Chapter 510 - He is an Odd One

After half an hour, it was finally recorded that all donation pledges were in. Everyone held their breaths when Millian took the microphone to announce the results.

"Uhmm... The total amount of money raised from Virconnect access payment by thirty million users to Ritz Gala is thirty million dollars, and the donation collected tonight from the attendees is... 174.5 million dollars."

Millian's voice trembled following her immense shock. She turned to Alaric and tried to say something, but no sound could come out of her lips.

"Hmm... I will match the total value of the money raised, and that means I personally will donate 204.5 million dollars for the environmental rescue program." Alaric said casually as if that much money was only a dime for him. "I think with more than four hundred million dollars, we can finance more than ten environmental rescue organizations. Isn't that right, Miss Millian?"

"I... We certainly can, Mr. Linden," Millian answered haltingly, "We can finance forty organizations."

"Very good." Alaric looked at the people who were still amazed and waved his hands as if their attitude was all excessive, "I very much love the earth, and I wanted to show how Rhionen-Meier Industries cares deeply about saving the earth so that it can be inhabited by people who are worthy of inhabiting it. Money is not a problem."

He then came down from the stage followed by applause from the people who stood up and gave him a standing ovation. In Alaric Rhionen's first appearance in public as Elios Linden, he had given a very deep impression, and in a short time, he had already become the subject of conversation everywhere and almost everyone who watched the event through Virconnect 4D was amazed by him.

"This guy, he's very impressive," Terry said. He must recognize Alaric's strong charisma and commanding aura. "I don't think he's an ordinary human. I'm quite sure he's an Alchemist."

"I can't agree more," Nicolae said. "The question is, why does he deliberately stand out among ordinary people? Shouldn't an Alchemist try their best to not attract attention?"

"I wonder about that as well," Terry murmured. His gaze never left Alaric, who was sitting quietly on his table while sipping wine. "He's quite the odd one."

After Alaric went down, the stage darkened and the atmosphere became quiet. The spotlight turned towards the center of the stage. Suddenly, they saw a ballerina bending down like a swan encasing her body with a pair of wings.

The ballerina gracefully stood up and began to dance. She was exuding beauty and grace. Her appearance made everyone who set their eyes on her hold their breaths and not blink. They didn't want to miss so much as a single second of her appearance.

There was quiet whisper could be heard among the audience. Alaric caught words such as the world's best ballerina, legendary dancer, dance genius, and the like.

He observed the lady dancing on stage. He had to admit, she had extraordinary talent and every single one of her techniques was perfect.

When she raised her hands, swung her legs, and soared, she was just like a heavenly goddess gracing the mortals with her presence as she set foot on earth.

"This ballerina is a superstar from the Moscow Royal Ballet Group, named Eline Anastasia Mikhailova." Without being asked, Aleksis, his digital assistant, explained to Alaric. "Presently, no dancer is capable of matching her. That was why she was invited to perform at the Ritz Gala."

"Hmm..." Alaric took a sip of his wine and attentively watched the beautiful view in front of him.

Alaric Rhionen loved beauty and tranquility. He really liked gardening and enjoying the beauty of his garden. But his present self was not interested in anything. Only tonight did he feel his heart touched by beauty through Eline's dance.

"Pavel, Splitz can use Eline for the new Virconnect campaign. I think the product needs a touch of beauty," he said, turning his head to Pavel.

The man he spoke to nodded. He told his assistant to take note of the order and later contact Eline's manager after the event.

Ten minutes later, the marvelous performance ended. Eline bowed her body to the audience as they one by one rose to their feet and applauded.

"Thank you." When Eline finally opened her mouth and thanked the audience, people were even more amazed. Her voice was just as beautiful as her face.

Before she got off the stage, Eline hurriedly took a rose from the usher and walked to Alaric's table.

Instantly, people watched Alaric and tried to guess what would happen. Eline graciously approached Alaric and stood calmly in front of him, her beautiful face smiling sweetly.

"Thank you for caring about our earth and for being so generous on contributing to saving the earth initiatives. I personally feel very grateful..." Eline handed the rose to Alaric and bowed gracefully. "My family died from a forest fire a few years ago... I hope all the efforts we put in now can prevent the appearance of other victims."

Her voice sounded very earnest and immediately invited the sympathy of many people. They knew the history of Eline, who was born to a poor family in a small mountain town in Russia. Global warming caused a fire to reach her village and killed her entire family.

Eline grew up in an orphanage and managed to attract the attention of government officials who came to see her ballet performance. Since then, she began to open up a way to grow her talent and eventually become a superstar ballerina from Russia.

"Thank you," Alaric answered curtly. He received the rose from Eline and nodded.

Eline accidentally touched Alaric's hand when she handed over the rose, so Alaric had to take a deep breath. He still didn't like being touched, but he realized that scolding this lady in public would bring down her dignity, so he just looked away, took his glass of wine and finished its content.

The scene of Eline approaching Alaric to hand over the rose immediately caught the attention of many and it soon became trending on Splitz. Many people talked about how harmonious the two people who were so beautiful and handsome were. Moreover, the names of the two also sounded similar. Elios and Eline.

In the not-so-distant future, there would be a lot of news and gossip about the possibility of the two people falling in love and becoming lovers.

Eline returned to the backstage with a happy smiling face, followed by envious and hateful gazes from numerous ladies in the ballroom who had hoped they would get a chance to approach Alaric.

Obviously, Eline took advantage of the opportunity when she appeared to approach Alaric and shamelessly give him the flower.

Every lady there wanted to be with Alaric, and every man wanted to be like him. He was a picture of perfection that people initially thought was impossible.

Not only was his physical appearance very handsome and attitude-wise he looked like a confident and domineering alpha, everyone now knew who he really was. It was the impressive Elios Linden, the leader of Rhionen-Meier Industries, the largest corporate group in the world today!

"Ugh... This guy is terrible," Terry grumbled. "This is his first time coming to the Ritz Gala, yet he managed to steal everyone's attention. I won't be surprised if he wins the World's Most Eligible Bachelor Award."

"Umm... He is indeed number 1 in Forbes' Most Influential Men in 2045, which is far more prestigious than just the eligible bachelor's award," commented Nicolae, "I don't think the award presented at the Ritz Gala means anything to him."

"You're my best friend, arent you? Why are you defending him instead?" grumbled Terry curtly. Nicolae just laughed in response.