Miconia’s body trembled violently with anger; however, the old butler sighed and said: “Duke Lathel is right; we have no way back anymore.”
“Butler, you…” Miconia shouted, but when she saw his tired and depressed eyes, she could only silently bow her head.
Miconia’s clenched hands slowly loosened, then, she let out a sigh and said: “Sorry for my attitude. I… really have no way back. Please help me.”
Hearing that, Lathel’s face did not change. He looked at Miconia, frowned, and said: “That still doesn’t work.”
Miconia was trembling now, and even though she bowed her head, Lathel knew she was crying.
However, for Alec’s heroine, he didn’t want to show too much pity.
If Alec hadn’t confronted him or hadn’t become his enemy, he probably wouldn’t have done this to Miconia.
But now it is different.
Miconia is the female protagonist, and Alec is his enemy; that’s why he wants to completely destroy her.
Even if he couldn’t kill her, he wanted to make her lose the thought of resisting.
Besides… he was also starting to probe the limits of the system. He thought that… if he actively flirted with or harmed the female protagonist, the system would give him a warning and even punish him.
But what if the female protagonist takes the initiative?
Like Lilith, if she actively kissed him or approached him, the system would not give a warning.
The system itself has also confirmed that.
That means… This is a loophole, and he can use this loophole to defeat the male protagonist.
But… Lathel also wanted to probe where the limits of this flaw were.
Miconia stood up, then walked in front of him. Lathel saw her standing less than a metre away from him, but he was not worried at all.
Anyway, Akna was standing behind him, and she was with the gloves he gave her, so at this moment, he is extremely reassured.
Suddenly, Miconia knelt in front of him; her trembling voice rang out: “Please… help me…”
Lathel frowned seeing that. He was completely surprised to see her kneeling in front of him like this.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lathel asked puzzledly. You must know that Miconia is a female protagonist; she will definitely never kneel before anyone except the male protagonist.
This time, she kneels before him, which proves that Miconia is truly cornered and her Auction Centre is the last thing she has.
Lathel saw her trembling and sighed: “Give me a reason. You are full of arrogance, but you dare to kneel in front of me like this. Surely that must be extremely terrible for you, right?”
Miconia shook her head: “I… if you don’t agree to cooperate, I won’t stand up.”
“Are you threatening me?” Lathel frowned and said, Akna, standing behind him, also started putting on her gloves, getting ready to fight.
At this time, the old butler suddenly sighed and said: “Duke Lathel, although Lady Miconia is arrogant, she is not a bad person.”
“Karol Auction Centre is her last line of defence.”
“Hmm?!” Lathel glanced at the old butler and asked: “Speak clearly.”
The old butler looked at the trembling Miconia, then looked back at Lathel and said: “In fact, Miss Miconia is burdened with a huge family debt.”
“Her family lost a war over a mine of resources. During that war, the strongest fighters in her family were seriously injured.”
“The other families saw this, and they immediately cooperated to attack her.”
“In the end, Miss Miconia’s family was unable to resist; they were quickly defeated and then imprisoned.”
“However, those families were not in a hurry to kill the young lady’s family members; instead, they used them to threaten her.”
“They all know… she is a member of the ‘Mainland Merchant Association’; that’s why they want to use her to provide them with resources.”
“Every year, if she provides enough resources and gold coins to those families, they will not kill her relatives.”
“This process has been going on for more than 60 years. However… until recently, business was not going well. Luckily, those families allow her to owe them.”
“But… the debt over the years has become too large, she can’t pay it, and the ‘Mainland Merchants Association’ won’t help her.”
“It can be said… Karol Auction Centre is Miss Miconia’s last line of defense. If she loses it, her relatives will also die.”
Hearing that, Lathel immediately realised that this was a big event for the male lead.
If nothing happened, Alec would definitely help Miconia defeat all the families holding her relatives.
Then he would let Miconia’s family become the rulers of the other families. From then on, all the resources and money that Miconia earns will flow into Alec’s pocket.
After hearing this, Lathel was not too surprised. He tapped on the table, thinking about another problem.
