There was a very uncomfortable silence over the phone before Khun broke it.

“Roy, are you still there?”

“Yes,” came the response after a few seconds.

“So, do you have any questions about what we discussed?”

Roy thought about it long and hard before answering, “No, but I need to discuss this with the owner of the charm. Once I have an answer, I will get back to you, gentlemen.”

“Don’t make us wait long, Mr. Markz,” Mr. Cilbam's cold and unnerving voice said over the phone.

“I will do my best to have an answer quickly,” answered Roy.

There was another silence before a clicking noise could be heard, and the CAD disconnected.

Roy just stood there staring at the CAD before finally realizing the call had ended.

“Shit, this has just gotten more complicated,” he mumbled.

He pressed a couple of numbers on his CAD, and the ringing tone of another call could soon be heard.

Meanwhile, inside the guesthouse, Khyrum was still trying to figure out how the hell he had spent 36 hours in an ascended state when his CAD started ringing.

“Man, I hope it's not that crazy girl again,” I said while picking up my CAD.

After looking at the number displayed on the CAD, I sighed with relief, realizing it was Roy.

“Hey Roy, what is going on?” I said.

“You have a minute to talk, Khy?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

Roy explained the conversation he had just had with Khun and Mr. Cilbam.

He explained what Khun had told him about the three concessions and what Mr. Cilbam said about what would happen if he disagreed.

“Hmm…they don’t give me much choice, do they?”

“I agree with the first and third concessions, but the second is not mine to decide on as the charm is yours, Khy.”

I didn’t think an inconspicuous charm like this would attract so much attention, especially since I didn’t even put much effort into it to begin with.

“Roy, I will leave this decision with you since I only wanted to sell the charm. I don’t want fame or notoriety over this, and you are already sticking your head out for me, so do whatever you think is best in the future.”

“You crafty little shit,” said Roy after realizing that I was unloading most of the responsibility on him.

I chucked a few times on the phone.

“Roy, don’t worry about it too much. In the future, I’ll let you have 30% of the auction sale for any other charm or gear I find.”

It was only fair since he acted as my middleman in this sale.

Roy, on the other hand, was mulling over Khyrum’s offer.

“30% of a 1 billion auction sale is 300 million gold credits,” he said, his eyes shining like stars in the night, thinking of all he could do with those credits.

After a short silence, Roy finally spoke up.

“Alright, Khyrum, I’ll deal with the rest, but keep our agreement in mind.”

“Also, I will need a bank account number to transfer your credits once the sale is complete. Start working on that while I get back to Khun on our decision,” he said hurriedly.

“Ok, Roy,” I said.

“Give me a shout when the auction date is decided,” I said.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Ok, Khy.” With that, Roy ended the call.

Roy proceeded to call back Khun and inform him that they would have no issues agreeing to the three concessions.

“That’s great news, Roy,” said Khun excitedly.

“Now that that has been agreed upon, what are the next steps?” asked Roy.

“I’ll be arriving back in Rayong tomorrow, accompanied by an entourage from the committee to secure the charm and transport it back to Cypree,” explained Khun.

“Will I be able to go to Cypree with the charm?” asked Roy.

“Yes, that will not change. The charm will travel in your security box until it reaches the Heritage headquarters and is transferred to them. But even then, you will stay until the auction,” Khun explained.

“Ok. That sounds good to me. I’ll wait for your call after you arrive," said Roy.

Soon after, the call was disconnected. Roy proceeded to sit down at his desk while thinking ahead.

“Man, this is going to be one heck of a trip; I need to get myself ready,” he said as he started to look around his office.

Back at the guesthouse, I had just finished my call with Roy when someone knocked on my door.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

I went up to the front door and opened it. I was surprised to see Malee standing there. She seemed a little irritated.

“Master Khyrum, there is a very annoying guest for you at the front gate,” she said, irked.

I looked at her, perplexed, “Annoying, you say?”

“Yes,” she said before walking away.

I couldn’t get anything else out of her, so I went to the front gate to see who had shown up.

