The Author's POV
chapter-472

"W-what?"

Unknowingly Sophia's face started to become bright red.

"Hm? Are you okay?"

Noticing her slight change in demeanor, I tilted my head to the side.

There was something about her behavior.

It didn't seem like I was the only one who noticed this as Leopold worriedly placed his hand on Sophia's forehead.

"Sophia dear, are you okay?"

"S..stop."

Smacking Leopold's hand away, Sophia stuttered as she looked at me.

"It can't be...it..."

'Hold on…'

Meeting her gaze, I suddenly had a strange thought inside of my mind.

'That can't be...'

I quickly shook my head, trying to deny such a thought.

It just couldn't be…or rather, I wanted to not believe in the thought.

It was then that Sophia once again spoke up.

"Y..you're Ren Dover, right?"

As she spoke up, I managed to pick up a slight tremble in her voice.

Letting out a small sigh, I nodded my head.

'It looks like my hunch was right.'

"Yes, I am indeed him."

"Oh my god!"

Sophia's face instantly brightened up. Her face quickly snapped in Leopold's direction.

"Dad! Why didn't you tell me that he was your boss!"

"Huh?!"

Turning his head, Leopold looked at me with a look that said 'what is she on about?'

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

Although I already had an idea, I really wanted to deny it.

It was right then that Sophia suddenly lunged in my direction and grabbed both of my hands and said.

"I'm a huge fan!"

"What!?"

Finally, Leopold was able to understand what was happening. Turning his head, he looked at me with a betrayed and hurt look. His face then proceeded to contort.

'How is this my fault?"

I wanted to rebuke; however, before I even had the chance to do so, Sophia had already started speaking.

"I've watched and replayed all of your matches back at the conference, especially when you beat up that orc and that pretty boy."

A word suddenly caught my interest.

Raising my brow, I asked.

"Pretty boy?"

"Yes, yes, that Kevin guy. Although he looks pretty, he clearly was no match for you. All my friends say he's handsome, but honestly, you are way better looking. Oh, and the way you forfeited was so cool!"

For a split moment, I wanted to let her continue.

Just the fact that she was praising me over Kevin made me like her instantly.

However, knowing just how wrong the situation was, I quickly freed my hands and looked at Leopold. My hope was that he would try and stop his daughter, but...his response wasn't really what I had expected.

With his arms crossed, and with his head lowered, he nodded his head.

"…I have to agree with my daughter. You were pretty cool back there."

"Oy."

Now it was my face's turn to contort.

"What in the world is he doing? This should be the bit where you are supposed to deny!"

Leopold shook his head.

"Boss, I'm an honest man."

"Haaa…"

Not knowing how to react, I could only let out a sigh.

Sophia's sudden outburst seemed to have caught the attention of the other people present, as I was quickly surrounded by all the idol members.

"Oh my god! I remember you!"

"Kyyaaaa!"

"It's him!"

"I…."

Surrounded by the girls, I didn't know how to react as I looked in Amanda's direction in the hope of some help, however, all I was met with was a cold and apathetic look.

'You're enjoying this aren't you?'

Was what her face seemed to say. Or at least what I assumed it said as her expression was quite hard to read.

Especially since she was currently wearing a skin mask.

I had given it to her before because she simply attracted way too much attention due to her looks.

This was also why during the time the camera was pointed in our direction, no one took notice of her.

Had she not been wearing her mask, I could've guaranteed that all attention would've been drawn to her, instead of Nola. Well, at least for a bit.

In hindsight, bad move because had it not been for the mask, she would've never pulled her previous stunt.

"Mr. Dover, Mr. Dover."

"Wow."

Suddenly finding Sophia's face near mine, I finally snapped out of my thoughts as I moved my head away from her a little.

"Sorry."

Quickly apologizing, Sophia coughed.

"Keum…I read from reports that you were single and that you were only twenty years old…"

Turning her head slightly, she glanced in Nola's and Amanda's direction.

"That woman over there said that she was your daughter, but doesn't she look a little bit too old to be your daughter, unless…"

"The fact that Nola is our daughter is a lie."

I cut her off before she could finish her sentence. The moment I said those words, Sophia's face quickly brightened up.

"However..."

Picking this cue up, I quickly followed up by pointing in Amanda's direction.

"The fact that she is my girlfriend is not a lie."

"Hiip!"

At the exact moment I said those words, I suddenly heard a weird sound come from behind me.

Without needing to look, I could already imagine what face Amanda was making. However, this was something I had to do.

This was not out of pettiness, but because I didn't want Leopold's daughter to fall in love with me.

In short, I was using Amanda as my shield.

"Oh."

With a short nod, Sophia turned to look in Amanda's direction.

Tilting her head to the side, she smiled and asked.

"Is that true?"

Turning around, my eyes met with Amanda's.

After staring at each other for a brief moment and seemingly understanding each other, Amanda simply took off her mask revealing her features in front of everyone.

"Waaah! So beautiful!"

"Oh my god."

"I know her! She was also in the tournament!"

Instantly all of the girls from Kimbol apart from Sophia looked at Amanda with amazement.

Following this, they instantly gathered around her and tried to strike up a conversation with her.

On a good note, I managed to get rid of all the attention away from me, on a bad note, it seemed that Sophia had still not given up on me as she looked at me with a skeptical look on her face.

"Is she really your girlfriend?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"Well, sort of."

