For a split second, the smile on Meiko's face faltered.
She knew she was pretty, but her confidence shattered the moment she stood next to Claire.
Claire's compliment did nothing to make her feel better.
Instead, she suspected Claire was quietly mocking her.
Still, Meiko recovered her polite smile in a flash.
"Claire, I truly appreciate you agreeing to this consultation."
"Don't mention it. As a practitioner, it's what I do."
"Besides, you showed a lot of sincerity."
Claire's tone was heavy with implication.
Sincerity?
Meiko froze.
She had literally just badgered Claire until she caved.
Solenians had a fascinating way with words.
No wonder her mentor had told her she would learn a lot in Solenia.
They had urged her to seize every opportunity.
"I am very sincere. I heard you specialize in traditional medicine. Could you appraise the age of this Aged Wild Ginseng for me?"
Meiko immediately produced the lavish gift she had prepared.
Claire kept her expression neutral, though she was slightly surprised internally.
"This Aged Wild Ginseng is at least twenty years old."
"If it belongs to you, it's definitely worth keeping in your collection."
Claire wasn't tempted in the slightest.
There was plenty of this stuff growing on the mountains around The James Village.
She was in absolutely no shortage of it.
Meiko had completely miscalculated her gift choice.
"Something like this only reaches its true potential in the hands of an expert."
"Please accept it as my consultation fee."
Meiko pushed the ginseng across the table.
Claire rejected it without a second thought.
"I don't accept rewards I haven't earned, and my fees aren't nearly this expensive."
She pushed the box right back.
This time, it was Meiko's turn to be utterly dumbfounded.
She never imagined that Claire could resist the allure of such a rare specimen.
Claire?
If it had been a sixty-year-old root, she would have snatched it up in a heartbeat.
She would have even paid Meiko for it.
But a twenty-year-old root just didn't impress her.
She had stacks of them at home.
"Why not? To me, building a
friendship with you is priceless
Think of it as a gesture of goodwill sŵnovels
Despite her fluent Solenian, Meiko's attempts to force a gift felt incredibly stiff.
Claire seemed completely immune to flattery and bribes.
"I'm sorry, but I really can't accept this."
"If you insist on forcing it on me,
you'll have to find another doctoret
Claire said, her expression
darkening
If she took the ginseng, it meant
Melko wanted far more than jus met imple health consultationC
wh
There was no way Claire was going to agree to that.
"Wait!" Meiko hadn't expected Claire to be so uncompromising.
Seeing Claire stand up, Meiko frantically jumped to her feet to block her path.
"If I did or said something wrong, please tell me."
"Don't just walk away."
"I genuinely just want your medical advice."
"If you don't like the gift, we can forget about it."
Realizing her misstep, Meiko quickly tucked the ginseng away.
"Let's just eat first, and then do the consultation. How does that sound?"
"I promise I won't bring it up again."
Only after Meiko swore up and down did Claire finally sit back down.
Her flash of temper successfully forced Meiko to speak much more cautiously from then on.
"Fine. Let's eat."
Having firmly established her boundaries, Claire felt much more relaxed.
Meiko hurriedly waved a waiter over to order.
The waiter handed them a tablet.
The screen displayed the full menu along with high-quality photos of every dish.
It even featured authentic reviews from past customers.