The Author's POV

Inside an office space, a beautiful young girl with glossy black hair and obsidian black eyes sat behind a large wooden desk. Behind her, the sunlight coming from the sun directly shined through the window brushing past her skin, further emphasizing her beauty. 

Flipping through a long pile of papers, the young girl's brows would knit from time to time.

"Young miss, how should we proceed?" 

Standing in front of her was a fairly young man. With his back straight and a gentle smile on his face, he asked. 

"Hm?" 

Lifting her head slowly and putting one of the papers down, the young girl's eyes glossed over the paper for a couple of more seconds before opening her mouth. 

"Allocate the Nightgall dungeon to the senior members. Tell them to use it to train the new recruits."

"Understood." The young man smiled and asked. "What about the Adrianna dungeon?" 

"The Adrianna dungeon?" Brushing her hair towards her ear, the young girl mused for a bit before answering. "Allocate that to Beta squad, they need more training." 

"As you wish young miss." Taking note of her instructions, the young man looked at the girl and curtly asked. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"

"No" The young girl shook her head, before once again diverting her attention towards the papers on the desk. "Thank you for your hard work, Maxwell. You may leave." 

"As you wish, young miss." 

At the young girl's command, Maxwell lowered his head slightly. Turning around, he made his way towards the door. 

Reaching for the handle of the door, Maxwell suddenly stopped. Turning around, and staring at the young girl who was tirelessly working, after hesitating for a bit, he worriedly said. "Young miss, I know that you're working hard for the guild, and everyone is very appreciative of that...but please don't overwork yourself." 

"Mhm." 

Without looking up, the young girl casually responded. 

She was already too immersed in her work to care about anything else. 

"Haa..." 

Staring at Amanda, a trace of pity flashed Maxwell's eyes. Sighing and shaking his head, he turned around and left the room. 

"Please do heed my words, young miss." 

—Clank! 

Once Maxwell left the room, silence descended in the room. Apart from the scribbling sound coming from the young girl's direction, no other noise could be heard. 

—Flip! —Flip! —Flip! 

After a while, flipping through a series of files, the young girl paused and knit her brows tightly. 

"This isn't correct. The numbers don't quite match here..." 

The young girl who was busily looking through the files was in fact, Amanda. 

Ever since Ren's death, just like she had planned originally, she dropped out of the academy. 

She then proceeded to join the guild, and from there, she slowly started adapting to a leadership role. Of course, for obvious reasons, the bigger problems were being handled by the more senior members of the guild.

At the moment Amanda was only dealing with the smaller issues. 

This would of course change in the future when she gained more experience, but for now, she was content with this. 

She of course also did not neglect to train. Being the future guild master of the number one guild in the world, Amanda needed to be strong. 

With the aid of the elders and resources available to her, Amanda's rank quickly shot up all the way to <D-> rank. Pretty much in line with what she estimated she would've been had, she stayed in the Lock. 

Slowly but surely, Amanda was starting to adapt to her new role. 

...at least that was how it looked on the surface. 

In reality, Amanda was using work as an excuse to cope with the pain that she was feeling every day. From time to time, she would have nightmares of 'that day', resulting in her being unable to sleep. 

The only way she was able to deal with those nights was by shoving herself with work. She just needed something to set her mind somewhere else. 

Eight months passed, and though the pain was still there, it didn't hurt as much as before. 

Even so, she would still get those nightmares from time to time. 

Di! Di! Di! 

Disrupting Amanda out of her focus, was her alarm. Glancing at the alarm and looking at the time, Amanda put the papers down and mumbled. 

"It's already time?" 

She was so immersed in her work that she did not realize the fact that she had been working for more than ten hours already. 

Standing up, Amanda grabbed a black cashmere felt coat that was resting on the back of her chair and put it on. 

Putting her hands on her pockets, Amanda headed towards the entrance of her office. 

