New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World

Chapter 325: A GIFT FOR HER

Aristia noticed that they weren’t headed in the direction of the garden. Instead, they entered a room where chairs had been arranged around a table.After everyone took their seats, a servant came forward and poured tea into their teacups.

"How is it in the academy?" Juno had already begun asking.

Ivan decided to answer.

As he spoke, everyone turned to listen to him.

Aristia only took a glance at him before focusing on the tea in her teacup, deliberately ignoring him.

Ivan noticed her action and frowned slightly, wondering what was wrong. Had he done something wrong?

But when Wade asked him another question, his attention was diverted.

Alaric noticed Aristia’s actions but didn’t comment on it.

Aristia had been avoiding visiting the three who had been away at the academy. She always said she was busy, but Alaric could tell that that wasn’t the case.

He wondered what any of them had done, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t figure it out.

Now, he was almost fully convinced that Ivan was the problem.

He didn’t know what Ivan did, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at Ivan again.

’Why are they staring at me like that?’ Ivan wondered while still speaking.

Ivan wasn’t the only one answering the questions about their stay at the academy. Liam and Paige were too.

After some time, servants came in to serve food. It was lunchtime and the children would eat lunch here.

"Tia, try this." Beatrix who was sitting on Aristia’s other side, said as she put a fried chicken leg dipped in pepper sauce into Aristia’s plate that already had quite a lot of meat.

Aristia nodded thankfully. Then she looked up at Liam.

"You’ve met Allen, right?" She asked. She already knew the answer since Allen was living in the Anton mansion.

Liam nodded, looking at Allen.

He knew that his father had another younger sister who was twins with aunt Catherine. He had been surprised to find that the long lost aunt had been found.

He met them on the day he returned from the academy.

So he nodded. "Mm. They’ll be introduced in the banquet." He said.

Evelyn and Allen would be officially introduced to society during the banquet.

Aristia was aware of this.

Even though Catherine was busy regarding the banquet, she still was taking care of the arrangements for the two to make sure everything was seamless.

Aristia watched as Allen ate. His etiquette had improved a lot from the last time she saw him.

She tore through her chicken leg, loving the hotness of the sauce. Though it made her unable to speak, unless she wanted to choke.

It was the same with the rest of the table since they also had the same sauce.

After lunch, the children left the room, led by Ivan towards the garden.

The summer sun was warm and a slight breeze blew, ruffling the flowers in the garden and causing a faint floral scent to spread. Butterflies flew over the flowers, their wings fluttering prettily.

"Ah!" The children took in deep breaths of the fresh air.

The palace was very busy at this time. Not only were maids and manservants hurrying around, but guests were too.

At this time, there were many noblemen in the palace who had different tasks to handle. It was safe to say that the palace was quite hectic around this time.

"Oh!" When Paige suddenly exclaimed, they all turned to her.

"I brought back souvenirs from the academy for everyone. I slipped my mind to bring it with me when I was coming here." Paige explained.

"Oh..." Juno and Nova’s mouth widened when they realized. Paige had given them the souvenirs she had brought back from the academy. They had forgotten too, else they would have reminded her.

"We brought back souvenirs too." Liam said. He hadn’t forgotten. The things he had brought back were inside the carriage he came in.

Ivan nodded along. "Me too. It’s in the palace. Will everyone like to see them?" He asked.

"Okay!"

Ivan stopped a passing maid and asked her to bring him the things he had brought back. Liam also gave the maid instructions.

The maid nodded and left.

Minutes later, she returned with the souvenirs.

After putting them down, she left.

Liam and Ivan began handing out the things they had brought.

There were scented sachets1, decorative bookmarks made with leather for the boys, and pressed flowers for the girls, quills, small leather-bound notebooks with the academy crest stamped on the cover, wax seal tokens which were not actual sealing wax, but small stamped clay impressions with the academy symbol, and polished stone charms made of onyx and jade.

They shared the gifts among everyone.

Liam placed a small sachet into Aristia’s hands. It was a small lavender sachet tied with pale blue ribbon, faintly scented and neatly stitched.

"It smells like lavender," he said with a small smile.

Aristia lifted it to her nose, surprised by the faint sweetness beneath the scent.

