Chapter 9: The Auction

The night of the auction comes, and I head out as soon as everyone is asleep. I know my father, mother and brother are going to attend. My father probably wished for me to attend as well, but due to my health he decided against it.

I head to the auction house and show the lady at the sellers desk my badge. She nods and tells me to head up the stairs and I'll be led to my seat. I'm led by another master knight bodyguard and am shown my private room. It's a small room, but it has a clear view of the auction as well as complimentary wine. The couch in the room is pretty soft. It perfectly captures my figure and instantly makes itself a perfect fit. I look out at the buyers in the normal seating area and see if I can spot anyone important. I see my family seated next to the Grangers, a county under my father.

They're a rather plain family who have a jewel and silver mine in their territory, so they're not really someone who matters in the grand scheme of things. I look at where the royal family's seating is. It's similar to the VIP sellers booths, just much larger. Nobles have to sit in seating down below, just further forward than the commoners seating. No doubt the prince and his whore are sitting there currently. They'll probably be the people who buy the stone. Though if they try to stop nobles from bidding on the stone to get it for cheap I have a way to remind them of the auctions fairness.

The lights suddenly dim as the beautiful young woman on the stage starts addressing the crowd,

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Staffords Auction House. Remember the three rules for tonight: No threatening others for bidding against you, no threatening the staff, and be respectful." She then motions to the left as an actual announcer comes out. The woman who comes out has bright green hair with a dark green slim fitting dress. The woman speaks in a sultry and mature voice,

"Hello everyone, I am Melissa Stafford. On behalf of my father I welcome you all. Today's auction shall begin with a bundle of silk from the Histerlands!"

The woman continued to announce several exotic items, gradually going up in price. Most purchases in the first three quarters of the auction were done by commoners. When it came to the items for nobles, most of them were enchanted or ancient or both. My father bought a vase with a depiction of a ballroom dance on it. Mother bought a necklace enchanted with a shield spell that'll protect someone against 3 attacks up to 3-circle before needing to be filled again. Finally, the last item of the night.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you've heard the news of the last item. Recently we had someone come to us to sell something quite special."

The same young woman from earlier comes back out into the stage with the box I had placed the stone in before. She opens the box and gently opens the lid,

"A 6th-circle magic stone."

The blue glowing stone starts to make the air feel heavy for those in the front. Before she can even finish talking about it,

"1000 gold!"

My father immediately bets. Dammit.

"1100 gold!"

"1200 gold!"

"1500!"

While everyone squabbles to get their hands on it, a voice rings out from the royal section. It's the prince of all people.

"How about everyone does the crown a favor and let us take this for 2000?"

The bets start slowing down as murmurs sound from the crowd. Melissa starts looking at the VIP rooms in fear as they assume I'm a very powerful individual who came out of hiding recently. Kind of true.

No way you little shit, I'm not letting you do this. I flash my aura at 7-circle and cover the entire auction house. The ground starts shaking as I make my voice resound all around the hall without the need of a microphone,

"Is this how someone of the royal lineage acts? Like a common thug? You must not value your life, dog prince!"

My aura accidentally swells to the 8th circle which causes people to start losing consciousness.

"Melissa darling, I would like to be clear that this stone shall not be sold to the dog prince. I would like for the bidding to continue. To think the royal family was composed of paupers."

I made the last sentence appear a little quieter than the other ones to seem like I didn't mean for it to be heard.

Melissa, who had fallen to her knees under my aura, slowly and shakily gets up,

"A-anyways folks, a-as the seller has stated, the auction shall continue at 1500."

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Melissa's face seems grayer than before as sweat appears on her face. I use a calming spell on her as she starts to feel better rapidly. Color comes back to her face and the sweat on her face dries off.

It takes a second, but eventually a voice rings out,

"2-2000."

"2100!"

…

"12000!"

It takes about ten minutes for the betting to finally end. It ended up being bought by another ducal family. This money will be great to start up that business. I lost my cool a little bit there, but I wasn't letting that fucker get the stone for cheap.

In a few minutes, there is a knock on my door. Melissa walks in with a small wooden chest.

"Lady Midas, you received 10000 gold. We chose to add the extra thousand on top as an apology for the prince's behavior."

I nod my head and speak,

"It wasn't your fault. It's an issue of parenting. I worry for this kingdom if that moron ever becomes king."

Melissa laughs awkwardly as I badmouth the prince. I take the chest and count the coins, all 10k are there. I dump out the coins onto the table and draw a few runes onto the box, creating a storage enchantment. It's only about ten meters cubed, but it's enough for the coins I'll store in it. Melissa looks at the enchantment I placed and sits completely still with her mouth agape. I assume she's never seen the enchantment process done so quickly, but unfortunately for her, she never will again. I stand up and walk towards the door before saying,

"It's been a pleasure, Melissa."

And then, as I walk out of the VIP room, I'm stopped by a brutish looking royal knight, the prince, and that bitch of his. I smile wryly as the guard gets angry,

"YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF ROYALTY, KNAVE!"

I look the idiotic knight in the eyes,

"I don't think that word means what you think it means. Anyways, I suggest getting out of my way before I turn you to ash."

I flare my aura slightly as the knight reaches for his sword. The prince then stops the knight and starts to act haughtily,

"It's fine, Robert. Lady Midas, I am here to grant you the honor of becoming a royal mage!"

I look at the prince with a 'really bitch' look on my face. I look at him, then I look at Ralia, then back at him,

"Unfortunately, I don't work for dogs."

And with that, I teleport out of the auction to avoid any more obnoxious situations. I won't kill him there. I want him to suffer through pure agony before his death. Can't very well do that in public. Soon though. Soon.

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