Chapter 38 Courting Death (1)

Samantha Hall, whose thoughts were a mess, frowned as she looked behind her, destroying her slight expectation.

Seeing her reaction, the man became flustered, forgetting what to say next. This prompted Samantha to say something first amidst the two or three seconds of silence.

"Who are you?" Her words came out of her mouth with an assertive tone, causing the man to flinch slightly with the unexpected words he just heard.

"Hahaha, you're joking right?" As if the man's pride were tainted by the three words he heard from Samantha, he couldn't help but to remind himself to calm down.

"No, I'm not," Samantha replied with a monotonous tone this time as if she couldn't wait for a such boring situation to end.

"I'm Reinhardt, my lady, from the Apollon family."

The man with short blonde hair and reddish eyes said as he introduced himself, and bowed slightly while his right hand was on his chest.

Samantha heard Reinhardt and remember his family, but that's all there is to it, and she said with a careless tone.

"Okay? What now?"

This prompted the man to grit his teeth unconsciously as Samantha wasn't even looking at him as she's looking around looking for someone.

"You…!"

As Reinhardt's patience was reaching its limit, he heard another woman's voice which stopped him from saying anything that will offend Samantha, and looked at the person approaching him.

"Rein! I'm looking for you, what are you doing here?"

The woman with red hair that reaches her shoulders, and blood-colored eyes asked.

"Ruina? Nothing, I'm just talking to an acquaintance."

Reinhardt said to Ruina while he took glances at Samantha still looking for something or someone.

"Liar."

He heard Samantha's low voice, obviously referring to him. His veins in his forehead bulged as if he cannot suppress his emotions anymore due to his patience reaching rock bottom.

Ruina also heard Samantha's voice and sensed that something was wrong, prompting her to quickly pull Reinhardt by his arm.

pAn,Da-n0v e1,c "What are you doing!?"

Shocked by the sudden action of Ruina; Reinhardt reflexively asked, but his thoughts quickly became blank and his emotions suddenly changed to fear instead of anger as he looked at Ruina, seeing the blood-colored eyes emanating a dangerous aura.

"Found you!"

Before their sights leave Samantha; Reinhardt and Ruina heard her words, prompting them to look in the direction where her eyes were looking, but they didn't make out of anything, leaving them confused.

'Who is this woman looking for?' Ruina asked inwardly as they got farther away from her.

…

Russell Moon was secretly watching the spectacle from afar with his enhanced vision due to his Skill: Eye of Night (EX) under his Trait: Under the Night with the effect of one of his Titles which is the 'Resident of Chaos' that amplified it.

'These two would make a good couple, unfortunately, or fortunately, it won't happen.'

He thought as he looked at Reinhardt and Ruina leaving together away from Samantha, and then his glance came back to Samantha resulting in one word to keep repeating in his mind…

'No, no, no, no, no…'

He saw Samantha Hall looking back at him with an unknown expression.

[Activating Skill: Eye of Night (EX)]

[Examining the emotions and hidden nature of the target]

[Warning! An unknown power within the target is reacting!]

[Your Trait: Nihility has completely concealed your Chaos Aura!]

[Target's Emotions: Bored, Glad]

[Target's Hidden Nature: Possessive]

…

Russell made a serious expression as he examined the result of using his Skill: Eye of Night.

'The unknown power must be her locked Stigma… fucking hell, what is this situation? I know of her Possessiveness… as her predicament in her home was quite rough, she's prone to developing attachment quickly which is not limited to something like a romantic relationship; at least also to people who she deemed genuine and has no ill intentions.'

As he looked at the System messages, he looked away from Samantha's gaze and soon chatted with her younger sister Freya, Amery, and Amelie who were talking with Mira, Lyn, and another man and woman.

…

A man with blonde hair and deep blue eyes became tired of some girls who flocked to him while keeping his necessary image publicly.

