Jem discovered that balls involved far less dancing and far far more standing around while fawning nobles introduced themselves. It was terribly terribly boring. It was like queuing at the supermarket, there were so many things around him he wanted, but all of it was out of reach.

Dance music that sounded strangely like EDM, actually interesting-looking people, a buffet table filled with foods he’d never seen before and of course enough booze to get black out drunk, which would have been really really high on his priority list right then if he weren’t for his stupid class.

It didn’t help that while sober he had a bit of a tendency to sink into his thoughts. It wasn’t quite as bad if he was with someone he liked, or if he was doing something he enjoyed like dancing.

He kept one of his thought threads locked on the conversation while allowing the other to drift. His time on Dari, the name of the planet. Dari a word that meant beneath in the local language. It wasn’t quite the same as earth and Earth, but it made him feel nostalgic all the same, the whole party was making him feel nostalgic.

By all metrics, his time on Dari had been quite insane. It might be a bit whingy to complain at this point but those schemers had taken control of him from day 1. He’d appeared and then been dragged off to be used in a ritual to make use of the system’s special interest. If not for that he could have taken the usual class and all his problems would have gone away, but no then there’s a scheming old man who drags you off before you can get the context needed to make an informed choice.

Then before you know it you’re getting top-notch dance instruction, the kind that you’d fight for back on earth, who is also more than a little trigger-happy with violence. And now he had been named a prince.

It probably wasn’t good form to complain about these things, but it was like he was living someone else's dream. It was probably like winning the lottery the day after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Jem had expected to die, except he hadn’t and now he was alive and absolutely bloody nothing made sense.

There was also the fact that the executioner had stayed its axe, but for how long? His life might be technically great now, but it’s awfully hard to enjoy things and want to attend balls, even if in some ways they look like lots of fun, while he could be working towards preventing his death.

I also need to be more careful. Jem knew that there were skills that messed with people's perceptions, after all, one of his skills did just that. That probably also meant that these nobles had all sorts of skills related to persuasion or some kind of intent judging skills. There was almost certainly something going on like that with Nessa and the rest of the family. She’d instantly realised he was scheming after all, and he was pretty sure he didn’t have a scheming face.

It begged the question of whether everything he had been feeling had been entirely logical up to that point, on the other hand, even if they had been influencing him, what did that actually mean? It didn’t automatically mean that their actions were malicious, after all, his [Altered Presence] skill didn’t have on and off buttons.

He would swap to using this thread exclusively to try and examine if he was reacting rationally. At least for the duration of the evening. It meant that he would have to properly engage with all his attention on the guests, he had admittedly been doing that in his own way, already, but he was still getting used to the whole separate threads thing. Jem activated [Attention Regulation].

Jem properly tuned back into the conversation. It was weird, his thoughts still felt a bit hierarchical. Previously the other thread had felt like the main or primary one, but now it was shunted off to deal with analysing his interactions this one had started to feel like the main one. Fortunately, over the course of playing with the skill he’d got into the habit of accelerating and decelerating his thoughts as needed to think and communicate at the same time. It wasn’t quite as good as having multiple threads but it worked well enough that he could think at the same time as the nobles introduced themselves.

Fortunately, they had worked through all of the ‘truly important ones’ as Haywood had described them. Jem wondered if Haywood would have been considered ‘truly important’ if titles were the only thing considered in that description.

Finally, after the introductions were all finished they were all technically released from the mandatory part and Jem made a beeline for the ballroom floor. There had been a number of people eyeing him up and circling like piranhas as the last few conversations had wound up. Jem had no intention of being dragged back into a conversation the moment he was free.

It might have been a long shot but Jem was banking on [Altered Presence] making people less likely to judge him for dipping out.

The ballroom floor was filled with people. Around the edges, they were doing their own dances but towards the middle, they were taking on the more organised forms Jem recognised from his dance instruction. Given that Jem was not quite used to general dance with his new legs it seemed prudent to move for what he actually recognised, so when the next lull came in the music Jem inserted himself into the search for a dance partner.

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His first was a tall woman wearing what could only truly be described as a crop top, leaving a line of rippling muscles on display. She was so much taller than he was that he really had no choice but to stare at her abs. He felt like a kid standing on their parent's feet so they could dance together. Jem had always been in the if you can reach the cupboards what reason do you have to complain about your height camp, and as someone who had been on the shorter side back on earth, he’d felt quite justified in that. That being said, he really needed to do something about his height.

