Chương 134: Dancing with the Princess

Ah, this— Is it any wonder that this is the relic of the poet who killed a hundred people?

As the ring continued to talk about how a bard should be so arrogant and domineering, Richard couldn't help but feel a black line appear on his forehead.

To be fair, he had considered this typical poet's life.

But as his own charm increased, and after meeting Zoya, Grace, and Isabella, his standards for women also rose unconsciously.

It's fine to have a casual, half-hearted interaction with someone of the opposite sex whose charm level is below 15, but if you really have a deep conversation with them, you always have a weird feeling of being taken advantage of, which leads to a loss of interest.

Ironically, the few that piqued his interest were all more complicated than the last.

Let's not even talk about Zoya and her lover who are constantly at odds with each other.

Grace's playful antics seemed perfectly fine, but Richard sometimes couldn't figure out whether she was genuinely sexually interested in him or simply saw him as a precious toy.

For Le Zilong, perhaps it's all just for fun.

As for Isabella—well, this princess is like an onion, with layer after layer, making it equally difficult to discern her true feelings.

Richard frowned at this thought.

Although he had no interest in committing a hundred-person kill, the questioning about the ring wasn't entirely without merit.

Perhaps it's time to make some changes.

Even just moving forward a little bit is good.

[That's right, that's the spirit we need! Let's bring a maid back to the room tonight! I thought the short one from before was pretty good, although I couldn't quite tell the front from the back—] Ha, you've got a good eye. You picked that thief Amelie right off the bat. Just like Grace, you want to see me get backstabbed, don't you?

Richard chuckled dismissively, took out the ball invitation Isabella had just given him, and said, "In terms of quantity, your former master was indeed quite remarkable, but judging from the examples you just gave, he was far too undisciplined in terms of quality. They were either maids, married women, or even married men and the like, tsk tsk."

"Compared to that, I'd much rather dance with real gems—like the paladin princess of humanity's strongest kingdom, what do you think?"

[To be honest, the previous owner didn't have any prey like that.]

"That's natural, because a paladin who has sworn an oath of conquest is never anyone's prey—" Richard shook his head and smiled, then put the ring on the index finger of his left hand.

More than an hour later.

Everyone except Grace returned to the palace and participated in the grand ball.

At the start of the ball, Emperor Charles VII made an appearance and gave a speech, but it was clear that his health was not good enough to support him dancing, so he quickly left with the Prime Minister, leaving the venue to the younger nobles.

In the blink of an eye, Richard noticed five or six elegantly dressed young women approaching him.

He smiled and politely declined the girls' offers, then slowly walked to the center of the stage.

Isabella was standing there.

Tonight, Isabella shed her imposing knight's armor and donned a silver-white gown, embroidered with crescent moons and roses in gold thread that shimmered under the lights, perfectly outlining her exquisite figure.

Coupled with her exquisitely beautiful face and her dazzling golden hair styled in a bun, she easily became the most dazzling presence in the entire ballroom.

This made many young nobles restless, and they stepped forward to invite him to dance.

However, Isabella rejected them one by one.

For a moment, everyone assumed that the princess would not dance with anyone tonight. They were used to this, after all, Isabella had said long ago that she had no interest in ballroom dancing.

Until Richard came to Isabella.

Just then, the musicians began playing a new dance piece.

Richard extended his hand to Isabella, smiling, and said, "To be honest, the dances here in the Empire are very different from those in our Gulf region. I've never really learned them. I wonder if Your Highness could teach me?"

Across from her, Isabella narrowed her eyes and did not answer for a moment.

One second, two seconds — Just as Richard was inwardly alarmed, thinking he was about to fail, the princess suddenly chuckled softly and took the poet's hand.

"I wasn't originally interested in dancing, you know. I prefer swordsmanship to dancing, but—as a mentor, I'm very willing to teach my students~" As soon as she finished speaking, she took Richard's right hand and gestured for him to put his left arm around her waist. Then, she leaned down slightly and whispered in Richard's ear, "Relax, from now on, just follow my lead."

"Thank you for your hard work, teacher!"

Feeling the warmth and soft touch from his fingertips, and smelling the faint fragrance, Richard raised an eyebrow and smiled, surrendering his body to his dance partner.

There's no need to say or do anything more.

All you need to do is enjoy this pure and beautiful moment.

Looking into Isabella's sapphire-blue eyes, he had a strange feeling that she thought the same way he did.

As the two danced gracefully to the music, other people nearby cast surprised and envious glances their way.

Most men envied Richard.

Most women and a small number of men envied Isabella.

But no matter how much they envied them, neither side could deny that at this moment, the princess and the poet were the most dazzling couple in the hall.

the other side.

The second prince, Jonas, parted ways with the youngest daughter of a marquis and looked in the direction of Isabella and Richard.

He squinted and muttered to himself, "How daring of you, my sister—" Behind him, William found Dorian, who was sipping wine, pointed at the dancing poet, and muttered in a disgusted tone, "Look, that guy really draws everyone's attention, tsk tsk."

Dorian rolled his eyes at the mage: "Are you complaining that I'm too slow?"

William shrugged.

"Friend, you don't have to always think the worst of me. I'm just stating the facts."

Dorian scoffed.

"I will settle things with him, but not now."

As he spoke, the poet, though not as handsome as Richard, still downed his drink in one gulp and, smiling, put his arm around the waist of a beautiful woman beside him.

Clearly, while the princess and the poet were pleasing to the eye, they could not satisfy every thirsty craving.

About ten minutes later.

After all three pieces were played, the dancers stopped in their tracks.

Richard gazed at Isabella's delicate face and the beads of sweat on her smooth skin, savoring the wonderful feeling he had just experienced, and his throat tightened slightly.

Isabella also looked directly into the poet's eyes, her red lips slightly parted, as if she had something to say.

"Hahaha! Your Highness, what a wonderful dance!"

Suddenly, a group of middle-aged and elderly nobles approached Isabella.

Isabella smiled apologetically at Richard and explained softly that these people were her supporters in the race for the throne, before turning to speak with them.

Judging from the content, it's mostly related to political struggles.

Richard, knowing he was an amateur, quietly took two steps back.

At this moment, the Hundred-Man Killer Ring took the initiative to speak: [Well, it seems you might have actually won the heart of a high-quality human princess.] Richard raised an eyebrow.

A high-quality human princess, how did you even come up with that term?

However, considering that there are many small countries on the ancestral continent, and thus all sorts of princesses, this term is quite apt.

However, I always feel like there's something between you two — Richard nodded, thinking that this was the problem.

But in any case, today's progress was still good.

The ring agreed with Richard's idea, offering him its gift package and encouraging him to keep up the good work.

Richard smiled and started to open the gift package.

At that moment, a short figure approached.

Richard assumed the man was looking for Isabella again and ignored him for a moment, but then the man beckoned to him and said, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Targaryen?"