FEW MINUTES EARLIER...
"Are you sure about this?" a girl asked, with a slight frown on her face.
"I understand everything," she added, "but... I don't want to arouse any suspicion."
"Haven't I told you already?" a lady asked with a smile as she got up from the chair. "I've already made sure that there won't be any suspicion."
The girl gulped as she nodded her head.
With that, Riya opened the door of her office with a smile. "Let's go..."
Arin's eyes were fixated on two figures who were standing at the right end of the hall.
The first figure was Riya, who wore a black gown. Her long black hair reached her lower back, revealing her shiny earrings.
But Arin's attention was quickly drawn to the second figure.
It was also a female. She had blue hair tied in two buns, with strands falling over the right and left side of her forehead.
She wore a blue sleeveless gown that spread out from the waist below, revealing her smooth hands. Just like Riya, she wore shiny earrings and a shiny necklace.
Her calm red eyes were darting around the hall, showing hints of confusion.
"Ah... Even I, Seraphine Bloodrose, the Second Princess of the Vampires, am jealous..." Seraphine said.
Arin couldn't take his eyes off Roxanne. "S... She's beautiful..."
And the way she was looking around in confusion further added to her cuteness.
This was what Arin had requested from Riya.
He knew that there was a high chance that Roxanne would get bored from just staying in the room all the time, or just in her bracelet form, so he asked Riya if she could make it possible for Roxanne to attend the ceremony without any trouble or complications.
And Riya agreed. She prepared a dress for Roxanne and somehow made it possible for her to enter without any suspicion.
Well, there were lots of students at the ceremony, so it wasn't like someone would notice one person.
Arin could see Riya explaining something to Roxanne, and for some reason, Roxanne's confusion was growing as she listened to what Riya was telling her.
"I just hope she's not telling her something weird..." Arin muttered as he played with the flower in his hands.
"Huh? I should ask him?" Roxanne asked, flustered.
"Of course," Riya said as she folded her arms.
"When the slow music starts playing, walk up to him, stretch out your hand, and say, 'Arin, will you dance with me?'"
"There's no but," Riya said as she stared at Roxanne intensely. "He'll agree, don't worry. Dancing is fun, and trust me, it'll be a special memory."
"Fun..." Roxanne muttered as she stared at Riya. "Was it also fun for you?"
Riya smiled wryly. "In my time, the boy I wanted to dance with was too overconfident and died on a mission a day before the ceremony."
Roxanne's eyes widened. "Oh..."
"But forget about that," Riya said. "Once you hear the slow music, walk up to him and do as I said."
Roxanne nodded her head frantically. "O... Okay."
Arin had already stopped looking at them and instead was just glancing at the other students. He didn't even bother to approach anybody.
But from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw someone approaching him.
"Another beauty, huh?" Seraphine muttered.
For some reason, Tessa was approaching him with a smile.
She had packed her hair in twin tails, with strands falling over her head. She wore a long flowing black gown that had some shiny stones on it.
Once again, Arin found himself unable to take his eyes off someone, but this time, he controlled himself and looked away.
With a sweet smile on her face, Tessa approached Arin, but before she could reach him, Alex suddenly arrived in front of her.
"Tessa, the dance will soon start," Alex said with a bright smile. "Let's go."
Before Tessa could even say anything, Alex had already held her hand and they both began walking away, though Tessa kept glancing back at Arin.
"Ah, I'm glad..." Arin muttered.
He didn't even want Tessa to meet him, because if she had met him, and Alex found the both of them, he would have certainly known something was off, and there was no doubt that he would set his eyes on Arin and start observing him.
Suddenly, the instrumentalists changed the music they were playing to a slower one, signifying that it was time to start dancing with... well, your partner.
Arin stared at the flower for some seconds. "At least it's not compulsory to dance."
He watched as some of the students had already begun dancing. The boys would hold the hands of the girls and walk them to the dance floor.
While looking around, he suddenly spotted Hector, who had a nervous expression on his face.
Arin followed his movement with his eyes, watching as he walked towards someone.
"Huh?" Arin's eyes widened slightly as soon as he realized who Hector was walking towards.
Hector exhaled as he stopped in front of Lina, who was talking with some of her friends.
Lina noticed him and turned back with a confused expression.
"Uhm..." Hector muttered as he lowered his head and stretched out the flower. "Will you dance with me?"
Arin just watched in silence, waiting to see what Lina would do.
"She sure looks very beautiful too," Arin muttered, noticing the beautiful white gown she was wearing.
Lina gasped, yet to say anything.
Hector gulped nervously, but he suddenly heard Lina's voice.
"No problem... I'll dance with you."
Hector instantly looked up, staring at Lina, who had a smile on her face as she took the flower from him.
"Thank you," he said with a smile as he took her hand.
Arin caught himself smiling as he nodded. "Good for him..."
"I thought you would be frowning right now," Seraphine said.
He folded his arms as he whispered, "Just let the guy be happy."
Suddenly, he noticed someone walking towards him, and he instantly turned to look.
"Hmm, why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Arin muttered.
Seraphine chuckled. "Trust me... it is what you think..."