Chapter 15: A blatant slander!

At this moment, the daughter of a Count and the Inquisitor seemed to have grown a bit closer.

The atmosphere became increasingly suggestive.

Just as Tia took a step forward, intending to push things further, Mephia gave a faint nod and turned around to walk toward the banquet hall.

Tia’s movement faltered.

She watched Mephia’s retreating back but, uncharacteristically, chose not to chase after her.

‘Romance is all about a sense of distance.’

Once things had heated up, it wasn’t good to keep clinging to the other person.

It was too easy to become a nuisance.

What she needed to do now was give the other woman a sense of being both reachable and distant.

As the saying goes, distance creates beauty.

When Mephia could no longer see her, she would naturally start to reminisce about her.

In one’s imagination, the other person was always seen through a filter—they were perfect.

In this way, as Mephia realized how good she was, her feelings would naturally deepen.

“Heh.”

Tia chuckled softly and brushed her fingers against the corner of her lips.

Mephia?

‘I have her right where I want her!’

***

As time passed, the dinner party came to an end.

The guests began to leave one after another, Mephia among them.

Sitting in the carriage, she felt the night breeze blowing in through the window.

She stared at the still-brightly lit Count’s Manor, her thoughts unreadable.

However, Elsa’s strange cries kept ringing in her ears.

“Oh, oh, oh! Master acts so cold on the outside, but you’re actually quite gentle. That Count’s daughter must be even deeper in love with you now. She probably thinks you’re her fated Prince Charming!”

She understood human nature far too well.

At the same time, she understood her master perfectly.

Despite her master’s indifferent expression, her heart was actually warm.

Her help might have looked like a casual gesture, but it had actually struck the softest part of the noble girl’s heart.

One had to remember that the number of noble young ladies in the Imperial Capital who were in love with her was beyond counting!

“Prince Charming? I just hope the news of Earl Harris’s treason is a rumor. Otherwise, she will only hate me,” Mephia said coldly, looking out the window.

“Tsk, tsk. It really was a mistake for her to fall in love with you.”

After expressing a bit of sympathy for Tia, Elsa quickly let out a sinister laugh.

“Why don’t you use her affection to make her help you investigate Earl Harris?”

However, as soon as she spoke, she let out a scream.

“Ah—! Fine, I won’t suggest it! Why are you pinching me?! It hurts!!”

Mephia didn’t explain why she pinched her. She simply shook her head and said, “It’s useless. She can’t even control her own life.”

Ask a poor canary to help her investigate?

She would be better off praying that Earl Harris surrendered himself.

***

After the dinner party ended, Tia thought Earl Harris would have chosen a suitable blind date for her.

To her surprise, the Count said nothing about it.

Could it be that he didn’t like any of them?

If that was the case, Tia could breathe a sigh of relief.

Without a blind date, there would be a lot less trouble.

Three days later, the Hela Auction officially began.

The Heart Gem was set to appear as the grand finale.

To complete the mission given to her by the Witch Council, Tia specifically asked Earl Harris for permission to go out and attend the auction.

By utilizing her Pale Pink Aura, which could generate goodwill in others, Earl Harris agreed to let her go out.

Currently, with half an hour left before the auction officially started, the street in front of the Hella Auction House was already packed with people.

One could even see many carriages from out of town.

‘Are they all here for the Heart Gem?’

It seemed the attraction of that gem was even greater than she had imagined.

After mentally reviewing her plan one more time, she stepped toward the auction hall.

However, she stopped at the entrance after only a few steps.

A notice board stood to one side of the door, covered in several wanted posters.

One of them featured… her in her Witch form.

[Wanted]
Name: Unknown
Identity: Witch
Crime: Jailbreak, Murder
Bounty Level: 1-star (Maximum 5-star)

‘Murder?’

Tia stroked her chin, thinking for a long time without remembering anyone she had murdered.

While she aspired to be the scum of the witches and was determined to take revenge on society, she wasn’t so twisted that she would just kill people randomly.

At least since she had transmigrated, she hadn’t actually killed anyone.

So that meant…

‘Tsk, how can a massive organization like the Inquisition be so shameless?’

‘This is slander! This is the Inquisition slandering me!’

It was likely that someone inside the Inquisition had killed someone, or they couldn’t solve a cold case, so they just pinned the blame on her as a Witch!

The reputation of witches was ruined precisely because of things like this!

As for the shitty Inquisition, she would eventually overthrow it one day!

Gritting her teeth, she suppressed the urge to tear down the wanted poster.

For the sake of the Heart Gem, Tia lowered her head and blended into the crowd to enter the auction venue.

***

Inside a VIP room on the second floor of the auction house.

Sitting on a sofa, Viscountess Silas elegantly peeled a crystal grape and popped it into her mouth.

Then, she asked softly, “Well? Are the security measures in place?”

The man in the suit standing behind her immediately straightened his back and said in a heavy voice, “Of course, Lady Silas.

Since you hired us, the Heart Gem is destined to stay safe.”

After saying that, he glanced at the hulking man beside him.

The brute took a step forward, patted his chest, and grinned widely.

“I am a 3-Star Iron Rank powerhouse. There are probably very few people in Hela City stronger than me.”

“Furthermore, we have contacted the Inquisition. If something really happens, the Inquisitors will be deployed immediately. Even if the enemy has many people, they will never escape capture.”

Silas’s eyes brightened upon hearing this.

It had to be said that in Hela City, aside from the Inquisitors and the generals of the Earl’s family who might have reached the Copper Rank, most others were only at the Iron Rank.

To be able to invite a 3-Star Iron Rank powerhouse to guard the Heart Gem showed that the Hella Auction House truly valued this stone.

And with the Inquisition’s promise…

Compared to this powerhouse, she actually trusted the Inquisition more.

Of course, the auction house’s protection of the Heart Gem reportedly didn’t stop there.

The man in the suit stepped aside, revealing the Heart Gem inside a Magic Display Case to Silas.

He then explained under her curious gaze, “Aside from having a powerhouse on guard, the most important thing is this Magic Display Case.”

“This isn’t an ordinary display case; it’s an extremely rare magical item. Without our auction house’s specific unlocking magic, even a Silver Grade powerhouse wouldn’t be able to open it.”

Speaking of this, his eyes shone with pride.

“With this here, the Heart Gem is perfectly safe!”

“That’s good. I’m counting on you for the security of the Heart Gem.”

With their promise, Silas felt completely at ease.

She elegantly crossed her legs and began to think about how to use the massive wealth from the sale of this gem to save her family.

In this day and age, it was difficult to start a business from scratch.

It would be better to change the name and continue as a slave trader.

After all, they had done it for so many years, and the connections left behind were quite extensive.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she let out a cold snort at the thought.

This time, her family would not give any slave a chance to escape!