Raised in Dungeon
Chapter 102 One Step

"With your current abilities, you can't possibly defeat Prince Leofric."

"Before you kill Leofric, you should practice first; you won't be able to defeat him if you can't even win against Theobauld."

Theobauld and Isabelle's words repeated in his head. It made him both frustrated and calm at the same time.

'Leofric is the strongest person in this land, and I was defeated by his not-so-strong brother, meaning I'm still not strong enough to defeat Leofric at this moment. I must replace more information about his strengths, abilities, and weaknesses. He inexplicably stopped Mother's regeneration ability when he fought her, meaning I can't fight him carelessly.

But...'

The blood from Allen's hand became thicker and turned almost black. The black blood churned in a circle and turned into a small spear.

'If I kill him secretly, maybe I still have a chance!' Allen thought.

He was glaring at Leofric, who was above him,

At that moment, Leofric was suddenly looking at him.

Their eyes met. As the two men locked eyes. Allen felt his heart race as he realized just how strong he was. He could practically taste the tension in the air as Leofric glared down at him, his eyes promising some kind of retribution if he did something.

'Damn, I exude too much killing aura!' Allen thought while averting his face.

But to his surprise, Leofric simply smiled dismissively before turning and descending down the stairs. Allen let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and felt himself relax as the tension dissipated.

Allen grasped the spear he had made with his black blood, and the spear shattered again, turning into ordinary blood.

"Allen! What's wrong with your hand?" said Carla, noticing a lot of blood falling below Allen's right hand.

Allen looked at his palm; then he realized what he had been doing with his right hand from earlier,

'That was my god's blessing; why is it active at this time?' Allen thought.

Rachel then pulled Allen's hand and used her handkerchief to clean his wounds.

"I don't know what your problem is with the princes, but don't do any nonsense when the lady is here," said Rachel, who took another glove from her pocket and put it on Allen.

"I know," Allen replied.

'If I want to do it, I should attack him when he's alone, after the party, or when he's resting; that way, I can kill him on the spot,' Allen thought.

Allen forced himself to stay calm. He could have attacked him right now, but he suppressed that feeling because he didn't want Felicia to see it.

It turned out that Leofric was not alone; behind him was a girl with short white hair who had deep black eyes.

The girl behind Leofric was not Norttish, and everyone knew it.

She was a dungeon relic, an adfeqtus reliqua owned by Leofric, Heit. Her white hair symbolized that she was created by mana, her body itself is the embodiment of mana. What made them different from the Norttish was their eyes. The adfeqtus reliqua have symbols in their eyes. No one knows the meaning of the symbol, including the relics themselves. Other than the eyes, they also glowed slightly, as each spirit had a contract with them.

"That killing aura just now was strong, master. Will it be okay to ignore it?" Heit asked Leofric.

"Ignore it, I've baited him but he didn't attack right away. I am glad to meet him again here. Because of Aunt Isabelle's death, I lost that child; I didn't expect him to be with the Boldenville family."

"I'm still confused, master. Actually, what was your purpose in hiding the child? Is it really because of Queen Orc's last request? I think that's pretty ridiculous for someone like you."

"Well, you'll see. That child is irregular; perhaps everything that happens in this world will not be affected by him. He can be used for many things."

Then finally, the princes came down from upstairs.

When the princes had descended, the event began.

'Damn, I was supposed to be the main character this time, but it feels like all my brothers are taking it! I have to stand out anyway!' Francis thought.

Francis then looked at Felicia, and Felicia smiled back, making Francis nervous again as she was currently holding his hand.

'Calm down!  Calm down!  Calm down!  You're the main character!'

"Your highness... please hold my waist," Felicia said.

"W-well okay!" nervously, Francis touched Felicia's waist.

Francis reminded Felicia of Brian. His behavior was more or less the same as back then. But this time, he wouldn't fail again. Felicia didn't want a repeat of what happened two years ago.

'I don't want Allen to make fun of me either,' Felicia thought.

At that moment, Felicia suddenly recalled Allen pulling on her hand. Felicia was sure that Allen was about to say something. Felicia smiled a little, and thought

'That mere Allen; how could he startle me like that. I thought you were going to take me away,'

Felicia straightened her head, looking at Francis' nervous face, making her chest ache again.

"Your highness. You don't need to be nervous. You just need to, dance as usual, and I will do something in case anything untoward happens," Felicia said.

"T-thank you! Take it easy! I'm the prince! I won't mess up!" replied Francis.

Queen Regina stood up from her chair.

Everyone became silent as they placed their right hand on their chest.

"I wish a happy birthday and a happy baptism to my beloved son, Francis Ismenia Wildenhall. We hope Francis becomes a useful prince for the kingdom. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the party."

As Queen Regina sat down,

The dancing begins with the first performance of the two main characters of the party, Francis and his partner Felicia.

Then in the third rhythm

2

1

As the music played, Francis took his first step, wobbling slightly as he found his balance. At the same moment, Felicia also took her first step, determined to overcome her fear of embarrassing herself in front of the nobles. The room was filled with the sound of clapping and cheering as the two toddlers took their first steps, and Felicia felt a burst of pride swell in her chest.

Felicia's gaze swept across the room, taking in the noble guests. She knew that many of them had attended her failed dance party last time, and she had been plagued with embarrassment and shame ever since. But as she took her first steps, she silently vowed to overcome her fear and not let her past mistakes define her. And as the second and third steps continued, she felt herself growing more confident with each passing moment, secure in the knowledge that everything would be fine.

Until she saw Prince Francis's face.

Felicia raised her head with a small smile and met Francis' face, not even looking at her. He looked down at his feet. He was making sure that all his steps were correct. And Felicia realized that Francis might not have perfected his dance.

Generally, nobles included dancing in their classes and learned it one hour per day a week from the age of six. Then they practiced every day as they approached their 10th and 12th birthdays. That's why being good at dancing was common and natural for all nobles; if anyone made a mistake, it would be considered very embarrassing.

As for Francis, he only practised dancing for a few days, and even then, it was at the last moment when he was injured. Before that, he was always against practicing because he thought it was useless, so to catch up with his older siblings, he only learned the sword.

The result of his laziness was...

Today.

-WHACK

Francis stepped on Felicia's foot.

"I'm Sorry!" said Francis, who felt embarrassed and broke out in a cold sweat from stepping on her foot.

"It's alright, your highness. It was my fault because I suddenly changed the way of dancing."

"Changed?"

'That's right; come to think of it, there's no way a lead would step on a follower's foot,' Francis thought.

Felicia changed the way she danced. She took the lead while looking like she was doing the follow, pushing on Francis' feet slightly to show him which direction to go.

'A-awesome! I feel like I can dance perfectly, without thinking too much, but...'

Francis looked into Felicia's face. Their eyes met, and Felicia returned it with a smile.

Francis immediately averted his face in embarrassment.

'Aaaaah! Daaamn! I look so pathetic in front of her! I should have listened to Sabine and practiced more!'

At that time, Francis repeatedly stepped on Felicia's feet.

Every time he did so, Felicia always followed him nicely. Her foot hurt, but she still tried to maintain her smile, as if she really did not think about it.

Instead of the prince's footsteps, her mind this time was more focused on how she had to lead and follow simultaneously, so she did not feel the pain at all.

Francis repeatedly cursed himself every time he stepped on Felicia's foot. Feeling embarrassed in front of Felicia.