The females beside her collectively sucked in a breath and went still.

Mirabelle cast Lysandra a sideways glance.

The fox female had raised one eyebrow, but there was a deeply satisfied smile playing on her lips.

The male steadily making his way toward the lynx female was unmistakably a fox beast.

Lysandra’s brother.

The son of the High Duchess of Rotwald.

He possessed the same mesmerizing eyes, glittering like emeralds beneath the lantern light.

Like the Duchess, he bore a beauty mark beneath his left eye, as red as his ears.

His fur held the color of liquid blood, making the black-tipped edges stand out even more prominently.

The hair falling into his face in untamed waves, however, was the warm shade of polished copper.

A single white strand curled lazily across his forehead.

His features somehow carried both feminine elegance and masculine sharpness at the same time.

The fox male wore refined formalwear in shades of wine red, burnt copper, and black.

The fabric shifted softly in the light, almost like sleek fur.

Golden-copper embroidery curled along the sleeves and collar in elegant patterns resembling branches and flames. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

A long split coat draped behind him, swaying with each step of his lean body.

Between the shifting layers of fabric, his large fox tail moved in slow, elegant motions, the reddish fur so perfectly groomed that it looked impossibly soft beneath the lantern light.

Combined with his sharp eyes and copper hair, he looked less like a noble...

...and more like a beautiful problem waiting to happen.

Not once did his eyes leave Mirabelle’s face.

She, meanwhile, turned both pale and red at the same time.

Why did something like this have to happen to her?

Couldn’t he have chosen the skunk female, Nessa, and directed the entire ballroom’s attention toward her instead?

At the edge of her vision, she saw Silas begin moving.

But Kaelith’s hand landed heavily on his shoulder.

Even though the panther tried to pull free, he couldn’t escape the hyena beast’s surprisingly firm grip.

"That’s the son of the High Duchess. You really don’t want to cause a scene here,"

Kaelith hissed.

Only a low growl rumbled from Silas’ chest.

"You brought this on yourself. Now be a man and live with the consequences."

Kaelith increased the pressure for a brief moment before finally letting Silas go.

Then he wiped his hands against his coat as if he had touched something dirty.

Silas shot him a dark look but stayed where he was.

Carefully, he rotated his shoulder.

Shit.

He hadn’t expected the hyena to possess that much strength.

Kaelith had to be standing just on the verge of breaking through to the fifth cultivation level.

With a grim expression and a tense jaw, Silas watched the fox beasts approach.

He noticed Mirabelle’s conflicted reaction to the unfamiliar beastman.

By now, he understood that this kind of attention made her uncomfortable.

And yet...

part of her also seemed flattered by it.

He didn’t like that at all.

Unconsciously, the shadows beneath his feet began to gather.

The beastmen from Zasar immediately understood what was happening.

Almost all of them subtly stepped farther away from the panther.

No one wanted to be within reach if the panther lost control.

Only Kaelith remained exactly where he was.

The fox beast came to a stop in front of Mirabelle.

Without Mirabelle even noticing, her new friends had subtly drifted a step back, leaving the lynx female standing alone before the unfamiliar male.

She had to tilt her head upward to keep looking into his face.

The hint of a smile flickered across his lips before he placed one arm over his chest and bowed deeply.

Deeper than someone of his status needed to for her rank.

"Lucien of Rotwald," he introduced himself.

His voice was warm and refined, carefully controlled in a way that made it impossible to tell what he was truly thinking.

There was a playful smoothness to it, as though every word carried a private joke only he understood.

Mirabelle forced herself not to look toward Silas.

"I’m honored to meet you."

She dipped into a curtsy as well.

"Mirabelle of Luchsenstein."

His emerald eyes lingered on her lips for a moment too long.

"The honor is mine."

Then, without hesitation, he extended his hand toward her.

"Would you grant me the first dance tonight, Lady Mirabelle?"

Excitement immediately spread through the surrounding females.

But Mirabelle’s stomach dropped.

’Absolutely not.’

Every instinct told her accepting this invitation would create problems.

Large ones.

"I..." She smiled carefully. "Perhaps it would be better if—"

"If?" amusement flickered in his eyes.

She suddenly realized there was no polite way out.

Rejecting the heir of Rotwald publicly — especially during an official welcoming banquet — would be a direct insult.

And he knew it.

Of course he knew it.

He was a Fox.

"I wouldn’t wish to monopolize your evening so early," she tried again diplomatically.

Lucien smiled.

"A single dance hardly counts as monopolizing."

His words were smooth.

His entire presence effortless.

And Mirabelle trapped.

She could practically feel Silas’ stare burning into the side of her face.

A petty part of her suddenly lifted its head.

’You know what?

This is your fault.’

If Silas hadn’t practically scent-marked her before the banquet, none of this would be happening.

So honestly?

He deserved to suffer a little.

Mirabelle placed her hand into Lucien’s.

"...Then I would be honored to accept."

Somewhere behind the crowd, something cracked.

Kaelith glanced downward just in time to see thin cracks spreading across the stone tiles.

Yeah...

this was going badly.

One of the stones beneath Silas splintered apart inside the writhing shadows.

"You’re acting exactly how he wanted you to act."

Kaelith sighed.

"Is this really the behavior expected from a royal of Zasar?"

His words barely seemed to reach the panther.

"Mirabelle won’t be pleased if you make a scene now."

That one hit.

Kaelith’s words felt like a bucket of ice-cold water dumped over him.

Silas closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

Immediately, the shadows began retreating, though an unhappy hissing sound echoed softly from them.

A/N: It honestly makes me so happy seeing readers from all over the world enjoying this story. Sometimes I sit here and realize people in completely different countries are all imagining the same characters and scenes together, and that feeling is just... really special to me. (╥﹏╥)

If you’d like to help more people discover Beast Nobles, voting with Power Stones or Golden Tickets really helps the story reach new readers. ♡

Thank you for being here and experiencing this world with me. (≧◡≦)