Michael didn't have to wait long until Alice arrived in the private room.
Nobody would come to bother them here.
Michael retrieved Tigerfang, and he quickly terminated his connection to the Epic Artifact while Alice sat down on the opposite side of the dining table.
She smiled vibrantly upon seeing Tigerfang and retrieved a bunch of Summoning Scrolls made from black leather. The Summoning Scrolls had a golden sigil sealing them tightly.
But Michael didn't pay much attention to the Summoning Scrolls at first. He retrieved Seron Voulge from the War Rune's storage space and bound it to his War Rune. The binding procedure was slowed down to decrease the burden on his body. It took 10 minutes to complete.
Alice watched him patiently for a few minutes before she picked up Tigerfang to inspect the Epic Artifact once again.
A few minutes later, she diverted her attention back to Michael and retrieved a few more black leather Summoning Scrolls.
Once he was done binding Seron Voulge to his War Rune, Michael retrieved it. He accessed his War Rune to take out the study material he had obtained from Alice and gave everything back.
"The study material was very useful, not only for the aptitude assessment but will also come in handy in the future. Thanks a lot," Michael said sincerely.
Alice smiled in response. She pushed the Summoning Scrolls closer to him and cleared her throat.
"There are a total of 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls. You should know how difficult it is to purchase one, and how pricey they are. Usually, my parents wouldn't even think about giving you 10 Mythic Summoning Scrolls in exchange for a natural Epic Tierless Weapon Artifact, but they're very interested in Tigerfang," Alice said straightforwardly.
"They seem to be a little bit…under the weather because Kaleb has become stubborn these days. They're also abou–...no, that doesn't really matter. Let's just say that they want Tigerfang, so they told me to give you as many Mythic Summoning Scrolls as you need. 20 is all I have on me... though I would love to use them myself," She added quietly as if talking to herself.
Michael wouldn't have complained even if Alice had only given him 10 Mythic Summoning Scrolls in exchange for Tigerfang. He knew how valuable Mythic Summoning Scrolls were from experience. His 3-Star Water Elemental Mage had been summoned from a single Mythic Summoning Scroll, after all!
However, Alice Zenovia was honest and straightforward. She gave him all 20 Mythic Summoning Scrolls her family had procured since they last met.
It warmed his heart that she didn't think about keeping a few of the Scrolls for herself and negotiate hard with him to make him settle for a lesser number.
But Alice was not yet done.
"This is a small gift from me," She said, retrieving a bunch of ordinary-looking Summoning Scrolls with golden letters written on the black seals. The golden letters formed words, precisely names of occupations.
The scrolls Alice retrieved were actually Named Summoning Scrolls!
"I want to give you these Named Summoning Scrolls as an unofficial congratulatory gift. With your aptitude, you'll definitely be accepted by the Saphirelake Military Academy!" She announced proudly while continuing to retrieve more Named Summoning Scrolls.
Alice Zenovia retrieved close to 30 Named Summoning Scrolls before she stopped. She looked straight into Michael's eyes and smiled.
However, Michael could only frown deeply. Each of the Named Summoning Scrolls was worth more than 100,000 since all of them had Combat Occupations written on the seals!
'She spent three million on a congratulatory gift? What nonsense is that?!' Michael could only wonder in his mind.
It didn't make sense, none at all!
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Michael blurted out, confused and unable to find out why Alice was being so generous.
It was one thing being honest about the Mythic Summoning Scroll, and a whole different thing when it came to spending your own hard-earned money to give someone scrolls worth more than three million dollars!
"Hm?" Alice responded subconsciously. Her eyes widened slightly as she continued to look at him.
However, Michael didn't repeat his question. He waited for Alice's answer.
"There is no apparent reason. But if you want some reasons to make you feel better…you can consider my gift as an apology for the incident with my brother," Alice said with a shrug.
"He acted up a little, so I felt bad. Or you can consider the gift as an investment for the sake of your future. That will work as well!" She said nonchalantly.
Alice smiled faintly seeing that Michael's frown deepened and added, "I hope you will repay me well once you're a bigshot!"
'...That's nonsense…' Michael wanted to say, but he held back.
He could clearly tell that Alice avoided answering him truthfully, but there was only so much he could do about it.
Michael was not satisfied with her answer. Alice didn't seem to care about his dissatisfaction and got up from her chair. She stored Tigerfang in her War Rune and took a glance at the notification she had received just now.
Afterward, Alice walked over to the sliding door of their private room and pushed it open. She turned her head around and waved at him.
"I am a little bit tight on time. Let's talk about that later. Bye!"
Michael wasn't even given enough time to say goodbye, forget about waving back. Alice disappeared at once, leaving him alone in the private room…again.
"I understand their parents' worries about Tigerfang, and that I might be unwilling to hand it over…but why is Alice so confusing?'
Michael couldn't quite put a finger on Alice's behavior.
Alice Zenovia was a powerful Lord and a direct descendant of the Zenovia family. They were wealthy, highly influential, and had power. There was no reason for her to pay any attention to him. It didn't make sense like…none at all!
'Is she trying to get on my good side?' Michael wondered, 'But why would she do that? I am not a people-pleaser, and I wasn't exactly nice to her when I ignored her messages at first…'
'She doesn't have a crush on me, right?' He asked himself but quickly disregarded this possibility.
'What nonsense was that? Just because someone treated you well, didn't mean that they have a crush on you.'
Alice didn't seem like someone who falls in love easily, either.
'Is she trying to lure me over? Could she gain something from treating me nicely and showering me with expensive gifts?'
To a Lord of her caliber, a few million dollars might not be much, but that didn't mean it was worthless.
She had been focusing on him way too much. It couldn't be a coincidence.
Or was it?
[A/N: What do you think about Alice Zenovia? Does she have a secret plan, or is she in love with Michael? Or maybe...is it all plot armor?!?]
