Did That Offend You?

"Have we met somewhere before?"

Astin tilted his head to one side.

His deeply sunken eyes showed no particular emotion.

"I suppose we might have seen each other once."

His voice was indifferent and dry. Lucia accepted the answer with an inward nod.

Astin was the eldest son of the grand ducal house that dominated the Empire's West.

There was a good chance they had crossed paths by coincidence at one of the countless social events and banquets in the past.

They simply didn't remember each other and had unconsciously filed the encounter away.

Lucia briefly searched her memories. For some reason, she wanted nothing more than to figure out when it had been.

'No, that's not what's important!'

She suddenly came to her senses.

Wasn't this man the thug who had beaten her closest friend senseless?

"I know everything you did to Azeline."

"Do you? I almost forgot already."

Lucia's brow furrowed at Astin's nonchalant reply. He was so brazen that he showed not the slightest hint of remorse. Lucia raised her sharp eyes fiercely.

"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is arriving!"

The chamberlain's proclamation rang throughout the ballroom.

Every sound filling the hall stopped all at once.

The nobles turned their heads, as did the four men who had been glaring murderously at Astin.

"Enjoy your evening, Lady Lucia."

While she was distracted, Astin leisurely disappeared into the crowd.

She wanted to run after him and grab him, even smack him over the head. But she couldn't cause a disturbance in front of the Emperor.

Lucia pressed her lips together and turned to face the Emperor.

"Miss Sia."

Crown Prince Xenon had been cautiously trying to close the distance.

At last, he approached and spoke to her in a low voice. Deep wariness toward Astin gleamed in his eyes.

"What is your relationship with that young lord of Cardenos?"

"None at all. If I had to put it one way...."

Lucia shot Astin a piercing glare.

"He's my enemy. An enemy who insulted my friend."

"Hahaha! What a relief. I was worried that violent man might harbor ulterior motives."

Lucia merely nodded in response.

She watched Astin's back recede into the crowd and bit down on her lip.

'Astin von Cardenos.'

If the rumors were true, he was a wastrel who spent every day wandering through the entertainment district, steeped in debauchery.

A thug who had become obsessed with his fiancée and raised his hand against her after she repeatedly rejected him.

With his bold features and flashy, roguish appearance, he certainly looked the part of the scandalous wastrel.

"He really looks like a chain-smoker."

He looked like the sort who would seduce an innocent young lady, sleep with her, and then put a cigarette between his lips.

Lucia's sense of smell was better than most people's.

She had expected him to smell like stale tobacco, but his scent was slightly surprising. Only a clean fragrance lingered around Astin.

Perhaps he took some pride in his natural scent, because unlike other nobles, he didn't cover it with perfume.

Of course, regardless of how he smelled, that bastard needed to be taught a lesson.

***

"Phew."

I secretly swallowed a sigh of relief.

I had expected Lucia to react this way.

From a friend's perspective, this was more than enough to make anyone see red.

Regardless of the truth behind the incident, it was only natural to believe your friend's story first.

Fortunately, I managed to escape at the perfect moment. If the Emperor hadn't arrived, we probably would have gotten into a quarrel.

"Older Brother."

Celine came toddling over from far away.

Young ladies really were exhausting.

They spent hours carefully dressing themselves at home.

Even after arriving at the imperial palace, she had apparently redone her makeup, straightened the folds of her dress, fixed her hairstyle, and checked her gloves and fan.

"You're a whole new person."

Still, Celine had definitely become pretty enough to make the long wait worthwhile.

"Now do your best. It's your debut."

"D-Do what?"

"Go make some connections."

Celine's eyes wavered helplessly.

She clearly didn't want to leave my side. She fiddled with her skirt and even slipped behind me.

"Aah...!"

I quickly stepped aside and pushed Celine forward.

If she hid behind someone else, she'd only end up a fifth wheel.

She had to mingle on her own and lead conversations if she wanted to establish her reputation as a noble young lady.

That was how aristocratic socializing worked.

"Don't chicken out. There's nothing to be nervous about."

"...."

Celine nodded as though she had resigned herself to her fate.

After taking a deep breath, she cautiously walked toward the group of noble ladies.

They wouldn't look down on her or try to bully her just because she was a bastard.

If there were any airheaded young ladies who did, I had no intention of standing by and watching.

"Whoa, you scared me."

When I turned my gaze, I flinched. Four men were glaring at me as though they wanted to kill me.

Hm. I knew all of them.

They had been like that ever since I exchanged a single word with Lucia.

"Lady Lucia, you look absolutely beautiful today too!"

"Ahaha... Thank you. You look lovely too, my lady."

