Accepting a Loving Heart

Chapter 12: Re-writing memories

Vincent's POV

"Come on girls! Time to meet your matches outside." Olivia said, clapping her hands.

"I didn't have a match!" Several girls lamented as they stepped behind and allowed the ones who found matches to move ahead of them for the dance. All the girls who had matches walked behind me and Olivia. When we went out to the hall, I saw that the guys were already out in the hall and they didn't seem to be in any particular order unlike the girls who were being led by me and Olivia. I looked for the one wearing the crown and my heart sank as I saw that it was Ryuu. Was the game rigged to make this happen from the very beginning? I wondered as Ryuu came over to me with a smile.

"I can't believe you really turned out to be my queen." He said.

"Really? I mean..really? Is this the real outcome?" I asked Ryuu suspiciously and he tilted his head.

"Do you suspect it? The game isn't easy to rig. It's a psychological profiling game powered by an AI robot. We aren't so different Vincent. So, it's not so unperceivable that our answers would be similar." Ryuu told me.

I gave him a distressed look as I looked for Luc. He was nowhere to be seen. Aunt Selene was screaming out loud for him.

"Did aunt Selene get Luc?" I heard one guy ask and there were ripples of laughter.

"How the hell did he match which that old coot? What were his answers?" Another guy asked incredulously.

"I always figured something was nuts about that guy." Some other guy said jeeringly with laughter.

I watched Alex look uneasily at how everyone was making fun of Luc. He glanced at me warily, mirroring my expression. But since he was second place, he got occupied as well and he couldn't go to search for Luc like me. I just felt a deep sense of being manipulated somehow.

"Luc boy, where are you?" We heard Selene screaming loudly, making everyone scurry to give way to her. I followed after Selene because I wanted to find Luc as much as her. So, Ryuu followed after me as well. We walked after Selene until she found him. I gave a startled look to see that Luc had made a beeline to the bar after the quiz. Before I could go over to Luc, Selene did.

"Oh! I found you now. There's no where left for you to hide." Selene exclaimed and several people laughed at that as she grabbed Luc's shoulder.

I tensed. I thought Luc would twist or break her arm or push her away. I rushed over to stop him from doing that but to my surprise, he only turned to her with a curious look. Luc noticed me right behind her but he gave me an odd look before turning his attention to Selene.

"Who are you?" He asked coolly.

"Your match in tonight's quiz." Selene said with a smile and I heard giggles from the crowd at that. But I also felt the collective nervous tension in the hall. Everyone was worried about how this would turn out. Luc was infamous for being rude and callous and although everyone laughed at Selene's antics, she was still an elderly Deverell.

"Hm..congratulations." Luc said raising his drink to her before downing it in one go and turning to the bar keeper to ask for another drink.

"Hey kid. Didn't anyone tell you that it's not polite to refuse a lady to a dance and drink like that?" Selene asked him and he glanced at her.

"Who refused?" He asked her.

"You did." She said.

"I did? When did you ask me to dance with you?" Luc asked back.

"It's the rule of the quiz. You dance with your match." Selene said and Luc turned towards her, looking at her from the top of her head to her shoes.