NoGift

ARGENT woke up because of the cluttering noise outside. She reluctantly sat up from the bed and stood up. She walked towards the screen door of the bedroom and opened it. Just outside, in the outer room, three servant girls were there. One was holding a wash basin and the other two were arranging different dishes on the small table. So these three were the source of all the noise.

The three servant girls automatically stopped their action when they saw Argent Blackbourne leaning on the side of the screen door. The tall youth's silver hair was disheveled, giving him a somewhat lazy atmosphere. His purple eyes were a bit watery due to him just waking up. The inner shirt he was wearing was loose, showing his delicate collar bones.

It was such a feast for the eyes that the three servant girls couldn't even speak, let alone, move. If they could, they really wanted to take a picture of the beautiful founder of Silver Corporation right now.

"If you're done, then please get out. And next time, do try to be quiet while doing your job," Argent said.

Even though the three were scolded, they didn't feel sad at all. The three even blushed. Because the Argent Blackbourne just talked to them! They couldn't really wait to post this on their [Jiffy] account. They all bowed and excitedly walked outside the courtyard.

Argent sighed and just walked to the wash basin to wash her face. After that, she sat in front of the small table to eat breakfast.

At that time, Black entered the outer room. He was eating some sticky rice cake. "Master, Black saw those girls typing on their sPhones just now. They're probably posting something about you. Is that okay?"

"Don't mind that." Argent already told White even before they sailed to Xing to filter any post about her or Aurum being here. If those people who abducted their mother actually knew her identity as the mother of the famous Blacknourne twins, then it wouldn't be good if they knew that she and her sister were here in Xing. It might alert them in some way and even endanger her mother. "That aside, didn't I tell you last night not to let anyone enter here while I'm still sleeping? So how did those girls manage to enter here?"

"But they offered Black a lot of delicious cakes. Black just couldn't say no."

"I see. So you let yourself be bribed." She looked at Black. "Then you better ask those girls to continuously give you food while we're here because I'll certainly not give you one."

Black immediately ran to her side. "Black is sorry, Master. Please, don't be mad. Black won't definitely do it again," he said, showing her his big puppy eyes.

Argent ignored him and just continued eating. Then Black started to bawl like a baby, even though he didn't really have any tears to produce. Argent sighed. She really sometimes wondered if she'd done something wrong when she was programming Black that's why he turned out this way. "Okay, stop. Just make sure that next time I gave you an order, you won't get sidetracked by food."

"Yes," he said while wiping his non-existent tears.

After eating breakfast, Argent cleaned herself up and went to Aurum's courtyard together with Black.

"You look exhausted," Argent commented once they entered the courtyard and she saw her sister.

Aurum let out a tired sigh. "It's the servant girls. Last night they wanted to bathe me, this morning they even wanted to help me dress up. It took all my acting skills just to politely decline them all and make them leave."

Truth to be told, Aurum really wanted to shout at those girls and tell them to leave her alone. But because she had an image to maintain, she couldn't exactly do that. She might be born in an aristocratic family and had a lot of money in her hands, but she's not used to people waiting on her hand and foot. Even when Felicia was still their maid, her job didn't include dressing her and her brother. If she didn't allow anyone to dress her up when she was young, then she certainly wouldn't allow anyone to do that now that she's already a teenager.

"It's part of their culture. Every girls in wealthy households here in Xing has maids to help them with everything," Argent said. "If it's tiring you, I could tell Madame Lin to not let the servant girls here bother you too much."

"It's fine, Brother. I can tell the Madame myself," Aurum said, it might appear rude if she let her brother do that. She didn't want Madame Lin to have a bad impression of her brother. Especially since Aurum really liked Madame Lin. "By the way, Brother, are we going now to the palace?"

"About that, I think it's better if I just go there without you. Just stay here with Black."

"But why?" Aurum asked, a bit confused. "Wouldn't we offend the Emperor if we do that? Since, you know, he's the one who invited both of us?"

"I'll just tell him that you don't feel well. It's not like he had any reason to doubt me. But just to be sure, stay in your courtyard for the day and act like you're sick."

"Okay. I don't mind doing that. But, Brother, may I ask why?" She still couldn't understand why she couldn't go with her brother to the palace.

"It's because you're too pretty." Aurum only showed a more confused look because of Argent's answer. "If one of the princes or even some court officials accidentaly saw you and took a liking to you, they might want you as a concubine. Or worse they could just plan to kidnap you and make you their pet. Then there are those princesses and imperial concubines. One look at you and they would definitely be envious. If some of those women happened to be brainless, they might try to scheme against you. Of course, I wouldn't allow any of those to happen. But right now, we shouldn't be tangled in any of those dramas. Because if we do, then our search for our mother would only prolong. You understand, right?"

"Yes." Of course, Aurum understood. She just didn't know whether to laugh or cry with her brother's reasoning about her being too pretty. "But Brother, if we're talking about prettiness, then your beauty definitely won't lose to mine."

"It's alright for me since, technically, in the eyes of other people, I'm a guy."

Aurum raised one of her brows. "That's double standard, you know?"

Argent only shrugged. "Well, that's why I love dressing up as a guy."

"Then what if one of those princesses took a liking to you and wanted you to be their husband? What would you do then?"

"Xing is still a very conservative country. A respectable woman here, especially a princess, wouldn't just throw themselves at a man they like. They might scheme to get what they want. But I wouldn't allow things to get to that point. Besides, didn't I tell you? Once I got the permission today to search for locations for our company's so-called 'project', we'll immediately leave the capital."

Aurum stretched her arms. "Then I'll obediently stay here for today." Aurum looked down at Black who's nibbling some kind of pastry. "Hey, kid, you better entertain me today."

Black looked up at Aurum. "Why should Black be Aurum's entertainment?"

"Because I said so," Aurum said, grinning while pitching Black's cheek.

Argent stood up. "Well then, I think it's time for me to go."

She said goodbye to the two and walked out of the courtyard. Once outside, she immediately saw Lei Feng walking towards her direction. He was still wearing a black robe, but unlike the simple ones he usually wore, the one he had on now had an embroidered pattern on it. Even his long hair that he usually left untied was properly tied on top of his head. Looked like he still had the sense not to apear sloppy in front of the Emperor.

Though Argent was not wearing an extravagant robe, she's still wearing a very proper suit. She's not really comfortable wearing Xing's traditional clothes. She still preferred her own. Besides, a silver haired foreigner wearing a traditional Xing robe, she would just stick out like a sore thumb.

"Are you ready to go?" Lei Feng asked when he finally arrived near the courtyard.

"Yes," Argent simply answered.

And they set off towards the Imperial Palace.