NoGift

She was alone with Viper.  Lynx was supposed to be here with them so they could all review and discuss the plan that would take place later during the Midnight Auction.  But surprisingly, or probably she shouldn"t really be surprised, Viper came alone.  The two a.s.sa.s.sins didn"t live at the Casa Royale.  Knowing Viper, they"re probably squatting at someone else"s home.

"He knows what to do.  Don"t think of him as a child.  He might look like a shorty, but he"s already as old as me," Viper said.

Argent was a bit surprised hearing that.  She really did think that Lynx was probably one or two years younger than her and Aurum.  Who would have thought that he"s older?  "And how old are you anyway?"

When they first met, Viper already looked like he was in his early twenties.  But after seven years he still looked like that.  Considering how people in this world aged very slowly once they reached a certain age, it"s not improbable to say that Viper was probably much older than that.  Argent never really thought about it.  But now that he mentioned it himself, she couldn"t help but be curious.

Viper smiled at her.  "If you give me a hug, I"ll tell you."

She rolled her eyes.  "Then nevermind."

Viper pouted.  "Why are you so stingy?"  She ignored him.  When she was about to return to the much more important topic, Viper spoke again.  "In our world, age is just a number.  So even if I"m older than you, it doesn"t really matter.  I"m still more than qualified to be your life partner."

Argent stopped for a bit and looked seriously at Viper.  Frankly speaking, she only thought of Viper"s attachment to her as that of a child who found a new toy that he only he could touch.  She never really thought of any emotion that Viper might have put behind it.  

That"s why she gave him that limiter bracelet.  So it could help him expand his horizon.  Seeing that he was no longer wearing gloves, it proved that he was using the bracelet properly.  Then now, he could not only touch her but other people as well.  He now knew the touch of other people"s skin.  But even then, his attachment to her seemed undiminished.

She looked down at the bracelet on Viper"s wrist.  "How was the effect of the limiter?"

Viper didn"t mind the change of topic.  "It"s okay.  I had great fun scaring the others with it.  You"ve met Vixen, right?  When I touched her, her face turned so white.  I almost thought all the blood in her face vanished."

He still couldn"t help but laugh when he remembered that.  That was the first time he saw Vixen showed such a frightened look.  That was a good revenge for taking a picture with Argent.  Even that expresionless Raven showed a slight change in his expression.  Others cursed him and chased him angrily.  It was really fun.  But the most unforgettable reaction for him was probably that of his master"s.

He asked if the bracelet was made by Argent.  It was his master who was asking, so of course he answered.  Viper thought he would be surprised, but his master only showed a small smile as if it was already expected.  That smile kind of caught him off-guard.  He"d never seen him smile like that.  He even said to Viper that he should take good care of the gift Argent gave to him.  

For a second, Viper thought if his master was interested in Argent the same way he was.  But he immediately refuted this idea.  Because of one reason.  He didn"t feel the same feeling he did when he first saw that Xing general.  He instinctively felt that the general thought of Argent the same way he did.  That"s why Viper was so antagonistic towards that stern looking b.a.s.t.a.r.d.  But that"s not the same for his master.  

The feeling that his master was projecting was a kind of nostalgia.  Like remembering a very important person.  There wasn"t anything remotely romantic about it.

It was kind of inexplicable to Viper.  Because he was sure that Argent never met his master before.  But maybe that was not the same for his master.  Especially after his master told him that cryptic answer when he told him that Argent wanted to meet him.  His master said that it was not the time for them to meet.  Viper didn"t think too much of it at that time.  But maybe he should have.

When Argent heard Viper"s answer, she just sighed.  Just as she already predicted, Viper"s attachment to her didn"t really decrease even if he could now touch others.  As evident of him using the limiter to scare the other a.s.sa.s.sins in Dreich Gallere.  It seemed that being able to touch others didn"t have any effect on his emotions.  The only answer she could think of was because she was the first person that Viper was able to touch and that left a huge impact on him.  Thus, his attachment.  This kind of attachment would probably only grow deeper and deeper as times pa.s.sed by.

But this situation couldn"t continue.  It was better to be frank about it to Viper than giving him false hope.

And so she said, "The feelings you have for me, whatever form it might be, I could probably never return it."

In theory, she knew what those feelings were.  It"s one thing to know but it"s another thing to understand.  She knew she had a problem.  She had a low emotional understanding compared to a normal human.  She was extremely apathetic and really couldn"t care less about other people.  

That"s why before she came to this world, she didn"t hesitate to release all the government secrets of her country to the world.  She didn"t care whether the people in that country would suffer.  In fact, their well-being never even crossed her mind.  For her, what would happen to them was inconsequential.  All she wanted was to teach a lesson to those s.h.i.+tty b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from the government.  She never even cared whether she would live or die after that.

There was something missing inside her.  Something fundamental that would allow her to be just like other normal people.  She"d been like that ever since she woke up at the age of five with no memories and a mind only filled with different scientific formulas and mathematical equations.  

As she grew up, she realized just how different she was from others.  Out of curiosity, she did a scan of her brain and found that it was normal.  So her problems was psychological.  But she didn"t bother "curing" it.  Why would she?  When she"s perfectly fine the way she was.  

It was not until she came into this world and became Argent Blackbourne that she slowly opened up her world to others.  Now, she had people she cared about.  People she would die protecting.  But she knew in her heart, that she was still incapable of the emotion called "romantic love".  She probably would never be able to feel it.  

That"s why it"s better to make Viper understand that now.  Because despite her usual annoyance towards him, she do think of him as a friend.

"For your sake, I hope you could stop whatever it was you"re feeling for me.  Because it might just hurt you in the end.  And frankly, I don"t want that to happen," she added.

Viper"s smile disappeared and for the first time, he looked at Argent with a very serious expression on his face.  "My feelings are my own.  I won"t allow anyone to dictate what I should or shouldn"t feel.  Even if that person is you Argent."  Then he suddenly grabbed her cheek and pinched it.  "Don"t talk as if this thing was already set in stone.  Just allow me to work hard and change your mind, okay?"

Argent didn"t answer.  Because what answer could she give?  In the end, she just chose to remain silent.

"I"ll go to Lynx.  Let"s meet later after the auction."  

He turned his back on her and walked away.

Argent could only sigh again.  Before she could think of anything else, her lightbrain suddenly vibrated.  She opened it and she saw two children appearing on the screen.  One was a girl with white hair and a pair of almost white irises.  The other one was a boy with black hair and black eyes.

"Master, we"re here!" Black excitedly said.

Argent"s attention was quickly taken away after seeing Black and White.  Finally, their plan should begin here.