As soon as I got close, a silhouette appeared from beyond the gate.

The closer I got, the more distinguishable the silhouette became. Finally, about 20 feet from the gate, I could clearly see who it was.

“Shit, why did she come?” I asked myself.

“Finally, you show your face,” said Eva, clearly annoyed.

After hearing her, I snapped. I had enough of the hounding attitude Eva had taken against me the last few weeks; it was bad enough with the twins, but her, also.

I don’t think so.

Another thing was that she was supposed to be Brandon’s future wife or something. This attitude of hers would cause me a huge problem in the future. I had to settle this now.

“Eva, why are you looking for me? Are you not Brandon’s girlfriend or something,” I said.

“Should you not go look for him? Let me help you; I’ll call him for you right now,” I said, turning around to walk back.

“STOP!” came a voice from behind me.

Before I knew it, a soft, gentle, feminine hand grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. I was not expecting Eva to have that kind of spunk, so I was caught off guard when she grabbed me.

The next thing I knew, a pair of soft, thin, but full lips pressed against mine.

Time seemed to stop. I could see Eva’s face so close to mine that I could tell in vivid detail what the counter of her face looked like. I could see every muscle movement on her face, every blush on her cheeks. I could sense her rapid, erratic breathing coming from her nose and see how her eyes moved behind her eyelids as they dashed from side to side. Everything seemed to be in slow motion.

Finally, I could taste the sweetness in her mouth— the sweetest candy I had ever tasted.

A set of hands wrapped around my neck, pushing me closer to her.

I want to say that I tried to stop, but that would be a lie. My hands instinctively reached out and grabbed Eva by her waist.

Eva’s opened her eyes as we stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. I could see a fire burn in her eyes that I had not seen from anyone else. Something in me felt like a little kid who had just received the best present in the world.

I felt something I had not felt in a long time:

Loved!

It felt like a lucid dream—something that only happens in fairy tales. A boy and a girl meet from opposite sides of society and end up happily ever after.

Oh, only if it were true.

I snapped back after what seemed like an endless dream.

“What am I doing?” I told myself, realizing I was still embracing this girl.

I quickly withdrew my hands from Eva’s waist and stepped back, separating our lips.

Her hands were still wrapped around me, so I dragged her for a bit when I stepped back before she pulled her arms back from around my neck so she wouldn’t fall.

“Eva, why did you do that?” I said, startled.

She stood there serene and composed outside, but I could see the shyness in her eyes.

“I don’t know Khyrum,” she said.

“Seeing you ignore me repeatedly, I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to show you that you mean something to me,” she continued.

“What I feel for you, Khyrum, I have not felt before. I can be childish sometimes, but this feeling is new to me,” Eva said as she tried to hold my hand.

“What you feel is not real, Eva; it’s a gathering of emotions that happen when you are used to getting anything you want, and suddenly, something is kept from you.”

“It's an infatuation, a fixation. It’s a faze, and you’ll see it will be over before you know it,” I said calmly.

I took some more steps back to have more room between us. I knew that if she tried to kiss me again, I would not be able to resist her, so it was best to have space between us.

“Eva, it would be better to forget all of this. You are destined to be with someone like Brandon. Someone who can provide you with the life you want and deserve, not me.”

“Let's not do this again, please. I’ll pretend this was all a mistake, and let's wish each other good luck,” I said as I prepared to leave.

Eva screamed again,

“Khyrum!”

“Are you this much of a coward?”

“Are you going to tell me that kiss meant nothing to you? Because if you are, you are lying. I could sense your passion; I could still feel your lips pressed on mine, the way you grabbed my waist, and how your breath changed."

"It's all still vividly ingrained in my mind."

“Let's not keep this from each other; I know you have feelings for me, and I know for sure I have feelings for you.”

“Let's not worry about what other people say because I for sure don’t care. I’m sure you are the same way.”

I looked at her, not knowing what to say.

“I don’t know Eva….” I started to say before a voice came from behind me.

“Eva, you’re here; what a great surprise,” said Brandon excitedly.