Lucia was also glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

They were buried in the crowd and only attacking me with their gazes, but they looked ready to approach me the moment an opening appeared.

"Ahem."

Their stares were sharp. Very sharp. Extremely sharp.

I gave up on the idea of clearing up the misunderstanding directly.

Was it because Lucia would say, 'How could I believe you?' No, the bigger problem was those four men.

Even the Crown Prince was glaring at me as though he wanted to kill me. I had to watch myself.

I acted as though I didn't know the five of them and moved on.

Even if my reputation had sunk to the level of a wastrel's, I still had to show my face here.

I picked up a champagne glass and strode confidently toward the center.

"Ahem."

"Oh, my."

Whoosh-

The moment I appeared, the crowd split apart like the Red Sea.

Whenever I made eye contact with someone, they startled and looked away, then slowly backed off.

It was as though they were dealing with a plague victim.

"Good grief."

Now that I thought about it, I wasn't in a position to worry about Celine.

I was the wastrel young master who had beaten a delicate young lady's face into mush.

A hollow laugh escaped me before indignation could.

Forget noble duties and all that. Should I hole up in a corner, sipping the wine that remained?

That was how I spent some time alone. Almost entirely against my will.

-Ahh. May I have your attention!

Just as the trivial socializing began to warm up.

-Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!

Click─

The hall lights went out, and the auctioneer's voice rang out loudly. The sounds coming from all around gradually died down.

The auctioneer offered the customary thanks for the Emperor's benevolence and rambled on with some blah-blah about those who had graced the occasion.

In any case, the Founding Festival commemorative auction began.

-We can't waste even a second of your precious time! Please take your assigned seats!

People took their seats, each clutching a numbered bidding paddle.

I knew how the Founding Festival unfolded, even if only from a novel.

Normally, the auction segment followed the cliché of the protagonist snapping up a hidden gem no one else knew about or a slave with untapped potential.

But the Founding Festival I had read about had nothing of the sort.

All I remembered was the socializing, the roll-bun-haired noble ladies' oh-ho-ho laughter, the third-rate villainous nobles, and, at the end, the debutante ball starring Lucia.

The auction, a trivial side thread, was skipped outright.

-The first lot is a treasured possession of a jeweler known to all! An opal crystal containing the painstaking work of Master Termion! We'll start the bidding at five million shillings!

If there had been a hidden gem, the protagonist Lucia would have claimed it first. Since she hadn't, it simply meant there wasn't one.

So I had little to no expectations for the auction.

-Sold for eight million shillings! The second lot is a treasured possession of Count Valdiak of the Imperial Court! A censer excavated from the ruins of the Duchy of Arken! We'll start the bidding at seven million shillings!

Jewelry made by master jewelers. Rare artifacts excavated from ancient ruins.

Luxury goods that drove nobles wild continued to be brought onto the stage one after another.

The heated atmosphere and numbered bidding paddles never stopped waving.

Among them were weapons forged by renowned master craftsmen.

I wasn't particularly interested. I had better things at home, so why bother?

-The next lot is number twelve!

By then, the auction had passed its midpoint.

-An artifact accessory personally crafted by Lady Lucia von Elzerna, the top student at the Imperial Academy and the rising star of high society! We'll start the bidding at ten million shillings—

"Twelve million shillings!"

A bid was called before the auctioneer had even finished speaking.

There were many nobles who wanted to win Lucia's favor.

As expected, countless nobles raised their paddles and called out bids.

"Fifteen million!"

"I'll bid twenty million!"

"Thirty million!"

The four men were by far the most fervent, veins bulging as they raised the stakes.

Their fierce staring contest continued as their bidding paddles stabbed at the air.

Money was being thrown around like water.

Were they trying to buy the item, or buy a woman's heart with money? I could have bet on the latter.

The original novel never revealed who won this chaotic bidding war. The auction segment had been skipped in its entirety.

Well, the result was obvious without even having to think hard.

'Obviously the Crown Prince.'

No matter how powerful a grand noble or how wealthy a great merchant lord was, their opponent was the Empire's next sun.

There was no way an individual or a noble house could compete with the overwhelming wealth of the Imperial Family.

"Fifty million shillings."

It was a leisurely bid that crushed the competitors in an instant.

At Crown Prince Xenon's single utterance, the ballroom fell silent as though someone had doused it with cold water.

It was exactly as I had expected.

-Fifty million shillings! Anyone else? Anyone? Three, two, one! Sold! Sold to His Highness Crown Prince Xenon for fifty million shillings!

The Crown Prince burst into hearty laughter. Naturally, his lecherous gaze was directed at Lucia.

Lucia's lips trembled as she clapped with an awkward smile.

