chapter 63

Kar-el always believed that people were very petty in nature. A few days ago, most of the people present in this venue would have ignored him if he showed up at the party. It was normal. The world of humans ran on the principle of merit.

It was a bargain of sorts. People would only pay attention to you if they believe that there was a merit in doing so. Time was a precious asset because it was limited.

As kar-el walked toward an empty seat, he attracted a lot of eyes. He was young, could be considered as handsome too but most of all, he was someone that they haven't seen until now.

Almost everyone was aware that the mysterious shareholder would be present in this celebration. Kar-el met all the possible requirements. No one tried to approach him though. Everyone was adopting the strategy of wait and see for now.

He was wearing a purple coloured expensive three-piece suit. Since the hostess had still not arrived, there was still some time before the celebration started properly. The guests present at the party varied from CEOs of large corporations to famous politicians. A lot of well known people like leading scientists, doctors, actors, singers and sports stars were also present.

It was testament of how influential and capable Serena was at the moment. Everyone that was invited came. Of course, a party as grand as this would be lackluster without the presence of journalists. Every leading media organization sent their best journalists to cover this event.

"You can have some too if you like", Kar-el told Charmcaster who was sitting beside him. She had a bored expression on her face.

"No thanks, I am good", She rejected the glass of champagne.

"How old are you by the way?", Kar-el asked in curiosity since there was nothing much to do at the moment.

"32", She replied casually, surprising Kar-el.

"Really? You look not a day older than 20.", He said with wide eyes while looking at her from down to up. She was wearing a Paula dress in green.

It was a luxurious fabrication with stretch, high scoop neckline, A-line midi length skirt with a curved hemline, fully lined.

"I have a longer lifespan due to my exposure to magic. It changed my molecular structure to a vast degree.", She explained. She was born in a dimension filled with Mana and her people lived in that environment for a long time which provided her an affinity to Mana.

"I see.", Kar-el nodded before turning around to look at the entrance as a commotion broke out.

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Tony finally decided to show up with Pepper. They quickly became the centre of attention due to recent events. Everyone wanted to watch the show that would play out today. None more so than Justin Hammer.

As soon as he spotted Tony, He walked up to him with a gleeful smile on his face.

"If i didn't know any better, i would have thought that you are the star of the show with how much attention you are getting.", His tone was filled with sarcasm.

"What can I say, I am someone that demands attention. I have that charisma.", Tony replied back.

"I would like to see how that charisma of yours gets you out of this situation.", Justin laughed.

"Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about your company. The weapons order that you were set to receive was instead given to Stark Industries as soon as I returned back. You are expected to receive a net loss by the end of this year.", Tony coldly remarked earning an ire glance from Justin before he walked away.

"You can't keep your mouth shut for a second, do you? I seriously can't fathom why you keep making enemies left and right.", Pepper picked up a glass of champagne before gulping it all down in one sip.

"What else do you expect me to do then? Let him have his way?", Tony smiled and nodded at the guest trying to keep his facade as he whispered to her.

"I hate coming to parties like this. Everyone here behaves like a vulture ready to feast on a dying beast.", Pepper said with a voice filled with distrust and disgust.

"I agree but it is a part of your job as my secretary to accompany me on these occasions.", Tony whispered into her ear while keeping a hand around her waist.

"At least she has a better taste than you when it comes to hosting parties.", Pepper commented looking at the surroundings.

Unlike Tony whose parties have disco and DJ with Champagne raining down people's heads, Serena liked to host a European aristocratic ball theme party with mild classical music playing in the background. There was no rush in here. Everyone was free to act at their own pace. Pepper found it a lot calmer and peaceful in comparison to jumping and screaming with glasses of alcohol in hands.

"What do we do now?"Pepper turned to look at Tony only to find him staring somewhere. She followed his gaze to find a duo of young man and girl sitting alone on a table. Once in a while, the young man would comment on something and the girl would then add something to it.

Both of them were decently charming in appearance. Pepper was surprised to see them here as she didn't remember seeing them before so they couldn't be some celebrity.

It would be odd for them to be second-generation rich kids as Serena was notoriously famous for never inviting or allowing second-generation sons and daughters of reputable persons in her parties unless they already inherited their parents' empire. In fact, one time someone intentionally brought their children with them to her party and she personally sent them back in front of everyone at the event without mercy.

"Let's sit over there until the main event starts.", Tony led her to the duo.

"Nice to meet you.", Tony said to both of them while sitting at the table.

"Likewise, Mr. Stark and Miss Potts.", The young man calmly replied back to the pleasantries with a little smile on his face. He had a certain charm in the way he conducted himself that you couldn't help but think of him as the friendly neighbor.

The girl merely nodded her hand with a deep look in her eyes. She was sitting with a regal look on her face. Tony quickly noticed that she was not trying to behave in this way but it was a subconscious reaction. As if it was natural for these powerful people to treat her respectfully. The only time when he had seen this sort of behavior was when he met with royalty.

