Chapter 45: A not so joyous after-party [1]   After finishing her last class, food exploration, Amanda went back to her room. Along the way, people would try to strike a conversation with her, but she promptly ignored them.

Arriving in her room, the first thing she did was sit on her sofa and pick up a book. Since she had about an hour to pass, in order to pass time, she decided to do the only thing she could think of. Read a book.

…only when reading a book did she feel a sense of belonging.

Amanda's family circumstances were a bit special

Her father, Edward Stern, Guild master of the 'Demon Hunter' guild and Hero rank 25 'Frost of remorse', was rarely home.

Her real mother left when she was two. She couldn't handle all the pressure that came from being the wife of such an important figure.

The only memory Amanda had of her was her lonely silhouette walking down a long road as heavy rain poured from the sky. That was the day she left their home.

Amanda wanted to reach out for her…but not once did the figure ever turn back to look at her. That memory was forever etched deep inside of the young Amanda.

Because of that, ever since she was two, she was raised by her father and her nanny

That being said, due to the nature of her father's work, he would rarely be able to come back on time to spend time with her.

Whenever he did have time, Amanda remembered him rubbing her head with his large warm hand.

Too bad those moments only lasted a couple of seconds…

In the end, the person that raised her was her nanny.

She would often tell her stories and fairy tales of princesses getting kidnapped to later get saved by a charming white prince.

She too wanted to be a princess…

Back then, Amanda didn't really understand what princesses went through when they get kidnapped.

But later on in her life, she did.

The first time she was kidnapped she was seven years old.

At the time she only remembered hearing voices. Her vision was obstructed. Tight roped tangled both her arms and legs. She was scared. A large gag was placed in her mouth preventing her from screaming.

…fortunately, her father came and saved her.

Then it happened again.

…and again

…and again

Slowly, Amanda found herself losing her emotions. Her natural childish smile disappeared the more she got kidnapped. She was slowly maturing.

However, she was still able to smile when her nanny narrated fairy tales to her. Those were the only times she felt safe and at peace. Sucked in another world. Almost as if escaping reality.

…That was until she was eleven. That was the age at which her nanny passed away, ridding of the last warmth in her heart.

Since then, Amanda has never been able to smile.

Even when kidnapped, she felt nothing.

Everything around her became black and white. Slowly the expectations she had of the people around her vanished.

'I won't get angry, I won't be sad, I won't expect anything from anyone…'

…was what she repeatedly told herself as she shut herself in a box. It was from that point on that she decided not to form any relationships that weren't necessary. Even if they had the best interest for her, even if they treated her well…her heart was unmovable…

Closing down the book she was reading, Amanda stood up and looked at the reflection in the mirror.

Her long black hair that was no longer held by a pin, gently fell on her shoulders reaching all the way to her waist. Her deep phoenix-like eyes had a cold indifference to them that made people feel like she was a holy existence that was unreachable for regular people. Her appearance was so exquisite that it could move anyone's hearth regardless of their gender, but it also gave people a gloomy feeling.

Placing her fingers on the edge of her lips, she lightly pulled the edges of her mouth in the form of a smile. Letting go, the edges of her mouth quickly reverted to their regular aloof position.

She repeated this a couple more times, but…no matter how much she tried, she couldn't smile.

Walking towards her closet, Amanda took a beautiful black dress with finely decorated silver patterns.

Although she usually disliked attending parties, Amanda chose to attend this one. That was because back in the first lecture she received a mysterious box from the club president, Elijah Turner.

At first, she thought nothing of it as she was used to these kinds of things, but…once she opened the box she was shocked.

Inside the box was a picture of her mom. She looked almost identical to her, and if not for the wrinkles at the edge of her eyes, people could've easily mistaken her for her sister.

Though she barely had any memories of her mother, Amanda couldn't stop herself from wanting to know more about the whereabouts of her mother.

…she wanted to know why she had abandoned her and never visited in all the years since she had left.

Since Elijah was the one that had provided her with the picture, Amanda had no choice but to look for him, and thus decided to attend the party.

Wearing the beautiful dress and looking at herself in the mirror for a couple of seconds, Amanda took a small black purse and headed out.

-Click!

Closing the door behind her, Amanda went towards the appointed location with a mind full of questions.

…

"hmmm, should I wear a suit or normal clothes?"

Right now I was torn on what to wear to the after-party. As I never attended these kinds of events before, I wasn't too sure about what to wear.

A suit or casual clothes?

…urgh!

Honestly, if it wasn't because this situation caught me off-guard I wouldn't have chosen to attend this kind of event.

After a while, I decided to do a bit of both. I wore a white ironed T-shirt accompanied by blue jeans. Looking at myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

After having transmigrated to this world for over a month, my originally skinny body had started to bulk up. Though my body wasn't sculpted like a god, I had a fairly good body. My short black hair which was nicely styled, accompanied by the deep blue eyes made me nod in satisfaction. I looked fairly handsome.

