NoGift

They were inside Aurum"s room in Casa Royale, preparing for the dinner party that would happen later in the evening.  

Argent stared at her sister with a look of pride and appreciation.  Aurum was wearing a black and white gradient dress.  The upper part was ivory white while the lower part was black.  The skirt was studded with diamond sequins.  Making it looked like a beautiful starry night sky.   The lenght of the skirt was just two inches below the knee.  The silver sandals she"s wearing had long straps that surrounded her delicate calf like silver vines.

"You"re beutiful, as always," Argent answered honestly.

"Even with this face?"

Argent stood up and put a strand of Aurum"s current black hair behind her ear.  "As long as it"s you, you"ll always be the most beautiful in my eyes."

Aurum smiled more brightly.  If it"s not her standing here but another young lady, they would definitely swoon just by what her brother said.  How could Argent be such a lady killer?  And she"s doing it all so naturally!  Sometimes, even she thought that her brother was born the wrong gender. 

"I like this compliment," she said, her eyes bending into crescents.

Argent took out a crystal brooch from her s.p.a.ce ring.  It was shaped like a blooming lotus with seven colors cascading inside it.  It was beautiful and, obviously, very expensive.  But that"s not what"s most important.  Embedded inside was a small and very high definition camera.  Argent pinned the brooch on Aurum"s dress.  With this, everything that her sister would see and hear during that dinner party, she would also see and hear.

"Remember everything I said earlier?" she reminded Aurum.

"Don"t worry, Brother.  I know."

They couldn"t really talk much here because of the magical tool that records every sound in the room.  So when they were having lunch earlier, Argent told Aurum of what she should pay attention to.  It"s not really much, just a few reminders.  Mainly about her safety.  

"Then you"re good to go," Argent said.

They both walked towards the door.  Argent opened it and saw Clay standing there.  He looked like he was about to knock on the door.  

"You clean up well," Argent commented.  

And Clay did clean up well.  The black suit he was wearing perfectly lined his tall and lean body.  The upper half of his face was covered by a delicate black mask.  His reddish-brown hair was smoothly swept back.  All these combinations were very attractive to a lot of women.

"Well, considering who my partner is, I couldn"t just let myself look so shabby, couldn"t I?" Clay said, his gaze landing on Aurum.  He bowed and raised his hand towards her.  "My lady?"

Aurum gazed down, hiding the emotions swirling in her eyes.  Then she calmly put her hand on Clay"s palm.  She turned to her brother.  "We"re going."

Argent nodded.  The two walked down the stairs while she walked towards her own room.  She"s not worried.  Because she trusts her sister.  She knew she would do well in this kind of situation.

When Aurum and Clay reached the lobby, she noticed that there were a few guests there dressed up like they were also going to a dinner party.  She didn"t have time to think more about that because she saw a familiar figure standing inconspicuously on one side.  

The young man was wearing a very simple yet elegant white robe.  His light brown hair was neat and tidy.  He had the kind of face that could easily get the goodwill of others.  He was fidgetting and anyone could see the nervousness in his dark blue gaze.  It was the young priest they met at the Holy Temple.

"Father Heinz," Aurum called and walked towards the priest together with Clay.

Father Heinz turned to them.  Some of his nervousness clearly subsided upon seeing them.  "Lady Stella," calling Aurum by the fake name she gave him.

"I didn"t expect you to come here.  We"re just about to go," Aurum said with a gentle smile on her face.

"I wanted to take you to the dinner party.  I- I just thought it"s only right to do that since I"m the one who invited you."

"Thank you.  That"s very generous of you."  Aurum smiled sweetly then turned to Clay.  "Right, Brother?"

Clay didn"t speak.  His a.s.signed character right now was someone who"s cold and indifferent.  He"s really not good at pretending.  But this set, he could still do.  All he had to do was immitate Argent, even if just a little, and let Aurum do all the talking.  This way, he could avoid showing any faults that could lead to people thinking that he"s not an aristocrat.  

"I must apologize for my brother.  He"s not really the type who likes to talk," Aurum said apologetically.

"Oh no, it"s alright," Heinz immediately said.  He glanced at the masked man then back at Lady Stella.  It"s a little bit weird but he couldn"t really feel, even the slightest, that the two were siblings.  He shook his head.  What was he thinking?  There"s no way a sweet girl like Lady Stella should lie about that.

"Oh, that"s right.  How rude of me.  I almost forgot that I haven"t introduced the two of you properly," Aurum said as if she really just remembered this matter.  "Father Heinz, this is my older brother, Lord Stephen Deveraux."

Aurum used the surname "Deveraux" because it was the largest n.o.ble family in Gaul.  The main family had many side branch.  There were so many of them that even the upper n.o.bility of Gaul didn"t know all of the faces of its members.  So even if Aurum and Clay used this ident.i.ty, no one would really doubt them immediately.  And if she performed perfectly, then the chance of that happening was even lower.

"Nice to meet you, my lord," Heinz said politely.

Clay only nodded.

"Should we go now?" Aurum inquired after.

"Yes, there"s already a carriage waiting outside," the priest said, leading the way.

When they walked outside, they saw three carriages.  Some of the people Aurum noticed earlier walked towards the first two.

"Are they also going to the Bishop"s dinner party?" she asked Heinz in a low voice.  

She already thought that they probably were.  After all, how could there be two dinner parties just coincidentally happening at the same time?  And besides, from what they investigated, this Bishop Ernst had the highest position here in Victoria City.  Not counting the Pope and the visiting Archbishop, of course.  Who would dare arranged a dinner party the same night as him?

Heinz could feel the soft breathing of Lady Stella from his ear.  His face immediately reddened.  "I- uhm... yes.  Bishop Ernst invited some of the visiting n.o.bility."

Aurum nodded.  There"s only a week left before the Festival of Creation.  A lot of guests already started pouring in into the city.  

"This is the carriage I rented," Heinz said going to the third carriage. 

Aurum and Clay followed.  The young priest opened the door and wanted Aurum to go inside first.  But before she could even walk inside the carriage, her steps suddenly faltered.  Because there was already someone sitting inside.

The man had a slightly huge built.  His dirty blond hair was cut haphazardly.  His body was filled with agressive energy.  His dark blue eyes were like a pair of daggers wanting to pierce Aurum on the spot.  So she could immediately tell that this agressive behavior was definitely directed towards her.  

Aurum frowned.  Not just because of this man"s att.i.tude, but because it felt like she had seen him somewhere. 

"Heath!  What are you doing here?" Heinz asked, shocked and surprised when he saw the man.

"Well, I just wanted to meet the fox who"s tricking my foolish brother into doing things for her," the man named Heath said, grinning mockingly at Aurum.

Then as if a light bulb was turned on in Aurum"s head, she suddenly remembered where she saw the man.  In Shandra.  It"s the knight that her brother beat up when she saved Clay"s sister!