I pulled away from Min Ho, smiled at him gently and then took the Staff Members hand. "Stay here and continue playing my game for me" I instructed while batting my child-like eyes innocently.
Min Ho nodded obediently, "Be safe and have a good time Young Master."
I waved goodbye and then the Staff Member and I left the room.
"What game have you been playing?" she asked innocently.
"Pacman."
"Ohh that's a rather old game, do you like the old stuff?"
I grinned brightly, "Yep, I love Pacman, I especially like the way he devours all his enemies. I also like eating people, NUM NUM NUM NUM" I gnashed my teeth and made exaggerated eating movements like a shark.
The Staff Member laughed out loud, "aww you are so cute!!!" she squealed. "I'm not supposed to do these types of things but..." she gingerly took out her phone, "Can we please take a picture together?"
She twiddled her thumbs nervously and I smiled cutely, "Of course."
We took a few selfies and in a few, I mockingly bit at her arm, her skin was rather soft and bouncy. Her muscles were weak; it didn't seem like she worked out much, and she was skinny. I didn't even have to sink my teeth in to feel her bones. She didn't seem to be the type to make an appetizing meal at all.
I wasn't even slightly hungry for her.
There was no point learning her name or remembering her for a later date.
After the selfies, I obediently went with her to the seats in the large auditorium.
The music boomed loudly the moment we came out of a backstage door. The Orchestra, The Vienna Philharmonic was playing a rousing rendition of Johann Strauss's classics. The Orchestra was being conducted by Seiji Ozawa, the sound was simply magical.
In my past life, I had only ever listened to the broadcasts of their live performances on the radio, but now I was listening to them live. It truly was a different experience, hearing an orchestra in person truly lifted the soul, the vibrations through the floor, the playing of the instruments being so fresh in my ears and the enjoyment of the rest of the crowd. This was amazing.
I almost regretted not coming out earlier to listen to the start of their performance, but then I remembered the sounds of Hunha screaming, and that regret disappeared. That had also been quite a moving piece of music.
The Staff Member quietly led me to my seat in the front row.
It was a seat to the left of a rather wealthy looking woman, Kang Seung was seated between this woman and a man; I had no other choice but to sit at the seat by her side.
As I sat down the rich woman kindly greeted me, her eyes smiling like crescent moons. I mirrored her smile and didn't say a word as I sat back and enjoyed the performance.
The Vienna Philharmonic played for another hour and a half, everything they did was magical. I simply closed my eyes and enjoyed the ride, my feet tapped and I wanted to dance.
Interestingly enough I found myself missing Melody. When we first met we used to dance, at that time she wasn't scared of me, I had yet to reveal my true self to her. We would listen to classical music, particularly works by Johann Strauß, and we would glide across the room in each other's arms just giving ourselves away to the tunes around us.
We never danced like that again after I started torturing her. I did try but by that point, she was too nervous, jittery and accident-prone to dance properly. I had also broken the bones in her feet with a hammer and because of that, she developed a limp that made dancing even harder. I guess if I had one regret towards her it would be hurting her feet. She had really been such a talented dancer.
Funny how music brings out thoughts and memories, but then again when you spend decades with an individual it's hard to forget them.
I wondered what she did after I died. Did Melody cry?
Just the thought of her crying was ludicrous and I knew it, no she likely danced with joy and shouted with happiness. Although there was a time when she really loved me, that time had disappeared long ago. She had probably taken the car and gone to the police station straight away. It was likely that my legacy was being unpacked by the police...well they wouldn't find much. I never kept any of my victim's belongings; their flesh was food and their bones incinerated and scattered.
Just thinking about the struggles the police were likely facing in my old world made me smile, it was a shame I couldn't see it.
The Orchestra eventually came to their final piece, Johann Strauß I Radetzky-Marsch op. 228, it was...beautiful. Music had a way of evoking emotion in me that most things could not. It had a way of filling my heart and taming me, when there was music the violent side of me always slumbered until the music stopped.
Everyone rose to their feet and applauded, the claps were so loud that I felt my ears ring and I nearly lost my balance because of how much the floor trembled. The orchestra had said they had been worried about surpassing my performance but they had done so easily, they had most definitely bewitched everyone in the room.
Once the cheers and congratulations had been given and the musicians left the stage, soft chatter began and people began to talk as the lights brightened and champagne was being handed out. Some people left, but for the most part, the rich and elite lingered to network.
Kang Seung gestured to me to come towards him. I inched closer to my grandfather and politely greeted the Wealthy Woman and Man beside him. The lady wore a long black boudoir dress made of chiffon, satin and tulle. She had a tall neck, and perfect posture, with high cheekbones and clear eyes. She reminded me of a swan, she had likely been a beauty in her youth, she was still a beauty now but the wrinkles around her eyes and the thin skin of her hands showed that time hadn't forgotten her.
Her husband on the other hand was repulsive. He was a ball of fat, bald and greasy. The tailored suit he wore couldn't contain the barrel-bulge of his stomach and his collar barely stood up around the mass of flesh that was his neck.
"This is Lady and Lord Blackwood. The Lady is the chairman of this performance hall and the couple are the Founders of the Angor Society, a network of the richest and most elite families on this side of the hemisphere. They both come from a long legacy of Danish royalty and nobility," Kang Seung explained.
To put it plainly these were people born into money and power that knew more people born into money and power. People that Kang Seung wanted to know and work with for his agenda of raising the status of the KangMung group in the west.
Kang Seung wanted KangMung to be more than a successful conglomerate from a long lineage of merchants, he wanted the group to be Sovereign. A group made inviolable by its power and connections and not just by its money.
I understood his goals but I honestly found it pointless, in my opinion kissing up to rich blue-bloods and nobility was out of fashion. The monarchy in this world was like my old one, it was becoming more obsolete with time. In this modern era groups like KangMung were more valuable and important to the masses than these people would ever be, yet he clung to this old notion of power.
While I thought all this I extended my hand out politely and shook theirs, "It's a pleasure to meet you the Lord and Lady Blackwood, I hope you enjoyed my performance and that you've had an amazing evening."
Hearing my eloquent (native) English from my 8-year-old lips, the old pair smiled brighter.
"Oh my," said Lord Blackwood, "You are such a delight."
While Lady Blackwood gazed at me innocently and sweetly I noticed a leering look in Lord Blackwood's eyes. It was somewhat hazy and perverse...I knew that type of look I had seen it often in the eyes of Father Johnson.
In that second I felt rage build in my veins. I had the urge to slam Lord Blackwood's head against his chair and strangle his fat neck with the gold chain from his glasses. But I held myself back...I wouldn't do it now.
I simply returned his gaze.