“Hmmm? What is this, Lord Roman?” Sylvia asked, hesitantly unfolding the bundle of cloth napkins on her lap.

She wanted to apologize first for the other day. She had almost clawed him and had even drawn out blood when he was only trying to help her.

But before she could do so, the man’s unexpected actions diverted her attention.

She carefully unfolded the napkins to find a slice of cake inside. She looked up at Roman in confusion.

.

“Go ahead. Taste it.” He said while continuing to gaze at the lotus flowers. They really looked spectacular under the moonlight.

Sylvia furrowed her brows as she was not in the particular mood to eat anything. Nevertheless, she took a small bite, a soft and sweet taste immediately filling her mouth.

The pastry was so soft, creamy, and sweet with just the right amount of tartness. She smiled and silently ate the rest of the cake.

“So that’s all it takes to get you to smile huh?” Roman smirked, his deep blue eyes staring at her in amusement.

Hearing his comment, Sylvia almost choked on the last bite and coughed uncomfortably, smearing some cream on her face as she covered her mouth.

The dark red-colored cream glistening on her pale cheeks made Roman further chuckle and he casually lifted his hand to wipe it off of her face.

But then he suddenly realized what he was about to do and his hand abruptly froze and his smile faded away.

He awkwardly turned to look at the golden lotuses again and changed the topic. 

“Your family is really lavish! Priceless golden lotuses are casually floating on the pond.” Roman peeked at the girl from the corner of his eyes, watching her wipe her face.

“Priceless? Are these lotuses some sort of treasure?” Sylvia curiously asked.

Roman sighed in relief. He had successfully changed the topic. He didn’t know why but he always lost his cool around this woman.

“I guess they are treasures in a way at least for me. These flowers can absorb astral energy and aid in astral magic.”

“Not many can use astral magic, but it is quite powerful and talking about magic…” 

His voice trailed on as he absentmindedly answered her and then moved on to the thing that he had wanted to talk about in the first place.

“About your affinity… what happened?” 

He had heard weird rumors and gossip floating around in the crowd, and he saw her walking out, so his curiosity got the better of him and he ended up following her all the way here to ask her about this.

Affinity was after all important and not just to humans but also beasts. 

Though beasts were naturally strong, without magic their strength would still be weak compared to human mages.

And typically beasts from a very weak bloodline and that too only rarely possessed such a low non-existent affinity.

So it was really surprising to Roman when he had heard this news floating around. 

He already knew that Sylvia was hurting and on top of this, it would be a bit too much for her to handle such a huge blow.

“Did the patriarch test your affinity himself?” He asked, probing further to know what happened.

However… she kept staring ahead at the lotuses.

He continued to gaze at the woman, a small worried expression flickering on his face, subtly disappearing before anyone could notice, 

“Miss Sylvia?” Roman called her again, but she still seemed too engrossed in her own thoughts.

Hmm? He raised a brow and followed her eyes to look at the flowers to see what was see looking at her so intently.

His eyes darted here and there but he couldn’t find anything interesting. The flowers were indeed stunning but in the end, they were still just flowers.

Nevertheless, he did not disturb her and patiently sat beside her, enjoying the cool night breeze and the refreshing lotus scent.

He wondered if this was why the girl next to him had smelled like lotuses the other day when she had…

He could distinctly remember the weight of her body on top of him.

He stole another glance at her, captivated by her silver locks that were wildly swaying in the wind and her dress that revealed her pale shoulders and a bit of her cleavage.

Roman gulped. That dress was a bit too revealing. He frowned for some reason, though he still continued to admire her figure.

Startling him, Sylvia suddenly turned around and looked at him, staring directly at his face. “Lord Roman, please excuse me.”

“Ahh… Ummm… Ok?” Roman did not know what was happening. He could feel his heart drumming, nervousness and guilt written all over his face. Was I staring at her a bit too much?

He watched the girl quickly scramble and stand up, the cloth napkins on her lap messily falling on the lawn. 

She then bowed to him in a haste and fled from the garden as if she was running away for her life.

Huh? Roman could only watch her disappearing figure with his mouth slightly open, wondering what just happened.

“Heh. What a pity! The most sought after bachelor in the beast clan rejected so mercilessly!” A figure slowly walked over to him from behind.

Roman already knew who this annoying voice belonged to so he didn’t bother looking back.

“What are you doing here, Isaac?”

A tall and muscular man with inky black hair flopped onto the ground next to Roman where Sylvia had been sitting previously.

Ewww~! Roman flinched and scooted back. 

The woman’s delicate fragrance was suddenly replaced by the raging pheromones seeping out of the brute.

“Get away from me, you mutt.” Roman scowled.

“That’s no way to talk to the only person who can apparently tolerate you. Ha ha ha ha!” Isaac chuckled loudly, snorting in between.

He didn’t even bother hiding his glee. “Just what did you do to her to make her go running like this? Bwa ha ha ha!”