"Surprise me." He smiled. "What could you possibly do to make it fun for me?"
The question left Mathew in a dazed state. A few ideas came to his mind but he could not bring himself to voice them out.
After all, the gap between the Demiliore Family and his family was just too big. Even if all the giants of Mystich City stood against the Demiliore of the Sameran City, they would still lose in terms of both wealth and strength. Not to mention, Keith himself was richer than all the major families of the Mystich City combined.
So, betting some money over it was certainly not going to be fun for him.
Everyone at the table could not help but chuckle when they saw Mathew's conflicted expression. They knew that if they were in his shoes, they would not be able to think of something as well, but if they were in his shoes, they would have never dared to come forward and try to challenge Keith.
"You can take your time, Mr. Mathew. But kindly return to your seat." Keith glanced at the Child of Destiny was standing there with vacant eyes.
"Please go." Zoey voiced her dissatisfaction too, and Mathew furrowed his brows even more.
He glanced around and found everyone mockingly looking his way, and he felt even more embarrassed. Now he regretted being so impulsive. He should have thought things over before approaching Keith.
Making the Master of the Demiliore Family prove himself over nothing was quite insulting.
Yes, Mathew now realised that he had made a terrible mistake.
"I am not sure if I can do anything to make it interesting for you, Master Demiliore. If you have anything in mind, please tell." He tried his best to keep his composure and even managed to smile.
"It's your headache, Mr Mathew. I was not the one who brought up a competition." He simply shrugged and poured himself some more wine.
There were only two options left for him now. Either he bowed and apologised, smoothing things over, or he put forth and bet something that would make it interesting for Keith.
"Stop being an embarrassment and return to your seat, Heir Frost." Javier, who had been amusedly watching the show finally spoke.
There was a limit to everything, and now, with all the room gossiping and mocking Mathew, he could not just let the man keep standing there and bother Keith.
Even Hannah, who had a favourable impression of the Child of Destiny could not help but be disappointed in him.
"Leave, Mr. Mathew..."
"Please..."
"Go now..."
...
The others at the table also urged him to leave, and Mathew finally gritted his teeth and bowed to Keith.
"I am sorry for bothering you, Master Demiliore. Please excuse me." He said and waited for Keith's response, but received nothing in reply.
Feeling more humiliated, he straightened his back and then returned to the table where his grandfather was waiting for him with a sullen face.
"Master Demiliore..." Hannah reluctantly spoke. "Wouldn't it have been better if you accepted his challenge?" She asked and felt everyone at the table frown at her words.
Some of them really wanted to see them both compete and also wanted to listen to Keith play the piano, but it was not their place to interfere in this matter.
"And why would Master Demiliore do that? He does not need to prove himself to someone who means nothing to him." Zoey was displeased at Hannah's question. "That stupid man should have thought things over and he should have put forth a stake to show his sincerity and goodwill, but he clearly came over on impulse because he was jealous of Master Demiliore."
Everyone was quite amused at Zoey's bluntness, but they all agreed with her words.
Hannah too felt a little embarrassed and offered an apology, which Keith simply waved off before chatting with people at the table.
On the other side, Mathew was currently being reprimanded by his Grandfather over his impulsiveness and stupidity.
"Do not embarrass yourself more. And before the night ends, go forward and apologise to him again. He may be the same age as you, but you are not equal to him! No one in this room can afford to offend him, and you..." He stopped himself from cursing his grandson and sighed. "Do apologise again. Understood?"
"Yes, Grandpa..."
[Ding! The Host humiliated the Child of Destiny and made him publicly apologise to him. Mathew's confidence is shaken and his hatred for Host has risen.
Reward: 500 System Points. 75 Fate Points]
Keith smiled in his heart when he receded the prompt and then looked at the panel in his mind that displayed Mathew's details.
[Subject: Mathew Frost]
[Child of Destiny; Grade B]
[Age: 23]
[Race: Human]
[Status: Heir of the Oscar Family of Mystich City.]
[Cultivation Rank: Foundation Profound Realm (Aura Circulation Stage)]
[Special Physique: The Blank Physique]
[Special Treasure: Flower Cultivation System]
[Cultivation Talent: Indigo]
[Strength: 2]
[Constitution: 2]
[Speed & Reflexes: 2]
(10 is the average Limit for Cultivators in the Foundation Profound Realm)
[Charm: 92]
[Fate: 2325 (Fluctuating)]
{Does the Host wish to view Mathew's Skill-Set?}
"Yes."
