4 Chapter 3

Ruby is still enjoying the aftermath of her sister's performance when she saw Jade at the corner of her eyes.

"JADE!" She excitedly shouted and ran towards him. The smile on Amethyst's face froze. She never anticipated that she will meet him this soon. She composed herself and looked in their direction. She saw how doting Jade towards Ruby while he's caressing her head. Jade is currently 8 years old but ever since Ruby was born he had the resolution to make her his wife. The past Amethyst happen to hear this when Jade was conversing with his family and she felt explicable jealousy because of that. But oh well, past is past. The Jade that's in front of her is merely a kid now, that she can't treat as her own kin since inside this body lies a 20+ year old lady that had been through stuff.

Jade saw Amethyst looking at them, not with her usual jealous glare but instead a very indifferent one. As an heir and a noble, he has the maturity of a teenager with his age so he knows some things that kids his age does not know. One of them is reading emotions. But the Amethyst in front of her merely glanced at him and gave a slight bow indicating that she's acknowledging his presence.

Amethyst walked towards them and patted Ruby's back.

"Good afternoon sir Jade, I apologized for polluting your ears with my humble playing just now. Are you gonna stay here for long? If so, I'll kindly ask you to keep Ruby company while you're here. I shall excuse myself." Being a noble means unnecessary chatting yada yada for courtesy. After she excused herself, she merely walked away.

Ruby looked at her sister with confusion. Even though she's three, she knew that as long as Jade is here, Amethyst will also be here sticking with them but now she just walked away like that. Jade, on the other hand, looked at the way where she left and an unusual glint happens to pass across his eyes.

~~

"What did you say? Amethyst knew how to play the piano?" Mr. Evergreen looked at the maid who reported to him with a scrunched brows.

"That's not right, we still haven't appointed any tutors for her, how can that be?" Mrs. Evergreen, with the same confusion in her eyes, also said.

"It's true, Master and Madame, the young lady even looks very proficient in playing it... she also didn't cause any trouble today and she seems very friendly with young lady Ruby."

The couple looked at each other. Their oldest daughter's temperament can be said to be unruly and spoiled, not even giving way for her younger sister but she changed a week ago. She became very quiet, with only books in her hand all the time, and not speaking when necessary, totally opposite of her loud, obnoxious, and mischievous self from the past.

"Oh well, it's probably for the better that our Amethyst is beginning to act like an elder sister." Mrs. Evergreen said happily, Mr. Evergreen just nodded solemnly.

"Since that is the case, hire the best tutor for piano for both Amethyst and Ruby. It's time to develop their talent, especially Amethyst.

The maid just bowed her head and said she understands before she retreated. After the maid left, Mr. Evergreen looked at her wife.

"Why do I feel like something is amiss with our daughter?" He asked but the lady just gave him an i-don't-wanna-think-about-it look.

~~

Amethyst just finished reading a Russian book when someone knocked on her doors. She consented whoever it is and a maid rushed towards her.

"Young lady, your parents' requests for your presence at tonight's dinner." Amethyst frowned, she had been avoiding dining with them ever since she came back since she does not have the interest to gain their favour in this lifetime, and just lead a quiet life but who would expect that they will request for her instead?

Amethyst might not be aware but family dinner is the most basic custom of gatherings in a family, what's more for a noble. However, due to her upbringing and personality, the mere thought of gathering for a dinner seems peculiar for her.

She agreed and told the maid she's coming so both the maid and the young lady went to dinner. At the dinner table, she saw her dad, mom, and Ruby sitting across each other. Her dad is the typical handsome middle-aged man that everyone imagined, with his platinum hair and black eyes, he's like the god-tier of the noble but he exudes the aura of a general which contradicts his gentle features. Her mom looks like Ruby a tad bit with her long black hair and blue eyes, she gives off a feeling of gentleness and regality that compliments her really well.

She gave Ruby a sisterly smile while she curtsied at her parents. Both nodded their heads at her. She sat in front of her sister and started dining quietly. She noticed that Jade isn't here. He and his dad liked to idle in their house a lot so they're also present at dinner time sometimes, luckily they're not here today.

"So Amethyst, just to give you a head start I hired a tutor for your piano lessons." Amethyst looked at her father and nodded silently. In her heart though she feels like she really did not need any tutor since she already knew how to play piano, but for Ruby, even though she will teach her personally, she also thinks that a tutor can also be supplementary for her. She thought silently while looking at her sister.

Seeing that his daughter is quietly nodding her head, he feels like something is really amiss with this daughter of his, he just can't pinpoint it. Personality? Or her aura?

"Anyway, I heard that you locked yourself in your room for a week, what happened?" Her mom asked while elegantly chewing on her steak. Amethyst looked up. Her black orbs looking coldly at her mom's blue eyes. There are some weird emotions lingering in her mom's eyes that she had never seen before, warmth? kindness? worry? Amethyst knotted her forehead. Impossible.

"Nothing much, just feel like staying in my room." She answered perfunctorily and ate her food faster so she can get the hell out of here.

Topaz looked at his daughter who's cheeks are bulging with food and chuckled. He never knew that this mischievous child could be so cute! Unfortunately, Amethyst never spared them another glance and stood up since she's finished with her food.

"I'll get going," Amethyst said and gave a dimpled smile towards Ruby and a nod to her parents. She then left the living room.

"It seems like our child had grown distant from us no, Topaz?" Alexandrite said while sighing. Topaz also sighed. They can't help it. In the past, they could not deal with her willful attitude and started to interact less with her as they thought it might help the kid to behave. It seems like it worked, but it resulted in their daughter alienating them.

The three people left in the dining hall ate their dinner silently.

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