"You seem annoyed."

Kaelith’s ears lowered slightly, genuine concern flickering across his face as though he worried he had somehow done something wrong.

"Mmm."

She very eloquently stated the obvious.

Now his expression shifted into something faintly wounded.

"Somehow, I get the feeling I’m just an excuse so you don’t have to deal with the other two."

In truth, he didn’t actually care.

As long as she stayed with him, he would gladly accept being used as an escape.

But he had absolutely no intention of letting her know that.

For some reason, Mirabelle’s heart tightened at his words, and a quiet sense of guilt stirred inside her.

Because somehow...

he was right.

But what she said instead was:

"No. Not at all. Of course I intended to dance with you today."

Kaelith looked unconvinced.

"Sure. But only because I was convenient." A crooked grin spread across his lips. "I get it though. Compared to a mysterious panther or a charming fox, a hyena doesn’t exactly stand much of a chance."

Silence stretched briefly between them.

Laughter and music drifted through the ballroom while countless couples moved across the moss-lined floor in elegant circles.

Every now and then, the scent of flowers and warm food cut through the heavy presence of beastmen lingering in the air.

And Mirabelle’s guilt only grew worse.

Because he was right about something else too.

Beside Silas, Kaelith had somehow always faded into the background.

And Lucien possessed an entirely different kind of charm than he did.

But that didn’t mean Kaelith wasn’t attractive.

Because he absolutely was.

His face, the half-shaved hairstyle with the remaining dark hair falling long around his shoulders, the piercings, and those reddish eyes gave him a forbidden kind of wild beauty that probably would have destroyed every girl obsessed with dark romance novels.

And if she was being completely honest with herself...

...something about him tugged at her heart too.

And it wasn’t just his appearance working in his favor.

While dancing with him, she could clearly feel just how strong he was.

Kaelith was strong.

Not merely physically, but politically too.

Even Mirabelle, with her still limited understanding of noble structures and cultivation ranks, could tell that he stood far above most males in the ballroom.

A high-ranking beastman.

Respected.

Dangerous.

Yet not so powerful that being connected to him would immediately drag her into the center of political warfare the way Lucien or Silas inevitably would.

And maybe that was part of why being around him felt... easier.

She just hadn’t truly given him a chance so far.

And suddenly, Mirabelle found herself wondering whether that had been unfair.

Kaelith carried status and power, but wore both carelessly, like things he had never truly asked for.

There was something deeply rebellious about the hyena.

Not in the loud, reckless way he joked or provoked others.

Something quieter — more instinctive.

As though, if forced to choose between blind obedience and following his own instincts...

he might choose himself.

Or perhaps the people he cared about.

Mirabelle couldn’t know if that was actually true.

But for some reason...

she could imagine him standing beside her far easier than she could imagine Kaelith kneeling obediently beneath the queen’s orders.

"Tell me what’s going on inside that cute little head of yours."

His voice sounded like trouble wrapped in warmth.

Heat immediately rushed into Mirabelle’s cheeks.

At this point, she honestly couldn’t even say how often this happened today.

"If I tell you," she replied dryly, "I’ll have to kill you."

For one brief moment, the smooth confidence of the hyena beast faltered.

Then the grin returned.

"Go ahead," he said easily. "For you, I’d crawl back from the dead."

A laugh bubbled out of Mirabelle before she could stop it.

He was impossible.

Above them, hundreds of lanterns swayed softly beneath the branches, their warm light flickering across the dancing couples below.

Outside the tall windows, darkness had settled over Rotwald, turning the ballroom into a world of glowing gold and deep shadows.

Rolling her eyes, Mirabelle lightly smacked his shoulder:

"Do you always have an answer for everything?"

Kaelith tilted his head slightly, pretending to think about it seriously.

"No," he said finally.

Mirabelle blinked in surprise.

"Oh?"

"I panic internally all the time." He flashed her a shameless grin. "I’m just hot enough that people usually don’t notice."

That caught her completely off guard.

Another laugh burst out of her before she could stop it.

The hyena beast looked unbearably pleased with himself.

"...Are you always this full of yourself?"

"Yes." Not even a second of hesitation. "It’s part of my charm."

She snorted.

"I thought the charm was the tattoos and emotional instability."

Kaelith clutched his chest like she had mortally wounded him.

"Are you reducing me to my body?"

"And the emotional instability," the lynx female added helpfully.

"Where exactly am I emotionally unstable?" he demanded, sounding genuinely offended.

"Let me think..."

Mirabelle suddenly fell silent as though she were honestly considering it.

Lucien: "...

Do you think I have a chance?"

The abrupt topic change worked immediately.

Mirabelle’s brows drew together slightly, her nose scrunching in confusion.

Kaelith nearly lost his mind over how adorable she looked.

The overwhelming urge to bump his finger against her nose hit him out of nowhere.

"Chance at what?"

"At you."

This time, Kaelith’s voice sounded so unexpectedly soft and vulnerable that Mirabelle no longer felt like teasing him.

Instead, she actually thought about it:

"Well..." she admitted slowly, "you do have a lot working in your favor."

It wasn’t a direct answer.

But to Kaelith, her words felt like sunlight breaking through darkness he hadn’t even realized existed inside him.

"Like the emotional instability?" he joked weakly.

Mirabelle grinned.

"That too."

A/N: Why are all of them suddenly becoming husband material? ┐(￣ヘ￣;)┌

And if you have a moment, reviews are super appreciated. ♡

They help confused future readers decide whether they’re ready for beastmen chaos yet. (￣▽￣*)ゞ