NoGift

Chapter 169: i wanted to see you

"IF you have any question, feel free to ask.  I'll answer you the best I could," said the Pope while elegantly eating his lunch.  "But only until I finished my lunch."

"How generous of you," Argent said sarcastically.  "But since you offered, I might as well take advantage.  Seeing that you don't have the right qualification to get the remaining artifacts yourself, are you planning to kidnap other people close to me and my sister so you could force us to get those artifacts and bring them to you?"

Lucern chuckled as if amused by Argent's antagonistic attitude.  "It seems like you managed to gather quite a handful of information in your search for the Duchess.  It's a good thing that I let you search for her yourself instead of telling you directly that I'm the one responsible for her disappearance."

"You let me?  You talk as if it's because of your benevolence that I was able to learn all those informations," she said, not even bothering to hide the anger in her voice.  It's incredulous and completely shameless for him to even assume that.

"Isn't it though?" Lucern said with so much confidence as if it was really the truth.  "If I contacted you at the very beginning and told you my demands, then it wouldn't have same effect as it has now.  Discovering those informations and analyzing them on your own would bring a greater impact than me telling them to you, wouldn't it?"

Argent gritted her teeth in frustration.  Because as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. 

"A wise person once told me that there's no meaning in solving a puzzle that has a readily available solution.  Because that way, it would no longer be a puzzle but a very lame brain teaser instead.  There's no excitement, no satisfaction in finally finding the right answer.  Hence, it wouldn't leave a lasting impression, completely being forgotten."  He picked up a tea cup and slowly drank the content.  "It's a rather fitting analogy, don't you think?"

Hearing that, it would probably be something Argent she could agree on, probably even something that she could find herself saying.  But being in this situation, there's no way in hell that she would tell that to this bastard.

"Analogy, my ass.  Why don't you just cut the all the bullshit and just go straight to the point?" she said, already on the verge of losing her patience.

"Then my answer to your question is, no, there wouldn't be any more kidnapping.  There's no point in doing that since I know you would no longer play along.  Besides, I already achieved the result I wanted," he said meaningfully.

"The result you wanted?"

"Yes.  You searching for the two remaining artifacts on your own accord."

"And what makes you so sure I would do that?" she asked, almost grinding her teeth.  Because she already had an idea on what the Pope's answer would be.

"Because it's the only way you could find your missing father - the former Duke of Hanover."  Lucern smiled at her.  "But the most important reason is - you're curious.  You have a feeling that you're connected to all of these mysteries somehow.  You won't have any peace of mind until you know all the answers.  Am I right?"

Argent clenched both her fists.  She so wanted to just wipe that annoying smile from this bastard's face.  She knew he would give that answer, but hearing him say it was still hateful.  But the most hateful was, she couldn't refute it.  Because he's right.  If she wanted to find that missing father, she needed to gather the three artifacts.

The remnant soul of the dragon king told her that if she managed to gather the three artifacts, then she would soon find her father.  So even without the instigation of the Pope and all his minions, she was indeed planning on gathering the three.  Although she didn't care much for this father of hers, she didn't even have any feelings for him whatsoever, but that's different for her mother.  And since Argent cared about her, it wouldn't hurt to let her be reunited with that missing father.

But the last thing the Pope said was the one that really hit her.  About her being curious and doing everything to seek for answers.  Because once again, he's right.  Since she learned about that legend and meeting the remnant soul of the dragon king, there had been a lot of questions inside her head.  Questions she wouldn't be able to answer without gathering the three artifacts.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.  Then she looked at the Pope.  "Then are you expecting me to give those artifacts to you once I gathered them all?"

"No.  Why would you do that?  Although it would be good if I can have all three to make things much easier.  But it wouldn't hurt to let you have all three.  After all, either of those two would still have the same result."

Then wouldn't that mean that whatever Argent did, it would still result to something that he wanted?  Even if she didn't want to, it would still make her look like a pawn he could use to fulfill whatever goal he's planning.  It's almost like she's an ignorant puppet that didn't know someone was actually controlling her every move.

She had never felt so stupid right at this very moment.

As if sensing her emotions, the Pope said, "Don't be too hard on yourself.  You should be proud for going this far in just a short amount of time."

Argent glared daggers at him.  "Fuck you.  You can shove your consolation right up your ass."   

"Now, now, there's no need to swear like that," he said with that pampering smile on his face, not even a bit angry.

"If you're telling me that it doesn't matter if I give you the sword or not, then what's the point of this negotiation?" Argent asked, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling she had earlier and going back to the topic at hand.

The Pope looked straight at her.  "I wanted to see you."

There was no smile on his face when he said that.  Instead, his sky blue eyes were filled with infinite tenderness.  At the bottom of those blue depths was a whirlpool of possessive emotion.  As if he couldn't bear to look away for even a second.

Before she could even digest what she was seeing, Harlequin suddenly walked towards the table and picked a glass of water.  Breaking the eye contact between her and the Pope.

"My apologies, Your Holiness.  I suddenly got thirsty, you see," Harlequin said.  If he didn't make that sudden move, the two would probably not even notice that he was still there.

The Pope, once again, only glanced at Harlequin and then ignored him.  He picked up a table napkin and wiped the corners of his lips.  Then he stood up and put back that fake gentle smile on his face.  "I'm done.  Let's go and see the Duchess, shall we?"