"Alright" Lucien said as he brought out the clipped ticket and showed it to the security guard.
Seeing the familiar card in the man's hands, the security guard immediately sighed in relief and opened the door while saying.
"Welcome to the party sir. We hope that you enjoy the rest of the night".
Although Lucien still wasn't sure what kind of party he was attending, he still nodded his head his response and walked past the door.
Lucien looked around the grand hall and couldn't help but shake his head in defeat.
"It's good to be rich" Lucien muttered.
Crystal chandeliers spiralled down from the arching dark-blue ceiling, illuminating the glimmering golden walls and a floor so polished it looked like an iced-over lake.
And it wasn't just the ballroom–the women sparkled like a box of jewels, shades of emerald and ruby and amethyst swirling around the men who were dressed in various kinds of expensive suits, as they carried themselves with grace and sophistication.
Their low chatter was accompanied by wafts of rose, hyacinth and jasmine. Looking down to take a glance at his black suit, Lucien was thankful because he knew he made the right call.
As he walked further into the large hall, a colourful banner that was stretched out in the ceiling immediately greeted his eyes.
Written on it were some colourful and polished words which read 'Sweet 25 birthday party'.
Seeing that kind of party that he was in, Lucien was in no rush as he surveyed the room, making sure that nothing was exempted from his sight.
"Sigh!!"
He couldn't find anything odd after scanning the room. At most he was hoping to be able to find an aura of a monster.
But considering that these monsters were able to shapeshift into human forms and at the same time hide their magical signature, it made sense why the organization always investigates first to make sure that they didn't get the wrong target, and then strike later.
"Excuse me, sir" A waiter called out behind Lucien as he carried a tray filled with several glasses of wine.
"Would you care for a glass of wine?".
"Sure" Lucien replied as he took a glass of wine and wandered into the crowd of people.
Although this was supposed to be a birthday party from the banner he read when he had just stepped into the room.
But the crowd of distinguished men and women said otherwise.
On one side, there were men and women in their late 30s and 50s talking to each other as small sounds of laughter could be heard every few minutes.
While on the other side, it looked to be people in their late 20s down associating with each other.
But it didn't look like each group was divided by their age difference because he could make out some young individuals who were in the midst of several aged individuals.
To put it fairly, it looked like they were all here to build their connections or make new profitable friends.
But it didn't seem surprising to Lucien though as he knew how these things work.
After all, it would be strange if they didn't do such things because getting rich is just the starting point.
The real challenge comes in sustaining that wealth. So who doesn't want to strengthen their social and financial foundations to make sure their future generation profits from it.
Well, all….
"Excuse me Sir, Do I know you?" A woman said from behind Lucien as she looked at him with interest.
"Huh!! Cough!! Cough!!!" Lucien who had felt that the lady was talking to him in particular unexpectedly choked on his drunk as he taught about how to answer her.
"Here take this" The woman suddenly gestured to a waiter who was holding a tray of glass cups which was filled with water and handed one to him.
"Sorry about that".
"No worries, I was just startled that's all" Lucien replied as he gulped the water in one swing.
Nodding her head in response, the woman looked at Lucien and said once more "So, who are you?".
Lucien knows that if he doesn't say something quickly, his false identity would be exposed.
Which is something that he couldn't let happen at the moment.
"It might be difficult for you to know about me, miss. And I am sure that we haven't met before so I don't know where to start from if you abruptly asked a question like that" Lucien replied with a smile.
"Alright if you put it that way, then let's start with your name first" The woman responded as she reciprocated Lucien's smile.
'My name?" Lucien thought as racked up his brain thinking of a name he could use.
"What's wrong mister? You can't answer that too?" The woman's smile suddenly turned into a frown as soon as she saw Lucien's hesitation.
"If you think that I won't remember you even after you have given me your name, then you don't have to worry about that mister. Because I can assure you that I recognise everybody in this room"
"Although I don't know some of my parent's acquaintances. But judging from how you look, you shouldn't be among my age gap which means that I should have known someone like you was coming".
Lucien heard the woman's words and just shook his head in fake dissatisfaction saying "And what if I told you that you still won't be able to remember who I am even after I have told you my name".
"Then I will have no choice but to call the security guards because that only means that you are a fraud" The woman said as she gestured for the attention of a waiter close to her.
"Wait!!" Lucien hurriedly said as he saw that she was really planning to call the guards on him.
And to be honest, Lucien could pick any name he could think of and tell her. But the other party looked like someone who would immediately try to validate if his identity was true or not.