I nodded my head.

"Sort of?"

"Yeah, we started dating not too long ago. Our relationship is quite new."

I knew exactly what she was going to try at the moment.

If my guess wasn't wrong, she was probably going to say something along the lines of 'Prove it to me, prove to me that you two are in a relationship.' And then we would be forced to do something very uncomfortable.

Sorry, but no thank you.

This wasn't because I disliked Amanda or anything like that.

To be honest, with everything that happened today, the idea that Amanda liked me became more prominent.

However, even if that was true, I still was unsure about my feelings for her.

I mean sure, she was incredibly beautiful, kind, and more than anything else a calming person to stay with, but I had been too busy preoccupied with everything that had happened with the other entity.

I was afraid that my emotions were fake.

Simply put, I needed more time to figure things out.

"Hmmm…"

Squinting her eyes, Sophia looked at me with a skeptical look on her face. She was still unconvinced by my words.

Smiling at her, I stood up from my seat and looked at Leopold.

"Alright, it's getting late and Nola is getting sleepy. Guess it's time for us to go back. You stay and have fun with your daughter."

I needed to get out of here before things became too messy.

"Sure."

Leopold nodded his head.

Before I could turn around to the others, Leopold suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Ren, wait up."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well…"

Licking his lips and looking around the room, Leopold scratched the side of his cheek before eventually saying.

"…about the cigarettes you too—"

"Nope."

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

There was no way in hell I was going to give him his cigarettes back. He was simply way too addicted.

"Instead of thinking about cigarettes, think about spending time with your daughter."

Tapping on my mask to change my face again, I grabbed Amanda's wrist and dragged her out of the place.

Before leaving, I made sure to say goodbye to the others.

"Have a good day, really enjoyed your performance…oh, and keep our appearance a secret."

Clank—!

Before they could even reply, I quickly closed the door behind me.

"Haaa…"

Finally out of the mess, I let out a long and tired sigh and lowered my body.

Glancing up to Amanda, I bitterly smiled.

"That was even more tiring than the show itself…"

"…"

I was met with no response.

"Amanda?"

Staring at Amanda and looking at her line of sight, I realized where the problem lay and quickly let go of her wrist.

"Sorry." I quickly apologized.

"No, it's okay."

Shaking her head, she smiled and looked at Nola who had her arms wrapped around her neck. A smile involuntarily appeared on my face when I saw this.

"Looks like she's tired."

She looked quite adorable at the moment.

"Come here, Nola."

Extending my hands, I tried to take Nola away from Amanda, however, she quickly refused and snuggled her head on Amanda's neck.

"Hmm, no."

"It's fine."

Amanda patted Nola's back.

"Let her be, I'm not uncomfortable."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"…Alright I guess."

Patting Nola's head, I scratched the back of my head and finally decided to head back home.

Looking back, although this experience was quite tiring, in a way, it was also quite a breath of fresh air.

It wasn't too bad.

***

A few hours later.

The ride back home after the concert was a quiet one. With the both of them understandably tired, neither spoke too much alongside the ride.

The moment they arrived at their apartments, Amanda quickly gave Nola back to Ren and bid each other goodbye before entering their apartments.

Clank—!

Opening the door to her apartment, to Amanda's surprise, she found that the lights were still on.

"Oh, you're back."

Greeting her was her mother who was currently sitting down on the sofa reading a book.

"I'm back."

Taking off her shoes, Amanda greeted her mother back.

"How was the concert?"

"...Good."

"I see."

Natasha nodded her head before closing the book in her hands.

Turning her head, and leaning her arm on the back of the sofa, she teasingly looked at Amanda.

"So, any progress with the boy?"

It was at that moment that Amanda's body stiffened.

Like a robot, Amanda turned her head to look at her mother.

"...Progress?"

"Ha, Amanda, even if I have been missing since you were five, don't think you can fool me. I know you like the boy."

Covering her mouth with her mouth, Natasha laughed.

"With your looks, I don't see any problems with him falling for you. hehe."

"Right..."

Nodding her head, Amanda decided to ignore her mother before heading for her room.

"Wait, Amanda, where are you going?! You still haven't told me ab—"

Clank—!

Shutting the door behind her, Amanda cut her mother off.

The moment she closed the door, she instantly jumped on her bed and covered her face with her pillow, and her body rolled all over the bed.

'W...what have I done!?'

Thinking back at what happened today, Amanda found her cheeks becoming warmer and warmer.

'She is our daughter.'

Recalling the embarrassing words she said in front of the thousands of people, Amanda couldn't help but clutch the bedsheets of her bed and swing her legs in the air.

"Mhhhh..."

A muffled shout rang in the air.

Fortunately for her, her shout was drowned by the pillow in front of her.

This didn't persist for long, however, as a frown soon appeared on her face.

Lifting her head, Amanda turned her body to face the ceiling of the room.

Recalling the time when Ren was surrounded by the girls...unknowingly, Amanda's grip on the bedsheets tightened.

She didn't really think too much back in the past because Ren tended to be low-key, however, now that his fight had been broadcasted throughout the whole human domain, everyone got to see how strong he was.

Not only that, but Ren was actually quite handsome himself, and added with what he did during the tournament...

Amanda suddenly sat up straight.

"Oh no..."

It was then and there that Amanda suddenly realized something.

'...Is Ren more popular than I thought?'