The slaves were brought out to the podium, and Seraphiel froze instantly.
She began trembling from head to toe before gripping onto my hand with all of her force as if she needed my physical support just as her deathly scared voice sounded in my mind;
<Quinlan, that’s my mother!>
<Why would she be in human lands? I thought clan leaders couldn’t be conscripted, her being here makes no sense. Unless…>
<Yes… I think she heard of my capture and decided to find me on her own.>
Damn it…
Eight elven women were dragged onto the podium in chains, their ethereal beauty was still evident despite their battered appearance. Their lithe forms moved gracefully and their sharp, delicate features were marked by exhaustion as well as humiliation. Their long ears twitched with anger and fright as the auctioneer’s voice boomed over the amphitheater.
Each woman was striking in her own way, with flowing hair that varied in shades of gold, silver, and deep auburn. Their gazes ranged from defiant glares to downcast hopelessness, but one among them stood out, not just to Seraphiel but to me as well.
The resemblance was uncanny – just a tiny bit older but a much more regal version of Seraphiel stood among the group. However, there were two major physical differences to note; one was her silver hair that cascaded down her back in gorgeous waves, as Sera was golden blonde. The other difference was that she… uh… lacked some of Sera’s overwhelming feminine curves; Sylvaris had smaller boobs and thinner thighs.
(Picture)
Be that as it may, this one had to be her mother. I didn’t need to ask; it was obvious from a mere glance.
<Quinlan, we have to get her! We can’t leave her here!>
The desperation in her voice was enough to shake my heart. I had never seen this cheeky elf of mine be this distraught, she was much calmer even when I bought her as a woman who I could abuse to my heart’s content due to her entirely nonexistent slave clauses.
“This fine group of elven beauties were hand-picked by our associate from Ravenshade custody, just one look at any of their body parts will let everyone know just how much of a premium product each of them is!”
The crowd roared with excitement as a few nobles immediately began shouting bids even though the host hadn’t yet announced who was being sold off first.
<Please, please, I’ll do anything! Just… save her!> Seraphiel’s desperate begging sounded in my mind once again.
<Who do you think I am, Seraphiel? There’s no need for you to plead, neither will you have to give me anything in return. I wanted to introduce myself to my mother-in-law anyway.”
<Hmph… Thank you…> I’d never heard this happen before, but she was crying into my mind.
The wrenching of my heart due to her fright was more than enough to steel my resolve.
Her mother, meanwhile, held herself tall, despite the chains and the humiliation. She looked over the crowd with a cold, defiant gaze, refusing to let them see her pain. This woman was the embodiment of my idea of ‘elven nobility’. My perpetually mischievous healer didn’t quite manage to deliver on the serenity I had in my mind when I thought of a noble elven woman.
However, Sylvaris’, Seraphiel’s mother’s eyes continued their scanning of the crowd until they landed on us, namely on the babe sitting comfortably on my right thigh.
<Shit! Quickly, signal her not to react!> I shouted into Sera’s mind.
Seraphiel right now was just a no-name sex slave. If the slavers knew of Sylvaris’ noble background and learned that my slave was her daughter, it wouldn’t be overly difficult to track her down and potentially even ruin my Lord Black persona, since I legally owned Seraphiel under the name Quinlan Noir.
Seraphiel quickly reacted to my words as she replicated the strange sounds of a chirping bird. She drew many eyes to herself, including the other elven women’s on the podium. Sylvaris somehow got the message as she straightened her spine even more and continued scanning the crowd to not let anyone know that she found us interesting in particular.
I didn’t know what replicating a chirping bird meant to them, but neither did I care enough to ask her right now.
The princess on my left thigh looked up at me with wide eyes, she must’ve sensed the shift in the atmosphere even if we didn’t say things out loud. “Lord Black, are you going to bid?”
“Indeed, my fair princess…” I murmured back.
As fate would have it, Sylvaris was the final one on the chopping block. The others were sold off one by one for somewhere between fifty and two hundred gold.
However, to my great dismay, the auctioneer introduced Sylvaris as the matriarch of the Vaelorith noble family, and as a level 39 Mooncaller. Mooncaller was an Epic-tier class that was only available to elven nobility, and only to those that had a great affinity to the moon, which tended to be displayed by a teen’s hair turning to a unique silver color during puberty.
