Mr Arnold chuckled as he knew the boy was smart and would soon see through his real motive behind inviting him here. He knew if he called Kai, he wouldn't refuse to come since he always tried his best to reject any candidate that Arnold deemed worthy of the position.
Arnold's motive was to let him watch and perhaps develop an interest in any candidates that were here for the interview. He also planned to make him take part in the process so it could help in making a connection prior to the selection process. Arnold knew it was a bizarre idea after all, pleasing Young Master Kai was a feat of another level which required a high level of patience and understanding. He deemed himself worthy of devising such a method.
"Young master, what are you saying. You've got me all wrong. You're making it sound like I mean some sort of harm to you", Arnold smiled gently, his eyes softened, "I am doing all of this for your own good. It shall help you in the future".
Kai remained quiet. He sipped on his can of juice; his eyes fell upon the figure of Alena. The back of her head, her soft ginger hair was half tied in a pony-tail. He relaxed his body and leaned back on his chair recalling the first time he saw her. Ruco was the local bully in their class. A jerk who found pleasure in bullying other people. He was surprised she had the guts to stand up for herself despite being a new here.
He didn't really understand why but a part within him wanted to watch how she performs today. It was obvious Arnold wanted him to judge the contestants and take part in his rubbish plan of 'bonding' with other humans. A term that certainly didn't please him. He didn't like being near people at all. He picked his phone which was placed beside his juice can on the table and tapped on the screen, the screen had notifications and the timer read '13.12'.
He closed his eyes to analyse and process his thoughts. He was indeed interested in watching what the candidates would be doing. "What am I supposed to be doing?", he asked abruptly as Mr Arnold awaited his queries, Mr Arnold was soon met with one.
"You don't require to do much. In the next round, you have to give them orders and judge to see yourself what each candidate is capable of. A test of loyalty, spontaneity, and courage perhaps", Mr Arnold smiled, as he looked pleased.
After the lunch break was over, each candidate arrived at the venue they were allotted. It was a giant hall, on each side, left and right, there were cubicles that resembled the size of a room. Each room was designed with a specific theme in mind. Kai was seated at the front, on a huge chair akin to an Emperor's throne, spectating. His eyes emitted a cold and dark aura. He was not just the spectator, but the person in command of this round. The other judges were merely in-charge, the main decisions and judgement powers laid in the hands of Kai this time.
"Welcome to the next round, everyone!", greeted Mrs Maria.
Each candidate was assigned a list of tasks, which were partially normal but partially bizarre. Each list consisted of 3 tasks. The list was prepared to keep in mind to put 2 bizarre tasks and 1 normal task, each testing how patient and loyal the candidate is to their master.
Each candidate was busy checking through their list when the sound of a wailing baby startled them. A candidate named Hikaru asked, "where is this sound coming from?" All the candidates looked around to detect the direction the sound was coming from when they noticed a baby in a cubicle with the backdrop of a baby room. The walls were painted mint green with large stickers of popular kid's cartoons pasted on them along with some toys laying around the baby.
The baby lay on the floor, wailing. The mother of the baby was out of sight, nowhere near to be found. Alena looked around to check if there was a mother figure but there wasn't anyone. She felt bad looking at the wailing baby. A spark of anger ignited within her. She unconsciously started to press her thumb with the fingers of her other hand, nervousness and frustration conveyed through her body language.
"We apologize for the inconvenience caused", spoke Mr Russell as he waved his hand in the air. With a wave of the hand, a person soon went over to hush and lull the baby. Alena didn't like the attitude everyone was displaying in the room. "Please check your allotted lists and pick a number from the bowl kept on the table one by one", Mr Russell pointed at a bowl made of glass kept on the table positioned next to him. "After you pick a piece of paper, check the number allotted to you and then go in accordance to the number, each contestant shall move to their respective cubicles to perform their duties", finished Mr Russell, his voice as cold as concrete. The room seemed to have frozen, pulling the temperature of the room down.
One by one each candidate picked a folded piece of paper and learned the order in which each was supposed to go. Alena was on number 5. Her set of allotted duties involved one of them in which the wailing baby was involved. Whatever was happening perplexed Alena. She was not the only perplexed one though, other contestants were equally befuddled. Except for the Young Miss of Walton household. Her face was expressionless. Nothing bothered her whatsoever.
Despite being on number 3, not even a hint of worry struck her face. She was calm and cold, adept to the freezing room. However, in strike contrast was the candidate positioned number 1. He was extremely nervous. His hands were sweaty and shaking. His trembling body giving off his nervousness. He was assigned to cook the main dish of 'Butter Lobster Risotto' under 30 minutes, juggle 5 balls as bicycled his way through a track field outside, and write an essay on planet Pluto in under 10 minutes. The round had just begun getting bizarre.
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to be continued...
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