NoGift

Chapter 148: dinner party

THE butler announced that dinner was served and the guests at the Bishop's house lined up to enter the dining hall.  Standing at the front was a man wearing an elegant blue robe with beautiful golden embroidery.  The man seemed to be middle-aged.  His neat black hair had a few gray strands on it.  He stood there with his chin held high as if he's looking down at all the people around him.  Maybe he was.

This man was one of the five Archbishop of the Temple of Gaia - Marcus Stillwell.

He walked first inside the dining hall, followed by the Bishop and Father Heinz.  Clay and Aurum went next.  Then the other seven guests followed as well.

Upon entering, you could immediately see that the long table was set beautifully, filled with gorgeous tablewares.  Rows of servants were lined up in both sides, ready to serve at any time.

Archbishop Stillwell sat at the head of the table while Bishop Ernst sat at the other end.  Five guests sat on the left side while the other five was on the right, forming a perfect balance.  Aurum was sitting at the left of the Archbishop while Clay was sitting on his right.  Father Heinz, on the other hand, was sitting at the other end of the table, on the right of the Bishop.

Aurum was slightly surprised by the seating arrangement at first.  Then she realized that the position she was sitting on was dedicated to whoever donated the most money to the Bishop.  Considering that she was the one sitting here, that meant that the donations she gave was the largest.  And based on the Bishop's attitude towards her and Clay, he was quite satisfied with the amount she planned to donate.

Now she was glad that she didn't hesitate to give that amount of money.  Because this way, it would be easier for her to read the mind of the Archbishop.  All she had to do was turn off her limiter and look for any information about the elf from his mind.  Even if she could only do it for five seconds, she could take a lot from it as long as she had something to focus on.  She just hoped his mental defense was not as strong as that of the kid they met yesterday.

She glanced at the arrogant looking man sitting at the head of the table.  He hadn't spoken to anyone besides the Bishop since he came.  His mouth had a disdainful sneer.  As if he couldn't be bothered giving his attention to the people here.

The Bishop nodded to the butler and the servants began serving food.  With that, dinner started.  First thing to be served was the entree which was veal cutlets.

Aurum looked at Clay and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that his eating etiquette was just right.  Before this, she gave him a crash course on the proper etiquette during a dinner party like this.  That included which cutlery should be used on what food, as well as other do's and don'ts.

Like how you shouldn't smell or examine your food.  Chewing with your mouth open or speaking with food in your mouth was also forbidden.  Food was to be enjoyed and not rushed.  It was considered bad manners to eat too much of anything, to the point that it was noticed.  You also needed to show decorum by refraining from commenting overtly about any of the dishes - everything should be considered as favorable as the next.

"This veal is very good," commented by one of the ladies sitting beside Clay.

Aurum almost winced.  Well, it seemed this girl was not taught the proper etiquette.

As expected, Archbishop Stillwell reacted.  He looked at the Bishop.  "Richard, it looks like the quality of the guests in your dinner party gets lower and lower each year," he said calling the Bishop by his first name.  Then he glanced at the girl who just spoke and didn't hide the disdain in his eyes.

The girl's face turned red in embarrassment and then she looked down, bit her lip and turned silent.

"My apologies, Your Eminence, my daughter is just a little bit excited," said the man sitting beside the girl with a flattering smile on his face.

The Archbishop ignored the man, as if he didn't hear what he said.

Bishop Ernst smiled at the Archbishop.  "Marcus, be a sport.  Don't bring your bad mood at the dinner table."

The Archbishop only snorted.  Aurum raised her brow.  It looked like the relationship between the two was quite good.

"Now, Your Eminence, if you say that, I couldn't help but feel sad," Aurum said with a bit of spoiled tone.

The Archbishop glanced at the girl, as if only noticing her by now.  The girl had black hair and a pair of expressive black eyes.  She was pretty and delicate.  Her rosy lips had a sweet smile, making people want to smile back at her.  His interest was slightly piqued.  "Oh, and why is that?"

Aurum picked the goblet of wine and sipped a little, making her lips redder.  "Because I do believe my quality is not that low."

The Archbishop suddenly laughed.  "Yes.  I believe you're not.  What did you say your name was?"

"Lady Stella Deveraux, Your Eminence."

"A Deveraux.  From Gaul?"

"Yes."

Clay couldn't help but marvel at Aurum's interpersonal skill.  With just one sentence, she managed to grab the Archbishop's attention.  Even alleviating the man's obvious bad mood.  He just worried that this attention would turn into a deep interest.  It would be hard for them to leave if this guy suddenly suggested that he wanted to spend more time with Aurum after this.  He didn't notice that he already tightly gripped the fork and knife he was holding after thinking of that possibility.

Bishop Ernst appreciation towards the girl only deepened because of that.  He really didn't read her wrong.  While Father Heinz admiration towards Lady Stella also grew.

The Archbishop's conversation with Aurum continued until they reached the main course.

"Your Eminence, it is true that your responsible for the upcoming auction?" Aurum thought of asking, steering their conversation towards this particular topic.

"Yes."

Aurum showed an amazed look.  "How wonderful.  I heard so many good things about it.  Your Eminence is really amazing."

Because the way she acted was not like she's purposedly flattering anyone, it only gave off the feeling that what she said was her true thoughts.  Making people think that they truly were what she thought they were.  Even the Archbishop was not exempted.

"Are you interested in going?" the Archbishop asked.

Aurum smiled.  "Fortunately His Excellency is kind enough to give me and my brother invitations.  I couldn't wait to attend.  Would there be a lot of interesting things to be sold at the auction?"

"Of course," the Archbishop said proudly.

"The finale must be a one of a kind item."

At the mention of that, Marcus couldn't help but frown a little.  Yes, the finale should be a one of a kind item.  But because of that bastard Lucern, the item he wanted to auction as the finale would have to be replaced.

Noticing his change in mood, Aurum took that chance to turn off her limiter and spread her Mana towards the Archbishop.  As luck would have it, she didn't face any resistance.  She searched for the elf and the auction.  Because he was already thinking about those two things, she managed to get a lot of useful information.  When she's done, she immediately turned her limiter back on.

Aurum organized everything inside her head.  Remembering the face of the elf that she saw, she couldn't help but clenched both her fists.  Doubts filling her mind. 

How could that elf have that face?