Although he didn’t know how big Miconia’s family was, he also didn’t know how powerful those other families were.
But… if he had enough resources, he had countless methods that could cause those families to collapse.
The first problem was… he needed to solve Miconia’s problem and make her loyal to him.
However, it was extremely difficult, but he still wanted to give it a try.
Lathel looked at Miconia and said: “Good, I will give you two choices. One, become my subordinate and swear to be loyal to me. Second, let’s pretend today never happened.”
“After you leave this place, we will become strangers, never knowing each other, never meeting each other.”
Miconia raised her head to look at him, her eyes filled with the arrogance of a girl who had saved her entire clan for more than 60 years.
There was also resilience in those eyes. Which was accompanied by anger and so much hatred to the point that her irises were filled with blood.
“Miss…” The old butler wanted to advise Miconia not to bet.
“Are you sure you can help me develop the Auction Center?” Miconia suddenly shouted, interrupting the butler’s words.
“Of course.” Lathel shrugged and said: “100% success is not guaranteed, but even if we are not successful, at least… the Auction Centre’s business situation will not be as bleak as it is now.”
“Miss, you shouldn’t do that…” The old butler hastily advised Miconia.
However, Miconia did not look at the housekeeper; she stared at Lathel, frowned, and said: “Good! I accept.”
“Miss…”
“However, I have a request.”
Lathel tilted his head and looked at her, remaining silent.
Miconia saw Lathel’s silence and continued: “I can only sign an equality contract with you. However, if the auction centre’s business situation gets better, I promise to become your subordinate.”
“Ah! You are very smart…” Lathel smiled and said: “So… how could it be better than now?”
Miconia thought for a moment and said: “With the current situation, the Auction Centre’s profit is 10,000,000–
20,000,000 gold coins a month.”
“If you can increase this number to 50,000,000 gold coins a month for one year, I will definitely become your subordinate.”
“I swear here by my own truth and belief… If I break my promise, I will be struck by lightning and die, turning into ashes.”
Crack!
Suddenly, a magical chain appeared from above Miconia’s head, pierced space, rushed inside her chest, and wrapped around her heart.
After that, the chain disappeared as if it had never appeared.
“What just happened?” Lathel asked, startled.
Akna then explained: “Young master, Miconia used the truth of magic and her beliefs to swear so her heart would be bound by a magic chain.”
“If Miconia breaks her oath, her heart will be crushed by that chain.”
Lathel frowned, he didn’t think Miconia would actually make a decision so quickly.
He also thought that she would think about it for a few days before making a decision.
‘However… that’s good. This proves that what the old butler just said is true.’
‘Miconia really has no way back anymore; she can only rely on me.’
“Okay, you go back first; wait for news from me.”
Listening to Lathel, Miconia felt confused; she immediately asked: “So… Do we need to chase away all the criminals in the auction centre?”
“No need.” Lathel shook her head: “If you do that now, it will cause even greater trouble.”
“Those criminals have nowhere else to go, so they entered your territory.”
“If you continue to chase them away, they won’t go; on the contrary, they will resist even harder and cause more trouble.”
“First, gather all your resources and money. Also temporarily suspend all main business activities of the auction centre.”
“Including auction activities?” Miconia asked suspiciously.
“That’s right, How many coins do you still have now?”
Miconia frowned and thought, then answered honestly: “About 170,000,000 gold coins.”
“Why is it so little?”
“Because the amount of money needed to pay the staff and adventurers to protect the auction centre is very high.” Miconia sighed and said.
Lathel frowned: “That amount of money is too little, not enough to carry out my plan.”
“Okay, for now, just go back first and collect as many gold coins as possible. You can keep your employees.”
“However, tell them the current situation. If they want to leave, don’t hold them back.”
Miconia nodded, then left with the old housekeeper.
Lathel now frowned and asked Akna: “Do you know how I can meet the queen?”
“Heh?! Young master, you want to meet the Queen?” Akna frowned, not knowing how to answer Lathel.
She also can’t say that… The Empress is your mother, Ryne.
Updatd from freewbnovl.co(m)