As the slow song began, the audience began to pick a partner. Some even fought for their partners.

The atmosphere slowly turned into a romantic and warm scene, as the adults had left the hall following the King.

Now, the young nobles felt free. Without the watch of their parents, they could go wild.

So, some of them delved into their respective lecherous activities. They grouped together, male and female, at corners, and flirted, while some of them went even further.

Of course, the lecherous group belonged to the minority. The majority of them picked a partner, just for dancing.

It goes without saying that some of them were turned down by the ideal partners.

However, for Jake, he didn't have the option to choose. He had politely asked Cheyenne for her hand.

It was not an impulsive decision. Jake wanted to get information from their conversation, and Cheyenne possibly felt the same.

Meanwhile, Nico, being the handsome guy he was, got multiple invitations from the female nobles, but he turned them down.

He opted to dance with his twin sister, Lola. He could not let any noble put his hand on her. He was her brother, after all, so he had to protect her.

Lola didn't mind. Although she wasn't interested in the event, she put on a happy face and danced with her enthusiastic brother.

They proceeded to move closer to the stage, so they could hear the beautiful music, forgetting that they left Jaya behind.

Jaya looked around, not comfortable with being alone, she picked a noble who was checking her out.

All this while, the noble kept looking at her, she didn't like it, as she could see him, and even a few times, she caught him, but the noble still kept looking like a simp!

However, now that she was alone, she could use the attention.

So, she went to the noble, "Hi, my name is Jaya. what's yours?"

"He--Heath Ashstone. The name's Heath, Jaya," stammered the noble.

As he was in the presence of his just-found crush, he found it hard to talk well.

Jaya noticed it, but she didn't comment, instead, she thought it was cute.

She grabbed his hand, "Let's dance."

Dragging him to the front, and Heath never felt luckier.

Like that, Jaya found--no, grabbed her partner.

Slowly, the remaining nobles got their partners and by the time the song had just reached its first peak

...…..

Jake didn't know the dance style of Aztec nobles, so he followed the tempo of Cheyenne.

It was a little bit silent between both of them, as Jake held Cheyenne's waist.

To the outside world, they made the perfect couple, but the two of them were far from that.

Both of them were currently struggling with a murderous urge for one another.

For example, the usually cool-headed Jake kept thinking of what would happen if he dug his sharp fingernails into her skin.

He entered his psycho mode as he dreamt of ways to kill her, all the while outwardly smiling.

Cheyenne wasn't also spared from this bizarre experience.

She murderously thought, 'How do I kill him? I have a knife in my heels, but before I reach it, he might react. My nails are laced with poison, but it's not deadly. Hidden in my hair is an explosive, I could shove it deep in his mouth. Wait! He wouldn't just take it in. What do I do? Think. Think. Think!'

Jake was the first to regain control of his thoughts.

He spoke to Cheyenne, "You look beautiful."

The words managed to bring back Cheyenne, who was unhinged, "Oh please! I bet you say that to everyone you see."

"Hmm, is that what you think?" Jake quipped.

"Aren't I correct?" smiled Cheyenne.

Her youthful smile reflected in the eyes of the males who were spying on her, even though they could not hear the conversation.

"Perhaps you are," replied Jake, tightly closing his lips in an effort to reduce the hidden tension.

After oiling the rusty situation, he thought for a while, before he asked, "Now, this is strange. Rumors don't do you justice. Before coming here, I heard tales of your supposed notorious character, but now, I don't see it."

Cheyenne smirked, "So what are you gonna believe, the rumors, or what you see?"

While dancing, Jake paused at a particular movement, he looked at Cheyenne, staring deep into her eyes.

"I tend to believe what I think, not what I see. I think people have a habit of masquerading themselves to the outside world. They hide beneath their layer of skin. They show the world what it wants to see," Jake indifferently stated.

His words bit into the very existence of Cheyenne, and she didn't like it. She snarled at Jake, "Oh, you are so all-knowing!"