{Initializing Host's request...}
{100 System Points consumed...}
{Mathew Frost's Skill-Set: Accountancy (Intermediate}, Singing (Intermediate), Investment (Advanced), Swimming (Advanced), Harp (Advanced), Cello (Advanced), Violin (Advanced), Piano (Advanced), Equestrian (Advanced), Driving (Advanced), Gambling (Advanced), Drawing (Advanced), Shadowboxing (Expert), Painting (Expert), Calligraphy (Expert).}
It was just as he had expected.
The four skills where Mathew was better than him were Calligraphy, Painting, Cello, and Harp. He did not have enough time to work on his Calligraphy and Painting, which were both at Advanced and Intermediate level, and he had never tried playing Cello and Harp.
His attainments in both Piano and Violin had reached Master-Level after he worked on them in the last few months. And given his attainments in Music, which he knew were outrageously high, he was sure that he could pick up any musical instrument if he worked on it a little.
It was also the reason why he had not asked the System to buy him all the revenant musical skills which he lacked so he could open his Musical Mastery. Why should he waste System Points when he can unlock them on his own without much effort?
The rest of the evening was a pleasant affair. After dinner was served and music was put on, people took their companions to dance in the centre of the Ballroom.
Keith danced with Minami again, and then with Yingying, which left Iseul quite in a grumpy mood. However, he simply grabbed her hand and led her to the dance floor too, and all her dissatisfaction faded.
There were a lot of curious eyes on him as he danced with his ladies. And though he openly flirted with Iseul and even kissed Yingying, no one gossiped about it.
It was the effect that absolute Wealth and Power had over people, and it even kept the excessive flattery away as people feared that it might offend him.
However, it was not to stop people who tried to garner his favour through their youngsters, who, all out of goodwill, invited him to join them at the parties in the next few weeks.
Of course, it was only after Zoey had curiously asked him about his duration of stay in Mystich City.
He had casually told her that he was on vacation and might be staying in the city for a month or two.
She seemed quite elated to hear it, but he could tell that she would soon be looking for excuses to meet him in the coming days.
"May I?" Her green eyes widened in surprise when he led Iseul back to the table and drew his hand forward to her.
She did not say anything and happily placed her hand in his, and then, under the eyes of all the guests, he took the daughter of the Alvarez Family for a dance.
"Do you have someone you like, Miss Zoey?" He suddenly asked as he swayed with her and then twirled her around.
"N-no..." She nervously replied. "I don't have a boyfriend."
"The boy for Reyes Family has been sneaking glances at you all night. And Mr. Frost has been doing the same." He curiously spoke and amusedly looked at her frowning expression.
"My parents have been entertaining the thoughts of marrying me into the Reyes Family. Henry is Hannah's younger brother, and he is my classmate too." She honestly informed him, "But I am not interested in him and don't want to marry him." And immediately added.
"Why not?" He teased her. "He seems like a nice person."
"I only think of him as a friend." She shook her head.
"And Mr. Frost?"
"Hell no!" She adamantly shook her head.
"I see." He amusedly chuckled and twirled her around again, and when he placed his hand on her waist again, he pulled her closer to him. "Why do I feel that you like me, Miss Zoey?" He playfully whispered in her ear and felt her body tremble in his arms.
"I..."
"I am a married man, Miss Zoey." He teased her some more.
"You are rich enough to marry as many times as you want." She grumpily said, but then burned in blush when she realised what her words could imply.
"That's true." He chuckled and then kept swaying with her in silence, letting her silly mind entertain some exciting thoughts.
He glanced in the direction of Mathew and found the Child of Destiny sitting next to his grandfather, wearing an ugly expression, undoubtedly a result of burning jealousy.
Later, when Keith excused himself and greeted the Alvarez Family again, Mathew and his grandfather approached him.
"I am sorry for my earlier behaviour, Master Demiliore." Mathew bowed to him and apologised.
"It is fine." He patted the Child of Destiny's shoulder as an elder would treat a youngster. "You are young and bold, but be careful of the overconfidence."
Keith did not stay there after he said those words and turned around to leave.
He knew that his words would instigate the Child of Destiny to approach him again in the future, and it would provide him with another opportunity to shave some Fate Value from him.
Now, Keith eagerly waited for tomorrow and the encounter Mathew was meant to have with another one of his targets in this world.