"I like it." Aristia said with a smile. "Thank you."

Liam’s smile widened. He had been thinking of what to give Aristia. He had wanted to bring food, but he knew it wouldn’t be possible. So be found a solution.

He took something out from his pocket and handed it to Aristia.

Aristia glanced at it, and her brows rise.

"A gold coin?" She muttered.

Liam nodded seriously. It’s for you. This was the solution he had found in place of the food.

Aristia’s eyes lit up.

She wasn’t short on money, but who didn’t like a free money gift ? She wasted no time in taking the coin from him.

"I love it!" This one came straight from her heart.

Liam couldn’t hold back a chuckle at her reaction.

"Tia, this is for you." Ivan said, handing Aristia a smooth jade stone and a... gold coin.

He and Liam looked at each other, then smiled awkwardly.

Aristia quickly collected the jade and gold coin, a wide smile appearing on her face. What a coincidence. They both knew her so well.

But remembering she was supposed to give Ivan an attitude, her face froze. She was unsure of whether to keep a straight face or not.

"Tia? Is... something wrong?" Ivan asked tentatively, his brows knotted worriedly.

Liam also looked over. He was observant and had noticed Aristia’s attitude towards Liam, but he didn’t know why.

They could only wait for Aristia to reply.

As for Aristia...

Oh well, maybe it was time to forgive. It wasn’t good to hold grudges against her dear cousin who hadn’t made mistakes yet. She was a person of integrity and did not keep malice.

So she smiled and nodded, almost on the verge of laughing. "Yes, yes. I love your gifts, hehe." She said, stuffing the scented sachets, jade stone, and two gold coins into her pocket.

It was only then that Liam and Ivan realized that her dress actually had a pocket.

Wonder appeared in her eyes. They didn’t know it was possible for a dress to have pockets, and it wasn’t even noticeable.

If that hadn’t seen Aristia put something into it, they would never have known that the dress had pockets.

Ivan finally released a small sigh of relief. He had no idea why Aristia had been like that previously, but he was glad that she was acting normal with him.

Paige told everyone, "I’ll bring my gift to the banquet. I can give everyone theirs then." She said.

Everyone nodded. That was good.

They didn’t hurry to leave the palace because their fathers were in the palace.

So instead of leaving now, they would leave when their fathers were done.

But it seemed they weren’t the only ones whose fathers were in the palace.

Because they heard,

"I see everyone is gathered here. I hope you don’t mind if we join you."

Everyone turned around to see Ian Winston walking in their direction with a smirk on his face and a confident gait.

Following behind him were the usual kids; Zachary Splane and a few other noble boys.

These boys had no reason to be in the palace, so it was most likely that they came along with their fathers.

Seeing them approaching their group, they rolled their eyes.

Ian and his group finally stopped in front of them. His eyes fell on the gifts before turning his gaze back on Ivan and the rest and bowing slightly with the boys behind.

After exchanging polite, perfunctory greetings, Ian spoke up.

"You’re sharing gifts? That’s sweet. Do I have any?" He asked.

Aristia replied before anyone else could.

"These are souvenirs they brought back from the academy." She said, pointing to Ivan, Liam, and Paige before turning back to Ian. "So we should be asking you this. What souvenir did you bring back?" She asked.

She meant that they were the ones who had been away and should be the one giving gifts. They weren’t even close to give gifts to him or to expect gifts from the other person.

But Ian understood something else.

’She wanted me to bring her a gift?’ He thought.

A scented sachet is a small fabric pouch filled with dried fragrant herbs, flowers, or spices. It's tied with a ribbon and used mainly for its pleasant smell... What's inside a scented sachet?Usually things like:Lavender – calming, helps with sleep. Rose petals – light, elegant scent. Mint – fresh and clean. Jasmine – soft and soothing. Herbs like rosemary or thyme. Sometimes a drop of scented oil is added, but often it’s just dried plants. What is it used for? Placed in drawers or wardrobes to scent clothes, Tucked under a pillow, Carried in a small pouch as a charm, Hung by the bedside or on a bedpost. In noble households, sachets are also believed to: Keep clothes fresh, Ward off insects, Bring calm or pleasant dreams (depending on the herbs).