After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

But no matter how much she drank, Lia didn't feel the drunken stupor she sought.

When the gifts were presented, the courteous image of Lin Da kept replaying in front of her eyes.

Also, the scene where Lin Da and Lulu held hands to greet them...

Gurgle, gurgle!

Lia gulped down the large glass of wheat beer, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Beneath the influence of alcohol, her vision blurred as she looked towards Lin Da, surrounded by Snow Goose's people in the middle of the room.

The party was attended by many important figures, all coming for Lin Da. Lia envied him; Lin Da had achieved what she wanted but could not.

And that glory should have included a share for her.

'It's probably because they trust me,'

Lin Da's words echoed in her ears once again.

Lia's grip on her beer mug slowly tightened. She couldn't help but wonder, if she could trust Lin Da as the members of the Phoenix Tail Flower did, would Lin Da have had no reason to leave the team?

After careful consideration, Lia turned pale as she arrived at the answer: apparently not!

The members of Snow Goose were no worse than those of Phoenix Tail Flower, plus they had the foundation of three years of shared adventures with Lin Da. Why would Lin Da leave the team for no reason?

All the adverse outcomes were brewed by her and Aiko, together.

Assuming Lin Da would never leave the team, they thought they could use him however they wanted.

When troubles arose, they complained about Lin Da first.

Among them, it was she who complained the most.

Lia's complexion grew paler as she suddenly realized that in the process of fostering this misfortune, she had watered it the most, contributing the most effort!

Dingling~

A crisp bell rang, and the handsome blond elf who was the host of Phoenix Tail Flower announced with a smile:

"Now it's time to enter the second part of the party, the social dance. If anyone draws the lucky Number 1 ticket, they will become the host of today's party and Lin Da's dance partner!"

These words set off a small wave of surprise among the crowd.

Social dancing was a routine part of the party.

In Mystic Continent, being skilled at social dancing signified knowledge, cultivation, and the embodiment of the upper class.

Many of the single female adventurers in the hall had a sparkle in their eyes, looking at Lin Da with heated gazes.

The fitted suit enhanced Lin Da's stature, making him appear even more upright.

Lia heard the female adventurers whispering nearby:

"I really wish I could be Lin Da's dance partner and be poached by Phoenix Tail Flower Team."

"Keep it down! It would be bad if our Captain heard you!"

"Watch me impress with my outstanding dance skills and snatch up the Eye of True Knowledge!"

Only Lia was not enthusiastic.

She didn't even plan to go and draw a ticket.

With her horrendously bad social dancing skills, she was more likely to mistake her partner's feet for the floor.

The embarrassing scene from Snow Goose's last promotion party was still vivid in her mind.

Lia almost fell over with Lin Da, her terrible dancing skills had been mockingly discussed for a long time by the adventurers who attended that party, and even made it into a small section of the White Dove Morning News.

The elf host brought out the large raffle barrel, and the single adventurers lined up excitedly, all looking forward to encountering romance.

Lia was indifferent, still drinking her wheat beer.

"Could you do me a favor?"

An uninvited guest interrupted her.

Lia looked up.

It was the pink-haired idiot.

With her hands pressed together pleadingly, Celine said with an air of helplessness, "If you draw the Number 1 ticket, swap with me, I'll give you ten thousand Gold Coins."

"Ten... thousand?"

Lia's eyelids twitched.

She was in dire need of money, especially after giving Lin Da an expensive Magic Guide Wristwatch.

Ambivalent for a while, Lia said, "Okay."

She went up to draw not because she was desperate for money, not like those vulgar female adventurers.

If she drew ticket Number 1, she'd sell it to the pink-haired girl. If she didn't, she would turn down the dance. Her social dancing was still as terrible as a year ago; she didn't want to embarrass herself in the middle of the hall.

Passing by Aiko, Lia noticed that Aiko was biting her handkerchief, almost crying with envy.

Oh… because of her limp, she couldn't draw a ticket.

Come to think of it, did Aiko really want to shed her single status so badly? It was just a social dance, after all.

Lia thought it strange.

"Miss, please draw your ticket," the elf host courteously tilted the barrel towards her.

Lia reached inside and pulled out a wooden ticket resembling an ice cream stick, wrapped at the end with white paper which she then tore open.

Many around her, who weren't lucky enough to get the Number 1 ticket, leaned in to see.

As Lia tore open the paper and revealed the number on it, a murmur of surprise rose: Your next read is at empire

"Your luck is just too good!"

"Captain Lia, do you want to swap with me? I have Number 37, that famous Star-ranked adventurer Gale."

"Swap with me! I'm Number 28, Robert, a veteran rock-level team captain!"

A bunch of female adventurers surrounded Lia.

"Er..."

Lia was also stunned. She thought it would be great to get ticket Number 1, but she didn't hold much hope. With over a hundred tickets, how could she possibly draw Number 1?

But, as fate would have it... she did.

The wooden ticket in her hand was the coveted Number 1 that many desired!

"Make way, make way, Lia had already made a deal with me." Celine pushed her way through the crowd, exclaiming, "You really did draw it... here, give it to me, this Savings Card has ten thousand Gold in it."

Xi Lin held a Savings Card and handed it to Lia.

However, Lia didn't reach out to take it.

"?"