Just as she was about to leave, halting her steps right before the door, Amanda turned around and glanced towards the corner of the room. 

Sitting on top of the shelf was a small teddy bear. Staring at it for a couple of seconds, a trace of sadness flashed her eyes. 

"..." 

For the next couple of seconds, Amanda just stared at the teddy in the distance. 

After that, pursing her lips, she turned around and left the room. 

—Clank! 

'I hope you're doing well up there.'

***

—Fwoooooom! 

Inside of a white room, flames suddenly erupted covering the whole room. The flames continued to rage for the next ten seconds before quickly disappearing and revealing a translucent red card standing in the middle of the room. 

[Experiment log #1574 - Mana lingering in room : 38%]

A robotic voice sounded. 

Standing opposite to the room, and staring at it through a large glass, Melissa touched the middle of her glasses with her index finger and lifted them up slightly. 

"Still missing 8%" 

Her goal was a mana efficiency loss of 30%. Compared to last year where it was at 49%, she managed to improve the magic card to the point where it was now thinner and more efficient than before. 

Still. 

"There's still work to do." 

It was still not enough for commercial use. 

The closer she was to the goal, the harder it became for her to develop the card further, Melissa knew this best.

Therefore, taking out a piece of paper, Melissa sat down on a stool and started doing some calculations. 

"what if I altered the magic circle a bit? Perhaps simplify it? The magic card itself seems fine, but that could also..." 

Staring at Melissa mumbling to herself in the corner of the lab, Rosie, her assistant, entered the testing room and cleaned up the place. 

Ever since eight months ago, Melissa had pretty much holed herself up in the lab. Although she used to hole herself up in the lab before as well, this year she spent even more time inside of the lab.

She had gotten so obsessed with the research that she had started neglecting sleep and food.

Despite having the best resources available, she tended to sleep in the lab more than in her own room. She was totally addicted. 

"Sigh, I hope she doesn't overwork herself." 

Rosie muttered as she cleaned up the room. Having been Melissa's attendant for the past two years, she had gotten quite close to her. Rosie obviously did not like seeing her like that. 

"Haaa.." 

After spending the next ten minutes or so cleaning up the room, she walked out of the room and made her way towards Melissa. 

"Melissa I'm do—Hm?" 

Standing behind Melissa, Rosie suddenly noticed a stack of paper by the side of her desk. Thinking that it was trash, she picked it up and briefly glanced at them. 

"What the." 

Upon reading the papers, Rosie's eyes opened up slightly. Looking at Melissa, Rosie muttered out loud. 

"...there's someone else who owns this project?" 

"Hm?"  Overhearing Rosie's mutter, Melissa turned around. Staring at the papers in her hand, she quickly snatched them. "Give me that, that's confidential." 

Because she spent most of the time in the lab, Melissa had forgotten that she had put the contract out. Fortunately, apart from Rosie, no one else entered the lab, else they would've found out about Ren's involvement in the magic card system, not that it really mattered anymore. 

"Wait, I thought that you were the only one who was working on this project. Since when there was someone else?" 

"What?" Turning around and looking at Rosie, Melissa raised her brow. "How did you get the idea that I was the only one that was doing the project?" 

"...Ah, I just thought that it was yours because I've never seen anyone else helping you."

"Well, that's a given. I'm doing most of the work." 

"Then..."

"The project idea and framework wasn't mine, so I can't help it." 

"Ah." 

Rosie let out a weird sound. 

Ignoring her, Melissa leaned back on her stool. She suddenly thought of a problem. 

"Actually, now that you've mentioned the other owner, how should I handle the payment?" 

Originally Ren was meant to send it to a private bank account of his, but he died before he could even get back to her. 

Whenever she asked, he would always say. 

'Bank account? That, ah, well, I'll give it to you once I make it. Why not make it now? To be honest, it's a bit of a hassle.'

Recalling his face when he said those words made Melissa want to punch him in the face. Clenching her fists, she muttered. 

