“It’s been a long time, elder brother.”
Eveleel was briefly taken aback, then she replaced it with the familiar gentle smile Su Yao knew so well, greeting the man who had barged in.
There was no need to explain who Her Highness the Princess’s elder brother was. It was clear that this rude man was none other than the Prince of the Vichy Kingdom.
“Weren’t you busy with the southern war, brother?”
It seemed that this man’s appearance was completely unexpected. Eveleel clearly hadn’t invited him to the auction.
Come to think of it, it’s unlikely that the Prince would be idle enough to run all the way to a border city that’s already been occupied just to attend an auction swarming with low-ranking nobles.
Su Yao was also quite curious about why he’d shown up here.
“A troublesome archmage suddenly appeared on the southern battlefield. Our army is currently pulling back to consolidate its defenses. So I took the opportunity to come here to get engaged.”
South, troublesome archmage—hearing these two words together, Su Yao immediately thought of Latina.
That probably meant she had already joined up with her foster father.
And her arrival had helped the Green Empire gain the upper hand on the southern front.
That was truly good news; Chlorel would definitely be overjoyed to hear it.
“Engaged?” Eveleel glanced unobtrusively at the red-haired woman he’d brought in. Although the woman didn’t appear to be a high-ranking noble, she still said, “Then allow me to congratulate you, brother.”
The man smiled and nodded, and then, noticing the loli in the room, his eyes lit up.
He turned to Eveleel and asked, “May I ask, who is this young lady?”
Here came trouble. Even though Su Yao had kept silent and tried to minimize her presence, her beautiful formal dress still caught his attention.
Although this guy was a rare handsome blond, from the moment he barged in without even knocking, Su Yao had taken a disliking to him.
Besides, this man was apparently one of the leaders behind the war between their two countries—hmph, even more detestable.
Who knew how Eveleel planned to introduce her? Hopefully, she’d be able to muddle through cleverly.
“Brother, do you have your eye on my pet? I wouldn’t mind lending her to you for a bit, you know~”
“You…”
Never mind that—when did the dignified Dungeon Core become her pet?
If this guy actually said, “Sure, lend her to me,” what was she supposed to do?
Su Yao had thought Eveleel would help her out, but her answer only made things worse!
And so it was.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested in toys others have already played with. That aside, why have you dressed your pet up so nicely?”
Although the trouble was resolved for now, the Prince’s words—”toy” this and “pet” that—still made Su Yao feel quite offended.
She’d remember this slight!
“Brother, isn’t this sort of thing pretty common? Duke Mary does the same, doesn’t she? Dressing up one’s pet is part of the fun.”
“That may be, but why is your pet baring her teeth at you?”
“Please forgive her, brother. She only left the slum recently and still needs a bit of discipline.”
As she said this, Eveleel pretended to be annoyed and shot her a warning look.
You’re the one who needs discipline! Your whole family needs discipline!
Su Yao thought angrily, but sensibly managed her expression. She really couldn’t afford to offend either of these two right now.
“That’s more like it. Sister, you have good luck to pick up such a fine pet. Brother is truly happy for you.”
As the blond man spoke, he sat down right where Su Yao had been sitting just a moment before.
Great, now he was making himself at home.
“It’s just too noisy downstairs. You don’t mind if I join you here for the auction, do you?”
Mind? Of course she minded! Why not just drop dead somewhere else?
There were only two seats and a tea table in the box; Eveleel occupied one, and now her brother had taken the other.
Bad luck—now Su Yao could only stand beside Eveleel, in the “pet’s” designated spot.
“Of course not, brother. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
That didn’t even need a reply; before Eveleel finished her sentence, the man had already sat down.
And he still wasn’t done. Patting his own thigh, the “fiancée” he’d brought along climbed up to sit on it with practiced ease.
What a loving pair—disgusting!
Setting aside this public display of affection, wasn’t this a public place? And with Eveleel present, was this really appropriate?
“By the way, Eveleel, who designed your pet’s dress? Could you ask them to make one for my fiancée as well?”
“This is a new product from the Sylvie Chamber of Commerce. As for the designer, I don’t know either. But the finale of the auction will feature another dress like this one. If you like it, brother, just bid for it.”
That’s right, just obediently spend money at the auction.
There was no way Su Yao would let Vainet design a dress for this man’s fiancée. Why?
Because her impression of this arrogant, condescending man was now in the negatives.
“Is that so? Could you tell me roughly how much this dress costs?”
“The starting bid is three hundred gold coins. The final price will probably be around five hundred gold coins.”
Five hundred gold coins! Just for a dress!
No wonder it’s called an “auction.” If there were more high-ranking nobles present, that number could go even higher! What an easy way to make money!
“That’s so expensive! Isn’t that a bit much for a single dress?”
“Sylvie Chamber of Commerce is all about luxury goods. There’s a reason this dress sells for such a high price. You’ll see, brother.”
Eveleel left him hanging, and the man’s interest visibly waned. He clearly didn’t believe the so-called “finale” was worth that price.
Their conversation drifted from war to politics, and then the Prince began inquiring about the Sylvie Chamber of Commerce’s business.
Of course, nothing he mentioned was confidential; anyone with a bit of interest could have found out the same things by asking around.
Everyone knew that the Vichy Kingdom was strapped for cash due to the long war.
But what was odd was that at this moment, he had canceled the regular “donations” the Sylvie Chamber of Commerce had to pay.
There was another noteworthy bit of news.
The Kingdom had been deliberately stalling their response to whether they’d allow the Holy Nation to send a diplomatic mission.
The man complained, “Those sanctimonious hypocrites just want to swallow up the lands our country fought so hard to conquer.”
The rest was nothing but trivial gossip, and Su Yao didn’t bother listening closely.
As the two of them chatted, the auction neared its end.
The final auction item was brought onto the stage. The host first invited a magician capable of casting Tier 3 fire magic, then had someone hack at the dress several times with a sword.
“Starting bid, three hundred gold coins! Each bid increase must be at least ten gold coins!”
“Three hundred and fifty!”
“Four hundred!”
……
“Eveleel, did Sylvie get her hands on this ‘item’?”
“That’s right, brother.”
Everything happening below was clearly visible from the box.
The man’s expression was excited, his eyes blazing with greedy fervor.
“She really is a ‘treasure.’ Oh right, here’s an invitation. Make sure you come.”
With that, the man left the room, carrying the woman on his lap.
A delicate gilded envelope was sealed with a wax stamp. After reading the invitation inside, Eveleel’s hands trembled uncontrollably.
The groom’s name was Valenrian Veshi.
Whatever that rude Prince was called didn’t matter, but right next to the small line of text for the bride’s name, it clearly said “Sylvie Ashley”……