NoGift

Chapter 191: she'll definitely break him

ARGENT'S face was dark.  If it was possible, black liquid would probably drip out of it because of how dark it was.  The reason?  Because of a particular person missing right now inside the shuttle.

Let's go back an hour ago to know who it was.

= [An hour ago] = 

After Anthea finished talking to Jaxon, she stood up.  Although she felt a bit wobbly in her feet, she could still walk a short distance.  She walked towards the door of the shuttle and went out.

Her eyes first landed on the elf.  Remembering her conversation with Jax just now, she couldn't help but sigh.  Once the two met, it would be hard for her friend but much more so for the elf.  She couldn't even begin to imagine that scene.

The moment she went out, the twins immediately walked to her.

"Mother, why did you suddenly walk here?  What if you accidentally tripped?"

"Mother, are your legs okay?"

Aurum and Argent said almost at the same time.

"You two, being unconscious for almost three months doesn't necessarily mean that I became an invalid," Anthea said helplessly.  She could see by the reaction of the two that they have been really scared by her sudden kidnapping.

Then she noticed two unfamiliar faces.  Both were young men.  One had messy reddish-brown hair and a pair of dark brown eyes.  He looked easygoing and the type that would just go with the flow.  But there was hidden strength in those eyes.  Which meant that when it came to things he believed in, he would do everything to protect it.

The other one had long black hair tied in a ponytail behind his back.  His pair of obsidian black eyes were sharp and seemed like it could cut into anything.  His features obviously belonged to someone who was born from the East.  But unlike most men there who had delicate features, he was tall and full of overwhelming momentum.

"These two are?" she asked.

"Good morning, Duchess.  I'm Clay Grunewald, an associate of your children," Clay said with a smile, introducing himself.

Aurum glanced at Clay.  This was actually the first time she heard the guy's full name.  She was a bit annoyed by that.  Why didn't she or her brother ever bothered to ask him that?  Well, during that time in Shandra, they thought that their meeting was just a brief one.  So having a name to call him was already enough.  But then, they met again here.  With all the things they had to do, asking Clay his surname was probably the last thing that would cross their mind.

Even though still a bit annoyed at herself, Aurum was glad that she finally knew Clay's full name.

Lei Feng, on the other hand, raised both hands one fist was over another palm.  Then he bent forward, doing the standard Xing bow.  But it was not just that.  The bow he made was something that only a junior would give to a respected elder.  "My name is Zhang Lei Feng.  It's an honor to meet you, Your Grace." 

By the way the two introduced themselves and their accents, Anthea could immediately tell that Clay most probably grew up in a commoner family probably somewhere in the Southwestern continent while Lei Feng must belong to an aristocratic family in Xing.

She smiled at the two.  "It's nice to meet the both of you."

"Mother, Clay was a big help during the whole operation of getting you back," Aurum said like some proud mother hen.

"No, I really didn't do much," Clay said, a bit embarrassed.  Because he truly didn't do that much.  At most, he only provided some support.

Aurum elbowed him.  "Don't be too modest.  No matter how small your part was, you still helped.  That's what's more important."

Clay turned to Aurum.  Without him even knowing, a soft smile already crossed his lips.

Anthea looked back and forth between the two.  Although she still didn't know what method they used to get her back, she was much more intrigued by the interaction between the two.  This was the first time she had seen her younger daughter being so actively close to a boy.  She wasn't sure if she should be worried or not.

Both her children would soon turn 15.  They were already at the age where they would be curious of the opposite sex.  Despite being mature for their age, there were still a few things that she needed to explain to them.  But seeing Aurum's interaction with this boy Clay, she was kind of glad to see her acting like a girl her age should. 

Then she glanced at her other daughter.  She raised one of her brows when she saw Argent frowning while looking at the two.  Anthea sighed.  No doubt, this daughter of hers was being an overprotective 'brother' again.  She should probably have a longer talk with Argent.  And remind her, just in case, she had already forgotten, that she was actually a girl.

Argent cleared her throat.  "In terms of helping, then Lei Feng also did his part." She turned to Lei Feng.  "Right?"

Lei Feng glanced at Argent.  Her expression was simply telling him 'come on, tell them proudly all the big help you did'.  But he couldn't do that.  Especially since all he did was to use his Gift to produce a storm-like effect.  He couldn't possibly act all proud just because of that.  He was not so thick-faced that he could do that in front of Argent's mother.

So he could only say, "Um."

Argent immediately noticed Lei Feng's ear tips turning red.  Why was this guy being shy again?

"Then you have my gratitude, both of you," Anthea said to the two young men.

"Lady Anthea, Black and White also did a lot to help," Black suddenly inserted, looking up at Anthea with a look clearly saying 'praise me! praise me!'.

Anthea looked down at Black and smiled.  "Yes, Black did good." She turned to the white-haired girl as well.  "White too."

Black smiled happily while White just quietly smiled.

"Mother, are you already done talking to Uncle Jax?" Argent asked after a while, in which her mother nodded.  "What did he say?"

"He'll meet us in your island," Anthea answered.

So, it's decided.  They're next destination would be Argent's island.  She turned to the two men and told it to them.

"I'm going with you.  I'm still on vacation, so I still have a lot of free time left on my hand," Lei Feng simply said.

Argent was starting to wonder just how long this vacation was.  Could it be that Lei Feng never had a vacation ever since he became a soldier so the Emperor allowed him to leave indefinitely?

"As for me, I plan to go back to my sister.  I've been gone for so long, she's probably already dying of worry," Clay said.  "Regarding our deal, you could just find me anytime you wanted.  You could contact me and I'll give you my location."

"Then let Black send you back.  I'll lend you one of my flying cars," Argent said then took a capsule from her space ring.  She turned to Black and gave the capsule to him.  "Black, send Clay to his sister, okay?"

"Okay, Master!  Black will do definitely do a good job!"

"Brother, could I go with them as well?"

Everyone, well, except for Lei Feng, the elf, and White, turned to Aurum when she said that.

"You wanted to send Clay back?" Argent asked, making sure that what she just heard was right.

Aurum nodded hesitantly.  She didn't know what came over her.  She just knew that she couldn't say goodbye to Clay without even talking to him properly.  And she couldn't exactly do that with all the people around.

"It's alright, Aurum.  You didn't have to do that," Clay said.  Although, for some reason, what she said somehow made him extremely happy.

"But I insist!" Aurum said before turning back to Argent.  "Please, Brother.  Promise, Black and I will be at the island by evening."

Anthea looked at her youngest daughter's persistent face then at her eldest daughter's increasingly dark face.  "It's okay, Aurum.  You can go."

"Mother--!" 

But Argent's complain was drowned by Aurum's squeal.  "Thank you, Mother!" she said, hugging Anthea's arm.

"Just make sure you won't do anything that a lady wouldn't do," Anthea whispered in a way that only Aurum could hear.

Aurum suddenly blushed but still nodded.

=====

And thus brought the current situation inside the shuttle that was flying back to Argent's island.

Argent suddenly broke the pen she was holding.  If that Clay even tried to do something inappropriate towards her sister, she'd definitely break him.