"Ah!"
A startled cry rang out first, followed immediately by the scraping sound of high heels skidding on the floor; in the next second, there was a dull thud.
Various exclamations and voices of concern also rose from the surroundings.
At this moment, Altair was forced to sit directly on the ground because her high heel had snapped.
Hether forcefully covered her mouth, trying hard not to let herself laugh. After suppressing her emotions with great effort, she immediately stepped forward to help Altair up and asked with concern, "How are you? Are you hurt? Do you need me to call a doctor for you?"
Altair blinked hard, then squeezed her eyes shut tightly, forcing a warmth into her aching eyes to squeeze out tears. She said aggrievedly, "Sister Hether, I think I've sprained my ankle. It hurts so much right now."
"How could you sprain your ankle? Poor Altair," Hether said loudly, looking around and saying urgently to the servants, "You few, come over here and help me take Countess Sheffield back to her room."
The exaggerated acting of the two also shocked the people around them.
Once the servants arrived, they supported Altair as she limped away from the box.
After the doctor applied medicine to Altair's ankle and left, Hether, standing to the side, praised her, "Your little head is truly clever. In such a short time, you thought of such a way to skip tonight's ball."
After returning to normal, Altair chuckled twice and said casually, "It was a last resort. If I didn't suffer a little now, who knows what I would encounter tonight."
"But as far as the result is concerned, it's quite good. At least I don't have to endure the scorching heat outside anymore."
For dancing with other men, he found it difficult to accept for the time being, and now he could just use the excuse of avoiding schemes to escape dancing... Night fell, and the twilight flowed through the carvings of the Gothic window frames, darkening the gilded patterns of the crystal chandeliers in the banquet hall.
The new electric lamps hanging from the dome suddenly lit up, and a waterfall of cold white light poured down, clearly illuminating the lace on the noblewomen's skirts and the embroidery on the gentlemen's ties.
Altair still couldn't avoid the invitation to attend the ball. Today, it could be said that big shots were gathered here, with important people from all levels of the Kingdom of Loen present.
Looking at such a scene, Altair's thought at this moment was: If a high-yield aerial bomb were detonated here, half of Loen's sky would probably collapse.
Regarding having such thoughts now, Altair shook her head helplessly, feeling that she was becoming more and more abnormal.
Since entering the banquet hall, Altair had been supported by a servant to the edge, where she sat on a bench eating dessert, waiting for the banquet to end.
Elderly nobles and women with insufficient physical strength often came here to rest, or guests would sit down to talk or take snacks during the intervals between dance music.
Altair was also very annoyed by these people who came to rest. Anyone who came by would ask him why he was sitting here all the time and why he didn't join the dance.
It was normal for these people to think this way. After all, wasn't a ball meant for dancing and socializing? Moreover, during dance lessons, they were taught to be ready to accept invitations to dance at any time.
"My lady, are you feeling unwell? I've seen you sitting here since the ball began."
Hearing this, Altair put down her cake fork as usual and looked up to find a young man with a slightly youthful appearance already sitting opposite her. Even after seeing Altair's face, he continued:
"I feel like you look a lot like a friend of mine. Although we've only met once, we had a pretty good conversation that time."
Looking at the young man with an upturned mouth and a slight smile, Altair's heart was filled with mixed emotions, like the feeling of being caught in person after using an online photo deception.
Seeing Altair's reaction, the person in front of her quickly said, "I forgot to introduce myself, I—"
"I know your name, Glelynt," Altair interrupted before he could finish.
Glelynt was puzzled that the young lady in front of him knew his name, but he was more surprised. His excitement was beyond words as he asked curiously:
"My lady, may I know your honorable name?"
Regarding Glelynt's question, he could only shake his head slightly and said helplessly, "Altair Sheffield or Lucius Sheffield."
Hearing Altair's answer, Glelynt felt incredibly shocked. He pointed at Altair with a trembling finger and asked curiously, "You said you are Lucius? How is that possible! When I met him, he was clearly dressed as a man."
Regarding Glelynt's words, Altair's heart remained calm, but she also felt that her previous actions were redundant.
Altair shook his head at Glelynt and said, "This is my original appearance. As for wearing men's clothing at the 'Memorial Service' last time, there were special matters to handle. Also, you should move your finger; such behavior is very impolite."
Prompted by Altair, Glelynt looked at his hand and realized it was indeed rude to keep pointing at her, so he immediately withdrew it. At the same time, he was thinking about the truth of Altair's words.
Although this world itself was a special existence and had been guided by Roselle, it was indeed rare for women to wear men's clothing. After all, Roselle was just a drop of ink and could not dye an entire lake.
Perhaps it was because Altair's appearance was beautiful and didn't look like a man's, or perhaps because of the'special nature' of that day, Glelynt still accepted Altair's explanation and said sincerely:
"Lu... sorry, Altair. I didn't know that day was the day your father's remains returned to the country. After I saw that list, I originally wanted to find you and apologize, but I couldn't find you again until the 'Memorial Service' ended."
Regarding the death of the original body's father, Altair no longer felt the instinctive sadness his body had when he first crossed over, perhaps because he had completely taken over this body.
Altair said to Glelynt in a flat tone, "He who does not know is not guilty. You didn't know the reason for the matter at that time, so I don't feel you've offended me in any way. And didn't you say later that you were looking for me to apologize? I accept your apology."
Hearing Altair's words, Glelynt returned to his usual smile and said, "Actually, I've written to you since then, but it's always been your servant replying."
"Perhaps I didn't have time to reply then. Since my father passed away, I've been very busy. Also, you should know that all nobles receive countless letters every day during these months. I had my servants specifically reply to banquet invitations; maybe you happened to write me a banquet letter," Altair explained with his usual rhetoric.
"I can understand." Glelynt was not surprised by her answer, as he would do the same. He looked around and said cautiously, "According to the method you mentioned before, I really did gain some 'occultism' knowledge. I'm no longer as ignorant as before."
"We've even reorganized the occultism gathering. Do you want to join?"
These words left Altair completely silent. He didn't expect that his casual words would have such an impact. If they were allowed to contact 'Beyonders' in advance, then the later 'Tarot Club' wouldn't end up with just two people holding a 'meeting' for Klein, right?"}],