NoGift

SUNLIGHT was pouring down the youth sitting in the garden. His silver hair appeared soft to the touch. His pair of purple eyes were like glistening amethyst. His gaze was downcast, his silver eyelashes casting a shadow on his cheek. His delicate white skin has a faint blush because of the morning sun. His fingers were long and slender with distinct joints. It looked incredibly beautiful against the black cover of the book he was holding.

That was the scene that Nikolai saw when he walked to the garden. He must admit, if he has a faint heart, he would surely be tempted by what he's seeing. Good thing he wasn't. If the young duke would tone down his indifference, Nikolai was certain that people would easily mistake him for a girl. But as it was, he was surrounded by this atmosphere that just isolate him from the world around him. It's like he has this huge sign above his head saying 'don't come, highly dangerous'. That just overwhelmed the beauty he has, making people unable to associate her to the word 'feminine'.

Truthfully, he wasn't really a fan of the young duke. In his opinion, a person full of apathy was sometimes even worse than those with bad intentions. At least, with those people, you knew what to expect. But with someone like the Duke of Hanover, you could never tell what he would do next. Because everything depended on his mood.

But Nikolai just couldn't ignore the fact that the duke was the one who found Miss Merissa. He knew just how badly the prince wanted to reunite with his mother. And the duke just made that possible. For that alone, Nikolai was ready to set aside his prejudice against the duke. But if there ever came a time that he became the prince's enemy, Nikolai wouldn't also hesitate to fight him. Because the prince well-being would always come first, to him and to Aspen and Robin.

"If you have something to say, then don't just stand there."

The duke's slightly husky voice woke Nikolai up from his reverie. He walked towards the duke and bowed. "Your Grace."

"Is there something?"

"His Highness sends a message. He couldn't personally come because of some important business but he wanted Your Grace to know that everything was ready. Everything should go as planned."

Argent closed the book she was reading and put it down on the crystal table beside her. "Good."

It has been another two weeks since that incident in the parliament. Ten days since White released that fake news about Merissa having a comeback at a famous opera house in Luretia. And just like Argent predicted, someone did make a move. She was not that happy when she found out who. They even used the same two people who kidnapped Merissa. Talk about stupid and unoriginal. So the second prince easily apprehended them.

"Those two people, are they dead?"

With the duke's question, Nikolai inadvertently remembered when Aspen apprehended the two men who kidnapped Miss Merissa. They were brought to a cabin in an isolated forest at the edge of Albion - it was a property owned by the prince himself.

[Four days ago...]

A deafening scream erupted inside the cabin.

"S-stop... please... stop..." A man chained on the wall begged. Most of his body was frostbitten. Tiny ice needles were entering his every pore and he couldn't help but let out another scream of pain. He looked down and saw the pieces of ice on the floor. Inside those ice were body parts. Parts from his former partner who was alive just a while ago and was now turned into that. "What else do you want?! We already told you everything!"

Winter looked coldly at the man. There was no expression on his face, only calmness. As if he was looking at an already dead man. "This is retribution. For the hell you put my mother through."

Winter raised his hand and the scream within the cabin continued.

[Present day...]

That was the first time Nikolai saw the second prince being that ruthless. He didn't even think that he was capable of that much anger. But it was good to know that he was not serving someone soft-hearted. Because a king doesn't need a soft heart.

"Let's just say they already met their demise," Nikolai answered.

Argent guessed that much. She didn't really care what happened to those two men as long as they get the information they wanted. Which, in fact, they did. "Is there anything else?"

"Nothing more, Your Grace. We'll be seeing you at His Highness' birthday banquet."

"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Because that's when all the shit would go down.

Nikolai bid farewell and Argent continued reading. She was about to flip another page of the book when her sister suddenly came running.

"Brother!" Aurum called while waving her sPhone.

"What's wrong?" Argent asked when Aurum was finally near.

"Look." Aurum showed her the screen of her sPhone and on the screen was a teenage girl with flaming red hair and a pair of big hazel eyes.

Argent furrowed her brows. "Ruby?"

"Argent! Thank the goddess. Come and save me!"

"And I told you, we're in Albion. Do you expect my brother to teleport there to Amexem?" Aurum answered.

"Have you even read the post on my [Jiffy] account?" Ruby countered.

"Why would I read your post? I have better things to do than that. And besides, I don't follow you."

"What? How could you? I was following you, you know?"

"Who told you to follow me?"

"Okay. That's it. I'm going to unfollow you right now."

Argent shook her head. Her sister and Ruby has some sort of weird frenemy relationship. After the kidnapping incident, Ruby changed. She no longer acted as self-willed as before. Which meant she no longer pestered Argent. That kind of lead to her and Aurum building a friendly relationship. Or at least their own kind of friendship.

"Stop. Both of you." Argent turned to Ruby. "Where are you right now?"

"That's what I've been telling you. I'm in Albion right now. So come save me. Please!"

----------

A huge ship docked on the port, the sail being taken down has the symbol of the mighty Xing Empire. Down below, the first princess and the second prince of Albion was waiting together with a number of royal guards. They were there to act as a welcoming party to the fourth prince of Xing who was here for a diplomatic visit. Nothing should go wrong during this visit. Because the diplomatic relationship between the two countries depended on this.

"I didn't think you would come. I thought you would be too busy. Preparing for your birthday, I mean," the first princess said, talking as if she meant a completely different thing.

"Father asked me to be here. So, I'm here. I'm more curious why you're here," Winter said, not even looking at the princess.

"Father also told me to come. He wanted me to entertain the prince," Icelyn said, smiling.

On the deck of the ship, Li Jun took a deep breath. "Ah, we're finally here." He turned to the young general beside him. "Isn't this exciting?"

Zhang Lei Feng didn't answer immediately and just stared at the town ahead. "Yes. It is."