Chapter 500 Sincerity
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Amos wasn’t the only one relieved to find a justification for the prime minister’s seemingly unexplainable favor for Emilia. Many people in the venue secretly breathed a sigh of relief after discovering her ‘real motivation’ for making that outrageous bid. “Miss Bellatrix really doesn’t care about money anymore, does she?”
The industry and capital she inherited from her grandfather wasn’t something even the likes of Gray Wolfe could scoff at a few decades ago, but now it wasn’t even able to compare with the tenth richest person in her own country.
If not for her position as the prime minister, perhaps these people wouldn’t even bother to ‘waste time’ looking down their nose at Bellatrix. As it was, though, they could only pretend to be regretful at her ‘wasted potential’.
As someone who was used to dealing with all sorts of snakes and scorpions, Bellatrix was obviously well aware of their thoughts, but she just smiled indifferently as she motioned for the auctioneer to proceed with unveiling the item she had brought.
With a swish, the veil covering the trolley was pulled off in one smooth motion, leaving many gasping while a few screamed. “Fire?!”
Much to their embarrassment, however, it turned out that what entered their eyes was not something on fire, but an extremely well-crafted phoenix figurine made of some semi-translucent red material that gave it the illusion of being lit ablaze.
If not for it being so unnaturally still, they might have just fallen into the illusion that the bird would take flight at any moment.
People didn’t even wait for the auctioneer to make the announcement before they started bidding.
“Five million!”
“Ten million!”
“Fifty!”
“Hundred, n-no, two hundred million!”
The auctioneer coughed awkwardly, interrupting their enthusiastic bidding. “I must apologize, dear guests, but there are a few special rules for this item. So…”
Bellatrix sighed. “Let me explain.”
The man in the white suit nodded in relief, and the female prime minister turned to the audience with a polite smile. “This masterpiece was personally created by my grandfather and his friend a long time ago. He called it the ‘Spirit of Rebirth’, and it has been sitting in our family vault collecting dust since his passing, which I believe is an insult to its beauty.”
Of course, she could have donated it to one of her national museums if she truly just wished to expose it to more people, but since Bellatrix didn’t do so, everyone knew that the real ‘condition’ must be something else.
“It may be selfish of me, but I don’t want to give the Spirit of Rebirth to someone who won’t truly cherish it. So my condition for those who want to bid for it is… just like my grandfather, you must also have a phoenix tattoo covering your entire back.”
Although she didn’t specify it, everyone understood that they couldn’t just let someone else get the tattoo on their behalf.
Bellatrix smiled. “Of course, I already have a very good artist ready and waiting, so all you will have to do is just follow me after the auction.”
An assistant brought the image of the tattoo that the winner would be getting, printed on a long format photo paper, and some people in the audience couldn’t help but curse.
Birds and flames weren’t inherently feminine, so why couldn’t they just go with a more gender-neutral design?!
“Fuck! That flaming end going past the tail bone is practically the same as getting a tramp stamp!”
Regardless, a few people still couldn’t help but be tempted.
Ignoring the value of the ‘Spirit of Rebirth’, the fact that the prime minister would personally take them away after the auction was a huge deal, after all!
The fact that they would be ‘skipping dinner’ to fulfill her conditions meant that, with the nature of the prime minister, she would definitely invite them for a personal dinner afterward!
“T-Two million!”
“Five!”
“Seven million!”
“Eight million, please!”
Emilia grinned. “Ten million!”
Of course, she could fork out a lot more, but the crimson-haired girl never believed in letting someone else manage welfare projects under her name when she hadn’t even met them. She would much rather do it herself, or pick someone she trusted to get things done.
A few people couldn’t help but raise their eyebrows in surprise. “Is she being serious, or just joining the fun?”
“As the little princess of White Deer, does she really need to go so far just to have dinner with the prime minister?”
“Is she not worried her mother will beat her for getting that tattoo?”
Of course, a few people who were already acquainted with the couple nudged the girl’s parents as well, and Mr. White couldn’t help but give his wife a pleading look. “W-Wifey, why don’t you go and talk her out of this?”
Mrs. White tilted her head in confusion. “Why should I?”
Her husband coughed. “T-This is not a joke, you know? A giant tattoo on her back… what if she regrets it later?!”
Mrs. White tapped her chin thoughtfully. “It’s not bad. If it looks good, good. And if it doesn’t… our daughter is so pretty, it’ll probably only make her even more adorable if she were to have a flaw, no?”
The conceit and pride were practically dripping from her smug smile, and the people who brought the question to them couldn’t help but regret it. ‘With parents like this, is it any wonder she grew up so proud and spoiled?’
Of course, those who liked Emilia were also torn on whether they should be distressed or excited at their ‘goddess’ getting a mark like that permanently engraved on her skin.
“I-I don’t want the flawless skin of our princess to be marked!”
“And it’s going to be a mark of the prime minister!”
“Isn’t she satisfied having snatched our precious treasure already?!”
“That woman is so cunning! Insidious!”
Naturally, these fanatics were not on the same level as people who cared about ‘irrelevant’ things such as profits, and even the prime minister of Phoenix could only be an ‘eyesore’ if she got in the way of their princess.
The lady in green who had almost won Emilia’s choker scoffed. “Short-sighted and narrow-minded fools…”
Her words immediately enraged the already dissatisfied ‘fans’. “What did you just say?!”
“You can doubt my character, you can think that my personality is trash, but you can’t doubt my sincerity to the princess!”
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