After looking at myself a couple of more times, I looked at the time and found that I only had ten minutes left before the meeting time.

As I was rushing to the door, my footsteps halted and my eyesight landed in the corner of my room where a black sword rested against the wall.

After pondering for a bit, I Took the black sword and placed it in my dimensional bracelet.

"I hope the situation doesn't get to the point where I have to use my sword…"

…though I said this, I already started preparing myself for the worse. The situation was already starting to get out of my control, and right now, for the first time, I was going into a situation without any knowledge of what was to come.

-Click!

Taking my room keys and turning off the lights, I left my room.

…

"Cheers!"

Inside of a spacious luxurious room, a flock of students could be seen drinking and laughing.

The interior of the room was very well decorated with fancy paintings scattered all over the room. Large white sofas with fine golden patterns on the sides sat in the middle of the room. Large wooden tables that were filled with food and beverages stood in the corner of the room.

The location we were currently at was a rather well-known restaurant called [le farat]. It was a fairly luxurious restaurant with celebrities often showing up here. Due to its popularity, it was fairly obvious that this place was expensive and somehow Elijah had managed to book a whole room just for the gathering. This pretty much impressed everyone that came as their eyes were shining stars, especially the girls.

Twirling the cup of wine in my hand, I lightly smelled the wine. It had a fruity yet overbearing smell that made my nose twitch a couple of times.

"Just how I like it"

Though it may seem like this wine was one that I took from the table, in fact, it wasn't.

The wine I was currently tasting was one that I brought with me. It's not that I disliked the wine here, but there was a high chance all the foods and drinks in the part were drugged beforehand.

Though I was being somewhat paranoid, it was better to be safe than sorry.

The reason why I was drinking it was so that I could blend with the crowd. If I didn't drink it, in the event that there was an ambush, there was a high chance I would be among the first who were targeted.

Taking a small sip of the wine, I smacked my lips a couple of times before looking at my surroundings.

Though the atmosphere was calm and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, I couldn't help but feel tense. There was this ominous vibe shrouding the whole venue.

…something was definitely going to happen today, and it wasn't going to be something good.

In the middle of the hall, Elijah, who wore an elegant white suit, was currently being flooded by multiple girls at a time. They were pushing and shoving each other aside to get a chance to talk to him. Elijah who was being surrounded and harassed by the girls kept a gentle smile on his face throughout the whole time.

Besides him, a couple of boys were looking at him with envious and jealous eyes. But that was in the minority, as most of the boys were busy admiring a different scene.

Standing on the balcony, Amanda, who looked like a goddess that had just descended on the world, was currently looking at the moon with a glass of wine in her hand. The gentle moonlight enveloped her perfect figure, creating this sort of picture-like scene.

A couple of boys tried approaching her, but once they noticed that they were being ignored they could only helplessly go back to the party in defeat.

Seeing this scene, my lips slightly curled and I helplessly shook my head. Boys will be boys.

Walking to the balcony, where Amanda was standing, I could hear faint whispers coming in my direction.

"Here goes the fifth one…"

"How long will you give it?"

"I say 5 seconds"

"No, I say 10"

Since my stats had improved, so did my hearing. Listening to their whispers, my eyes couldn't help but roll. Just how much time did they have on their hands?

Opening the door to the balcony, I slowly walked to the edge of the balcony and stood next to Amanda. Lifting my head up I looked at the moon.

…though I did not want to interact with her nor any of the main characters, I couldn't help but do so this time. If something were to happen to her, then chances were that the storyline was going to change and all the advantages I had would simply crumble overnight. Simply put I couldn't afford that.

Thus I decided to expose myself and warn her about the upcoming danger.

Taking a sip of my wine, without glancing at Amanda, I lightly said

"You should be careful tonight…"

"…"

As if she didn't hear me, Amanda kept staring at the moonlight.

Seeing her react like that I didn't panic nor express my displeasure as I already knew her character. Though she was pretending to be indifferent, she definitely heard me loud and clear. It's just that she didn't show it on her face.

Slightly smiling I said one last thing before walking back to the party

"Something might happen tonight, and you might be the target—no, you're most likely the target"

Finally turning her head to the side, Amanda saw my figure leaving the balcony. Seeing my figure leave, her brows knit for a split second before relaxing.

Soon after, almost as if nothing happened, she started looking at the moon again.

Turning my head and seeing that, I lightly smiled before heading back to my previous spot.

Though it seemed like she didn't take my warning seriously, I in fact knew that she had upped her guard.

Having been in these types of situations since a very young age, she knew that even if this was just a small prank, there was a chance that the warning was real.

For her, even if it was a prank, it was better to be prepared than unprepared. In the off-chance that what I had said turned out to be true, she could avoid being kidnapped again.