NoGift

Aurum looked up at the mansion, this was probably the biggest house she"d seen in the area so far.  Quite understandable since this was the home of the only Bishop in the city.  There were already a number of carriage parked outside.  Which meant that there were already guests inside.

"My lord, my lady, please follow me," Heinz said and led them to the front door of the mansion.

Aurum and Clay followed.  The young priest rang the doorbell and a middle-aged man wearing a butler uniform opened the door.  

"Welcome Father Heinz," the butler said amiably.  It was clear in his tone that he was very familiar with the young priest.  "His Excellency is already in the parlor."

"Thank you, Alfred."  Heinz turned to the two behind him.  "Let"s go."

Aurum took a deep breath and then showed her signature smile before walking inside the house.  Clay walked calmly beside her.

"You don"t have to be nervous.  Bishop Ernst is really kind.  If you properly tell him the reason why you wanted to attend the auction, I"m sure he would give you an invitation."

Aurum couldn"t really put that much trust in what Heinz said.  Not with that pig Bishop in Shandra as an example.  Yes, maybe this Bishop Ernst was kind in front of people.  But who knew, maybe he"s actually a pervert in secret.  She really didn"t care that much.  Her purpose in coming here was to get an invitation for the auction.  So whether the Bishop was a pervert or not didn"t really matter.

They walked towards the parlor.  When they entered, there were already eight people inside, including the Bishop.  Some of the people were the ones Aurum noticed in Casa Royale earlier.  So, she was right.  They were really heading here.  Most of the people"s gazes fell on them.  Particularly on Aurum.  The ladies had envy in their eyes while the men had admiration.

Aurum was used to this kind of attention so she wasn"t that affected.  Clay didn"t really care that much.  He just chose to think that these people were part of the furnitures.  Heinz, on the other hand, was blus.h.i.+ng up to his ear.  Clearly, he wasn"t used to people staring at him.  But his steps didn"t falter and continued on to where an amiable looking old man was standing. 

Aurum could only a.s.sume that this was Bishop Ernst.  Most of his black hair were already gray.  There were clear laugh lines on the side of his face, a sign that he always smiled.  He was wearing an elegant white robe.  But because of the kind smile on his face, he didn"t look imposing but very friendly instead.  If she saw him on the side of the street, she would think that he"s just an ordinary old man and not a high-ranking priest.  

"Your Excellency," Heinz greeted when they reached the Bishop.

"Heinz, you"re late," he scolded but there really wasn"t any heat behind his words.  

"It"s our fault, Your Excellency," Aurum quickly said.  "It"s because Father Heinz is kind enough to fetch us first.  If he didn"t, I"m sure he would already be here much earlier."

Aurum chose to interfere because from what she witnessed so far, this Bishop was very fond of Father Heinz.  On the surface, at least.  So protecting Father Heinz would definitely give the Bishop a good impression on her.

"Oh no, it"s my fault for not leaving much earlier," Heinz immediately said.

The Bishop laughed.  "Okay, I understand.  It"s n.o.body"s fault."  He then turned to Aurum and Clay.  "These are the siblings you"ve mentioned?"

"Yes, Your Excellency.  These are Lady Stella and Lord Stephen Deveraux," Heinz said, introducing the two.

"A Deveraux?  How is Lord Richard?" the Bishop asked.  "I thought he"d be attending this coming festival."

"Uncle is currently on vacation with Auntie," Aurum answered with a sweet smile on her lips.  

Anyone who heard her would believe that the "Uncle" and "Auntie" she was talking about was truly on vacation.  Aside from that, they would also think that she was extremely close to them.  

The secret to lying was you must first believe what you"re saying so others would think that what you"re saying was nothing but the truth.

As expected, the Bishop didn"t doubt what Aurum said.

Truthfully, when Bishop Ernst first heard about these two siblings, he thought that Heinz was being deceived.  Considering his soft character, that was highly probable.  That"s why he didn"t immediately agree when Heinz asked if he could invite the two to the auction.  But he didn"t reject his request either.  Because it"s not often that Heinz requested anything from him. 

Ever since Heinz was a.s.signed to him here in Victoria City, the young man had always been obedient and kind.  He"s naive with almost a child-like innocence in him.  As much as possible, Ernst didn"t want him to touch the darker side of the Temple.  Because that would surely taint his innocence.  Maybe that"s just his vanity talking.  But he really wanted to protect the kid.  At least to the extent that the Temple would allow him to.

So, he just compromised and asked Heinz to invite the siblings to his dinner party.  Then he would be the judge if the two were really who they said they were.  Or if they"re just a pair of con artists.

When Ernst first saw the Deveraux girl, his guess that Heinz was just being deceived solidified.  Fooling a naive man was as easy as taking candy from a kid, especially if it was done by a pretty girl such as this.  But when he managed to talk to her, his opinion immediately changed.  Her temperament and confidence were not something an ordinary commoner could copy.  No matter how good she was at acting.

And now that she answered his question about Lord Richard Deveraux without even batting an eye, Ernst was even more convinced that she really was from the n.o.ble Deveraux family in Gaul.

"From what Heinz said, you two are interested in going to the Midnight Auction?" Bishop Ernst opened.

"Yes, Your Excellency.  My brother and I heard about it accidentally and it just piqued our curiousity," Aurum answered.  "Well, actually, it"s just me.  My brother is just indulging me," she added shyly.

Bishop Ernst looked at the silent man who Heinz introduced as Lord Stephen.  He looked like the type of cold and indifferent n.o.ble lord.  Ernst had seen a lot of that, so he didn"t think much even if the young man wasn"t speaking.

"You two must have a really good relations.h.i.+p," he said.

"Yes, we do," Aurum said smiling and hugging Clay"s arm at the same time.

And Clay just kept his high-cold act.

"There"s no problem in giving you two invitations.  But I must first ask for a sizable donation.  I hope you could understand."

Well, that"s not subtle at all.  Sizable donations meant very big donation.  Aurum had no problem with that since she and her brother always carried large amount of money with them.  "Of course, Your Excellency.  It"s our honor to help the church.  Would a million gold coins be enough for three invitations?"

If Clay was drinking something at that moment, he would probably spit it out accidentaly after hearing the huge amount of money Aurum was willing to give.  Was she carrying a bank or something?

Bishop Ernst was quite surprised by the amount she mentioned.  His doubt completely disappeared after that.  Then he noticed that the girl said three instead of just two.  "Three?"

"For our bodyguard.  It would be disadvantageous for us if we go there unprotected.  Especially if we find something we wanted to buy from the auction.  Not that I"m looking down at your security measure.  But there"s no harm in being prepared," Aurum said with a bit of apologetic tone.

"Of course," Bishop Ernst said.  "Then come tomorrow at my office.  Heinz will take you there.  I will give you the invitations and you can also give your donations there."

"I understand.  Thank you, Your Excellency," Aurum said with a smile on her pretty face.

Then the butler appeared announcing the arrival of Archbishop Stillwell.  Bishop Ernst excused himself and walked out of the parlor to personally greet the Archbishop.

Clay bowed down to Aurum.  "Good job," he said in a voice that only the two could hear.

Aurum smiled.  This time, it was real.  "I know."