arthur. Even the dancing was being performed for his eyes alone.
Among them, Gu Yue's dancing was like moonlight on ice, every movement graceful to the point of severity.
She wore no unnecessary ornaments, simply moving slowly to the music, raising her hand, turning, spinning, her skirt tracing a perfect arc, as though the entire dance floor had become her stage.
Unfortunately, Arthur never saw a moment of it, because he was busy being crammed full of food by a frantic Na'er.
"Here, Brother Arthur, this one's delicious, try it!"
"And this too, this one's good as well!"
"Don't just eat meat, have some vegetables, or your nutrition won't be balanced!"
Na'er held a plate in one hand and a fork in the other, shoving food into Arthur's mouth with the same vigor one might use to feed a pig.
"Be a good boy and eat your dinner, don't go watching those people dance, it's not even that nice to look at."
Yes, Na'er was doing this entirely on purpose.
Since she couldn't dance herself, and couldn't hope to catch Arthur's eye out on the floor, she'd decided to simply chain him firmly to the dinner table instead.
Gu Yue's movements came to a stop.
She stood at the center of the dance floor, her skirt still holding the curve of her last spin, her gaze sweeping past the crowd to land on Arthur, who was pinned to his seat and being force-fed with wild enthusiasm.
Strange, really. She'd never cared about such things before. But right now, for some reason, she felt distinctly displeased.
She slowly raised her hand, and space itself rippled as she teleported Arthur directly in front of her.
The next instant, Arthur's vision blurred, and his entire body vanished from his seat. When he reappeared, he was already standing at the center of the dance floor, face to face with Gu Yue.
In that moment, every eye in the room turned toward them.
A napkin had somehow appeared in Gu Yue's outstretched hand, and she gently wiped at the corner of Arthur's mouth.
"Gu Yue! I have an early class tomorrow!" Not far away, Na'er's eyes went wide, and the plate in her hand hit the floor with a clatter.
Xu Xiaoyan clapped a hand over her mouth, envy and jealousy flickering in her eyes. Only Gu Yue would dare to steal someone right out from under Na'er's nose.
With everyone watching, Arthur was thrown off balance by Gu Yue's sudden move and instinctively tried to step back, but Gu Yue caught his wrist in a firm grip.
"Since you're already here, you're not leaving." She lifted her gaze, clear and unwavering. "Dance with me."
"Um, I don't know how," Arthur said, struggling to survive the situation.
"Then just watch me."
Gu Yue's voice was soft, yet it carried a force that allowed no refusal.
She released Arthur's wrist and stepped back, her entire presence seeming to melt into the surrounding light.
The music rose at just the right moment, a slow and elegant melody flowing through the hall.
Gu Yue slowly raised her arms, striking an opening pose.
She began to dance alone, circling around Arthur. Her steps were light and precise, every stride landing perfectly on the beat.
Her body tilted slightly, her arms sweeping gracefully through the air, her skirt lifting softly with each turn, tracing gentle arcs beneath the lights.
Arthur felt like he was about to die.
Not from being overwhelmed by the beauty of Gu Yue's dancing, but from being slowly flayed alive by the stares coming at him from every direction. The other men's jealousy had reached its absolute peak.
And there was an even more dangerous gaze bearing down on him.
Na'er's.
Something about the little jealousy bomb's current state was seriously off.
Arthur sensed that if this didn't end soon, something terrible was about to happen.
Na'er's hands were clenched into fists, her eyes rimmed faintly red, her whole body like a cat about to puff up and hiss, glaring death at the two of them.
Her soul power churned restlessly inside her, and faint hairline cracks were even beginning to spread across the floor beneath her feet.
As Gu Yue's final movement drew to a close, she found herself pressed almost entirely against Arthur.
Their lips were separated by less than two fingers' width, on the verge of touching.
Time seemed to slip into slow motion.
Gu Yue's lashes trembled faintly, her breathing slightly uneven, a flicker of panic surfacing in her usually cool eyes.
Arthur's mind, meanwhile, had gone completely blank, with only a single thought remaining.
He was done for.
His instinct's warning had reached its absolute peak.
In the next instant, a furious roar tore through the unbearably charged atmosphere:
"Gu Yue!!!"
Na'er had finally snapped.
"You're going to die! Killing you ten thousand times wouldn't be enough!"
Na'er's whole body blurred into an afterimage as she charged straight for the center of the dance floor.
Gu Yue tensed, bracing herself to meet the impact of Na'er's charge, only to suddenly freeze.
Because Na'er sailed straight past her, and instead tackled Arthur, who was standing behind her, straight to the ground.
Arthur looked puzzled.
Wait, you were yelling at Gu Yue, so why is this coming at me?
But before Arthur could get a word out, his mouth was sealed shut.
It was a soft, warm sensation.
Arthur's mind simply shut down. His whole body froze in place, and he even forgot to breathe.
Na'er seized the opportunity to press the assault, taking without restraint.
"Mm, mm, don't..."
What a perfect opportunity! Na'er pressed her advantage without mercy!
In that instant, every varied gaze around them collectively turned into pure amusement. "Whoa..."
Xu Xiaoyan frantically pinched the space beneath her own nose, but still couldn't accept reality, and fainted dead away.
Xie Xie blurted out a curse without thinking. "Holy hell!"
Yue Zhengyu was completely stunned. "This, this is the legendary..."
Ye Xinglan, hugging her sword, turned her face away, her cheeks flushing faintly at the sight.
Yuanen Yehui, wielder of the Fallen Angel martial soul, watched with keen interest. "Nice show. Love it. More, please."
"That's enough."
A low, sharp voice cut through the frozen air.
Na'er scrambled clumsily up off of Arthur, then turned to Gu Yue with a triumphant look. "Remember this! Arthur's first kiss belongs to me, Na'er!"
Then, touching her own faintly numb lips, she let out a foolish, giddy grin as she fled the scene of the crime and left the hall.
Gu Yue lowered her head slightly. Behind the veil of her hair, her expression couldn't be read.
"Arthur."
Arthur gave a violent start and sat bolt upright, his will to survive plain for all to see. "I don't know anything! I don't know a thing! I was forced into it!"
Because his instinct's warning hadn't faded in the slightest. If anything, it had only grown stronger.
At present, the romantic thread is undeniably centered on the rivalry between Gu Yue and Na'er. Xu Xiaoyan and Ye Xinglan will need to take a step back for now, they're still too underdeveloped, and Ye Xinglan's affection level isn't high either.
As for Yuanen Yehui, even if she's meant to be written in eventually, that won't happen until after the Demon Plane arc is cleared and enough affection has been built up to properly include her.
There won't be any of that nonsense where a character inexplicably falls head over heels for the protagonist for no reason.
Everything follows the established structure. Without extended day-to-day interaction, and without going through specific triggering events, affection simply won't build.