Rhea held her fingers together, then slowly loosened them as she walked over and reached out her hand. As she gradually parted
her fingers and revealed a small translucent bottle lying in her palm, the man suddenly hesitated.
Without a word, Rhea simply held out her hand and looked at him, curling the corner of her lips.
The man retracted his hand, crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes at her. “Open it!”
The man looked even more insignificant, crossing his arms like this with his stature. Yet he absurdly wanted to put on an
authoritative appearance.
Rhea did not object and twisted the cap. There was a slight popping sound as the bottle opened. Soon after, a delicate, sweet-
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsmelling scent slowly drifted and filled the air.
The man frowned and freed his crossed arms, taking out a handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth. “Who told you to hold it so
close to me? Move it away a bit!”
The handkerchief muffled his voice, and there was a trace of panic in his eyes.
“Sir, the beauty of this ‘perfume’ is that it will only work when coming into contact with skin. Rest assured that it won't impact you
if you inhale it.” Rhea leaned closer to the bottle to prove her point and took a deep whiff from the opening.
She then closed her eyes and said, enjoying it, “What a wonderful smell!”
The man narrowed her eyes at her but did not let down his guard. Still, he was less nervous and pinched his nose, asking, “Are you
sure it works?”
“Sir, do you believe Lily's words so much?” Rhea casually capped the bottle. She noticed he was still punching his nose and added,
“] don’t understand. Even if she is Dominic Fikes last apprentice, she isn’t that special.
“Many other herbal medicine experts are around, and with the organization's influence, I'm sure we can find a replacement. As for
perfumery, it's so easy to kidnap one or two world-class perfumers to work for us. Is Lily so good? Why must we use her? What is it
that you see in her?”
Rhea could not understand why they had to use Lily. She was not confident in Lily's ability since the beginning.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
The man chuckled when she questioned him. He slowly put down his hand and asked laughingly, “Then letask you this, Rhea.
What do you think the organization sees in you? Why did we choose you?”
“l...” Rhea was stumped momentarily, then quickly answered. “My talent, of course! I'm not like her. You pickedwhen | was
only 14! I've never let you down over these years.”
“You've never letdown, but...” After a pause, he said blandly, “You've never surprisedeither.”
Rhea was speechless.
“The organization picks a candidate for a reason, whether you, Lily...” He paused and did not elaborate further. “All right, you think
you're better than her, but it's not the tto compete with anyone. Just remember that personal feuds are nothing to our plan!”