Soon after it was time to swap to a new partner and Jem traded the rippling abs out for a black shirt. The man led them skillfully into the dance and Jem followed along. In a gesture that felt far too familiar, the man reached out his hand and lifted Jem’s chin. Their eyes met.

The man’s eyes were assessing, but his smile seemed friendly and Jem recognised him as one of the duchess’ sons.

“Hello Jem Asterion, it’s a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance.”

His voice should have been hard to hear over the dancefloor but Jem could hear him clearly. There must have been a skill in play.

“And you Lord Blackthorn.”

“Call me Sebastian.”

Jem grinned. “Okay Sebastian”

“So Jem, what was the magic like on your world?”

“We didn’t actually have magic, it was a dead world. But I suppose our technology could be viewed in a similar way. There’s a lot of things I’ve seen magic do but things are missing.”

“Ahh so you were brought into the Imperial family for the value of your information then.”

“That seems possible.” Jem hedged.

“If not I don’t see what possible value you might bring. A rank classers aren’t so rare, there are a couple in the capital right now. My mother is one of them.”

“Yes?”

“Well Jem Asterion, I hope you live up to my expectations. If you are in need of a guide feel free to send word. I would quite like to get to know you more intimately.”

“Er right. Well, if I find myself in need of a guide I’ll let you know.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

The song came to an end and Sebastian brought Jem’s hand to his lips kissing it gently. A flush crept onto Jem’s cheeks and his knees went a little weak. He was sure that had it not been for the confusing mash of mixed messages his knees might have actually buckled slightly in a truly embarrassing way, though the fact he had satyr knees now probably also helped.

Sebastian faded away into the flock of dancers. To Jem’s great relief, a few moments later his thought thread under the effects of [Attention Regulation] informed him that his response was atypical. A moment later he realised that despite his knees having not buckled he was still frozen exactly where he had been seconds before, in the centre of the ballroom floor, with his hand outstretched. It was not an astounding look. Wait wouldn't my behaviour be atypical if I was being flirted with?

Jem made his way off the dancefloor and on reflex found a glass of wine. He raised the glass to his lips, trying and failing to avoid thinking about Sebastian’s. Jem tilted the glass as the doors slammed open. Taken by surprise Jem fumbled and the wine splashed onto his shirt, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

Karim stood in the doorway, covered in blood, one of his antlers broken off almost to the base. He looked exceptionally unstable and it seemed as though the only thing keeping him on his feet was the guard with their arm hooked under his shoulders.

Jem had the thought that he wished his entrance had been that dramatic, a thought that he instantly felt guilty about. He was about to rush over but Nessa was already there. She’d either moved so fast that he couldn’t see it or teleported directly to Karim’s side.

Her voice was loud as she yelled. “The party is over!”

Karim leaned into her and pushed out a few words. Jem was too far away to hear them, but he was sure that many of the people around him could. Whether it was due to their levels or some kind of courtly skill designed to sniff out intrigue.

“Levels 200 and up come here. Any healers please see to Karim. Everyone else go.”

Jem saw Haywood and Aoife, as well as around fifteen of the other guests, move over to Nessa’s side.

Not being a part of that category he likely had some time alone to think. After tonight he needed it. He was getting a lot out of the current arrangement but he needed to make sure he was getting what he actually needed out of it.

Dealing with the black spot was at the top of his own priority list. He might not be able to start university before the new term but there was nothing stopping him from gaining some levels in his class. He was going to bring the issue to Haywood, assuming he had returned in the morning. In the meantime, Jem had the opportunity to do some research of his own. Haywood had found books for him to read, and gave recommendations but there were a few things Jem wanted to look into himself.

Jem strode across the ballroom, briefly stopping at the buffet table to make up a plate to take with him and entered the hall that the family had originally entered from.

There were a few thoughts burning holes in his mind.

Just why had he been brought into the family? Was an S* class such a large deal. But no, it seemed that Aoife had acted before that. Was it like Sebastian had said, because of the technology on his world? Or was it truly just benevolence like Aoife had suggested? He’d been reacting for long enough.

There was one final question burning in his mind but he repressed it with great vehemence. It was time to stop thinking about Sebastian bloody Blackthorn.

He pressed something else into his mind. I hope Karim’s okay.