(These are my soulmates?)
They were all oustandingly beautiful.
As Mathias stood there, his gaze swept across the eight women seated throughout the room. They were the ones who stood out the most, radiating presence in a way that made everyone else fade into the background. So yeah, they were probably his soulmates. But there were supposed to be ten resonances, which meant two were missing. Maybe they were stuck in traffic. Maybe they didn't care enough to show up. Who knew.
It was already amazing that eight of them already had arrived actually.
The moment Mathias stepped further into the room, every pair of eyes locked onto him.
The bodyguards. The assistants. And especially the eight women.
Their gazes were sharp, assessing, critical, like they were sizing him up and deciding whether he was worth their time. It was the kind of attention Mathias would've preferred to avoid entirely.
"Mr. Mathias Blight."
A man in a crisp white suit approached, a polite smile plastered on his face. He had the emblem of the Harem Society stitched onto his lapel.
"Let me introduce myself. You can call me Lawrence," he said, gesturing toward a single chair positioned in the center of the room. "Please, we've prepared a seat for you."
Mathias glanced at the chair. It was surrounded on all sides by the seats occupied by the eight women, like he was about to sit in the middle of a firing squad.
(Great.)
He nodded briefly and walked forward, crossing through the middle of the living room under the weight of dozens of stares. The attention was suffocating, irritating even, but he'd dealt with worse. He kept his expression neutral and sat down without a word.
"As you must be aware, Mr. Blight," Lawrence continued, clasping his hands together, "you have shown Resonance with ten individuals. We have, in haste, organized this meeting with your soulmates. Unfortunately, two of them were unable to join us today, but eight is a strong start." He smiled warmly. "Shall we begin with introductions?"
(Introductions of what?)
Mathias frowned slightly.
Didn't they already know who everyone was? Wasn't that the whole point of the Resonance system? And his name was just being told there.
"I am Mathias Blight," Mathias said in the end, looking straight ahead.
Silence.
An awkward, stretching silence.
Lawrence chuckled. "Excellent. Now, let's hear from the soulmates, shall we?" He turned toward the women. "Who would like to go first?"
"I will!"
A hand shot up enthusiastically.
Mathias turned his head toward the voice and immediately locked eyes with the woman who'd spoken.
She had long, wavy pink hair that cascaded past her shoulders and bright pink eyes, they looked very real, maybe they were. She looked around his age, maybe a year or two older. She was stunning, with a bubbly energy that seemed to radiate off her in waves.
And she seemed to be Korean, if he had to guess.
As he looked at her her face, something clicked in the back of his mind.
(Wait. I feel like I've seen her somewhere…)
He definitely recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't place it.
She smiled at him brightly. "Hello, Mathias! I'm Bae Yuna! You can call me Yuna if you want! Or maybe just Seona!" She winked playfully, throwing up a peace sign.
The second she said Seona, everything clicked.
Mathias's eyes widened slightly.
"Seona? Like the leading woman from that K-pop group?" He asked.
"Yes! You know it!" She exclaimed, standing up excitedly. She struck a pose, placing her index and middle fingers near her eyes and winking. "Seona from Eclipse!"
Eclipse.
One of the most famous, if not the trendiest—K-pop groups in the world right now . Even someone like Mathias, who had zero interest in pop music, had seen her face plastered across billboards, trending hashtags, and viral videos.
(Wait. Seona is my soulmate? What the actual fuck?)
She had hundreds of millions of followers across her social media accounts. She was a global celebrity. A superstar. And apparently, she was his soulmate.
This couldn't be real…
"So! What's your favorite song of mine?!"
Before Mathias could even process what was happening, Yuna was suddenly right there, standing directly in front of him, leaning down with that dazzling smile that her fans probably spent thousands of dollars just to catch a glimpse of.
The shift was so abrupt it completely caught him off guard.
She was close. Too close. Looking down at him with sparkling pink eyes and an enthusiasm that could power a small city. Her smile was the kind that could enthrall anyone, warm, genuine, magnetic.
And she smelled amazing. Something floral and sweet, but not overpowering. Just... really, really nice.
If Mathias hadn't known Tristana, hadn't already experienced what it felt like to be around someone with that kind of overwhelming presence, he might've been completely flustered.
But he kept his composure.
"Miss Bae Yuna, please," Lawrence said with a polite chuckle, stepping forward slightly. "You're bothering your soulmate."
"Yuna, come on!"
Another woman, also Korean, clearly Yuna's manager based on her sharp suit and exasperated expression, quickly grabbed Yuna's arm and dragged her back toward her seat.
Yuna pouted like a scolded child, but the moment she caught Mathias's gaze again, she flashed him another grin.
Mathias couldn't help it. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
(What a strange girl.)
He didn't know much about her beyond the viral clips and headlines, but she seemed genuinely bright. Not fake-celebrity bright. Actually cheerful .
"Shall we proceed to the next introduction?" Lawrence turned toward the remaining seven women.
"I will."
Mathias shifted his attention toward the speaker.
Another exceptional beauty, this one couldn't have been older than twenty. She had rich chestnut brown hair tied back in a sleek low ponytail and beautiful emerald green eyes that looked like they could see straight through you.
She was sitting with one elbow resting on her crossed knee, her chin propped on her hand, watching him with an expression that was equal parts curiosity and judgment.
"I am Charlotte Geneviève Laurent-Vallière," she said, lilting with a distinct French accent. A faint smile played on her lips, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Pleasure to meet you, Mathias."
"You're French?" Mathias asked.
"Yes. Betrayed by my accent, I suppose?" Charlotte replied, tilting her head slightly.
"Yeah. I had a French friend," Mathias said simply.
"Hm." She nodded briefly, but her gaze didn't leave him. In fact, it drifted, down to his shirt, his jacket, his shoes, and he saw her eye twitch ever so slightly, like she was mentally cataloging every fashion crime he'd committed that morning.
Well, it wasn't like he was rich. He'd just grabbed the first clean clothes he could find. But Charlotte was was clearly loaded. Everything about her screamed wealth, the cut of her clothes, the way she carried herself, even the way she looked at him .
Mathias resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Next, please," Lawrence prompted gently.
A beautiful Japanese woman spoke up next. She looked a bit younger than Mathias, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with long, silky dark hair that fell gracefully past her shoulders and soft, dark eyes that radiated calm.
"Good morning, Lord Mathias," she said, her tone incredibly polite. She bowed her head respectfully. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Kyouka Tachibana. I look forward to knowing you further."
Mathias blinked.
(Lord Mathias?)
That was... formal.
Very formal and…weird.
"Yeah, uh, thanks," he said awkwardly, scrambling for the right words. "I also look forward to... getting to know you."
It came out clumsy, stilted, but Kyouka didn't seem to mind. She lifted her head, and a faint smile appeared on her lips, soft, genuine, almost shy.
She was very pretty.
Like, really pretty .
And the remaining five others didn't lose at all compared to her.