NoGift

It had been a month since she last heard from him.  Truthfully, she felt a bit complicated suddenly hearing his voice right now.  She was expecting his call at least the first week.  Because he said that he would call.  But then the call didn"t come and she just overall forgot about it.  Now, she didn"t know if she should be happy to hear his voice or be annoyed because he called at a very incovenient time.

"I"m flying near Victoria City right now.  I might arrive at the city by noon," Lei Feng said instead.

He just flew above the town of Achea.  He decided to stop temporarily to call Argent to tell her of his whereabouts.  Hearing her voice again, he felt some kind of warmth filling his heart.  He suddenly realized just how much he wanted to see her.  One month almost felt like a year. 

Once again, Argent found herself shocked by the myriad of informations that answer conveyed.  "Wait- you"re coming here in Victoria City?  And what do you mean by flying?  Surely, you"re not planning to fly here?"

"I am," Lei Feng answered calmly.  "I have been travelling in this way since Xing.  So I a.s.sure you, there won"t be any problems."

He flew here from Xing?  She suddenly thought of something.  Was that the reason he didn"t call?  Not because he forgot but because he couldn"t?  Because he was too busy flying?  "Why would you fly from Xing to Victoria City?"

"Because it"s faster," he said simply.

Suddenly, Argent felt a headache.  She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.  "Then could you tell me the reason for this sudden flying trip of yours?"

"To help you."

Now, she was truly annoyed.  "Lei Feng, didn"t we talk about this already?  You should focus more on the things that you should do instead of, well, this."

"The Emperor gave me a vacation."  Well, not really.  Lei Feng asked for one.  He literally told the Emperor that he was too tired from fighting with the barbarians from the Northern border and he really needed a vacation or he would probably collapsed from overwork.  When he phrased it like that, the Emperor had no choice but to give in.  "Right now, I"m just an idle general.  There"s nothing more important I should be doing.  So, going to Victoria City to lend you a hand is the most productive thing I could do right now."

Argent was a bit speechless, even her annoyance disappeared.  Because she couldn"t help but imagine what Lei Feng looked like right now as he said those words.  He probably had that same serious expression.  Just thinking that he said something so non-sensical with that serious face of his could already make her laugh.

"I already have a plan.  Haven"t you thought that your late appearance and unnecessary protection might disrupt it?" she asked, making herself sound as serious as possible.

"I"m not going there to offer protection.  I"m going there to offer all the a.s.sistance I could," Lei Feng countered.  He already learned the hard way that Argent was not the type to just pa.s.sively accept the protection of others.  She"s confident in her ability to protect herself and protect those she cared about.  So, truly, the only thing he could do was to fight side by side with her, making sure that he could lessen her burden.  "Tell me the plan and I will act accordingly.  I will make sure that I won"t get in your way."    

Argent just sighed because she couldn"t truly think of anything to counter Lei Feng.  Once she accepted his sudden presence, she immediately thought of a way to integrate him to her overall plan.  Having the effect of his double Gift would actually make things more sinister.

"Then listen..."

When Argent finished telling him everything, it was Lei Feng"s turn to be speechless.  "Okay, I"ll do it according to what you said," he said after digesting everything.

"I"ll let someone contact you to give you the signal on when you should start.  Stay alfloat above the Holy Temple, make sure that your position would be out of everyone"s sight," Argent reminded.

"I understand."

"And Lei Feng, it"s really good to hear from you."  Then Argent ended the call.

Lei Feng on the other side stopped for a bit.  Then a smile crossed his lips, making his usually stern face appeared more handsome.  Hearing those words, all the tiredness he"s feeling vanished, just like that.  It"s like his energy was once again renewed.  It made his flight from Xing to Victoria City, without almost no rest, more than worth it. 

Back to Argent, she was planning to call White to tell her about giving a signal to Lei Feng when she saw a message from Winter.  She opened it and read; 

[I"ll do it according to your instructions.]

Just that.  Not even one question about the message she sent to him.  He didn"t even ask what she was doing here in Victoria City.  She raised one of her brows.  Wasn"t this prince a little bit too trusting?  Oh well, what he was about to do would only benefit him.  So there"s really no harm following what Argent said.  But still.

She shrugged, no longer tangled about that, and just called White.

----------

"For our G.o.ddess, Gaia, let"s all celebrate the day she created this world!" the Pope said from the balcony of the Holy Temple.

The dense crowd of people on the plaza cheered.  Because this was the start of the Festival of Creation.  The parade of the ten talents started to a.s.semble.  The people around immediately made way.

After waving to the crowd, showing his usual gentle smile, the Pope walked back inside the Holy Temple.  

"That was a great speech, Your Holiness," Bishop Ernst who was waiting at the side quickly said.

The Pope looked at the old Bishop, a gentle smile still on his face.  "You should also prepare a speech of your own, Richard.  You would need it once you"re finally ordained as a new Archbishop."

Bishop Ernst almost winced.  So it was already decided that he would replace Archbishop Stillwell.  After hearing what the Pope said, he finally believed the news he received about Marcus acting crazy last night during the auction.  Even attacking the Pope himself.  He couldn"t understand how Marcus could do that.  The only problem Marcus had was being overly proud.  The Bishop never thought that he had the tendency to go insane.  

Honestly speaking, he was really not happy on having Marcus" position.  He was fine being a Bishop here in Victoria City.  Climbing up the ladder meant that he would be privy to many secrets of the Temple.  Secrets he"d rather not know.  He"s already too old for conspiracies, especially for the Pope"s schemes.  But things already happened.  He didn"t have any power to go against this seemingly kind Pope.  

"I"ll do my best to prepare a speech that could satisfy Your Holiness," he just said.  "That, Your Holiness, may I ask what happened to the former Archbishop?"

The Pope stared at the Bishop for a few seconds, making Bishop Ernst feel that there were hundreds of insects crawling behind his back.  Then the smile on the Pope"s face became gentler.  "No, you may not."

Bishop Ernst felt the cold sweat on his forehead.  "I deeply apologized for my impertinence, Your Holiness."

Lucern didn"t answer and just walked past the Bishop.  As he rounded up the corner, Harlequin appeared beside him out of thin air.

"Is everything ready?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Holiness," answered Harlequin.

Lucern smiled.  "Then let"s go meet Argent Blackbourne."