The Unlimited Ascension: Reborn as an Extra

"I apologize, Lady Sarah, but my fiancé doesn’t like to dance with anyone else."

Her sweet words fell around the table. The nervous girl’s competitive spirit thinned out as she looked at Lyris and glanced back at Alen, realizing that she was the middle woman stepping into a couple’s relationship. Her smile was stiff, but she nodded in understanding, making a quick excuse about having some work to do before hurriedly leaving.

Alen sat there with a stunned expression on his face. A hint of redness spread across his cheeks as he glared at her, whispering harshly.

"What the f*ck was that? What kind of shitty lie are you spilling out of your mouth?..."

"Cool down, darling. Don’t forget we are in the middle of a ballroom. If you have an outburst here, people might mistake it for a lover’s quarrel and become more interested than they already are. Do you want that?"

She gave him a sweet smile, noticing his redness only deepening. She finally saw a crack in his always-calm face. It was the one major difference she saw in him; when she was disguised as L, she couldn’t pull out his flustered emotions, but now, it was much easier.

’He looks so adorable while blushing. I should take this kind of petty revenge more often.’

While considering several mischievous thoughts in her mind about what she might do next, the music stopped. The next song was gearing up to start. As she looked at the stage where several couples, noblemen, and ladies were present and ready to dance, she stood up.

Alen looked up at her as she offered her hand elegantly to him. He stared at her in confusion, not knowing what she was planning for. But before he could even understand her intentions, she grabbed his hand without warning and started leading him toward the dance floor.

"Wait! What are you doing?! Didn’t I tell you that I don’t know how to dance?"

Alen whispered frantically while trying to keep up with her steps in order to not fall over his own feet.

"Well, I wanted to dance, so you are joining me..."

Alen’s expression changed from mere annoyance to pure mortification. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of crisis falling over him.

"If you want to dance, then grab some random nobleman! I am sure they will happily get dragged away by you. Why dance with me?..."

Lyris tilted her head as a mischievous smile tugged on her lips.

"Oh, darling, there is no fun in dancing with some men who are only going to appreciate my beauty. Alas, I would rather prefer going with you, as that makes me able to see all of your embarrassed stunts."

The redness on his face spread even more as he looked down, trying to act as normal as he possibly could.

"Don’t you dare call me that... And stop acting like a bitch, or I might just punch your face!"

"Shut up, darling, don’t act so violent. Remember, we are in the middle of the ballroom... By the way, why are you so worried about dancing? It’s not like everyone else here is a real person anyway..."

Alen gave her a sidelong glance. He wore a knowing look on his face, fully aware that whether these people were an illusion or not, the main person—which was her—would get a chance to tease him more.

"Don’t blame me if I step on your feet, which I am deliberately going to do..."

"Hehe... Sure, you can try it..."

Seeing her smiling so freely for the first time since they had seen each other from the last floor, Alen felt a weird sense of familiarity with her. He was one step closer to recognizing her true identity.

As they ascended to the top of the stage and got into their positions, they stood directly in front of each other, much closer than they were before.

As the other nobles also stopped their conversations and fixed their gazes on the celebrity couple, the music finally began.

Lyris took his hand and guided it to rest on her waist. She also rested one of her hands on his shoulder, her one remaining hand held his, guiding him to dance along with her. She stepped perfectly with practiced ease, prompting him to do the same. Only a few seconds passed, and Alen had already gotten used to dancing. His every step synchronized perfectly with hers. They could feel each other’s breath as they swayed closer to one another.

Lyris looked up, meeting his eyes. There was the tiniest hint of surprise in her expression.

"You learn pretty fast. Have you learned how to dance before?..."

Alen focused on his steps, trying not to step on her feet, even though he had earlier promised that he was going to do exactly that. He answered with a small voice, barely a whisper.

"Yeah... I had once learned it in the past for someone... Someone special..."

Lyris narrowed her eyes as her curiosity piqued.

"Your girlfriend?..."

"Nope..."

She tilted her head in confusion as she thought more.

"Childhood crush?..."

A bittersweet smile tugged on his lips as he answered softly.

"Yeah..."

She noticed the weird, distant look on his face. Seeing his lost state, she tried to deflect the conversation to lighten the mood.

"Hmph... So am I taking your first time in dancing?"

She said this while continuing to dance with him. He looked down at her with a twisted smile, acting like she had finally hit a mark she shouldn’t have touched.

"Tchh. It seems you are enjoying this so much. Don’t you dare poke at my closed wounds."

He stepped much closer to her, suddenly taking full control of her movements as he held her more firmly against his frame.

Lyris felt surprised at his sudden change in behavior, but she couldn’t reject his movements, or she would lose her footing entirely.

He spun her around as his steps fastened. She had to scramble to maintain his new pace. She found herself pressed flush against his chest, realizing he had fully taken the lead over her.

The murmurs around the ballroom turned completely silent. Everyone focused their attention on the stage where they were dancing beautifully. Even the other couples dancing stopped to watch, seeing that the new couple was being quite intimate and dominant with each other.

As the music came closer to its ending, Alen spun her for a final time. He placed one hand firmly on her back and the other on her waist, leaning down and bending her gracefully backward into a deep dip just as the final note of the music ended.

Their faces were mere inches from each other. Alen met her wide eyes as a triumphant smirk tugged on his face, and he whispered softly.

"Found you, Lyris... or should I call you the mysterious guy L, or not?..."