"This bastard, even when he's dead, he's giving me trouble." 

Though she said that, there was not an ounce of malice in her words. She was merely venting her frustrations. 

"What should I do?" Brushing her hair by her ear, Melissa massaged her forehead. She was trying her best to think of solutions. "Ah!" It was then that she suddenly got an idea. "Wait, why don't I ask Amanda? She might know since she's also part of the project." 

If there was anyone that would be able to help her, it was Amanda. She too was part of the project, and she seemed ot be quite close to Ren. Perhaps she knew something. 

"This might work." 

Taking out her phone, she typed a message and quickly sent her a text. 

***

At the same time, standing in front of a large building, amidst a crowd of people, the eyes of all men and women were focused in a particular direction.

"Is she a model?" 

"I doubt it, I've seen many models before, but none of them are as beautiful as her."

"She's hella hot." 

"Wahhh, she's so pretty." 

With a long stylish black cashmere coat that perfectly complemented her glossy black hair and eyes, a stunning woman stood at the entrance of the building, seemingly waiting for someone. 

With her head lowered, Amanda scrolled through her phone. She was completely unbothered by the stares. 

—Ding! —Ding! 

Her phone would vibrate from time to time. 

===[Melissa]===

Melissa : [Hey Amanda, I have something to talk to you about.]

Amanda : [Regarding?]

Melissa : [It's regarding the project I'm working on.]

Amanda : [The magic card one?]

Melissa : [Yeah]

Amanda : [Are you almost done?] 

Melissa : [It's not that, it's about the payment. Once it's done, who should I send the money to?]

Amanda : [Ah.]

===========

As she was typing, many of the males around her wanted to strike up a conversation with her, however, they refrained from doing so. 

She had this cold exterior that made it hard for anyone to approach her. It was as though there was this invisible wall around her that made it hard for anyone to approach her. 

"Excuse me." 

That of course did not apply to everyone. There would always be that one fool in the crowd. 

Confidently moving towards Amanda, was a fairly handsome young man with brown hair and green eyes. With his hand on his neck, and a gentle smile on his face, he asked.  "Hey, are you waiting for someone?" Brushing his hair up, he nudged his head slightly. "How about grabbing something to eat with me later?" 

"..." 

With her head lowered, Amanda completely ignored the man who was speaking to her. As a result, the man was put in an awkward situation. 

"Excuse me, did you no—" 

"Sister!" 

Cutting the man off was a shrill sound in the distance. 

Lifting her head up, Amanda stared at a young girl that was speedily running in her direction.

"Nola." 

Instantly, her cold exterior vanished and a warm smile replaced it.

The moment she smiled, almost every person around her froze up. Turning their heads, they couldn't help but want to engrave the scene inside of their minds. 

'She's soo beautiful' 

Everyone thought. 

"Waaaa, sister!" 

Not minding their attention one bit, Amanda bent down slightly and extended her arms. Not long after, Nola ran into her arms. 

"Sister!" 

Embracing Nola, Amanda patted her head. 

"How was preschool, Nola? Did you have fun?"

"Mhm, it was fun." 

"Is that so?" 

"Um. Today, I had lot of fun bwecause sister was coming. Also there was this big dinousar that was swuoo scary..." 

Listening to Nola's words, Amanda would add a few words here in there.

"And then he suddenly scared him and I was like no, I won't be scared." 

"Wow, you go Nola." 

"Um, Um" 

Despite Ren's death eight months ago, Amanda never went back on her word. She did not kick Ren's parents out of the apartment that she had given them and continued to have someone guard them 24/7. 

During Ren's funeral, Nola had approached her and cried with her. It was then that she met Ren's parents for the first time. 

From the brief conversation she had with them, they were able to learn of her identity, and from there they started talking from time to time. 

It eventually got to the point where they were comfortable enough to let her pick up Nola at the daycare. 

