Chapter 132: Measured Like a Gem

Gemma had to choose. Between reality and outdated prestige.

And what she chose was reality.

A few years later, when Palmer Jewelry posted a hiring notice, she applied immediately. Gemma knew well that working directly as a noble would drag her reputation through the mud.

Because she wasn’t Jay.

But enduring poverty indefinitely seemed more terrible than a tarnished reputation.

Perhaps she was bewitched by the beauty of the gems themselves.

Being a mage, she felt repulsion at the fact that she had to treat gems only as tools, not beautiful ornaments.

Since Jay’s gems were the most beautiful in her eyes, she might have been blinded by the fact that she could learn under him.

Moreover, being a position where she could earn money, for Gemma, it was incomparable to becoming a disciple of a renowned mage.

Knowing she applied to Palmer Jewelry, her father jumped up and said he couldn’t provide any more support, but Gemma knew.

That there wasn’t much left in the house that could be turned into money.

It would be much better to take care of her father himself rather than sending money to her.

Of course, all the plans she thought of could only be realized after passing this interview.

So Gemma was in a very tense state.

Flip, another page turned. Counting numbers in her head, she knew this was the last page. Gulp, forcibly swallowing dry saliva made her throat sting.

As if timed, Jay raised his head.

“You attended Price Stans University, so why do you want to become a jeweler at a mere jewelry shop instead of a scholar?”

When the eyes looking down at the sketchbook faced Gemma squarely, she almost avoided his gaze. Not a bit of warmth was felt in the green irises.

Do people have such eyes when appraising gems?

At the gaze seeming to grasp her value, Gemma barely opened her dry lips.

“Because all the gems you made are beautiful. I want to make such gems too.”

“And?”

It was an attitude as if not believing flattering words. Gemma had no choice but to speak honestly while looking straight into his cold-looking green eyes.

“Also because I need to earn money right away. If I try to become a scholar, I don’t know until when and how much money I’ll have to spend. Because I’m not a genius who can receive sponsorship right after graduation.”

She saw his smooth-looking eyebrow raise slightly and settle down.

Did I speak too honestly? Gemma tried to put on a calm expression, but inwardly she thought about her light mouth.

What if he sees me as a complete idiot? Still, my school grades aren’t bad.

Although not a genius as already stated, she had tried hard to maintain a certain GPA. especially in magic circle subjects. For a day exactly like today.

But in the eyes of a genius, she might look like a total idiot.

Gemma thought Jay was a genius.

She wasn’t the only one thinking so. Whenever Jay registered auction items, people praised him.

Rather than criticizing the fact that he crafted them himself, they were frantic to obtain items touched by his hands.

Knowing auction items appear irregularly and with considerable time intervals, people eagerly waited for Jay to release new items.

The winning bid prices at auctions were amounts that made Gemma’s eyes pop out.

So Gemma could realize a truth.

That nobles earning little money doing work affecting basic livelihood are pointed fingers at, but people earning big money making luxury goods are revered.

“I’ll be honest. I doubt how long Miss Gemma Somnio can do this job.

It’s harder work than you think. And if possible, I want to be with someone who will work for a long time.”

At Jay’s words, Gemma opened her eyes wide.

Although it was a very negative tone, hidden within it were definitely words she would be happy about.

“Is, is my drawing worth selecting?”

Her voice came out louder than she thought. Because she was that happy.

She saw one of Jay’s eyebrows rising on the opposite side. Concerned if she annoyed him, Gemma’s momentum subsided in an instant.

“There are many immature parts.

If gems are cut according to Miss Gemma Somnio’s drawing, the brilliance will become very dull.

There are also many parts inappropriate for a person to actually wear.”

“…Is that so.”

At the cold evaluation, Gemma shrank her shoulders. She felt she knew why people didn’t speak low of the jeweler Jay.

Because he himself was a person not to be looked down upon.

Even if he is a dominant Omega hiding tremendous pheromones, outwardly he doesn’t look like he has such great power.

Although not frail and weak like the fantasy Alphas commonly have about Omegas, he definitely had a slender physique compared to Betas commonly seen on the streets.

But a strong aura was felt from him, enough for Gemma to know even if she weren’t a mage.

He was a completely different person from nobles who only know how to decorate themselves and speak plausible words.

“S-still, if you give me a chance, I will learn hard and improve. Honestly speaking, my life isn’t leisurely enough to harbor a mind of just giving it a try. I didn’t apply with a light heart at all.”

So she wanted to learn from him even more.

From a person who not only possessed skill great enough to enchant even the eyes of a mage who viewed gems only as means, but also thrived even after giving the finger to existing perceptions.

As Gemma stopped her desperate words, silence replaced them.

Perhaps it was just her feeling, but the green eyes staring at her blankly seemed to pierce through even her inner thoughts.

The suffocating silence was such that even the tick-tock sound of the watch’s second hand moving could be heard. Gemma’s eyes naturally headed to Jay’s wrist following the sound.

That must be the ‘Deep Lake’ seen only in pictures.

Gemma put strength into her lips not to burst out an exclamation.

Why didn’t she notice that watch coming out of the shirt sleeve until now? She thought she was really out of it.

Seeing the actual watch, she couldn’t take her eyes off it at all.

She felt she finally understood what the comment meant that it seemed to contain a lake hidden in a place no one knows.

The blue diamonds surrounding the watch surface seemed to implement the sparkling water surface, and the black dial seemed to transfer deep water as is.

But at least Gemma herself had never seen such a beautiful lake.

How long was her attention focused on that watch? She thought she heard a pfft, a thin laugh. Gemma barely came to her senses at that wind sound.

When she raised her eyes sharply, she saw Jay’s face with a faint smile. Gemma could feel her face heating up instantly as if burning.

He is the protagonist of the most famous romance in Henia.

Although she knows there are many dreaming of a romance like his, Gemma was never included among those people.

The emotion she harbored for the name Jay was admiration.

She wished she could also possess the appearance of kicking away stereotypes and prejudices as if they were less than stones tripping her feet, and confidently doing what she wants.

But at this moment, Gemma felt she could understand why the Duke of Westell fell for him.

The face that looked only cold when expressionless felt completely different. Does Jay always smile like that to the Duke of Westell? No, he would give him a much more affectionate expression.

Gemma felt a little, just a very little envy toward the Duke of Westell.

A red gem was embedded in Jay’s watch.

A gem said to resemble exactly the Duke of Westell’s eye color when emitting pheromones.

Along with it, the blue diamond ring on the same hand caught her eye. A ring where the gem looks as if floating in the air.

The blue diamond seems likely to fall from the ring band any moment, but even now, 5 years later, the gem remained within the band.

As if representing the relationship between the two.

Will a partner of destiny like those two appear for her someday?

Gemma became curious.

Although never revealed directly, it was a famous fact that the Duke and Duchess of Westell imprinted on each other.

Otherwise, they couldn’t have seen an heir immediately from the union of a dominant Alpha and a dominant Omega, where conception is said to be difficult.

Most people shudder calling the curse upon them a stain, but there were those who secretly envied the extremely rare phenomenon called ‘mutual imprinting.’

The heir born immediately also became an occasion for their romance to become even more famous.

“It’s beautiful.”

Gemma blurted out inadvertently looking at the ring.