Imperial Envoy’s Residence.
Gold coins and jewels covered the carpet of the room, their dazzling brilliance filling the space.
Lilia sat cross-legged in the center of the treasure pile.
She casually grabbed a handful of magestones, weighed them in her hand, then tossed them aside.
Draku, that pig, had been slaughtered.
But that other, fatter, older pig.
Was still safely holed up in his own pigsty.
The thought of Duke Varian.
Made all these shiny things seem like an eyesore to Lilia.
The cat ears on her head drooped, the tip of her tail sweeping the floor.
“Lilith, sister.”
She didn’t turn around, her voice a bit muffled.
“What’s that old fox’s reaction now? Has he already wet his pants in fear? Meow?”
Lilith was nearby, organizing the confiscation inventory.
She closed the file.
“Everything is as usual at Duke Varian’s estate, Miss.”
“He has merely tripled his guards, surrounding all his personal properties.”
Lilia’s hand, which had been idly sifting through the treasure pile, stopped.
She lifted her head from the gold coins, frowning.
“A turtle hiding in its shell? Does he think hiding will solve everything? Meow?”
“He is waiting.”
Lilith walked over to her.
“Waiting for you to make the first move, waiting for you to make a mistake.”
“A mistake?” Lilia snorted, standing up.
“This cat has the Mistress’s token, I can investigate whoever I want. What can he do to me?”
“Confiscating Draku’s assets was because his crimes were clear and evidence solid.”
“But Duke Varian has no obvious handle on the surface. If you force your way in, it would be an abuse of authority.”
“At that point, he could unite all the nobles of the demon capital to impeach you for contempt of the Empire’s legal code.”
“He’s full of shit! That old thing has embezzled ten times more money than Draku! Could his own record be clean? Meow?”
Lilia stamped her foot in anger.
“It is not clean.”
Lilith pulled out another, thicker file from a stack of documents and handed it over.
“The complete record of Duke Varian’s corruption, smuggling, collusion with the black market, and even the assassination of six political rivals over the past hundred years.”
Lilia snatched the file, quickly flipping through a few pages.
Her drooping cat ears perked up again, the tip of her tail starting to sway.
“The evidence is this complete? Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go confiscate his estate right now! Meow!”
“No, Miss.”
“And why not?!”
Lilith extended a finger clad in a white glove, tapping a tiny mark in the lower right corner of the file—
A slumbering blood-red bat.
“This evidence comes from Her Majesty’s ‘Shadows’.”
The Head Maid’s voice lowered slightly.
“They can never appear in any court of law.”
“The moment you use them, it would be tantamount to announcing to the whole world that Her Majesty’s eyes are everywhere.”
“Do you think the other nobles would enjoy that feeling?”
Lilia’s movements froze.
She clutched the file in her hand.
This wasn’t evidence; it was clearly a hot potato!
Use it, and you’d be causing trouble for Lucia.
Don’t use it, and you can’t do anything about that old fox.
“Argh! So annoying! Meow!”
Lilia frantically threw the file to the ground.
Furious, she paced back and forth in the room.
That perverted Demon King!
She was definitely doing this on purpose!
She was surely sitting on the throne in the Evernight Palace right now.
Sipping tea while watching her scratch her head in frustration here!
“Damn pervert! Bastard! One day I’ll make you taste this feeling too! Meow!”
Fuming, she plopped back down into the treasure pile, lifting a foot and kicking a pile of gold coins hard.
Clatter—
Gold coins scattered and flew everywhere.
One golden goblet rolled to her feet.
Lilia grabbed the goblet, raised it high, about to smash it on the floor.
Just as she was about to let it go, under the light, an exquisite griffin Badge on the bottom of the goblet made her stop.
This wasn’t Draku’s family Badge.
Lilia’s hand holding the goblet paused in mid-air.
Draku’s loot… wasn’t all things he himself had embezzled…
He was a transit point… responsible for disposing of stolen goods…
These things came from nobles big and small throughout the demon capital…
So, this goblet belonged to another noble.
Then, that noble, seeing this goblet that belonged to them.
Appearing on Draku’s list of confiscated goods, what would they think?
Would they want to get it back?
To erase the evidence of their connection to Draku?
Then… what if…
Lilia’s breath hitched for a moment.
Her fingers holding the goblet slowly tightened.
The fury on her face gradually faded, replaced by a wicked smile.
She suddenly looked up, her heterochromatic eyes full of light.
“Lilith, sister.”
Her voice was filled with excitement.
“Let’s hold an auction! Meow!”
Lilith looked at her, saying nothing.
“A grand, public auction, welcoming all the nobles of Asra to attend!”