This was mostly due to Nola's insistence, but Amanda did not mind this one bit. She liked to be with Nola, it felt therapeutic for her. 

Every time she would meet up with Nola, her stress and worries would quickly dissolve. 

Furthermore, since she owned the building and it was near the guild, she decided to move there as well. 

So it was no trouble for her. 

"Then, the teacher suddenly appeared and pwotrected everyone. Bwut, I did not need protection like the others." 

"Is that so." Listening to Nola, the edges of Amanda's lips curled upwards. "Nola, it's about time we head home, or we'll be late." 

"Um." 

Nola nodded her head. 

Taking Nola by the hand, Amanda slowly stood up.

"Hm?" Turning her head, and finally noticing someone standing next to her, Amanda asked. "Sorry, do you need something from me?" 

Staring at Amanda, the male who tried to flirt with her moments ago opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. Stuttering, he shook his head. 

"Ah-ah...no." 

"Okay." Lowering her head and once again looking at Nola, Amanda gently asked. "Do you want to stop at the ice cream store first?" 

"Um!" 

At Amanda's suggestion, Nola's eyes started sparkling. This caused the edges of Amanda's lips to pull up even more. 

"Okay, ice cream it is." 

*

6:31 P.M. 

After buying Nola an ice cream at the ice cream store nearby, Amanda brought her back home. Arriving before a large wooden door, Amanda rang the doorbell. 

Ding! Dong—! 

"Coming." 

A couple of seconds after ringing on the door, a muffled voice echoed from the other side of the door. Not long after, the door opened, and a beautiful woman opened the door. 

—Clank!. 

Staring at Amanda, Samantha Dover smiled sweetly. "Oh my, if it isn't Amanda. Thank you again for bringing Nola home." Lowering her head and caressing Nola in the head, Samantha said. "I hope she didn't cause you any troubles." 

"Of course not," Amanda politely replied, whilst looking at Nola. "She's sweet. There's no way she'll be a bother." 

"That's good to hear." Samantha smiled. 

As they were talking, a nice fragrance suddenly enveloped the corridor, prompting Amanda's nose to open up slightly. Unknowingly, the edges of her lips started salivating as she smacked her lips a couple of times. 

Noticing Amanda's reaction, Samatha smiled.

"I'm making a roast, you want to eat with us?" 

"...Ah, Maybe next time, I still have work to do today." 

Blushing slightly, Amanda politely refused. 

Even though she had gotten closer to Ren's family, she was still not very comfortable eating with them alone. Thus, she refused. 

Seemingly having read Amanda's thoughts, Samantha did not push any further.

"Oh, I see, that's a pity."

"I'm sorry for this."  Gratefully looking at Samantha, Amanda bid Nola goodbye. "Bye Nola, I'll see you next week." 

Just as Amanda was about to leave, she felt a slight tug at the hem of her coat. Turning around, she saw Nola looking up at her. Trembling slightly, her eyes looked extremely downcast. 

"S-sister don't go." 

Amanda's heart trembled. 

By the side, Samantha tried to soothe Nola. 

"Nola, let go of Amanda. She's busy."

'Those eyes.' 

Staring at Nola's eyes, Amanda's heart started to hurt. If it was anyone else they might've not been able to notice it, but she knew those eyes all too well. 

It was the same eyes she had when she was young.

'...she still misses Ren.' 

The more she looked at Nola, the bigger the pain in her heart became. Those were the eyes of someone that was lonely. 

Putting on a smile, Amanda took her phone out and sent a quick message. After that, turning around she looked at Samantha and said. 

"You know what, it seems like I do have time to spare." 

"Waaa!" 

The moment Amanda said those words, Nola's face bloomed into a beautiful smile as she jumped towards Amanda. 

Caressing Nola's head, Amanda decided to use this opportunity to let Ren's parents know about the magic card system. 

She believed that if there was anyone that Ren would want to give the money to, it would be them.