She was interrupted by Jake, who added, "You see, most people don't know the true self of their companions. If you look from a neutral perspective, you find that everybody is hiding something, they wear clothes so that others don't see through them."

Smiling brightly, he concluded in a low tone, "Tell me, Cheyenne Aztec. The most notorious noble in Aztec. The weakest member among your siblings. The laziest member of the royal family, and also possibly the least smart. Are you hiding? Do you have another face hidden beneath this one?"

As he asked, he caressed her face in a smooth motion, flashing his white teeth.

Cheyenne had never felt so humiliated. She never felt so naked.

Her hand furiously grabbed Jake's caressing fingers, her pupils dilated, as she sent an icy stare at Jake along with a mysterious pressure that wrapped around Jake's body like a rope.

She held back his hand, proceeding to dance in an attempt to not draw attention while controlling Jake's body with the intangible rope-like pressure.

However, Jake wasn't annoyed or pained. He continued acting the part of the perfect gentleman as he inwardly thought, 'So, I was right? Of course, I was right. I could sense rich wisdom from her eyes. Hahaha, how interesting?!'

He spoke out, "I take that as a yes. Cheyenne, what are you?"

Jake asked his question, expecting to find perfect answers. He couldn't stand leaving a stone unturned.

He needed to know the exact reason he felt repulsed anytime he was near Cheyenne, so he could gain control of it.

Even now, he could barely resist his basic instinct.

Baffled by the question, Cheyenne queried, "What do you mean?"

"I will be frank with you. I'm sure we feel something when we are together, and it certainly isn't an attraction. To be honest, I so badly want to kill," Jake shared.

Cheyenne didn't know how to feel. Looking into Jake's eye, she felt the massive ice storm waiting to be unleashed.

However, she wouldn't be influenced, "Oh, that is assuming that you can kill me. You got a way with your mouth, but don't just assume everything about you."

Jake insulted her, "I know everything about you. I know you like to play because you think you have seen enough. I can sense you have a mysterious past, and most likely you are very intelligent. I know that there are still some things I don't know and understand about you. I know you are very strong. You see, while you may think you are very hidden, you opened yourself just by hiding."

He channeled [Spirit Essence] into his body and broke free from her control.

Till this point, everything was going under his control. He was controlling the pace of the conversation and had managed to read his opponents. Still, he was sure that was not all about her, or else she wouldn't catch his attention.

Jake thought as he spun Cheyenne in a gentlemanly manner.

He released her hand, allowing her to fall, then caught her waist as she was about to touch the ground, in a fluid motion.

Their eyes connected in a staredown, as they both tried to read their opponent.

Having gotten enough, Cheyenne began her comeback, "You are one to say. I can also read you. Your actions so far have displayed a high level of unpredictability, which would reflect back into your character. Your dance movements have been perfect and clean, so you must be a perfectionist as you didn't make any mistakes. How is it, was I right?"

Jake grabbed Cheyenne's waist, lifting her up as he moved in a circle.

"Yes, you are right."

The dance ended and the nobles began to chat with their partner.

Cheyenne sweetly smiled, her arms locking around Jake's neck, "Say, what if I kill you, right now?"

Jake could feel a pointed object at the back of his neck.

He quickly analyzed, 'Is that a sharp nail? such a thing can't kill me, and she knows that. So, what is she talking about? She isn't lying. That means there is something special about the fingernail. Poison! Hmm, but she wasn't prepared to meet me, so how could she have any poison?'

Jake's mind worked like a calculator, under five seconds, he got his answer, 'The poison wasn't meant. It was meant for her prank, and her pranks don't lead to death, so I can assume it isn't fatal!'

As soon as he figured it out, he moved face closer to Cheyenne, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Are you sure you want to do this? A princess killing a commoner in public?" mocked Jake.

"Of course not, I was only joking," smiled Cheyenne.

She moved her lips towards Jake's face and pecked his cheeks.

"We will meet later, and I will kill you then. Have a nice evening," whispered Cheyenne, as she left Jake.