Edric replied, "Alright, Ms. Tibarn. Just focus on your training." He added, "When you head out to hunt, send me your location. I'll meet up with you once I get to F-268." His subordinates, standing nearby, muttered under their breath as they caught sight of Edric's lovestruck grin. One of them whispered, "What kind of mate did Boss get matched with? Look at him—grinning like some love-struck fool. Is this really the same cold-blooded lunatic we used to know?" The other chimed in, "He's still the same man, but it's like some beast has run off with his brain." Edric shot them a glare but let it slide. What would a couple of unmated males know anyway? If he didn't play the obedient sweetheart in front of her, how else would she ever come to like him? Closing the chat window with Emma, he opened another interface and sent a message to Damian. Edric asked, "Buddy, did you deliver the gift to Ms. Tibarn for me?" Damian was stewing in his room when Edric's message came through. He rolled his eyes in irritation. Gifts again? That idiot only knows how to fawn over females. Does he really think tossing out a present will win her heart? Those selfish females are heartless. She might like you today, but tomorrow she'll like someone else. She'll even take your offerings and use them to cozy up to another male, leaving you humiliated and broken, never sparing a thought for whether you live or die. When Edric didn't get a reply, he sent another message. "Hey, you there?" he urged.Damian drew a long breath and pulled up his lightcore's control panel. "I'm here," he replied. "I've got the gift, but Ms. Tibarn's in the training room. I can't give it to her just yet. Once she's done, I'll make sure she gets it right away." Edric nodded in satisfaction. "Appreciate it, buddy," he said, transferring five million star coins to Damian. Seeing the transfer notification flash across his lightcore, Damian's sour expression finally eased a little. Damian grumbled, "Well, at least he knows how to show some gratitude." … Emma didn't emerge from the training room until the evening. This time, with enough fifth-tier beast cores, her ability had improved significantly. After the next hunt, she planned to go into secluded training. She was confident she could reach Rank 5 within a month.This was her secret. Unlike other Etherians in the Interstellar Empire, Emma faced no bottlenecks in advancing. As long as she had enough beast or insect cores, she could keep absorbing energy until she broke through to the next rank. She could even absorb that energy with remarkable speed. She left the training room, took a shower, and downed a tube of nutrient fluid. It was already late, and she didn't feel like cooking. Once she'd finished, Emma stepped out of her room, intending to give Drake some mental comfort. "Ms. Tibarn." Damian, who had been waiting on the second floor, immediately stepped forward to block her path. "What is it?" Emma asked, her eyes sharp on him. Damian held out an exquisite red gift box. "A gift from Edric. He asked me to deliver it to you." Emma frowned inwardly. A gift from Edric? Why would he have Damian deliver it? Emma took the box from his hands, her expression unreadable as she questioned him. "Are you and Edric close? If this is a gift for me, why would he have you deliver it? Why not send it directly to my house?" Damian explained with a look of embarrassment, "Edric said he's terrible at picking out gifts for females, so he asked me to help. I picked out quite a few for him, but in the end, he…" Damian pointed at the box in Emma's hands, his face a mixture of helplessness and disappointment. "Ms. Tibarn, you should open it and take a look." Emma looked down at the exquisite box. Beneath her long lashes, her eyes flickered thoughtfully before she lifted the lid. Inside lay a necklace—a gold chain with a teardrop-shaped gemstone of deep violet-black at its center, just like the ophidian's tail Edric had shown her yesterday.She found she liked it quite a bit. Damian stared at the necklace in the box and let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. "Ms. Tibarn, please don't be angry with Edric. He's probably strapped for credits and couldn't afford anything better. That's why he gave you this worthless necklace made from discarded ore." So that was it—he was trying to sow discord. Emma had expected as much. Damian would never go out of his way to kindly deliver something for Edric. And after the large sum of star coins Edric had transferred to her yesterday, there was no way he was broke. But why would Edric let Damian choose a gift for him? Edric was obedient to a fault. Had this sly fox tricked him? When Emma remained silent, gazing at the necklace in the box, Damian pressed on. "I already told Edric that giving Ms. Tibarn such a cheap necklace is an insult. But he didn't seem to care. Clearly, he doesn't value you at all." He leaned in slightly. "Ms. Tibarn, I know you're upset. Give me the necklace and I'll toss it for you." Any Etherian worth their power would never spare such a thing a second glance, but the Subtherian females would covet it. Even in NexusPrime Tech's lower-tier markets, it would still fetch a decent price. "That won't be necessary." To Damian's utter shock, Emma lifted the necklace from the box with clear delight and fastened it around her neck.