"Fine. I guess I can meet a few more."

Amort says "Thank you! You are my hero!"

Lin says "I guess that means that we will need to split up after all."

"What? Why?"

Lin says "So that you can meet all the women who want to meet you."

"No, no, no. You are coming with me. I only agreed to meet them, I didn't agree to meet them alone. No way am I going to stand around and let them flirt with me."

Lin says "Another good answer. Alright, I will go with you."

Almort says "How do you want to do this?"

"Just take us around and introduce us to the important ones."

Almort says "Alright."

So, Lin and I follow Almort around to meet the important women that are here. They all seem disappointed that I am not alone, but they still compliment Lin. They are obviously jealous of her, but they keep saying all sorts of nice things.

It must be some type of girl code, the more jealous they are the stronger the compliments that they give. I don't understand it and I don't even plan to try, I won't even ask Lin about it. Probably the worst part of it for these women is that their complements are true, Lin is that beautiful.

Although, I will admit that it is fairly amusing watching their reactions to Lin. Especially when I ignore their attempts to subtly flirt with me despite Lin being beside me. The younger and more attractive among them even look angry when they get no reaction.

None of them are a match for Lin, but I am pretty sure they are not used to being ignored. Especially since they are important people according to Almort, or the children of important people. Even if they weren't attractive, people would still be drawn to them by power.

Those that are attractive and have power are definitely even more pursued. They have probably had a crowd of idiots follow them around, just like what is happening with Lin. The group of idiots is still following us and I notice several of the women give them looks of disgust.

"Almort, the group following us, take their parents off of the list for me to meet. Feel free to tell them that they didn't get to meet me because their kid's stupidity offended me."

Almort chuckles and says "Understood."

Lin smiles and says "That works, it is much better than you maiming them."

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Almort says "Please, no bloodshed at the ball. I don't want to have to clean up that kind of mess!"

When I just chuckle in response, Almort hurries to introduce us to the next woman. He is probably hoping to distract me from doing anything that will increase his workload. I don't plan to make things harder for him, but that won't stop me from teasing him.

Besides, entertaining myself makes this boring and frustrating situation easier to deal with. I just need to hold on for a little bit longer and this segment of the ball should be over. Once the music starts I will be able to dance with Lin and then she might be willing to leave.

Not that there isn't music right now, it is just quiet and meant to be background noise. Eventually, after what feels like forever, the music gets louder and people react. The groups that were conversing break up and men return to their women.

There seems to be some unwritten rules at work as I notice different groups forming. Luckily, the group of young idiots finally stops following Lin around. There seems to be a specific area that single men are required to move to and another for single women.

Almort says "This song is the transition period. The next song will be for the first dance. As the guests of honor, you should be the ones to dance the first dance."

Lin says "Finally!"

I just laugh and when the next song starts I escort Lin to the middle of the hall. We don't know the specific steps for the song, but Lin and I are so graceful that it doesn't matter much. Besides, I don't care what others think, all I care is that Lin is having fun.

As we dance, Lin is smiling so much that it looks like she is glowing, I had no idea she liked dancing this much. When the first song finishes the surrounding people applaud. I can tell from the excited looks that they are expecting us to dance with other people now, but we don't move.

When the next song starts, we start dancing again and this time other couples join in. Dancing with Lin was the only reason I agreed to come to this ball and I don't plan to dance with anyone else. I don't care how angry or disappointed the women are, they aren't my problem.

The couples on the dance floor change after every song, except for Lin and I. We dance together through the first five songs before Lin needs to take a break. Even then, it is obvious how much fun she is having and that makes everything else worth it.

We leave the dance floor arm in arm and head over to the side to get some drinks. A lot of expectant gazes follow us, but we both ignore them without discussing it. However, Almort comes over to us as soon as we have grabbed our drinks.

Almort says "Can I convince the two of you to dance with some of the others?"

Lin says "No."

"Not a chance."

Almort says "If not the others, would you at least consider dancing with the council members and their wives?"

"I am only going to dance with Lin. Once she has had enough dancing, we will be leaving and returning to our suite."

Almort says "And there is nothing I can say to change your mind?"

"Nope. This is the only reason we agreed to attend the ball."

Almort says "Alright. I had to try. Enjoy the rest of your night."

After resting for a bit, Lin and I return to the dance floor for the next song. The songs are all slow, formal type, which is a little strange to me and makes me curious. I haven't exactly paid any attention to the music of this world, so I don't know if other types exist.

"Lin, is this the only type of music in this world?"

Lin says "Yes. Why? What other types of music would there be? Wait, I have heard that the beastmen has another kind of music, but I've never heard it. Does your old world have more types?"

"Dozens. I will introduce you to what I remember later."

Lin says "I will look forward to it. Did your world have music like ours?"

"Yes, but I never listened to that type much. It was a rather old fashioned kind of music by the time I lived."