Lilia raised the golden goblet in her hand high, shaking it at the air.
“We’ll auction off these ‘ownerless’ stolen goods!”
She bounced in place, making the gold coins clatter beneath her feet.
“Let those with guilty consciences spend their own money to buy back the dirty things they sent out, one by one!”
Lilith’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
This idea…
“Is interesting, Miss.”
“Interesting? This is genius! Meow!”
Lilia put her hands on her hips.
“Lilith, sister, go arrange it immediately!”
“Say that I, Lady Lilia, will host a ‘Royal Confiscated Goods Charity Auction’ in the Eternal Feast Hall in three days!”
She emphasized the word “charity.”
“And, send an invitation to every noble who appeared in Draku’s ledger!”
“The most lavish kind! Tell them this is Her Majesty’s ‘grace,’ they must attend! Meow!”
“As you command, Miss.”
“Wait!”
Lilia called her back.
“Send the auction catalog along with the invitations.”
“Let them take a look in advance to see which of their ‘treasures’ are going to be sold, so they can prepare their wallets, meow.”
…
The news spread through Asra’s high society overnight.
When those nobles received the lavish invitation gilded with magic crystal.
And the attached auction catalog, everyone exploded.
“This is beyond insulting!”
A baron in his study angrily smashed an antique vase to pieces.
On the list, that pair of “Twin Magic Eye Stones” he gave Draku last year was right there!
All the nobles looked to their pillar, Duke Varian.
However, Duke Varian’s estate remained completely silent.
Early the next morning.
A plain magic carriage stopped at the entrance of the Imperial Envoy’s Residence.
The carriage door opened, and Duke Varian stepped down.
Today, he had changed out of his usual flamboyant purple and gold formal dress.
Wearing a low-key dark-colored casual suit, all the ornate rings on his fingers were gone.
His plump face squeezed into a humble smile.
He walked to the entrance, bowed deeply to the city guard soldiers on duty.
“I, Varian, request an audience with Lady Lilia.”
The news quickly reached Lilia’s ears.
She was sitting by the window sunbathing.
Hearing this, she licked the cookie crumbs off her fingers.
The old fox, actually coming to my door on his own?
“Let him in.”
Lilia’s eyes darted, then she leaped down from the windowsill.
Soon, Duke Varian was brought in.
As soon as he entered, he performed a deep bow to Lilia.
“Varian pays his respects to Lady Lilia.”
His posture was very low, his voice dripping with obsequiousness.
“The incident last night was due to my poor judgment of character, allowing a scoundrel like Draku to disturb you, Mistress. I beg your forgiveness.”
As he spoke, he took out an exquisite brocade box from his robe, presenting it with both hands.
“This is a small token of my regard, please accept it, Mistress.”
Lilia tilted her head, not taking the box, but instead circled him twice.
“Oh? What good thing is it? Meow?”
Varian hurriedly opened the brocade box.
A pink halo emanated from it.
Inside the box lay a pearl the size of a pigeon’s egg.
“This is a ‘Siren’s Tear,’ it can soothe the mind and resist mental attacks.”
The fat on Varian’s face twitched, his voice tight.
Lilia snatched the pearl, clutching it in her palm.
A good thing!
A cool sensation seeped into her skin.
She felt so comfortable the tip of her tail curled up.
Varian’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
Thinking this hurdle was finally over.
“It’s a nice thing.”
Lilia tossed the pearl in her hand a couple of times.
Suddenly stopped, looking up at him.
“But with just this, you think I’ll let you off? Too cheap, don’t you think? Meow?”
The fat on Varian’s face quivered.
The forced smile lines froze.
“Then… what does Mistress suggest?”
Lilia put her hands behind her back, strolled up to him.
Stood on tiptoe, and patted his thick shoulder hard.
“Duke, you’re a smart man, meow.”
Varian’s body stiffened.
“So, to express your apology to me, and to Her Majesty.”
Lilia lifted her face, spreading into an artless and carefree, innocent smile.
“How about you act as the shill for this auction? Meow?”
“Sh… shill?”
Varian’s face instantly turned pale.
“Yeah!”
Lilia nodded vigorously, announcing the rules in a childish voice.
“On the day of the auction, no matter what I’m selling, you’ll be the first to stand up and buy it at ten times the market price!”
“That way, it will show just how ‘popular’ and ‘successful’ our auction is!”
“And it will also demonstrate your ‘loyalty’ to Her Majesty, won’t it? Meow?”
After saying this, she blinked her big, one gold, one blue eyes at Varian, looking Innocent and naive, innocent and harmless.