A blue velvet gift box smaller than a palm sat on the table.
Most people used gift boxes of this material for jewelry.
Xianyu had an inkling of what the surprise was.
Zandar urged him, "Go on, open it."
Xianyu opened the gift box.
Inside lay an unmounted yellow gemstone weighing well over a hundred carats, its vivid color as dazzling as gold.
He casually picked up an unused napkin from the table and used it to lift the gemstone.
Zandar added, "It's a yellow diamond."
Xianyu's eyes lit up.
Yellow diamonds attract wealth.
He teased offhandedly:
"A diamond? Carbon, then. I thought you wouldn't like something... that could be made in a laboratory."
"...That would be rather dull. How could natural diamonds and artificial diamonds be the same?" Zandar cleared his throat. "I specifically chose an unset stone so you could have someone mount it yourself."
Xianyu put the diamond back and closed the gift box.
"Thank you. I love it."
At that, the corners of Zandar's lips lifted almost imperceptibly.
"At this size... it would suit a bow tie or a brooch." Xianyu thought for a moment, then quickly decided. "I'll have it made into a brooch."
Zandar had no objections. He looked at Akivili, who was also seated at the table, and asked, "And who is this?"
"Akivili." Having answered, Xianyu turned to introduce Zandar to the Aeon. "This is Zandar, my teacher."
"Oh, wow." Akivili blinked. Seeing that Zandar had no intention of revealing their shared history, the Aeon obligingly said, "So you're the First Seat of the Genius Society-"
Matthias arrived late.
The servers promptly brought out the food.
They chatted as they ate, inevitably bringing up the other world.
After listening for a while, Zandar murmured, "A world without Eric..."
It was truly impossible