Valentina's Invitation

"Wait a minute," Richard hurriedly stretched his hand. "I'm Richard. It's quite rude not to know my benefactor's name. How should I addresses you, miss?"

This was of course just a pretend. He had read her information before going out of his ward before.

She was Valentina Faust, a member of Faust Family on of the wealthiest and most influential families in Dawn City. Her personal assets alone reached a whopping number of 200 million Dragon Dollars, practically making her one of the richest kids in town.

But that was not what made him attracted to her. It was her kindness and humbleness despite her noble blood. Compared to the other second-generation heir and heiress, she was practically an angel.

"Call me Valentina." With a warm smile on her face, she put her hand in his open palm and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, Richard."

Richard couldn't help but to admire her graceful demeanour and responded with a the brightest smile he could muster. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Valentina."

Valentina was briefly dazzled by Richard's smile. She had seen many handsome men before but his beauty held different kind of charm. His innocent aura drew everyone around himself without even trying hard while hiding away some mysterious secrets within itself.

"Miss Valentina?"

Realizing she was staring at him, she blushed and took her hand off of his palm in panic. "I'm sorry... It was rude of me."

The softness of her smooth, snow-white hand was still lingering on Richard's hand even after she withdrew hers.

"It's okay, I'm not offended." Richard answered, his smile still plastered on his face.

His gaze turned from her blushing face to the inconspicuous ring on her middle finger, a deep and vibrant blue gem on its crown. The surface is flawless, without blemish or flaw, shining brilliantly under the room light. Just like her eyes.

"Anyway, you're so lucky Miss Valentina to own such a precious treasure. If I'm not mistaken that ring must be the infamous Engagement Ring of the Princess Rosetta from Ancient Dragon Kingdom's dynasty."

"The legend said that Duke Andrus, the bloody hand butcher, charged alone to the depth of Savage Tribes territory just to obtain this gem. He deliberately made the ring plain to emphasize the beauty of the gem. He once said that even this beautiful jewel was pale in comparison to the princess' eyes, but nothing but this one was the closest to represent their beauties."

He lifted his head and stared straight into her eyes, as if trying to carve her deep blue eyes into his memory. "I can somehow understand what he felt that time."

The lady blushed again hearing his praise, a faint smile formed on her lips. She was a noble lady who had been used to men's attention since her young age, but no man had ever told her things like that with such serious expression on his face before, making her heart skipped a beat.

She quickly changed the topic to conceal her embarrassment. "Why do you think this is a genuine article? It can be an imitation or reproduction."

"Well, before that should we leave right now before the nurse come back? It will delay you further if they come and ask a lot of question."

Valentina nodded in understanding. "Good, let's go."

They quickly left the ICU after Richard changed back into his suits which were also turned to the state before the accident by the system together with his body. Along the way, Richard continued his explanation to satisfy Valentina's curiosity.

"That ring can't be a replica or imitation. If it's a reproduction, you'll definitely find a faint the trace of casting no matter how subtle it is, it'll often reflected on the texture of the ring. On the other hand, the ring you own doesn't have anything like that."

"The most important thing is the gem itself. It might look like a Kashmeer Blue Sapphire which is popular in modern age in a glance, but if you take a closer look at it, it contains a particular hexagonal crystal pattern which is a characteristic that can only found in Ursula Royal Blue Sapphire, this gem alone could cost you 50 million Dragon Dollar in this age. And the cutting technique used on this game is called phoenix cut which was considered a lost technique in this era because of the cutting process was kept secret by the high noble of Ancient Dragon Kingdom dynasty and didn't leave any proper documentation about the technique."

Listening to Richard's explanation, Valentina's eyes went wide in amazement. "You seem to know a lot about antiques?"

"The owner of the pawn shop where I have a part time job in is an antique enthusiast." Richard answered casually while watching her. "I thought I should know a bit about the knowledge in this industry. But to be honest I didn't really get any chance to study it properly, so I apologize if I got anything wrong."

"It's alright. You didn't need to be so humble. The ring in my hand is indeed the Princess Rosetta's engagement ring, I got lucky to win it in the auction last year. But this isn't something that someone with just a shallow knowledge about antique should know. You've got a quite nice eye there. Your future as an appraiser is promising."

Valentina praised him earnestly. Her eyes shone, full of splendour.

She was genuinely impressed by the level of knowledge he had shown which was on par to some veterans in the industry she had personally be acquaintance with despite his seemingly young age.

She felt this seemingly ordinary man except for his handsome face suddenly shrouded in layers of profound mystery, making her eager to know him more and slowly peeled them one by one, to be the first to know all his secrets. Something that she had never felt before from other men.

"Well how about this? Do you have a free time today? Actually, I have a plan to go to an antique market this afternoon to find a gift for my grandfather's birthday tomorrow. With your keen eyes, I think I'm up to a pleasant surprise with your company."