"Here." Claire took out the wooden black box Mason had given her earlier.
Irene, seeing the black box, curiously poked at it with a finger. "What is this?"
Claire smiled. "You'll know when you open it." In truth, she did not know what was inside either. She had not opened it since Mason gave it to her, but she still trusted Mason's proven craftsmanship.
With that, Claire placed the wooden box in Irene's hands.
Irene accepted the box happily. "Then I'll open it."
Under Claire's gaze, Irene slowly opened the wooden box, revealing the jewelry inside: a pair of earrings, a necklace, and a small ornament meant to be worn on clothing.
All three pieces had an intensely distinctive personal style. Anyone from Mary Port would recognize at a glance that they had been designed by Mason.
Seeing the jewelry, Claire breathed a sigh of relief. Mason had not made any overly daring attempts, so the pieces still suited mainstream tastes fairly well.
Once she saw the jewelry clearly, Irene looked pleasantly surprised. She slowly picked up the most eye-catching necklace and murmured, "These pieces are different from the jewelry I usually see."
"That's right." Claire took over, explaining, "All jewelry in the future will be in this style, so don't worry about it failing to catch on."
"I wasn't worried about that." Irene lifted the necklace and put it around her neck. "As long as it's from you, I like it."
When Irene struggled to fasten it by herself, Claire reached out to help her put it on. Irene visibly drew back her neck when Claire reached over, then froze with a faint blush as she let Claire help her. Claire, however, did not notice any of that; she simply wanted to help her fasten it.
After putting it