NoGift

LI JUN was so shocked by the sudden transformation of the girl that he didn't even notice that the skeleton hanging on the ceiling of the carriage has disappeared. Aside from the change in appearance, the former red dress she was wearing was now changed into a tight-fitting black overalls. It almost looked like a second skin because of the way it hugged her curves.

If the fourth prince was shocked, the duke, on the other hand, didn't even have a change of expression. As if none of what happened bothered him.

Vixen stared at the beautiful face of Argent Blackbourne. She was quite surprised to not even see the slightest bit of change in that indifferent expression of his after she revealed her real appearance. The fact that she took the identity of his friend should have bothered him a little, right? But no, there was none of that. Vixen couldn't help but smile. Maybe her decision to check this contract was not so bad after all.

"How did you know I was not that red-head girl?" she asked, genuinely curious.

How? Argent knew from the start that this woman named Vixen was not Ruby. The moment when she appeared by her side during the party, what Argent saw was her real appearance and not Ruby's. That's why she was a bit confused when the fourth prince referred to her as her partner for the night. Add that to the fact that no one seemed to notice that she was not Ruby at all. Argent could only assume that it had something to do with the woman's Gift.

It was probably related to conjuring up illusions or something. The reason why the coachman suddenly stopped the carriage and why she could hear the sounds of fighting outside were probably also related to this Vixen's Gift. And because of Argent's 'special constitution', she couldn't seem to 'see' these illusions.

"Let's just say, your impersonation of her was not that perfect," Argent answered. She couldn't really say that her illisions didn't really affect her, now could she?

"Really? Hmm... Looks like my acting has become rusty if you could easily see through me," Vixen said, a hint of teasing in her blue eyes.

Li Jun felt like his head was about to explode. What's with this conversation? If not for the duke still pointing a sword to this Vixen woman, Li Jun would have thought that they were old friends chatting. Why were both of them so damn calm?

Then the door to the carriage suddenly opened. Li Jun felt like he saw a savior when he saw Lei Feng standing there. But of course, instead of paying attention to him, the general's eyes automatically landed on the duke. [Hey, I'm the one you're supposed to protect, you know?]

Lei Feng stared at Argent who was holding a sword and currently pointing it to an unknown woman. Miss McAllister was nowhere to be found. If he pieced everything together then it's not hard to guess what's happening right now.

Vixen glanced at the young general. "Oh, are you already done? That was fast. And here I thought you would take more time. I spent a lot of Mana creating those ghouls, you know? And you just destroyed them in a matter of minutes," she said, acting as if she was completely heartbroken.

Lei Feng ignored her and just focused his gaze on Argent. "Is she a danger?"

"Are you?" Argent asked Vixen instead.

Vixen slowly curved her lips upward, the action full of seductive charm. "Let's talk about it over tea, shall we?"

----------

Li Jun was wondering how suddenly things turned into this situation. The woman who, as he understood, tried to attack them earlier was now sitting in his drawing room. As if she just came here for a visit. She looked so comfortable, drinking tea and eating snacks. There wasn't even a hint of panic or fear on her face. Clearly, she doesn't think that they could detain her here.

She lifted her face and looked at Li Jun as if she noticed his gaze. Then she playfully winked at him. Li Jun felt his whole face flushed because of that. He immediately averted his gaze. What's with him? Acting like some teenage boy with uncontrollable hormones? It was clearly this woman's fault! She might not have the same level of beauty as Aurum Blackbourne, but she certainly has that extra something that could make any man want her.

Li Jun cleared his throat before looking at Vixen again. "What's your purpose?"

"I received a contract to kill you," she answered honestly, pointing the fork she was holding towards the prince's direction.

"You're from Dreich Gallere," Argent said, more of a statement rather than a question.

She was sure of her guess. That's why she asked Aurum to look for Ruby in the palace. She was certain that Ruby was still alive, probably only left unconcious somewhere. After all, assassins from Dreich Gallere don't kill without contracts. And it was quite obvious that Ruby was not Vixen's target.

From all the information Argent has of that famous assassination group, all the high-ranking members has a code name related to some sort of animal. As proven by the other two assassins she met. With that thought in mind, Argent suddenly remembered Viper. It has been seven years since she last saw that crazy assassin with an unusual attachment to her. If not for the appearance of this Vixen, she might not remember that she still hasn't paid Viper back for that head he sent to her.

Whatever could that psycho be doing now?

"Correct," Vixen admitted, not even bothering to hide it.

