NoGift

AURUM looked out from the window of her room. She stared at the night sky filled with stars. Suddenly, snow started to fall. She felt delighted. It had been five days since they arrived here at the Northern continent. But every time she saw the snow falling, she still felt thrilled. 

It's not that she hadn't seen snow before. Of course, she had. It's just that, the snow in the Northern continent was different. It was whiter and purer. Even the shape of the snowflakes was much more defined. 

She stretched out her hand and let the snow fall into her palm. 

She, her mother, Black, and Clay were in a hotel at a small town in one of the smallest countries in the Northern continent. The country was called Sarmatia. And the small town they were in was called Sylvan – named after the elf queen herself, Queen Sylvanna. 

This was the town where Clay grew up. Until he and his family moved to the Southeastern continent where the Temple of Gaia burned their home and killed his parents in the process. 

Being here was probably not easy for Clay. After all, this was the place where he was the happiest. A point in his life where tragedy hadn't struck yet. But despite that, he didn't say anything when she suggested that they go here. As a matter of fact, he was very cooperative. Telling him the name of the town and personally guiding them here.

They decided to go here because they couldn't exactly do anything at Albion. They already read that record book that acted like a journal for the past Dukes of Hanover. They even searched the manor from top to bottom, looking for anything that might help them. Who knows if that good father of hers left something else in the manor?

This town of Sylvan was where the legend about the elven queen giving her treasure to a farmer originated. Thus, the name. It spread and became a well-known legend all across the country of Sarmatia. And Clay's family just happened to be the descendant of that farmer.

They went here in the hopes that they could find clues regarding one of the ancient artifacts – the Elven Queen's ring. Maybe they might even find the place being pointed in that map that suddenly showed when Aurum accidentally dropped blood on that pendant that was left to Clay by his father. 

Besides, if they were on the same continent as her brother, then if something went wrong on their side, they could rush over there and give them support.

They would have been here long ago if not for the King of Albion suddenly finding out that her mother was back at the country. At that point, they had already swiped out all the problematic servants in the manor. So, there's definitely no one that would sell information about them. Maybe one of those kicked servants sold off the information that the Duchess and her daughter were back to someone. Or it's also a possibility that someone had been spying at their manor and found out about it.

Anyway, Aurum still remembered how angry her mother was the moment she returned from the palace.

=====

Anthea rushed inside the manor angrily, throwing the walking stick she was carrying. "That f*cking bastard!"

Aurum who just came down the stairs saw exactly this scene. She knew that her mother went to the palace today because of the sudden invitation of the King. He wanted the both of them to go. But her mother said to her that it's alright if only she went. She would just say that she's sick or something along those lines. But that meant that there was no way for her to refuse the King's invitation. 

So, they could only compromise and let her mother go. But seeing her like this, Aurum immediately knew that things probably didn't go well. She rushed towards her.

"Mother, what's wrong? Did the King do something that made you angry?" she asked, worriedly.

Seeing her daughter, Anthea tried to calm her anger. But the fire inside her heart still remained. 

"That bastard king proposed a date for your engagement to his son, the second prince. He acted like I already agreed to the whole thing! The audacity of it all. He said that he already talked about this with Argent. That might be true but there's no way your brother would agree to something like that. Hah! That old fox. Does he think that I don't know what he's planning?"

The king wanting to marry her off to the second prince was not exactly new news for Aurum. She'd known it since she was seven. All because she had the right ancestry and Gift level. If she married that Winter, it was sure that at least one of their children would have an SS level Gift. 

The King might have some reservations at first because of that incident that happened when she was four – her Gift going off control and killing all those servants. But that little bit of reservation probably vanished the moment it was made known that her brother was the one who established Silver Corporation. If he connected the Albion royal family to Silver Corporation through marriage, it would be nothing short of advantageous. It was a sure way to improve the kingdom's economy. 

But just like her mother said, Argent would never agree to that proposal. Based on how her mother was currently reacting, she was also against it. Of course, Aurum also had no intention of marrying that popsicle. And she was quite sure that Winter wouldn't want to marry her. In fact, between her and her brother, that guy would probably rather marry Argent.

So, no matter the king's machinations, the marriage he so wanted would simply wouldn't happen. 

"Calm down, Mother," Aurum said to her mother, patting her back to calm her down. "This is not like Xing. The King couldn't just give a mandate and let two people marry against their will. As long as we don't agree, the King doesn't have the power to force us."

Hearing that, Anthea's anger finally calmed down. Her daughter was right. That bastard's words just got to her head, making her brain filled with rage. "You're right. Mother just lost her mind for a second because of too much anger."

Aurum reached to her mother and held her hand. "Let's just leave Albion, Mother, and go to Sarmatia as planned. Who knows when the King would invite us again for another meeting at the palace."

"I agree. Let's do that."

=====

And with that, they flew to the Northern continent using the flying shuttle. 

Aurum retracted her hand from outside the window. A gust of cold wind blew. But Aurum still didn't close the window. She glanced at the wall clock and saw that it would be past midnight in ten minutes. Seeing that, she excitedly picked up her sPhone. When she was about to dial her brother's number, her phone rang. And she quickly saw that it was her brother calling.

She smiled with a big grin. It seemed that the two of them had the same idea. She immediately accepted the call. It was a video call, so Argent appeared on the screen. But it was not her face. It was that of the woman her brother was currently impersonating. She had been seeing this look for more than two weeks now, but Aurum couldn't still get used to it.

"Brother, could you at least turn off that holographic mask you're wearing?" she asked.

"I couldn't. Just to be safe," Argent answered. Then as if noticing something, he added, "Aurum, do close the window. The weather in the Northern continent is so cold. What would you do if you get a cold or worse, a fever?"

"Brother, my body is very sturdy. I won't get sick that easily." Although she said that, Aurum still closed the window obediently. "Have you arrived at the capital?"

"No. But by tomorrow evening, we probably will. I probably wouldn't be able to contact you after we arrived at the imperial palace. It would be safer that way. I have to be careful that no one would notice any abnormalities in me as I played the role of Lady Isabella."

Aurum understood that but it still made her very unwilling. At the end she didn't say anything to protest against it and just said, "Brother, please do be careful."

"I will." Then Argent looked to the side. After seeing whatever it was, she turned back her eyes to the screen and showed Aurum one of her rare smile. "Happy birthday, Aurum."

Aurum was a bit startled. She turned to the wall clock and saw that a few seconds had already passed after midnight. She looked back at her brother and smiled her most brilliant smile.

"Happy birthday, Brother."

And the Blackbourne twins officially became 15 years old.