Chapter 52

"That's right. I will grant you one wish for saving my daughter's life and another one wish as a birthday gift to you, young lord Cres Val."

"Your Highness, but that's..."

When the Queen saw Gian having a hard time refusing her, she kindly smiled at him at pat him on his shoulder.

"If you do not have anything to ask for now, then we can set it aside first. But always remember that I still owe you two wishes."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Queen Barinella's smile deepens while looking at this young man. The Queen raised her hand and a servant behind her brought a red velvet box. The servant opened the box and it revealed five different kinds of mineral. They were yellow tanzanite, ruby, natural pearl, emerald, elbaite, and carnelian. These gemstones are the minerals that can be found in this kingdom.

"Accept this gift, young lord Cres Val. This is the gift His Majesty of Fresiala prepared for your birthday." Queen Barinella said.

"The King?" Gian asked in surprise.

"Marquis Cres Val had told His Majesty the true story behind the products that you had created. Because of you, the Fresiala Kingdom did not suffer during this drought. As a former princess of this kingdom together with His Majesty, we would like to thank you for your efforts and hard work."

Gian was dumbfounded when the Queen of Sildeza Kingdom thanked him twice in a row in just one night. Gian suddenly felt a little guilty inside. Indeed, he created those things which helped their kingdom in a lot of ways. But it was not his original idea and he only created those things to satisfy his selfishness.

"Papa Gian?"

Gian returned to his senses when the little princess tugged on his sleeve. He smiled at Princess Cielo first before Gian bend his body to bow down in front of the Queen.

"No, Your Highness. It is my pleasure to help our kingdom."

"I am glad that there is a very talented young man like you in the Fresiala Kingdom." The queen said.

After a few more words and formalities, the Queen together with her daughter had gone to a room prepared for them by the marquis in advance. Gian also accepted the gift from the King and told Butler Del to put it inside his drawer in his office. Marquis Frederick accompanied the Queen first while Viscount Cladeu and Gian were entertaining the guests. Because of what happened earlier, the guests were more eager to get close to Gian hoping to make them his acquaintance.

On the other hand, Russel was astonished by all the things that happened at this party. The unknown and invisible son of the marquis suddenly turned into a big shot in just a few hours. Russel cannot help but sigh when he saw the nobles trying to get Gian's attention everywhere. No matter where a person goes, the greediness of most people will never change.

When these people thought Marquis Cres Val's second son was a sick and dying person, they all ignored him and did not bother to ask anything related to him. But in just a blink of an eye, things had quickly changed. That is because they discovered that Gian has a lot of potentials and things that can do. He even got the good graces of the Royal family. With these qualifications, the nobles are now trying to get into his good side.

A person's greediness is surely a scary thing.

Gian remained calm and composed while he was talking with their guests. He was politely talking with them and tried to make the flow of their conversation interesting. But when the nobles were diverting the topic into business, Gian will smoothly change the topic before leaving them to talk to the other guests. He did it for almost thirty minutes.

Gian noticed that Shannen had not yet returned to the party room. He tried to ask the server if they saw Shannen, but they have not seen the lady. Gian excused himself for a moment to find his fiancee. He first visited the terrace where Shannen was resting earlier.

Gian heard a weird sound coming from the terrace. He quickened his steps to see if something was amiss. When Gian looked around the terrace, it was empty. There were no traces of anyone in this area. Gian was about to leave the room when Russel stopped him.

"Bro, look!"

"Huh?"

"There was something sparkling hanging near the flower pot!"

Indeed. There was a small sparkling item hanging at the side of a flowerpot. It was the tiara Gian gifted to Shannen earlier. But why was it here?

Did something happen to Shannen while she was resting here?

"Gian! Gian! In the gardens!"

Though it was quite dark outside the mansion, there was indeed a strange thing that was happening in the garden. Gian saw figures of two people trying to enter the rose maze garden. There was a silhouette of a huge man entering the garden. There was also a silhouette of a person in his arms. Though he did not saw her face, Gian was sure that Shannen was the person trapped in that man's arms. Gian quickly followed them without informing anyone about the situation.

Shannen was panicking inside. Even though she wanted to scream and asked for help, Shannen cannot do it because the man behind her blocked her lips tightly using his hand. She also tried to thrash her body to escape from his grasp but it failed. The man holding her from behind was escaping through the gardens.

Shannen was caught by this man when she was about to go back to the party room. He quickly put his hand on her lips to stopped her from making any sound before he wrapped his arms around her body and ran towards the gardens. Shannen was getting scared of this situation. She really had no idea why this man was kidnapping her tonight.

When the man turned left, a young man smashed something hard on the kidnapper's head. Because of the impact, the man unconsciously let go of the young lady on his arm. Gian grabbed this opportunity and ran towards Shannen. He holds her hands tightly and ran in the opposite direction.

This rose maze garden was originally made for his mother, Marquess Serilla Cres Val. When she died, Marquis Cres Val ordered the gardener to maintain its beauty as a memento of his beloved wife. Though this rose maze garden was owned by the Cres Val family, Gian had never tried entering it before. He was only looking at this garden through his window inside his bedroom.

Different types of roses were planted in this garden. The tall shrubs were perfectly placed to increase its aesthetics. There were also trees and bushes planted in this place to provide a shade upon its visitors. There was also a huge fountain at the center of this maze. A statue of a maiden while riding on a huge tiger was placed in the fountain. They said that the maiden in the statue was carved based on the Marquess Serilla's face.

Though Gian knew that they were lost in the maze garden, he did not show it to his fiancee. After taking a few more turns, they stopped behind a huge bush to take a small rest. Gian put his finger through his lips to asked Shannen to be quiet. Shannen muffled her breathing as she clasped her hand around her mouth.

Gian looked around if the man was still following him. When he saw no one was nearby, he hid together with Shannen behind the bush and let out a quiet huff. The huge bush concealed their figures perfectly. They can hide here in the meantime to catch their breath.

"Are you okay?" Gian asked in a soft voice.

"Yes." Shannen breathlessly answered. "How about you? Are you hurt?"

"I am perfectly fine. Just a little tired."

Gian feels like his body was on fire after running only for a few minutes. He overestimated his body this time. Though he was not getting sick just like before, it does not mean that he can do too many physical activities such as running that easily. After taking a few more deep breathes, he checked if Shannen got any injuries. It was fortunate that she was safe.

"Who is that man? Do you know why he was abducting you?"

"I really don't know! He just showed up all of a sudden and pulled me with him in this garden."

Gian was about to answer when someone gripped on his nape. A huge man was standing behind them. He easily lifted Gian's body in the air before throwing him on the ground. Shannen tried to run towards him but Gian stopped her.

"Shannen, run!"

"But Gian—"

Gian forced himself to stand up and hold the bulky man's left leg.

"I said run! I will try to stop him! Ask someone to help us!"

"Gian—"

"Go!"

Maybe because of Gian's fierce and loud shout, Shannen took a last glance at Gian before she ran away from them. She hastily removed her high heels somewhere and ran on the floor barefooted. Lifting the hem of her dress up to her knees, Shannen tried to run faster away from them and ask someone to help them.