'Fucking pests!' Leon von Obreyon thought as the girls he entertained left, answering their questions as if he was in an interview.

"Yo! Leon!"

The approaching Elizabeth called Leon who was sitting cross-legged, drinking his alcohol-free wine.

Leon looked at her with a serious expression, while Elizabeth who saw such an expression brushed it off.

'This one can't even fucking act as a Princess!' He cursed inwardly, but subconsciously envied her because she's stronger than him, though Student Rank wasn't the final deciding factor of prowess, a person with standing in society will think differently even if that person was just bearing his or her family's name.

"I've made a friend! Hahaha!"

Leon's thoughts were cut off as he saw a man on Elizabeth's back with short hair and deep black eyes, slightly shorter than him. A frowning expression was formed on his face, though the lights were dim for the event's atmosphere, he could clearly see the man, prompting him to clench his right fist.

"Hello, I'm Han Jiho, you are?"

Han Jiho said in a friendly tone, but it was taken by Leon as rude based on his question.

'This fucker…'

Leon cursed, but he responded to Han Jiho's question.

"Leon von Obreyon, nice to meet you."

He stood up and stretched out his right hand, asking for a handshake while Han Jiho responded to it, a grin formed on Leon's expression. He gripped tightly, waiting for Han Jiho's reaction, but contrary to his expectation, he was met with the same grip strength.

'This…'

He quickly ended the handshake and looked at Han Jiho with curious eyes, but what he saw was an expression as if nothing happened.

'This bastard is a fucking weirdo!' He thought, and then he heard Elizabeth's voice who saw what happened, causing her expression to form a smile.

"It's boring! I wanna dance already! Rumia! Anya! What are you doing there? Come here! You, too Samantha, you're always alone!"

With her words, she was met with gazes of the trio she called, but they responded and each took a seat, accommodating six seats from the table. Their presence together garnered so much attention from others whether they are students, staff, or professors.

…

'That's my midwoman!' Russell inwardly shouted forgetting his concern about a certain woman as he referred to Elizabeth and feeling relaxed witnessing the correct development of the story of the main characters' first get-together… at least with the inclusion of Han Jiho.

"Alright! First-years, it's time for the dance floor!"

Shouts everywhere were heard as Azalea Vermillion, the President of the Disciplinary Committee, announced the beginning of the long-awaited dance.

"You could invite who you want to dance with! Enjoy!"

The music and lights turned solemn, signaling the kind of tempo for the dance where his sights of the 'main characters' first get-together moved away.

'Right, this is a high school life…' Russell thought, feeling nostalgic about his ball experience in his previous life, looking at his younger sister, Amery, and Amelie enjoying their time of conversation as if the world came back from its 'old' predicament where one's Status Window, and Constellations does not exists. This caused him to put on a genuine smile unconsciously for a few seconds.

'This will also probably be the last party these people will experience on a large scale as students,' he apologetically said inwardly, knowing the information of the future based on his novel, at least that's what he believed, but considering the so-called 'Untouched Elements', he could only hope that it would not stray too far from the original development of the story, and after he saw the first get-together of the 'main characters' he wrote about, going the same route from the original, it caused quite a bit of relief.

While Russell was thinking about some things, he became flustered, wondering why the gazes of people inside the Obelisk Academy Hall were gradually turning to his side whether they are from the first-year students, seniors from the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee who are recruiting a bunch of students, staff such as waiters and technical support assigned for tonight's catering, as well as lights and relaxing music respectively, and professors of the academy.

At first, he thought that it was just his imagination playing with him, but upon hearing a voice from behind him when he had no idea when the person's owner of the voice came from where he was seated; the reality slowly crept up into his mind, realizing the gravity of the situation on what he will be put into; his heart started to beat faster, not in a good way, and it sent shivers running down his spine, sensing an aura of death in the near future.

"Can we dance?"

The words of the owner of the voice reverberated throughout the Center Obelisk Hall.