Elena snorted and looked away, then she glanced back at the man, unimpressed as she flipped the diamond lightly in her hand again.
"Even if you give me a whole house," she said lazily, tilting her head as she looked at Gabriel, "I'll still have to check if the food inside can feed me for three years."
A loud wave of gasps followed immediately.
"Look! I told you!" someone whispered harshly. "She's very greedy!"
"She should be called a thief!" The person with the huge stone almost threw it at her.
"Prince Gebrel should have taken my sword to kill her!!"
"Three years?! Who even eats like that?!"
Elena ignored them like background noise. At this point, their opinions had already expired in her mind. Before she could say anything else, a sudden commotion broke out from the side.
A fat woman with a pig-like nose and a tiny curled tail pushed her way through the small crowd, panting heavily as she rushed toward Gabriel.
Without hesitation or shame, she dropped to her knees in front of him and clasped her hands together like a prayer. "P-please, Prince!" she said eagerly, her eyes shining with desperation. "How many stones for the long magic sticks… and the arti....arté....."
"Artificial!" someone else corrected her.
"Yes! Yes, artificial blood?" she added.
Elena blinked. Artificial blood? Ah… she meant the red berries or strawberry juice!
The woman swallowed nervously but couldn't hold herself back. "We knew those things were only for the lords… because they are very rich…" she continued, almost whispering the last part like it was a sacred secret. "But I've never tasted artificial blood in my life… I just want to try it once before I die…"
For a brief moment, even Elena paused.
Damn! she shook her head. This place is really something else.
Gabriel, however, remained calm as ever. He lifted his chin slightly, his expression returning to that composed, business-like look. "It depends," he said smoothly.
"On how good the quality of your stone is."
The fat woman blinked, then looked at the rest in confusion. "…Cracra… qualitee?" she asked, struggling with the unfamiliar word.
They all looked at each other, since no one knew what it meant. They shook their heads at the same time.
"Huhúhú ha…"
Elena: "…"
She dragged her hand down her face. "Unbelievable," she whispered. They didn't even know basic language, and she was sure their response was a deep, beast-like language… yet somehow she understood it.
'This system didn't even say hello!! humph! leaving me to solve my own problem bah!!'
She stepped forward confidently. "You know what…" her tone flat as she looked at them like she had just discovered a new species.
"It's called quality," she corrected, her voice carrying a bit more patience than she actually felt. "And it means how good something is… how pure, how valuable, how strong it is compared to others."
She lifted the diamond slightly. "For example, this one…" she said, letting the sunlight hit it again, "…is clear, bright, without cracks, and shines properly. That means it's high quality, one of the rarest stones in the world."
She paused, then added casually, "But if it was dull, rough, or full of cracks, then it would be low quality… and worth much less."
Silence fell again. But this time… their gaze was different. The crowd stared at her as she had just spoken some ancient, forbidden knowledge.
Even the fat woman's mouth dropped open in shock. "Ohhh…" she gasped.
"So that's what it means…" someone said in surprise.
"Quality…" another person repeated slowly.
"Shut up and ask Prince Gebrel, you want to trust her?"
Then they all snapped out of it, and all eyes turned toward Gabriel.
"As expected of the Prince…" one of them whispered in awe. "He speaks in deep words…"
"Of course… why do you think I like him?" someone said, and that made her mates growl in dissatisfaction, then she giggled.
"Is that true, Prince?" another asked, looking at him like he was about to confirm a divine truth.
And for the first time, Gabriel didn't answer immediately. His red eyes were on Elena.
Not playful as always, not teasing… he studied her carefully, like he was trying to figure something out.
'Something is off about her… or are these people wrong about what they think of her?' he thought.
Then, after a short pause, he nodded. "Yes."
The crowd immediately erupted again.
"It's true!"
"As expected of the Prince!"
But Gabriel didn't look at them. His gaze remained on her, the corner of his lips lifting into a slow, intrigued smile.
"What's happening…" he murmured quietly. Because the famous villainous, brainless, greedy Lady Cece… was not supposed to know things like that.