2 Chapter 2: Son of the Ravenmoon II

"Sir Herbert, you appear to be a little pale, is everything alright?"

Just as Princess Amelia was about to take a step closer, Herbert finally took a hold of himself and woke up from his stupor.

"My apologies, Princess Amelia, it appears that I may have drunk a little too much. In any case, I suppose I still owe you, my greetings. I wish you the happiest of birthdays, your highness. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to take a short rest."

Hearing his sudden eloquence, Princess Amelia couldn't help but feel slightly surprised. After spending some time with Herbert, she understood his personality the best and he was always a man of few words. Although she couldn't get a clear grasp on what was happening, she instinctively understood that although he had spoken a lot more, their distance seems to have figuratively increased.

Naturally, she wasn't the only one who was surprised by this sudden outcome. Lady Elena who was watching nearby almost had her soul left her body when she noticed where the conversation was heading so she instantly confronted Herbert and jumped into the conversation to prevent him from making the situation any worse.

"My lord, I heard that you've bought a wonderful present for her highness. Why don't you show it to the princess first before you take a rest?"

The moment she uttered those words, she took a peek at how Herbert would react, and she couldn't help but feel a sudden chill crawl up her spine. After dealing with Herbert for a long time she somehow got used to his cold and often indifferent demeanor, it hadn't been long since their last interaction and she knew that today was supposed to be the same as any other day but today something seemed to have changed.

Astonishingly, plastered on Herbert's face was a smile, while she occasionally saw Herbert smile, this usually contained that of arrogance and conceit, however, this one was different from his usual smile. This one was a kinder, more compassionate, and brighter smile, but this gave her a sense of dissonance as if what she was seeing was a fake and this gave her an evil foreboding. After all, she had also seen this kind of smile before, and usually, these were the ones that schemers, merchants, and palace officials would give her once she intruded on and meddled with their interests.

"Why of course, since Lady Elena had already brought it up then I don't see the need to delay giving my gift for later."

Hearing his remarks, Lady Elena couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Although things weren't going as how she had expected, these small deviations will eventually occur in any plan. As long as her goal was met then that is all that matters.

"Oh my, I wonder what Sir Herbert has prepared for me. I've heard Lady Elena teased that it was quite precious."

"It's nothing much, Princess. But I'm sure you have at least heard of it before. Unfortunately, due to its fragile nature, I do not have it with me right now."

Feeling a little bit confused, Lady Elena and Princess Amelia felt alarmed at hearing Herbert's choice of the words fragile and that he did not have the item with him as the item's descriptor. As far as they understood, an awakening crystal did not have the nature of being fragile and neither was it too big for someone to find it troublesome to bring. As for the words did not have it right now, it was even more preposterous. How could Herbert, who is well known for being an infatuated idiot, not bring his gift? However, they did not let it show on their faces as they carried on with their conversation.

"Is that so? Hearing it directly from you made me even more curious about your present."

Herbert chuckled lightly and his eyes sharpened. He then took a swift glance at Lady Elena before continuing.

"I've heard Lady Elena mention that your highness greatly appreciates the gift I gave last week and that she even saw you display the bouquet when she last came over."

"Indeed, Sir Herbert is well informed. I liked their sweet scent. It was refreshing and eased my mood."

Princess Amelia lied as naturally as she breathed. She didn't like the bouquet as much as she said. Her nose felt irritated whenever she whiffed that overpowering sweet scent that came from the exotic foreign flower. Although it was true that Lady Elena had seen the flower the last time that she came over, it was neatly displayed along with the items that were meant to be taken out that day as trash.

"Then it is a big relief. Ever since I heard that it has taken your fancy, I have had the gardener learn how to care for the plant in my greenhouse. As you may already know, the flower is seasonal and has high requirements. If I did not pour attention to its maintenance then it might have already died, it is quite fragile and would never survive all alone in the wild where anyone can pluck or trample on it by accident."

Hearing his words, the two women were speechless. They weren't sure if he was playing dumb or if he understood how his words could be taken as an insult. Princess Amelia's face turned pale and she couldn't help but feel a little bewildered. Meanwhile, Lady Elena was a little humiliated and couldn't help but have the sprout of resentment bloom in her heart.

"Surely, that isn't the only thing that my lord has prepared. Why don't you stop teasing her highness and show her the other present that you have prepared?"

"Whatever do you mean, Lady Elena? I wonder, was there anything else that I forgot?"

"You- My lord, surely you wouldn't have forgotten the item that you won during the auction?"

"Oh, if it's the Awakening Crystal then have no worries. I have it safe right here."

Hearing this, Lady Elena once again regained her calmness and politely smiled while cursing Herbert in her heart. Although Herbert had a higher status than her, she couldn't help but look down on him thinking that in the end, he would still succumb to giving away something so precious willingly for free. Due to her biased views against Herbert, she felt the need to be petty as she swore that she would make him pay for playing her with his words.

Seeing her standing there quietly with a smug smile on her face, Herbert gave her a sharp glance before turning away.

"I would have my servant send the plant to her highness by tomorrow so she can wake up seeing it in full bloom. Since it's already late and I have already given you my gift then I would like to excuse myself now as I still have things to do."

After taking a couple of steps forward, Herbert did not show any signs of turning back. Just as he was about to take his tenth step, Princess Amelia couldn't let this farce carry on anymore so she looked at Lady Elena with a face saying do something about this. While Lady Elena still felt indignant in her heart, she soon followed her orders and loudly called out for Herbert.