Meanwhile, Penny was currently spinning with Ron through the crowd.
She stared intently at Ron's mask.
Honestly, the mask was incredibly stupid. There was even a pair of eyes made of who-knows-what material at the top, currently emitting a bizarre red glow.
Yet Penny could inexplicably tell that behind the mask was Ron.
The two spun around among the crowd.
"How did you come up with the idea to suggest a masquerade dance?" Penny asked softly.
"Well." Ron pondered for a moment, his gaze landing on Marnie, who was dancing with Lewis. He then shifted the blame onto Lewis: "I figured maybe this way, Marnie would be able to dance with Lewis."
"That's true." Penny chuckled softly. "And what about me? Am I the first one to find you?"
The song happened to end just as Ron nodded. Penny adjusted the mask on her face.
"I see." Penny tilted her head up, examining Ron's mask.
Having no intention of kissing the skull, she took off her own mask and gently tapped it against Ron's.
Before Ron could react, she smiled at him, then tucked the mask behind her back. She took a few steps back, gave a little wave, and turned to leave.
The crowd jostled about. Penny squeezed through the gaps between people, making her way toward the corner. She then touched her face and quickly snapped the mask back on.
She took deep breaths, reaching up to pat her frantically beating heart. The question she wanted to ask never made it past her lips.
Did this mean they liked each other now?
Penny wanted to ask, but didn't dare.
She even felt that the masquerade ball was the greatest idea in the world.
It allowed her to enjoy the Flower Dance while still preserving a glimmer of hope.
Because of that, she didn't want to burst this beautiful illusion with her own hands.
Just as Penny was thinking this, a masked Clefable stepped in front of her.
"Clefable?"
Clefable extended a paw toward her.
"Would you like to dance?"
"Clefable!"
On the other side, Penny had just left, and Ron hadn't even caught his breath or processed what had just happened when a hand landed on his shoulder.
"What are you hiding in your pockets?" Emily asked, staring at Ron's bulging pockets.
"A little secret," Ron said somewhat awkwardly.
"All bulging like that, it looks really stupid." Emily reached out to dig into Ron's pocket, but Ron quickly intercepted her hand. She looked up and puffed her cheeks at him. "Otherwise, I would have recognized you ages ago."
It had never crossed Emily's mind that her elegant and refined design would end up looking like this on Ron. Her gaze had actually swept over Ron several times, but seeing those stupid pockets, she never would have guessed it was him.
Just as Ron was thinking about how to respond, Emily looked at his face and burst out laughing. "You're a farmer, after all... Maybe I should have realized sooner that a farmer needs plenty of pockets to hold the treasures they find on the farm, far more than they need exquisite tailoring."
It gave Emily an indescribable feeling. Even though Ron's actions had made her design look stupid, Emily found it incredibly endearing.
If she had to compare it, it was like a pet hamster. Even if it was raised indoors and fed a refined diet year-round, it would still stuff its cheek pouches full of grain.
Amusing, yet utterly down-to-earth.
Ron uncomfortably shoved the Rabbit's Foot deeper inside, then agreed with Emily's reasoning.
"So, would you like to dance? As a reward for me recognizing you," Emily said, extending her hand toward him. "This is actually my first dance today. How about you?"
"Me?" Ron paused. Before he could answer, Emily smiled and said, "I saw. You just had a partner."
The masks the ladies wore were relatively normal, so it was easy to recognize who was hiding underneath based on their features.
"Penny found you so quickly," Emily blinked, holding Ron's hand as they started to spin. "By the way, I made a bet with Haley and the others."
"What kind of bet?" Ron asked, looking at Emily's sly eyes hidden behind her mask.
"We bet on who could find you first," Emily continued. "The loser has to grant the winner one request."
"And so?"
"So—" Emily glanced over at Haley and Sandy, who were still trying to spot her in the corner, and then pulled a tiny bit of Magical Hair Gel from her pocket. "So, let's change up our disguises."
Emily spoke as she ducked into a spot out of Haley and Sandy's line of sight, rubbing the hair gel into her hair.
Instantly, her signature blue hair turned into the same shade of golden blonde as Haley's.
"Want a little too?"
"Me?" Ron freed a hand to touch the hair hidden behind his mask.
Honestly, not much of it was showing. His hair color was pretty common among the young men, so with the mask on, he was already hard to recognize.
"You don't have to," Emily blinked. Giving Ron's hand a firm pull, the two of them began to spin.
Sandy, who had been planning to find Ron by spotting Emily, couldn't help but feel deflated.
Emily's blue hair was quite uncommon; logically, she should have been able to spot it at a glance.
But she couldn't.
There wasn't a single blue-haired person here.
"——" Sandy turned her head to look at Haley, then tried hard to dig through her memories for what Ron looked like when he tried on his suit during the Desert Festival.
Meanwhile, Haley had started staring at everyone's pockets.
Delivering the clothes had practically given her the answer key. Today was a festival; nobody in their right mind would stuff their formal wear pockets full of random junk until they were bulging.
Ron was the exception.
Well, assuming he hadn't taken whatever was inside out.
With this in mind, Haley swept her gaze over the crowd and instantly spotted Ron—along with Emily, who was currently dancing with him.
She suddenly let out a little laugh, turning her head to look at Sandy. "How's it going? Have you found him yet?"
"——No." Sandy pondered, wondering whether she should share the trick she'd figured out with Haley.
"Then you lose," Haley said, walking toward the crowd. She then gave a wave and turned back to flash Sandy a smile. "Happy Flower Dance, Sandy!"
"?" Sandy froze in place, watching Haley's path. The next second, she saw Haley stop right next to a woman with short, golden-blonde hair.
Sandy instantly put two and two together. She stared at the golden hair for a moment, recalled Emily's original appearance, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Hair gel! She used Magic Hair Gel! She actually went that far just to win?!"
Damn it, that was the gel she had gifted Emily!
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