NoGift

ARGENT closed her light brain when the call finished. Aurum actually wanted to talk to her more, but she refused and told her to go to bed and sleep. Because she knew that if she agreed, they would surely talk until morning. She didn't want her sister to not sleep. Especially since she knew that their mother, who was travelling with her, would definitely celebrate her birthday with her. At the end, Aurum had no choice but to listen to her.

She looked outside the window of the room she was in. The Conde de la Salvacion's party was currently staying for the night at a hotel located at the town nearest to the capital. Just like what she said to her sister, they would probably arrive at the capital of Kievan Empire by tomorrow evening. Finally, things were about to begin.

She raised his head and watched the falling snow. She didn't like the cold. So, it was a complete hassle during their travel. She even hated it more when they had to camp outside at night when there was no nearby town or village. Kievan had a huge and wide territory. There were places with nothing but snow in them. Their party sometimes had to camp out in those places. 

She was thankful that they didn't have to do that every night. Or else, she would definitely lose her temper before they could even arrive at the capital. Maybe she wouldn't even be able to play the role of the elegant and gentle Lady Isabella. The personal maid of the lady – Nina, would definitely notice the difference. Being discovered when their main mission hadn't started yet would certainly be a bad start. 

Argent then turned her gaze to the moon. Fifteen years old, that's how old this body was now. She had been living in this world for eight years. She hadn't thought that the transmigration of her soul in this world would actually lead her to this kind of adventure. 

Looking for ancient treasures that could be the key to opening a close mythical continent. It started as something that was forced on her. But now, she knew that she needed to go to that continent if she wanted her and her sister to not experience an untimely death. They needed to get the fruit of the Tree of Life. Something that could be found at the land of the elves. 

But not only that, she also had to face an evil religious group in the process. A group being led by an extremely sly individual – Lucern Faust. That guy was charismatic enough to force powerful individuals to submit to him. Since meeting him, she had thought countless of times if it would be better to just assassinate him. Then all her problems regarding the Temple would simply vanish. But she immediately rejected the idea. Because she quickly understood that doing that wouldn't be so easy as it sounded.

They were talking about the current leader of a church that had centuries of history. It was the biggest religion in the world with millions of loyal devotees. Organization like that tended to have a lot of enemies. She was sure that a lot of people had already tried to assassinate their leader – the Pope. But so far, none had succeeded. It could either mean that his security was top notch or that he could easily handle things like that by himself. Maybe it was even both.

That's why Argent wanted to have a meeting with the leader of Dreich Gallere. She was thinking that maybe she could use the famous assassin organization against the Pope and the Temple. But sadly, it seemed like Viper's master didn't want to meet her. She let it go for now. But she believed there would come a time when she had to meet that person. Not only for the matter of the Temple of Gaia, but because he seemed to have information regarding the ancient artifacts.

She shook her head. Who would have thought that her life that only ever revolved around her inventions would take such a weird turn? She almost felt like she's the main character in some poorly written fantasy book. 

If birthday wishes were real, then she only wished for all of these to be over. For them to accomplish the things they needed to do. So that she and her family could find peace and live a relaxed life with no evil organizations bothering them nor fear of a death they couldn't control.

She truly hoped that this situation wouldn't last until next year. That on their next birthday, everything would be over. How wonderful would that be?

Her train of thought was cut off by the sudden knocking on the door. Argent frowned. Just who would come to her room at midnight? Even her current personal maid wouldn't do that. 

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's me," said the voice of the Conde. And since the real Conde wasn't here, it could only be Lei Feng.

Her brows furrowed a bit. Did something happen? Why would this guy suddenly come to her room at this ungodly hour? But still, she planned to open the door. She was about to do that, then suddenly stopped when she realized that she was only wearing her nightgown. 

It was because she remembered how Lei Feng reacted when he first saw her in a dress. His eyes almost glued to her chest. If she was some dainty lady, she might have blushed in embarrassment. But she wasn't. Even if the face was not hers, that guy probably still thought that it was weird seeing her in a dress. Maybe he even wondered if her chest was real or not. That's why he stared so intently.

Of course, it's real. She didn't use any padding and just removed her usual chest binding. Because of the fit of the dress, even if her chest was not really that bountiful, it still showed a bit of a curve. 

She didn't want Zhang Lei Feng to stare at her like that again. She couldn't exactly describe her feelings then. Even though she was all calm outside, she was actually burning inside. Maybe she did feel a bit embarrassed. So, as to not repeat that, she picked a thick shawl and wrapped it around her upper body before opening the door.

As she thought, Lei Feng was indeed standing outside the door.

"Is there something?" she asked.

The other appeared nervous, because he was fidgeting. Which appeared really weird to Argent. Did something really happen?

"Happy birthday, Argent!"

She was startled. Because she really thought that something must have been really wrong. So, he was fidgeting like that because he was going to give her a birthday greeting? What's there to be nervous about? 

"Ah, thank you?"

She wasn't really that surprised that he knew that it was her birthday. He must have heard it from Jaxon. She was more surprised that he would greet her at this time. Couldn't he have done it early in the morning? 

But somehow, it brought a bit of warmth to her slightly cold heart.

"I- I didn't know that it's your birthday. So, I haven't prepared a gift."

"It's okay." It's not like she's expecting something anyway.

"B-but I hope you would accept this until I get you a proper gift," he said, handing a piece of rectangular paper to her.

She tilted her head in confusion before looking down at the piece of paper. It seemed that there was something written on it. She took the paper and read the words; 'anything goes request'.

"What's this?" she asked, still confused as to what might it be.

"It's a one-time used coupon. You can request anything and I will do everything in my power to fulfill it. It has no expiration date. And when I said 'anything', I meant anything," Lei Feng said, his obsidian black eyes full of determination.

After hearing that, something suddenly flashed in Argent's brain. A blurry memory that she wasn't sure if it even happened. It was that of a boy, with a face she couldn't even properly see, handing her a piece of paper and saying almost the same thing to her.

[Here, it's an 'order me anything' coupon. I don't have enough money to buy you anything good right now. But I promise, your brother would definitely buy you the best things in the future.]

She closed her eyes because of the sudden pain that assaulted her brain. It's like it was stopping her from completely remembering. So, she followed her brain and stopped remembering. Because, deep inside, she knew that something would happen if she did. 

She let that blurry memory disappear into the oblivion.

When she opened her eyes, it's as if nothing happened. But unbeknownst to her, Lei Feng still noticed the momentary gaff. He wanted to ask her about it. But before he could, Argent had already spoken.

"Then, you better prepare. Because I will definitely not ask something simple."

Seeing Argent's confident gaze, it almost seemed like what he saw earlier was just Lei Feng's imagination. He still wanted to ask her about it. But looking at her expression right now, he surely wouldn't get an answer even if he did.

So, he could only smile and said, "I'll definitely be waiting."