Sigh. If only they didn’t say her lineage, class, or levels…
This might end up being very expensive.
“Ten gold.” I was the first to voice my wish to acquire her, making Sylvaris begin observing me in great detail. Now that I showed my interest in her, it was no longer weird for her to stare at me or the elf in my arms. She was a truly serene woman who only raised a mere eyebrow when she saw the peculiar sight of the three of us.
“Fifty!” Vivienne shouted before shoving Eira to the ground from her arms as if the girl had lost all appeal to this woman despite how infatuated she was with her beforehand. “Sis, we have to get this one!!”
“Agreed…” Amara whispered as she eyed Sylvaris with a wretched gaze.
The elven mother was not only an ethereal beauty but also a noblewoman who clearly had a lot of pride – pride that a sadist like Amara would love to crush. The fact that I was also showing interest only added fuel to the fire, evidenced by the twins turning their heads in my direction in sync and erupting into a wild grin that talked at length about their presumed supremacy.
“Hundred gold coins.”
I kept my calm to the best of my ability.
“Two hundred!” It was Amara who shouted their bid this time around.
<No… This is not good!> Seraphiel cried in my mind with mounting panic.
“Three hundred.”
“Four hundred!”
Experience exclusive tales on empire
After spending 2 on the old maid and 300 on my elixirs, I only had 498 gold coins left. I couldn’t shout ‘500!’ because the organizers knew of my exact coin total and would step in to discredit my bid. It was the rule of this event that no matter who you were or how rich you were, you could only bet with the coins you had in your hand. It made the process a lot simpler.
“Lord Black, I don’t know why you’re so fixated on getting this elf in particular, but I truly believe you to be a better man than to spend it to buy a high-level pleasure slave… and since you solved my problem, you can have my coins!” Felicity whispered into my ears.
Truly… what a good girl this one was.
“I’ll have to take you up on your offer… How much do you have on you?”
“Two hundred.”
… Curses. She was sitting in the front row, so I thought she also had to have at least 500 gold coins on her person like the rest of us, as that was the requirement to get the best treatment. However, now that I thought about it a bit, it made sense that no matter how much she had on her hands, they would still treat her like a first-class VIP.
Some heads might fly otherwise.
With this, I could go up to 698 gold.
“Thank you…” I whispered, eliciting a bright smile and a “no problem!” from the princess who also sent a minuscule nod towards the auctioneer who caught her meaning.
“Four hundred going once, going twice…”
“Five hundred!” I interrupted the man, shocking the crowd as well as the Greenvale twins greatly.
“Just how much money do you have, Bastard known as Black?!” Vivienne hissed venomously, followed by a furious glare from Amara.
Be that as it may, to my greatest horror, they were not done even after all the coins I milked from them throughout the auction. “Six hundred gold…” Amara growled through gritted teeth.
<Quinlan…!> Sera sobbed into my mind, and I murmured, “Six hundred and ninety-eight.”
“Hah! At long last!” Vivienne cheered before showing me her tongue in mockery.
“Six hundred and ninety-nine!” Amara declared victoriously.
“Going once, going twice…” As the auctioneer began to count down, true wrath began boiling inside me, stronger than ever.
Back when Selene betrayed me, I was furious like never before… but at the very least she had a good reason to do so. I would’ve done the same in her place.
These entitled bitches spent multiple fortunes of daddy’s money on this elf because she was beyond hot and a good target to torment, not just because they hated my guts. Otherwise, they shouldn’t have allowed me to get the elixirs or Clarisse.
The fact that I wanted Sylvaris was just the cherry on top, and so was her high-level and rare class. It was clear that they didn’t buy her to use as a combat slave.
I turned my head in their direction and their smug leers and snickers only served to add fuel to the fire boiling deep in my heart that threatened to consume me whole. I had to use every ounce of self-control I had not to tremble from head to toe with pure anger.
Back when I decided to end these two I didn’t quite know when or how I would go about it. They were the daughters of one of the most powerful men on the whole continent, after all. Now, however, my mind was cleared of any unnecessary doubts. There was only one possibility I could take.
<Ayame, gather the Ascendants.>