NoGift

Clay knew that the one Father Heinz was really excited to see was Aurum.  But could you please not be so obvious?  If he really was a n.o.ble of some importance, he would definitely be offended.  He might be even angry because of the unusual attention you"re giving to his "sister".  But he"s not.  And he did understand why this young priest would be attracted to Aurum.

Because if that girl wanted to s.h.i.+ne, then it would be easy for her to be the brightest existence in a room.  Anyone would be drawn to her.

"Lord Stephen, is it alright if I visit Lady Stella later?" Father Heinz suddenly asked.

It was because the reason Clay gave him why Aurum was not with him today was because she was not feeling well.  

"No.  She didn"t want to be disturbed."

"Oh," the young priest said in disappointment.

Clay chose to ignore his disappointed tone.  What else could he say?  He couldn"t possibly tell him that Aurum was not really sick and that she"s currently planning to do something probably bad to the Archbishop together with their "bodyguard".

This morning, the twins suddenly told him that he should go to the Bishop"s office alone.  Because they"re planning to go to the place where the Archbishop was residing.  They didn"t tell him what they"re going to do there but he had a feeling that it probably had something to do with the elf and the auction.  Knowing the two, it definitely wasn"t something good.

Clay didn"t bother to force the two to elaborate their plans to him.  If they needed his help, he was sure that they wouldn"t hesitate to ask him.  But because they didn"t ask him to do anything, that meant that they had everything under control.  He didn"t really care if they"re planning to do something bad.  Since they"re on the same boat now, whatever they planned to do, he would resolutely support.

Soon, they arrived at Bishop Ernst office.  It was big for an office, filled with books and the smell of parchments.  The Bishop was sitting behind his desk, writing something.  When they entered, he raised his head and an obvious confused expression showed on his face when he only saw Clay.

"Lord Deveraux.  Your sister?" Bishop Ernst asked.  Truthfully, he already forgot the name of this young man.  He didn"t really leave any impression on him last night.  Unlike his sister who was the center of attention at the dinner party.  The presence of this young man was just too weak.

"She"s not feeling well," he simply said.  Since he"s sporting a cold character, it"s better if he said less.

"I see.  That"s unfortunate."  Although he"d rather deal with Lady Stella than this brother of hers, it couldn"t be helped if she"s not feeling well.  "I will pray to the G.o.ddess Gaia so she could immediately regain her spirits."

Clay only nodded then he immediately took a chest from his s.p.a.ce ring.  He put it on the Bishop"s desk and opened it.  Inside was a s.h.i.+t load of gold.  Like his reaction earlier when Argent gave him this chest, he still felt quite unbelievable.  It was the first time he saw so much gold in his life.  And yet Argent didn"t even blink when he gave him this chest of gold.  It only hit him then just how rich the Blackbournes truly were.  

"The donation," he said then closed the chest again.

"Good, good."  Bishop Ernst didn"t doubt the amount of gold inside the chest.  He trusted Lady Stella to give him the amount that she promised.  But just in case, he would still make a few priests to count the gold later.  He opened one of the drawers of his desk and took three black small envelopes.  "The invitations, as promised."

Clay took the black envelopes and put in his s.p.a.ce ring.  

"The time and venue is written there as well as instruction on how to get to the venue," the Bishop added.  "I hope you and your sister would enjoy the auction."

Clay nodded and bid farewell to the Bishop.  Once, he"s out of the Holy Temple, he finally breath a sigh of relief.  Now he"s part for today was done.  He was about to walk when his sPhone vibrated.  He usually put his sPhone in his pocket just in case someone contacted him.  He took it out and saw the name of his sister.

He immediately answered it.  "Flora?"

"Brother, are you alright?" Flora asked, worry obvious in his voice.

"Yes.  Why wouldn"t I be?"

"Probably because you didn"t bother to call for a week now.  And I"m worried that you were taken already by the Temple and currently being tortured at some dungeon," she said, both worried and annoyed.

"Sorry, some things happened and I forgot.  But for your peace of mind, I"m happy to tell you that I"m not being tortured at some dungeon or anything."

He heard Flora sigh from the other line.  "Have you seen the elf?"

"Not yet.  But I"m now more confident that I would be able to save him."

"And may I ask where does this confidence come from?"

"I"ll tell you once everything is over," he just said.  Because he knew her sister would only worry more once he told him that he now joined hands with the Blackbourne twins to save the elf.  Not only that, he also made a deal with them.

Then he transferred the topic and continued walking.

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On the back garden of the Apostolic Palace, two boys were sitting on the gra.s.s.  They had the same face but different hair, eyes, and skin color.  One had golden brown hair and eyes.  His skin was the color of rich honey.  He was playing with an sPhone.  The other one had pale blond hair and gray eyes.  His skin was as white as a paper.  It looked unhealthy that one would immediately think that he was sick once they saw him.  He was staring at the blue sky as if he could see something there aside from the clouds.

"Solis, Luna," called a woman"s voice.

The two kids turned their heads to the direction of the voice and saw a woman walking towards them.  She was tall and willowy.  She had long dark purple hair freely swaying behind her back.  She was wearing a simple white dress.  Her eyes were the lightest blue.  It had no focus, as if she had a problem with her eyesight.

"Limos!" called the boy named Solis, the one with golden brown hair.  He stood up and ran to the woman he called Limos.

Limos looked down at the sPhone the boy was holding.  "Solis, didn"t His Holiness tell you not to use that thing too often?" her voice was gentle.  Anyone who listened to it would feel that they were being treasured by the owner of this voice.

"But Luc only said that we shouldn"t use it when calling someone or when we"re talking about something important.  I"m not calling anyone and we"re not talking about something important, so it"s fine," Solis said, pouting.  "Anyway, if you don"t want me to play with this, then give us something to play with.  Yes, how about that sleeping lady?"

"You can"t.  She"s a guest of His Holiness," Limos patiently said.

"Then what about the elf?" this time it was said by Luna - the boy with pale blond hair.  He took back his gaze from the sky and then turned to the other two.

"Yes, that elf!"

Limos thought about it and then only sighed at the end.  "As long as you don"t kill him."

Solis squeeled in happiness and then ran towards his twin.  "Brother, let"s go and play with that elf."

Luna took his brother"s hand and both walked towards the dungeon hiding underground the Apostolic Palace.

The place was dim and damped.  Inside one of the cages, a young boy who looked like seven or eight years old was sitting at the corner.  Iron chains were attached to both his feet.  He had white blond hair and skin as white as porcelain.  His ears were long and pointed.  An indication that he"s not human.  When he heard footsteps approaching, he raised his head.  His green eyes filled with anger and hatred.  

Solis" eyes brightened when he saw the young elf.  A kind of maniacal smile crossed his lips.  "Hey, little elf, will you play with us?"