CHAPTER 16: GIFT

Even after the guests cheered and congratulated, Xiu didn’t go downstairs. She simply waited for the chattering to die down before she snapped her fingers, bringing the room to pin-drop silence.

Aegon watched everything calmly, as he was also curious about what his Aunt would do now. He also felt awkward with so much attention from everyone in the room.

It was the first time for him.

"Now, it’s time for the gifts, and as his favourite Aunt, I’ll be the first to give him a gift," Xiu said with a smile and turned towards Aegon. "So, what do you want, Little Sun?"

"What you prepared for me," Aegon replied, since he knew she would just cancel her gift if he demanded something.

"Alright then. Here is my gift for you," Xiu said, taking out a red whistle out of nowhere.

Aegon took the whistle and looked at it with curiosity. The red whistle was made of strange flexible metal, and a chain extended out of it. On the backside, he could also see a crest of a human skull held by a beautiful lotus.

’What’s this? Considering it’s from Xiu, it’s definitely not ordinary. Is it an Artefact? Then what does it do?’ he wondered. ’Perhaps it’ll give me some protection, or speed, or maybe something else entirely?’

While he was left in confusion, many guests had their jaws almost drop to the ground. If this wasn’t the banquet of House Augustus, they might have even shouted at Xiu, asking her if she had gone insane.

Even Arnold felt a headache coming after seeing the whistle. He held his face in his hand and thought, ’I really should have asked her first what she was giving.’

"Disappointed in your daughter?"

Hearing that familiar voice near him, Arnold just sighed. "Who invited you here? Get lost!"

"That’s not a nice way to greet an old friend, Arnold."

Arnold wanted to punch him, but thinking that it would ruin the banquet, he suppressed his growing annoyance. He turned to his side and found a man not much older than him standing there.

The man had a lean figure with a hat hiding his features, but Arnold could still see it clearly. Those familiar silver hair and golden eyes were something he, or anyone, could never forget.

And there was also his annoying smile that Arnold always hated. He still had it plastered on his face.

Arnold scoffed, "Your presence isn’t needed here."

"Oh, I think quite the opposite. How can I miss the first birthday of the Last Valerian?" The man chuckled softly and said. "Still, I didn’t expect that girl to actually give away the Totem."

"Many unexpected things have happened in the past year," Arnold said, turning his attention back to Aegon, who was trying to find ways to use the whistle while Xiu laughed at his clumsy attempts.

A smile automatically formed on his lips upon seeing this sight.

"Won’t you ask about my well-being?" The man asked in a fake upset tone. "I was hurt, you know. I didn’t expect you to run off after dropping all responsibilities on my shoulders."

"They are your responsibilities to begin with. You’re just too lazy to deal with them," Arnold said, gritting his teeth at the reminder.

"What’s mine is yours. That’s what friendship is, my dear best friend," the man said with a smile.

Arnold really wanted to forget everything and throw this guy into a volcano or something. But he knew this damned man would just crawl out of it as if he had only taken a bath, so he chose to ignore him completely.

"But it’s good that you dropped those responsibilities," the man said, his voice losing its playful tone.

"Did something happen?" Arnold asked, his heart tensing up.

"I would be restless too if my enemies gained a Valerian all of a sudden," the man said. "Olena was different since she grew up in the valleys, but this one is growing up among my enemies."

Arnold narrowed his eyes and then scoffed, "They can try all they want. If they dare to even come close to my grandson, I’ll remind them who Arnold Augustus is."

"Haha, you Augustus are all bloody insane," the man laughed and said. "Don’t be tense. Your son is standing between humans and Demons like the damned Frost Mountains. That brat has grown much more ruthless after you left."

Arnold clenched his fists, but soon released them too. He wanted to ask more from this self-proclaimed best friend of his, but in the end, nothing came out of his mouth.

"Don’t think too much, old friend," the man said, patting his shoulder. "Your bloodline needs some rest too. You are needed beside him, so stay there. I’ll handle the rest for you."

"You? And take responsibility?" Arnold rolled his eyes at him.

"That’s the least I can do, brother," the man chuckled.

Meanwhile, Aegon became more and more annoyed with the whistle and especially with Xiu. She just laughed while he struggled with the usage of the whistle.

’Laugh all you want! You’re just happy that there’s finally something I’m not good at,’ Aegon really wondered who was the kid between them, because Xiu certainly behaved childishly a lot.

Finally, Xiu stopped laughing after she had her fun of the day and said, "Put your fingers and thumb here. Only then will it work."

Aegon nodded and did as she told. Taking a deep breath, he blew the whistle, which echoed in the whole banquet hall, but nothing supernatural happened as he was expecting.

Just then, the shadows in the hall stirred to life and rose from the ground. In an instant, they gathered at the bottom of the stairs and took humanoid shape, with their knees down on the ground and their heads bowed deeply.

Many guests shivered as the room’s temperature dropped or perhaps it was these shadows whose presence was cold enough to make these powerful people shiver in fear.

Arnold and his best friend glanced at the figures and then stared at each other. They could see apprehension in each other’s eyes.

Aegon had grown perceptive enough to notice the tense atmosphere and the fear of the guests. Still, he didn’t understand their reaction because he didn’t feel anything.

He just stared at the dark shadow-like figures and wondered about their identity.