Right now, in the large hall, envious gazes from almost all the males were directed towards Aiden and Flynn's table.
Their table had already attracted the attention of everyone a number of times today but this one really took the cake.
Caroline Roseblade, known to never approach males unless it required formalities had willingly approached the table of the brothers from the Belmont Family and as if that wasn't enough, she was staring at Aiden seductively.
"This is unbelievable!"
"Caroline Roseblade! That Caroline Roseblade, who's known to never approach males but instead, it's usually the other way around!"
"And she's staring at him like that too! Damn I wish I was him! Is this what being handsome gets you?! Curse my genes!"
The loud murmurs and hushed voices could be heard and Caroline who was very aware of what she had caused still kept staring seductively at the male teen before her.
Shiny black hair that was perfectly styled, piercing green eyes that shined like glowing emeralds, fair skin without a single blemish, thinly and beautifully shaped lips, a well-defined jaw and a face that held it all together perfectly.
Yes, the teen before her was truly and ridiculously handsome in every sense of the word but that wasn't what drew her to him.
It was the way his eyes showed no signs of interest in her even though she was purposely increasing all of her charm at his face point blank.
'He's just as I thought... Maybe even better…' Caroline inwardly said to herself.
To say that she had not been interested in this rare specimen of a male would be an understatement.
Throughout all her life, as far back as she could remember, a lot of males had always eyed her lustfully without even trying to hide their dirty and filthy intentions.
Although there were also those who weren't interested in her for her beauty, they would instead approach her because of her status or other ulterior motives a lot of the time.
As a young girl who was just trying to grow up as normally as she could, the gazes filled with carnal desires and fake admirations towards her made her screen crawl so much whenever she went out of her home or attended any social event like this one.
Luckily for her, she eventually taught herself how to use it as a tool to get whatever she wanted and gradually she began to accept that this was how it should be.
That was until she met Aiden at a ball when they were thirteen.
He had such a clear and happy gaze that radiated from the way he carried himself, and even when he greeted her, his eyes showed not even a single speck of lust or interest in her, something she found really surprising.
She had tried to approach him again after that, to get a chance to talk to him again, to have that feeling he once gave her but unfortunately for her, the next few times he attended a ball, he had such a dark and menacing feel to him, so much that it deterred anyone from even coming close or trying to approach him.
This continued for the next few years after which he completely stopped attending any social event except for compulsory ones like this, and even when he did, he never bothered talking to anyone and just quietly stayed in a corner until the event was over.
Now he was here again, but this time, he seemed so much more lively, so much more approachable, so much like his old self but with a sharpened edge.
Caroline couldn't help but feel like it was all because of the other teen that was now sitting beside him, his younger brother, Flynn Belmont.
Almost every noble knew why Aiden stopped socializing and Caroline herself was no exception.
To put it simply, Caroline Roseblade had always had a crush on Aiden from the very first time she had met him and time had done nothing to reduce that feeling but had even amplified it instead.
Unknown to the current Aiden and Flynn, the reason why she had never approached Aiden even once in the novel was because he had completely shut out all forms of relationships with people, especially nobles, with the exception of his family after Flynn died, hence making him unapproachable.
"Miss Roseblade, might I ask why you've been staring at me for the past few minutes?" Aiden asked politely.
He wondered what this sly vixen was up to and kept staring back at her.
As he did, he also took in her features. Short black silky hair, scarlet-red ruby eyes, beautiful fair skin, a small nose and small rosy-pink lips that held an alluring smile.
The female before him could be described as alluringly beautiful and Aiden could see why so many males fell for her schemes without them ever even knowing.
"No reason. You're just so handsome to look at" Caroline replied.
"I know. Thank you for the compliment" Aiden said without so much as a change in his expression.
"Oh~" Caroline softly said, amused by his reply to her compliment.
"You really are shameless huh?" Flynn interjected while grabbing a new plate of pastries from another waitress.
