Apart from Lord Russell's Rain Dragon Snow Cigar, which won Count Merlin's loud praise and a round of applause from the audience, the gifts from others were hardly worth mentioning.
It wasn't that the gifts weren't valuable enough; they just lacked originality, the same kinds repeating over and over.
Either they were gemstone accessories, metal armor, or special products from fantasy beasts—essentially all products of magic power.
With the wealth of the Rainflower Family, a few magic-made items were really nothing, and possibly in Count Merlin's eyes, these gifts were even less valuable than the original manuscript of "Snowflake Rhapsody" that Roland had sent.
It was precisely for this reason that Lord Russell's gift of cigars stood out as such a precious present.
So much so that at the subsequent banquet, while guests chinked their cutlery enjoying the feast, they were still loudly discussing the experience of smoking the cigars.
