Only then did Everett and Eleanor spare me a glance, offering a flat acknowledgment before waving for a servant to take the gift. The box wasn't even opened. It was set directly onto the pile with everything else.
I watched it happen, and my heart stayed strangely calm.
Right after, Chloe held out the tin of herbal tea she had brought, her voice light and easy. "Happy Moon Blessing Day, Everett. I just picked this up on a whim. It's probably nothing special, so don't hold it against me."
Everett and Eleanor took it at once, unwrapping it on the spot, turning it over in their hands, their smiles growing wider by the second.
"We love it, we love it. Anything from our Chloe, your father loves! Take it back and put it away carefully, don't let it get damaged!"
Anyone with eyes could tell it was perfectly ordinary tea, nowhere near as valuable as my gift. But their reactions could not have been more different.
After that, Everett and Eleanor led Chloe toward the banquet hall without sparing me another glance.
I was long accustomed to being set aside, and I had long expected this outcome, so there was no great swell of feeling inside me.