Chapter 96: Chapter 97. Dangerous Women

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"It struck my attention the moment I saw you, why do you wear an eyepatch?" The beautiful caramel-skinned Witch asked coyly, pouring more wine into my cup without my request.

I allowed this, Elaina was offering the young Witch as a peace offering of sorts, and I had to accept. To begin with, I was the one that showed my interest in Andrée and it was solely because I wanted to get information from her.

Behind me, Madame Dufort had left me to the care of Andrée, her attention back on her meal and the auctions. It almost hurt that Madame Dufort had dismissed me as an inexperienced young lad who merely had the money and power to climb up the ranks of the Underworld. But it was all to my advantage because without Elaina's sharp eyes on me, I could successfully carry out my mission.

I tipped Andrée's jaw upward slightly, bringing my face close enough to hers to cause her to look away and bite her lips, visibly flustered. "To hide a sinister secret." I replied, leaning back to take a drink of wine. 

Andrée's captivating honey brown eyes widened when I sealed our lips together, intoxicating red wine spilling down her tongue from mine. "You seem to be really good friends with Elaina." I mentioned casually, leaning back onto my seat again while Andree struggled visibly to put herself back together again.

"W-Well… ye…yes, I've been with her for y-years." She turned away to tuck a wisp of dark hair behind her ear, unconsciously moving backward after the move I pulled.

I narrowed my eyes, for someone who supposedly did this for years, she came off as incredibly shy and naive. I took her jaw again. "Is that true, now?" I cocked a brow, letting my single visible eye drop to her lips.

Andrée trembled in my hold, fighting against the urge to pull back. I laughed lowly and touched the tip of my finger to her nose. "I don't think so." I pulled back, keeping my hands and eyes off her.

Andrée curled into herself, her honey eyes going glassy with unshed nervous tears. "I'm sorry." She wrung her hands, glancing nervously at Madame Dufort.

"It's fine." I said kindly, pouring her a glass of wine. "I personally prefer an interesting conversation." I glanced to the stage where a poor Witch was being sold off. I noted that there were fewer Witches this time than at the last auction, probably a result of my destruction of Leland's warehouse.

Talking about Leland Blackburn, I noted that the Dark Lord hadn't made an appearance at today's auction. I could see now how Dufort could be so bold, it was a different matter if reports reached Leland's ears than if he saw in person as she unabashedly tried to form a partnership with me.

"I have not done this for years." Andrée spoke in a soft voice, her eyes down. "But I have known the Madame for years." She insisted, looking up at me only to find that I had been staring at her intently the entire time.

"Is that where your accent comes from?" I asked conversationally.

Andrée stiffened visibly at this, tightly gripping her wine glass in both hands. "You can hear my accent?" She asked in shock.

I shrugged, looking around the hall, there was loud cheering after someone won a prize so I waited for it to settle before I replied to Andrée's question. I actually couldn't pick out an accent but I noted that although Madame Dufort was a big deal and had spent years in Britain, her past was nonexistent.

That could only happen if she wanted to keep it under wraps for personal reasons. So, there was a big chance that Madame Dufort had migrated from her home country just like Rowan Roberts but in Rowan's case, he hadn't hidden his past. It was a stretch but there could be something in Madame Dufort's past that I could use to keep her loyal to me no matter what happened. "It's very slight."

Andrée touched a gloved hand to her throat. "Oh? I thought I lost it entirely…" She trailed off, her french accent thickening without her meaning to.

"You should keep it, it sounds beautiful." I tipped my wine glass to her, pretending to take a sip. Andrée had relaxed faster than I was expecting, we were barely into our conversation and she was already on her second glass.

"Thanks, did you grow up here?" She crossed her legs, swirling around the red liquid in her glass.

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I smiled a little, "Yes, born and brought up on the outskirts of Slough."

Andrée's honey brown eyes sparkled with interest at this, "My childhood was very different from what I see here but I'm happier with my new life and I owe it all to the Madame and Cele…" Andrée froze up at her slip up, her wide eyes watching me.

"Would you have preferred to be born in London?" I asked curiously, pretending not to notice her slip up. And maybe Andrée wanted to believe it too because she forged right on, or maybe she was just a little bit drunk.

"Absolutely!" She agreed without hesitation, knocking back what must be her fourth glass of wine. "Being a Witch in the 1900s in France was a kind of hell." Her head drooped slightly.

I pried her glass of wine from her hand, getting information from her would be difficult if she got drunk. "I can imagine." I muttered, moving the glass out of her reach.

Andrée caught me off guard when she got up and fell right into my arms. "You are surprisingly so nice." She slurred slightly, patting my face. "Won't you let me see what sinister secret your eyepatch hides?"

I effortlessly caught her wrists and kept them pinned with a hand, Madame Dufort turned to check up on us at this moment and I leaned forward to kiss Andrée while pretending not to notice her. Elaina's grin was wolfish when she saw that I had fallen for the ploy she set out for me, immediately returning to her food.

I pulled away from Andrée when Elaina's attention was no longer on us, a furrow on my brows. Now that Andrée was drunk, I might be able to pry through her mind without triggering her instincts. I had hoped to get information out of her the old fashion way but things were progressing faster than I had planned.

Andrée fell against my chest when I stopped supporting her jaw with my free hand, she felt like putty in my hold, her honey eyes heavy-lidded and drooping.

"Andrée? You were saying something about being grateful to the Madame and?" I reminded in a mellow voice.

She looked up at me like she could not recognize me, a furrow between her brows. Was she really that much of a lightweight? "... the Madame and Celeste…" She completed in a feather-soft voice, snuggling into my chest.

A quick mind sweep offered me a list of further information on this elusive Celeste, I held onto Andrée's wrists even when she went lax on me, fast asleep. I took a sip of wine, studying her small gloved hands in my hold, now what was I supposed to do with her?

I didn't want Elaina to find out that the girl she had sent to entertain me had passed out drunk on me, that would get Andrée in trouble and she seemed like such a sweet girl. She was a quiet sleeper so I let her nap on me, her weight was minuscule and it was the perfect cover from Elaina's sharp eyes.

I paid attention to the auction for the first time all evening, a cursed painting put on display catching my attention. It would be Juni's birthday soon, she might like it. Also, I was required to spend money occasionally at the auctions as a show of my new alliance.

The painting was won for 10,000 Galleons and I ordered for it to be shipped off to the Albeline Manor. I had things that I needed to do tonight, I couldn't manage that while lugging around a man-sized painting.

Celeste... The information I had gotten from Andrée using Legilimency had shown me what she looked like, although, I also found out that the Witch in question was a Metarmorphagus so her original appearance might not be so helpful.

I thought deeply as the auction carried on, Celeste sounded like she was Elaina's partner when they first came here from France but over time, they separated. That wasn't what my mind was filled with, rather it was the image of Celeste that I had seen in Andrée's head. It was awfully familiar, I had seen her somewhere before I just couldn't place my finger on it.

Someone stood up from the corner of my eye to leave; the auction had come to an end and it was time for the after-party. I turned to look and the realization hit, I immediately remembered where it was I had seen Celeste.

It was at the last auction, Celeste was the beautiful lady that had bid on Juni. I watched her leave the hall, danger coating her slender body like a second skin.

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