NoGift

But who would have known that the Archbishop"s attention would be occupied by a girl all throughout dinner?  They couldn"t even insert one sentence to their conversation.  Even now that they were leaving, the Archbishop still couldn"t be bothered with them.  But who would be willing to just leave like this?  

One of the men gathered his courage and walked towards the Archbishop.  "Your Eminence, I heard that you are fond of collecting rare gems?"  He took a black squared box from his s.p.a.ce ring and presented it to the Archbishop.  He opened it and inside was a luminous black pearl.  "This black pearl is a hundred years old.  I don"t know if Your Eminence could like this?"

Marcus barely glanced at the pearl.  Then he sneered.  What did this man think, that he could be bought by a cheap pearl?  He turned his attention back to the black haired girl standing beside him.  "Do you think he"s bribing me?"

The man suddenly panicked.  "N-no, Your Eminence!  I--"

"Am I talking to you?" Marcus said, cutting off what the man was about to say.  Then he looked back at the girl.  "What do you think, Lady Stella?"

Aurum acted like she was thinking about the answer.  "I don"t think he"s bribing you, Your Eminence.  Though I must say, this pearl certainly doesn"t suit you."

Marcus raised his brow in interest.  "And why is that?"

"It"s fake."

The man"s face turned red in embarra.s.sment.  "You--!"

The Archbishop, on the other hand, laughed out loud.  Making the man"s face even redder.  He gripped the small box, bowed his head, and walked away.  The people who wanted to do the same thing as the man, after seeing this scene, completely changed their mind.  It"s better to just leave here quietly than to leave a bad impression to the Archbishop.

"Ah truly, Lady Stella, you"re the only reason this dinner can be tolerable," the Archbishop honestly said.

"Only tolerable, Your Eminence?"

Marcus couldn"t help but laugh again.  He really found this girl quite interesting.  It"s such a shame that they were not in his own turf or he wouldn"t hesitate to bring this girl back to his own palace.  He knew he couldn"t act carelessly here in Victoria City, not in a place fully controled by Lucern.  Especially after what happened to that Bishop in Shandra.  n.o.body asked but everyone knew that the one who killed Charles Dupont was Lucern.  

Lucern Faust might appear all kind and gentle, but that"s only his facade.  A mask he wore for the public.  Everyone in the upper circle of the Temple of Gaia knew just how black his heart was.  He was capable of anything.  Marcus was not even sure if he had any bottom line at all.  A simple cold gaze from him could easily invoke fear on others.

That fear was the only thing Marcus could think of why the other four Archbishops chose to annoint him as the next Pope when the last Pope died.  Or else, why would they choose an orphan with no background whatsoever?  

Marcus sneered inside.  He was not like those four old men who"s fine with having that b.a.s.t.a.r.d reign above them all.  He swore, there would come a time when he would pull him down his throne.  All he needed was an opportunity.

"Then, Your Eminence, my brother and I would also go.  It"s already getting late after all.  And I know you and His Excellency still have a lot to discuss."

The girl"s voice pulled him out from his thoughts.  Although reluctant, he could only let her go.  "Go.  Don"t forget to greet me during the auction."

Aurum smiled.  "Of course."

She walked towards the opened door of the parlor where the Bishop and Father Heinz were standing together.

"Your Excellency, thank you for such a wonderful evening," she said.

"No need for any thanks.  Your presence has been a joy," the Bishop said quite generously.

Aurum only smiled more sweetly.  "Then, I"ll be seeing you tomorrow for the donation?"

The Bishop nodded.

Then she turned to the young priest.  "Father Heinz, thank you as well.  You"re the reason my brother and I could attend this dinner party."

Heinz immediately shook his head, his face blus.h.i.+ng red.  "Oh no, no.  I only did what I have to."

"And because of that, I"m thankful," she said, smiling at the young priest.

Heinz blushed even harder which made the Bishop laugh.

Aurum said goodbye to the two and walked towards the entrance of the mansion.  Once she was out, the smile on her face completely disappeared.  

Clay was already outside, standing beside the carriage that would take them back to Casa Royale.

"Done?" he asked.

Aurum nodded and both of them got on the carriage.  When it drove off, Clay couldn"t help but stare at the girl sitting in front of him.  There was some kind of anxiety on her face.  It was negligible when they were having dinner.  But now that they were alone, it completely showed.

He noticed it earlier while they were having the main course.  Something threw her off.  n.o.body else noticed because she was just that good at acting, not even the Archbishop she"d been talking to.  But Clay did.  Maybe because his eyes never left her face all throughout dinner.  That"s why he immediately saw that slight change in her expression.

But what could have possibly happened during that dinner?  They were just eating after all.  He could only think of one possibility.

"Did you see something disturbing inside the Archbishop"s mind?"

He knew she had a telepathic Gift, he could easily deduce that when he suddenly heard her voice inside his head during the incident with that kid yesterday.  Since it looked like that particular information was not something that"s open to the public, he didn"t bother to ask more about it.

Aurum was startled by Clay"s sudden question.  She looked up at him.  She had almost forgotten that she used her Gift on him.  It was because he"d been acting normally that she forgot about it.  Now that she did remember, that sweet feeling inside her chest emerged again.  Because he didn"t treat her any differently even after knowing about her Gift.  There was no disgust, no fear in his eyes.  

She shook her head.  This was not the time to think about something like that.  "I need to call my brother," she said instead.  She took her sPhone out and called Argent.  "h.e.l.lo, Brother?  Can you go to that restaurant where we often eat our meals?  I have some urgent news to tell you."

----------

After Argent received Aurum"s call, she immediately went to the restaurant and reserved a private box.  Good thing it was open until midnight.  She wondered what this urgent news Aurum wanted to tell her was.

She saw everything that happened since Aurum and Clay left Casa Royale.  The small camera inside her sister"s brooch was connected to her lightbrain, so she knew everything that Aurum experienced.  From meeting that knight - who Argent had almost forgotten - until she left the Bishop"s residence. 

Argent must say that the biggest surprise for her this night was finding out that the knight she fought with in Shandra was actually one of Lucern Faust"s bodyguard.  She started to think if she could use him somehow.  But she was certain that he had nothing to do with what Aurum wanted to tell her.  It most probably had something to do with what her sister read in the Archbishop"s mind.

Was it connected to the elf?

She waited for another 15 minutes before Aurum entered the private box.

"Clay?" she asked when she saw that her sister came in alone.

"I told him to go back first to Casa Royale," Aurum answered, sitting opposite her.

Argent raised one of her brows.  This meant that what Aurum was about to tell her was not something that Clay should partic.i.p.ate in.  "What"s this news you wanted to tell me?"

"It"s the elf," Aurum started and then took a deep breath before continuing, "Brother, he has the same face as Uncle Jax."