Chapter 630 - The Prey (9)

I was led into a grand dining room, sitting around the middle of the table. The atmosphere was tense, feeling a little excluded amongst the other last-minute people who were invited. Although I didn't mind, Alex warned me through his eyes to be more careful. Most of the guests were older than us, currently attending university when the table conducted their rounds of introduction. After Alex's turn, it was mine.

"I am Rika de Impalia Roselia. I am in my last year of middle school and attend the same class as my cousin," I brightly smiled.

I continued to smile, hoping no one would target me this time. I wondered why the next person wasn't introducing himself as if the other guests wanted something more from me. The awkward silence drowned the room, making me think I made a mistake. Eventually, I elbowed the person beside me, softly whispering, "I think it's your turn."

"You're like a living doll," he stared at me in a daze.

My face was filled with irritation, about to elbow him a second time. All the attention was currently on me, watching my every move. None of servants could begin serving the food, waiting for the opening sequence to finish. Unfortunately, the bowls of soup digested quickly, my stomach close to growling. My fingers became busy as I messaged Alex.

[Why aren't we moving on?] I placed my marble in silent mode.

[Continue to smile. Haruka will handle it] Alex waited for the host to take the lead.

However, Haruka never interfered, appearing busy ordering the servants to perfectly prepare everything. Maybe I should have declined his invitation and made Miliana attend with Charles alone. As minutes passed, even Alex was starting to get annoyed, secretly writing more messages to Haruka. When I studied the other guests, they were busy messaging each other like we were.

[I'm hungry. Should we just leave?] I hated the guest beside me.

[The people inside this room are special. Haruka is the fraction leader for a reason. We need to stay] Alex was equally frustrated.

"Rika wonders why you're not introducing yourself. She would like to know more about you," I exploded.

"You have not finished your introduction yet. We have been waiting for you to finish," the guest revealed.

"I finished my introduction a couple minutes ago," I had imitated Alex's introduction.

"We were waiting for you to introduce all your fractions, knowing you are the next fraction leader for them," he explained.

This was not a part of the scripted guidelines. I shot a questioning look to Alex, wondering why they had higher expectations for me. Alex was also the next fraction leader for his main fraction. It didn't make sense why they wouldn't focus on him and Charles, the heir to another powerful family, who was a few seats away from me. Since Alex was equally helpless, not able to send me any messages when everyone waited for me to continue, I was on my own.

"Rika is in middle school. She thinks it's unfair you hold her to the same standards as college students. Please look upon her more generously," I used my age as an excuse.

"If you want to know more about my fractions, I can give you some contacts you can reach," I offered.

I pulled out a notebook and a pen. Writing down the information about the previous leaders of my fractions, who were also college students. Counting the number of guests inside this room, I copied the original note by an equal number. Once I was done, I rose from my chair, walking to hand it out to all the new faces. I didn't care if they didn't accept it, they could throw it out. But they had to move onto the next person now!

"My introduction is finished," I sat back down.

"We were expecting a few simple sentences about your fractions. Normally, you're supposed to provide us more information about at least one upcoming event and the other regarding your fraction's intentions," a guest explained.

"Rika has done everything she could. She doesn't know anything going on in any of her fractions! You can throw out those notes if you don't want them," I angrily confessed.

None of them went into which fractions they came from, their events, intentions and whatnot! I wondered why they had higher expectations for me, ignoring the stiff mood in the room. While I waited for them to move on, I was stunned when each of them started to pass me a paper note of their own. Looking down to read the paper notes gathered in front of me, it had their contact information, similar to the ones I gave them.

Since I didn't have a reason to reject them, I placed them inside my inventory. I could throw them out later once I left this event. I brightly smiled to try to get them to move on, "let's not target the poor middle schooler. All she wants is to eat her lunch and she will disappear from your lives afterwards."

"We were giving you a second chance," one of them revealed.

[Round Start: One minute remaining]

I cried inside my heart from the bad timing. There were bȧrėly any places to hide inside here. All I could do was to get rid of the utensils and plates so the hunter couldn't use them against me as weapons.. I rose to steal them from every guest, opening the window to throw them all out, pretending I didn't notice dumbfounded faces of the guests.