Lei Feng instantly stood on guard when he heard that. He knew this woman was powerful. When he asked Argent earlier, she said that the woman's Gift was probably being able to cast illusions. Those things he fought earlier were not just mere illusions. He could feel his lightning bolts going through each and everyone of those things. Being able to make her illusions manifest, having a high level Gift was not enough for that. One should also have great control and understanding over their Gift. And now, this woman turned out to be not just an ordinary assassin but also a member of the infamous Dreich Gallere. That made her even more dangerous.

He turned to Argent. She didn't even seem daunted by the woman's admittance. Like meeting an assassin was an everyday event for her. But despite that, he could tell that she hasn't let her guard down. As evidence of the sword she was still holding.

After Li Jun got over his initial shock, he turned towards the young duke after realizing something. "You knew from the start that she's a Dreich Gallere assassin and yet you still brought her with you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. I have to know whether her target is you or me." Argent shrugged. "Guess it turned out to be you, after all."

"And you suddenly wanted to have a talk with me because of that?"

"Yes," Argent answered, not even bothering to lie.

Li Jun let out a frustrated sigh. "You really have talent to piss off people."

"Hey, don't ignore me here," Vixen suddenly complained, cutting off the conversation between the two. "Aren't you guys supposed to interrogate me or something?"

Li Jun turned his attention back to the woman. "Are you even going to tell us the truth?"

"I haven't lied yet, haven't I?" Vixen said with a teasing tone in her voice. "We could even use a veritas stone if you want," she added, then ate a piece of cream puff.

"Why would you even want to tell us the truth?" Li Jun asked, totally confused by the woman's attitude.

"Because I just decided not to kill you," she answered. "You see, the contract issued for your head was not a formal one yet. Contrary to popular beliefs, we don't just kill anyone even if someone paid us millions of gold to do it. Especially if the target is a royalty or a leader of a famous organization or even the head of a country. If we agree to kill those types of target readily, there probably won't be any royal families and leaders left in the world.

"Before accepting a contract like that, we scout the situation first and analyze the pros and cons of killing the target. In your case, dear prince, I find that there are more cons in killing you than pros. For one, that bodyguard of yours is really powerful. If I tried to kill you now, there's a chance that I might lose to him in a one on one fight. And second, I don't really like the one who issued the contract for your head. So, you're safe. For now, at least."

After explaining all that, Vixen ate the remaining cream puff.

"Geez... I should probably thank you, then," Li Jun said sarcastically.

"Who wanted him dead?" Lei Feng asked.

"Now, I couldn't tell you that. That would be totally unprofessional," Vixen said, acting all affronted by the general's question.

"And telling us all the things you just said was not unprofessional?" Li Jun asked, unbelieving.

"Nope. It's not as if what I said was a huge secret."

"Based on what you said, can I take it that I was also found as an 'unsuitable target'?" Argent thought of asking after hearing Vixen's explanation.

It has already been closed to two months since she revealed to the world her identity as the owner of Silver Corporation. And yet, no assassins have come for her head. She doesn't believe that no one would want her dead. Especially those businessmen that went bankrupt because of her company. And we shouldn't forget the Temple of Gaia who just hated her company's very existence.

"It's true that there has been contracts for your head for years now. But since we really don't know who the founder of Silver Corporation was, those contracts never really got anywhere. But since you revealed who you are, our Master issued a ban from accepting any contracts related to you." Vixen smiled meaningfuly at Argent. "Aren't you just lucky?"

"Why?" Lei Feng asked, he didn't like the idea of a master assassin giving some kind of special attention to Argent. Because that could only mean a lot of trouble for her.

Argent wanted to ask the same question. The only possibility she could think of was because of Viper. But was that guy's attachment to her really enough for Dreich Gallere's master to make an exception for her?

"I'm not at liberty to say," Vixen answered before drinking the remaining contents of her tea cup. Then she stood up. "One last thing before I leave." She started walking towards Argent but the young general immediately got in her way. "Hey, relax big guy, I'm not going to hurt him. Or else, a certain snake would surely bite me."

Before Lei Feng could react, the woman already passed by him.

"Can we take a picture?" Vixen asked the young duke.

Argent didn't even have the time to move before she heard a familiar click from an sPhone.

"Oh, Viper would be so envious," Vixen said gleefully while looking at the picture. Then she looked at the three men in front of her, each has varrying degrees of handsomeness. "Well, it's time for me to leave. I hope we could see each other again. Bye-bye!"

She smiled that seductive smile and then threw a smoke bomb at them. When the smoke subsided, the beautiful assassin was no longer there. Disappearing in a puff of smoke.