"I accept," Gustav said as he reached out his hand and grabbed that of Matilda's before it dropped completely.
Hope flashed in Matilda's eyes as she turned back to stare at Gustav with an even broader smile.
Gustav stood to his feet and moved forward while still holding onto Matilda's hand.
The members of the Kwoiune and Odaly family that were present had conflicted expressions on their faces as they watched Gustav and Matilda walk towards the dance floor hand in hand.
Gustav didn't even spare Deitrick a glance as he walked past him with an unbothered expression.
Even the other youngsters from prestigious families had heard of the Odaly family but knowing Matilda's attitude, they wouldn't be surprised if she declined him despite their family's powerful status.
They had no idea that in this situation, Matilda didn't really have a choice. She would have accepted if Gustav had refused her hand.
Deitrick stared at Gustav's and Matilda's back as they approached the dance floor with a wry smile on his face.
'I don't think that was not intentional,' He said internally as he started moving towards his seating area.
Some girls around walked up to him to ask for a dance, but he declined them all.
The Odaly family was known for being a very large family in the far east, four cities away.
They were even larger than three large families combined because they had businesses in about ten different cities.
Deitrick is among their youngest heirs, who is said to be the strongest in his generational line. He also took part in the MBO test entrance and performed wonderfully, being among the top five worldwide.
Although Gustav was currently more popular than any of them, Deitrick had been well known for a long time.
Gustav and Matilda's bodies hugged each other as they swayed beautifully from place to place across the dance floor.
Matilda leaned her chin on Gustav's left shoulder area as they danced.
'Hmm? What's wrong with her?' Gustav could feel her hurried breath on his neck.
It was like she was scared of something, which had Gustav wondering.
"Matilda, what's happening?" Gustav whispered the question into her ears.
"I… I… I can't explain everything here… But I promise to tell you everything when I get the chance, please, for now, bear with my actions," Matilda pleaded.
Gustav could feel the trembling in her voice as she pleaded.
"Hmm, alright, just don't go overboard," Gustav replied.
He could tell it had something to do with the presence of the youngster that asked for her hand.
"By the way, who is that guy?" Gustav asked as they kept dancing.
"His name is Deitrick, he is from the Odaly family. One of the most prestigious families in the deep east," Matilda explained.
"Obviously, he is… The haughty look, I'm familiar with that," Gustav said.
Back in the seating area of the Odaly's, Deitrick's uncle was voicing out harshly.
"She decided to pick that kid over you just because of momentary fame… Tch, the Kwoiune family, lacks foresight," The uncle voiced out.
"It's fine, uncle. She was already headed for him before I arrived. I heard that she even got to be a special class because of him, so Gustav is nothing to scoff at," Deitrick stated.
"Hmph! Because they're both special class candidates now, the Kwoiune family looks down on us," The other kid voiced out.
———–
Gustav and Matilda continued to dance together for about thirty minutes until they finally decided to separate because Matilda had already come up with a plan to deal with her current predicament.
She once again begged Gustav to follow up with whatever actions she performed later on.
Gustav didn't like being kept in the dark, but he understood that whatever was happening was something she would spend a lot of time explaining, so he decided not to bother her about it right now until they were together alone.
Matilda returned to her sitting position with a slightly tired look on her face.
Anyone that asked her for a dance at this point was turned down with the excuse that she was tired.
Deitrick noticed this and figured out that this would be the same outcome if he went over to ask her for a dance again, so he decided against it.
After about an hour, the party was finally coming to an end.
This was when families started coming forward to present gifts and ask for Matilda's hand for their sons, who were around the same age as Matilda.
Gustav was really surprised to see such things happening.
'Is this how big families act?' He didn't expect these people to be shameless enough to parade their heirs and sing the praises of their descendants as they requested Matilda to be betrothed to them.
-"Our very own beloved son, Fresces, placed top hundred in the world ranking… I'm sure he's worthy enough,"
-"Not only is our family influential in the transport business, but our very own son is also placed among the top hundred… I hope the Kwoiune family sees him as worthy enough,"
They came out one after the other, dropping gifts in front of Matilda.
At the moment, a middle-aged man with white and grey hair was standing on the left side of Matilda while another man who looked no older than thirty years with very similar facial features to Matilda stood on her left.
"Thank you, we will wait for Matilda to consider and make a choice herself," The man on the left answered them one after the other with the same statement.
'She doesn't even know them, why would she accep… Could this be why she acted like that earlier,' Gustav started to put two and two together.
This was practically no longer a party. It had practically turned into a betrothal ceremony since Matilda had no choice but to pick someone at the end of the day.
'What is this? The ancient times?' Gustav had a repressed look as he watched the display.
"Yo, I didn't know that this was even a thing," E.E voiced out.
E.E, Gustav, and Angy were the only ones with confused looks here.
Glade, Ria, and Teemee didn't look surprised as they watched the display.
