Chapter 64

"Look what I got today."

Clara looked a bit surprised at the linen bags Sofia was holding. Despite their simple appearance, Clara was sure that the fabric was something very expensive and fine, something her sister, who was just a tour guide in the city, shouldn't have.

Worried, Clara quickly took one of the bags from her sister's hands and opened it to find several crystals displaying faint indecent-colored spirals the size of her palm, pulsating with latent power, almost enchanting those who saw them.

Medium purity Mana Crystals, that was the first thought that came to Clara's mind upon seeing the crystals in the bag, which visibly worsened her already sickly appearance. She felt the little strength in her body disappear, stumbling to the side in fear as she dropped the bag to the floor.

"WHERE DID YOU GET THESE, SOFIA?!!!" Despite her sickly state, Clara shouted with all her might in panic, fearing what might have happened for her sister to have something so valuable in her possession.

"Hehehe, don't worry, Clara, I earned them today at work. A very handsome and generous young man gave them to me for my services," Sofia commented with a small smile as she picked up the mana crystals from the floor, recalling the star-haired young man who seemed like a fairy-tale prince.

The paleness on Clara's face worsened even more, turning her almost ghost-like. As best as she could, she grabbed Sofia by the shoulders and shook her while yelling both angrily and scared, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO GET SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SOFIA? WHAT DID YOU DO?!!!"

Tears started to accumulate in Clara's eyes as her mind filled with all sorts of increasingly macabre scenarios, which filled her with deep sadness and guilt for having cornered her sister into such a situation because of her illness and uselessness.

Sofia panicked at seeing her sister's state, quickly stopped picking up the crystals, and carefully hugged her, saying hastily, "Don't worry, Clara, I didn't do anything strange to earn it. I just guided him and his wives around the city, and since they seem very wealthy, the young man was very generous and gave me these crystals."

"Are you telling the truth, Sofia? Did he just give them to you for guiding him around the city? Did you do nothing else?" Still panic-stricken but filled with hope, Clara asked fearfully.

In response to her sister's questions, Sofia confidently replied, "Of course, the young man gave them to me for guiding him around the city with his wives, and…" Sofia seemed to remember something and quickly added, "Wait a moment, he also gave me the most delicious sandwiches I have ever tasted in my life. I brought one for you, wait, I'll get it."

After helping Clara to sit back down in the chair, Sofia ran to her room and returned with a red handkerchief, which she unwrapped, revealing three beautiful sandwiches that looked like they came from another world, and she handed them to Clara.

"Did that young man also give you these?" Clara asked while examining the sandwiches in her hand, which, despite looking a bit squashed, still appeared incredibly appetizing.

"Yes, try one, they are the best thing I have ever eaten in my life," Sofia commented while trying to contain the saliva that threatened to escape her mouth.

"Okay, I'll try one," Clara, a bit nervous, took one of the sandwiches and gave it a small bite, soon after feeling as if she had stepped into another world, fascinated by the flavor that perfectly combined sweet, salty, sour, and umami, leading her to an almost heavenly culinary enjoyment.

"This is something out of this world, it really is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted in my life," Clara commented with a sigh full of infinite feelings before adding, "So, are you telling me the truth, Sofia? Was it just payment for guiding him around the city?"

"I'm telling you yes, the young man is very rich, just look at the incredible delicacy he takes as a snack, and his wives also seemed like goddesses from another world full of elegance and beauty, even his maid was someone equally beautiful and refined."

"You were very lucky..." Clara commented softly while continuing to eat her sandwich slowly, trying to savor every bite.

"Hahaha, I know, at first I approached without expecting much, but I'm really glad I tried," Sofia commented with a happy smile on her face, but Clara added with a serious expression taking her out of her joy.

"I don't mean that, that young man you're talking about is very likely the heir of a famous house, for him to treat something as valuable as those mana crystals so lightly, and you know what that means..."

Clara commented with a serious voice and a somewhat dark expression, which made Sofia's expression pale a bit. After all, nothing was more dangerous than the heir of an famous house for people like them.

The title of 'heirs of famous houses' was a common name used in the Auroria system to refer basically to the youngest children of important families of the Auroria kingdom or, on very rare occasions, children of important people from the Meridian Federation, who possessed almost unlimited power and resources and were very well treated no matter where they went.

But what really made the 'heirs of famous houses' terrifying was that, generally, they had no limits or scruples and lived unrestrained lives without fear of consequence, since due to the power of their families, this is something they would never experience.

The cases where 'heirs of famous houses' wreaked havoc just for fun were so numerous that the thing that people with low resources like Clara and her family feared the most was coming across an heir of a famous house, to the point where they fled in haste from any place at the slightest mention of the presence of any heir nearby.

The terror felt by people with scarce resources like Clara and Sofia towards these 'heirs of famous houses' was not unfounded and was very real, after all, these people had enough power to literally do anything to them in the middle of a public square and no one would come to help them, even many would end up blaming them for 'offending' someone like that, an event that had occurred more times than many would like in the entire Auroria system, not to mention their planet Aranta.

"No, I don't think he was an 'heir', I made sure to detail his group from afar, the young man only went with his wives and a single maid, there were also no guards of any kind in the area, and none of them emitted that heavy feeling that surrounds the powerful, plus he was very kind and considerate, a world apart from those 'heirs',"

Panicked, Sofia tried to explain herself, in an attempt to diminish the fear she felt in her heart, since although everything turned out well in the end, if that young man was really an 'heir of a famous house', she would have been dancing on the edge of a knife the whole time without knowing it, and she might not even be safe now, as you never know what those egotistical madmen will do.

Clara sighed at the state of her beautiful sister and commented with a warm smile, "Maybe you're right and he was just the son of some rich merchant on vacation."

"Yes, you're right, that's most likely," Sofia felt like a weight lifted while speaking, trying to leave behind the terrible foreboding that tried to fill her heart.

"And what do you plan to do with the money?" Trying to change the subject, Clara asked with a smile, while holding her face with her hand on the table.