Xi Lin looked at her, puzzled.

"Didn't we agree?"

"You dislike Lin Da, right? For you, number 1 wooden sign is a waste; exchanging it for 10,000 Gold Coins would be great, wouldn't it?"

"You're not thinking of going back on your word, are you?"

Under Xi Lin's repeated questioning, Lia only gripped the wooden sign tighter and tighter.

The curious gazes of those around made her flush with heat, and her heart started to pound fiercely.

Lia had an intuition that if she sold the wooden sign to Xi Lin, she would become a stranger to Lin Da forever.

Lia couldn't figure out what her feelings towards Lin Da were: enemy, old teammate, friend, competitor... Each one fit, yet none felt entirely right.

The one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want to become a stranger to Lin Da, growing further and further apart.

Even if she was hated, Lia hoped that Lin Da would remember her.

'It's just a social dance, making a fool of yourself, right? You've already made a fool of yourself once, what's there to fear if you do it again?'

'You can even take the opportunity to embarrass Lin Da with your awful dance skills and kill two birds with one stone!' Lia's mind seemed to be tempted by a little devil holding a pitchfork.

Then, a little angel with a halo above its head emerged, saying anxiously:

'Lia, you mustn't listen to it! Instead of being hated by Lin Da, isn't it better to earn his recognition?'

'Even if you can't be teammates anymore, you can still be friends, right? Don't you want to fight alongside Lin Da in the Great Mystery Continent in the future? You know how strong his shield is, don't you? With Lin Da supporting you from behind, you can charge your energy without any pressure!'n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In her head, the two little figures, one black and one white, argued fiercely.

Lia covered her ears and yelled in irritation, "Enough, both of you, stop it!"

There was a hush in the room as everyone fell silent.

The female adventurers who wanted to exchange wooden signs with Lia seemed to understand something, looking at her with surprised expressions.

They showed embarrassed faces and awkwardly retreated.

Xi Lin was also somewhat surprised.

Well, not exactly surprised. Xi Lin had long noticed Lia's attitude towards Lin Da, but Lia was too proud to admit it.

What surprised Xi Lin was Lia shouting loudly to drive people away.

If any other seductive vixen got close to Lin Da, Xi Lin would definitely stop it.

But Lia was her only close friend. Even though it was uncomfortable to see her head turning green with envy, Xi Lin, considering the long lifespan of a High-Class Succubus, and the promise of the Demon King granting her and Lin Da eternal life, could just about accept letting Lia have Lin Da for the time being.

She had no choice but to think of it as Lin Da improving his skills!

"I hope you seize this opportunity," Xi Lin said with a teasing smile, patting Lia on the shoulder, "After all, you are my close friend, and it's better to have you win than to let Aiko steal the spotlight."

"What?"

Lia, hearing Xi Lin's incomprehensible words, was somewhat stunned.

Close friend? Who are you?

I have no idea who you are!

No matter what,

the ball began beneath the melodious jazz music.

Handsome men and beautiful women walked into the center of the great hall with elegant steps, hand in hand.

There was the trembling Robert, who looked like he was being held hostage by robbers—his dance partner was Wild Panther Gite, a Star-ranked adventurer with exploding muscles.

And there was Gale, brimming with pride, and Minnie, captain of the Slay the Evil Dragon Adventure Team, with a face full of bitterness.

Of course, the most eye-catching was the host of the party, Lin Da.

Dressed in a tailored suit, he danced in the jazz music, hand in hand with a red-haired girl.

On the seats to both sides, Aiko's eyes were filled with envy.

She had prayed to the World Tree Goddess that anyone but Lia should pull the number 1 tag...

So much for prayers being useful!

Aiko felt a bit panicked inside; anyone could win, but she couldn't endure seeing the redhead win! She could tolerate others far away having a good life, but she absolutely couldn't stand someone beside her living better than her!

Especially when that person was just a powder keg ready to explode in her eyes!

'With Lia's dance skills, she dares to go up there? Make a complete fool of yourself, embarrass yourself, and drop Lin Da's good impression of you by a ton!' Aiko wore a forced smile, but inside, her fury twisted her facial features as she cursed Lia's misfortune manically.

At that moment, the guests were all looking forward to Lin Da's dance performance.

Ballroom dancing was an upper-class social activity, costly and difficult to learn; men admired and women aspired those who could dance well.

But clearly, Lin Da was lacking in this area.

It didn't take long for everyone to notice: Lin Da's dance skills were mediocre, and among the dozens of couples in the hall, they ranked towards the back.

And Lin Da's dance partner, Lia, had even worse skills.

The two looked less like they were dancing and more like they were fighting.

You shove me, I shove you; stumbling around, they almost bumped into others.

Before long, Lia had left footprints all over Lin Da's dress shoes.

'Shall we just stop?'

Lin Da, looking helpless, conveyed his thoughts through his eyes.

Let's stop embarrassing ourselves and just rest.

But Lia stubbornly shook her head.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that Lia had put on makeup today.

It was subtle, nearly imperceptible.

But Lin Da, holding her hand at this intimate distance, could even spot the faint eyeshadow and lipstick on the girl's face.

Her fiery red hair fluttered as they danced, her gaze stubborn, and her hands clinging to him as if they were wrestling.

Lia made it clear: Letting go was not an option!