"As a wise man once said, it's not shameless if it's true…" Aiden commented.
"Let me guess. That wise man was you?" Flynn followed up almost immediately.
"Touché" Aiden replied.
Flynn just rolled his eyes and took a bite out of a scone.
Aiden on the other hand, now had a small smug smile on his face.
"Pfft! Hahaha! That was fun to watch" Caroline said with a small laughter after which she continued.
"Sorry. I just never took you for someone like that" she said with a slight chuckle.
Aiden who watched the sight of Caroline chuckling relaxed his guard a bit.
This was something he wasn't expecting from the crafty fox he had read so much about so it came as a slight surprise to him.
He however was still wary of her but he was relieved that he didn't have to constantly be at alert around her.
"Well it is true" Aiden shrugged.
"That it is" Caroline replied, still very much surprised and amused by the way Aiden was being so shameless.
"I would like to dance with you but I overheard that you're horrible at dancing. Is that the truth or are you just trying to evade countless ladies who are offering their hands to you?" Caroline continued, her hand propping her head as she rested it on the table.
"Trust me. I'm probably the worst dancer Arcadia has yet to see. I'm also not particularly interested in embarrassing myself" Aiden replied with a slight gesture of his hands.
"I would never have expected that…" Caroline said with a genuine smile, all of her allure gone and all that remained was just a teenage girl who wanted to have a normal conversation with a teenage boy her age.
Everyone in the hall who saw this foreign sight of Caroline Roseblade talking freely with a boy her age was genuinely amazed by this but what was even more amazing was how Aiden could talk freely to her without being affected by her charms.
Right now, they just seemed like two friends having a nice conversation.
Flynn who was hearing their conversation decided to just leave them be as he kept munching on the new batch of pastries he had procured.
Although a lot of people were now staring in their direction, he had particularly been feeling someone's strong gaze on him since the moment he entered the hall but he had chosen to ignore it because he knew whose gaze it was.
'How can someone change so much in just a year and a few months?' Amelia who was staring at Flynn wondered.
The boy she was now looking at seemed to have a completely different feel to him and yet, it still felt like the person she had known since they were kids.
She couldn't quite describe the feeling she was having right now but one thing was for sure. She didn't like the way he was completely ignoring her. She didn't like it at all.
As she kept staring at him, she watched his bored expression immediately transform to one with a deep frown.
Flynn stood up immediately with a frown on his face. His expression was completely serious and he immediately increased the radius of his mana sense.
'Five of them!' he inwardly exclaimed.
The guy whom he had noticed that had placed an invisible barrier on the open doors of the hallways quietly moved around the hall while secretly communicating with four other people he had come in contact with.
The same guy was now moving towards the middle of the dance floor with one of his hands in the side pockets of his suit jacket.
Flynn could sense something that looked to be a small round red ball that he seemed to have activated upon putting his hands into his pockets. The other four also seemed to be doing the same thing.
"Aiden!"
Aiden who had also felt the same thing but slightly later than Flynn due to his conversation with Caroline also got up with complete alertness.
This sudden movement from Aiden and Flynn startled Caroline.
She wondered what could have caused both brothers to suddenly stand up but as she wanted to ask what was going on, Aiden turned around and paused a few steps after walking from their table and spoke.
"Flynn. Don't lose!"
Flynn looked over his shoulder and with a smirk, replied to his brother sarcastically.
"Just what I needed Aiden. Helpful reassurance!"
Aiden smiled at this and then immediately ran towards the open doors of the hall with immense speed and completely halted just before it.
Everyone was now looking at him and the sudden speed at which he ran towards the door but as if that wasn't weird enough, they watched him place his hands on the open space present within the middle of the door and wondered what he was doing.
Aiden after placing his hands on the invisible barrier, got into a stance that seemed like he was about to attack someone with a punch and with an intense concentration, chanted a spell inwardly.
'[Gravity Series: Gravity Blast]'