"Do you know? Since this morning I have been trying my best to find any clue about you that people haven't found yet? Though I found a few things here and there, it was nothing important. You are basically an enigma to me, Mr. Karl." Tony leaned a bit forward with a piercing look in his eyes and a grinning face. There was not a single chance in Kar-el's behavior. It was still as calm headed as before.

"Just because you are smart does not mean that everyone else is an idiot, Mr. Stark.", Kar-el calmly stated while tilting his head a bit to stare back at him.

"That is indeed true.", Tony nodded his head seriously. He wasn't able to read a single thing from the man in front of him. It pissed him for once.

Since he couldn't find anything by talking to the young man, he shifted his target and looked beside him at the girl.

"What kind of hair dye do you use? That silver color looks quite natural.", He had been quite curious about that since a while ago.

The girl once glanced at kar-el before turning back at them, "Because they are."

"Interesting", Pepper said from the sidelines.

*tring~ tring~*

All of them turned toward the stage where Serena was standing with a glass and fork in her hands that she used to get everyone's attention.

"Good evening everyone. Thank you all for showing up here to celebrate the success of our pharmaceutical branch. I am happy to announce that at this moment, we own 24% of national share in pharmaceutical products and services and 12% share worldwide.", She was wearing a black one-piece with glittering cosmos printed on it. The dress was not that revealing as it only showed a tiny portion of her legs and her shoulders and yet it naturally complimented her beautiful figure and face.

Once the clapping stopped, She started to talk again, "All of you are successful in your own stages so I am sure people must have asked you the secret of your success. Since a few years now, everyone has been asking this question to me as well along with the success of El Enterprise. Today I would like to answer that. Some of it is due to my talent and hard work. There is no doubt about it but El Enterprise would not be at the place it is now if it was not for everyone that joined it."

"This company is lucky to have so many talented and hard working people working for it. If you compare this company to a tree then I might be the beautiful flower that everyone gazes at, not knowing that it is the roots that keeps the tree standing. The employees are those roots. Without them, this company would have never grown so big. Today I would like to honor these hidden gems that have supported this company from thick and thin. Cheers.", She confidently looked around the venue as she spoke displaying an unprecedented talent at carrying herself in public.

"Now last but not least, before the dancing starts in earnest, I have another gift for my employees. In commerce, shareholders of a company are called the owners of the company. Today the two largest shareholders of the company would like to play a piece of music as a tribute to all the scientists that worked long hours into developing these drugs.", She announced before slowly walking down the stage toward the left where there was an empty piano. She smiled at the audience before taking a seat.

Meanwhile, Kar-el also stood up as she said that before walking a few feet besides her where a cello was leaning against a stool. By then everyone was sure about the identity of this young man.

The mysterious young man that secretly owned the most shares of El Enterprise after the CEO Serena.

Before long, a beautiful melody started to spread around the building. Both of them complimented each other perfectly as they played their musical instruments. (https://youtu.be/Ptk_1Dc2iPY link to the music title: Canon in D by Brooklyn Duo).

Everyone could tell that Serena was completely immersed in the music as she closed her eyes with a beautiful smile on face. It was a heartfelt smile unlike the usual facade of a smile that every successful person knows to make.

As a single young and successful woman, she had many suitors and after today the number to them would likely increase.

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"Beautiful, I didn't know that she is that good with piano.", Pepper muttered with surprised eyes.

"Same", Tony subconsciously nodded to her before his eyes fell on the girl sitting besides them. She was staring at the duo with an enchanted look on her face. Gone were the regal arrogance and instead surprised decorated her face.

"Feeling jealous?", Tony teasingly whispered.

The Charmcaster seemed to have not heard him due to her complete focus on the performance.

Tony raised an eyebrow before waving a hand before her eyes which seemed to finally release her from the spell.

"Yes?"Since she did not quite hear what he said before, Charmcaster questioningly looked at him.

"Is he someone special to you?", He asked with a knowing look in his eyes.

The Charmcaster didn't read the implied meaning behind the question but answered anyway, "That he is." He was her master. That was someone special. She had asked for a new future for her people in exchange for her life from him. Something that was her life goal as long as she could remember.

"Serena could prove to be quite a powerful adversary. Look at them, even though she is a lot more beautiful than him, they still compliment each other quite well.", Tony gestured at the front where the duo was playing Minor in C.

Charmcaster didn't quite understand how it was related to anything so she chose to silently listen to the music.

The reason why she was so enchanted a while ago was because unlike everyone else in the building, she has a very high affinity for mana so she noticed a scene that on one saw as soon as the performance started.

As soon as both of them started to play their individual musical instruments, waves of mana were released from their instruments that floated around them following the musical notes. Before long, the whole building was filled with layers of mana. Oftentimes the mana waves created by Serena would interact with Mana waves released by Kar-el and change colors.

Every color represented a different elemental Mana. It looked as if she was watching aurora waves happening in the Arctic.