At this point, men made her uncomfortable. It was obvious even to me.

Even so, once the debutante ball arrived, Lucia would choose the Crown Prince.

According to the original story, the two would dance at the debutante ball.

Then she would gradually fall for the other men as well and form a reverse harem.

That was the Lucia I knew from the romance-fantasy novel.

"Ugh, even thinking about it makes my stomach churn...."

I couldn't believe I would have to watch that nauseating spectacle.

-We will disclose everything transparently! After deducting the commission, 85 percent of the winning bid, or 42.5 million shillings, will go to the consignor, Lady Lucia. At Lady Lucia's request, this amount will be donated to those in need!

Clap, clap, clap!

A round of applause erupted.

"As expected of Lady Lucia. Such a kind heart."

"To donate the entire sum! I don't think I could manage even half of that."

"No wonder His Highness the Crown Prince is so generous with his affections toward her."

It was a good deed, so I applauded too.

Lucia was the protagonist, and protagonists were always unequivocal forces for good.

She had played around with men until the apocalypse broke out, though.

Regardless, she was fundamentally a good person.

She understood the greater cause. Lucia was the only one who fought alongside us to the very end.

-Here is the next lot. The personal effects of the late General Vermang, former commander of the Third Imperial Regular Army Corps. Gori's General Star Sword!

The overheated atmosphere subtly cooled.

What came onto the stage was markedly different from the magic swords that had received such high praise earlier.

It was an old sword with simple decorations, bearing the unmistakable marks of age. I examined it closely.

"What is that?"

"It just looks like a beat-up old sword...."

"Who was General Vermang again? Some general from long ago?"

"He was a general from more than ten years ago. I only know his name."

General Vermang. Every knight naturally knew that name.

Long before he became a retired soldier, he had been a knight who defined Gori's golden age.

Even at the moment of his death, he had returned his entire fortune to the knight order and put up for auction the cherished sword he had wielded throughout his life.

His will stipulated that all the proceeds from the sale be used to train the next generation.

-The opening bid is four million shillings!

Four million could be considered cheap.

That is, if you thought of it as buying not merely a sword, but also his honor and the years of history it carried.

I glanced around for no particular reason.

"Ahem...."

"Four million, huh."

The nobles who had been raising their bids until then fell silent. These were the same people who had bid over five million for luxury goods.

The reason was simple. That sword couldn't be considered a luxury item.

Knights couldn't even use it in actual combat.

The hilt was rusted in several places, and the blade was chipped beyond repair.

At most, it could serve as a decorative or ceremonial sword.

Gulp-

I heard someone swallow from one corner of the room.

A group of white-haired old men sat there with tense expressions.

The traces of their well-trained bodies revealed them to be former comrades of General Vermang.

They anxiously watched their fallen comrade's sword on the stage, glancing at the crowd's reaction as they swallowed dryly.

Their eyes desperately begged someone to place a high value on the sword and preserve the dignity of their dead comrade.

"Four million two hundred thousand shillings."

"Four million five hundred thousand."

"Here, four million seven hundred thousand shillings."

Occasional bids came from the crowd. Even those amounted to nothing more than small change trickling back and forth.

They were pity bids from the wealthy, tossed out to preserve appearances.

Gori's General Star Sword was a somewhat specialized masterwork attuned to the Solar Ring.

And the legacy of the Solar Ring was treated as obsolete everywhere.

Even now, nobles whispered that it was a 'relic of a bygone era.'

Because they didn't know that Luna was the Nameless Thread, a puppet of the Outer God.

But not knowing that was no reason to undervalue it.

Nor did they respect the honor of knights who endured hardship.

The Solar Ring deserved respect in and of itself.

"How about we pool our funds?"

I looked toward the old knights. They had already lowered their heads as though resigned to the outcome.

"We should. We can't let General Vermang's sword rot away like this."

"Then let's pool whatever we can contribute. If I sell even my gold ring to make up the difference... we should be able to raise about a million."

"I can contribute a million and a half. What about you?"

They meant to uphold General Vermang's dignity.

I couldn't let that happen. Anyone knowledgeable would see through their gesture and mock the old knights for making their motives so obvious.

-Five million shillings! Any more? If not, then sold at this—

The auctioneer stopped speaking. His gaze fixed on me.

I pulled myself away from the backrest and waved the bidding paddle I had raised high.

-Number 326! State your bid!

"Fifty million shillings."

Every sound in the hall stopped at that moment. I could feel countless gazes pouring over me, prickling my skin.

Among those innumerable gazes was Lucia's, staring at me in shock.

Even after our eyes met, she simply continued staring.

Something.......

Did it offend her that I'd put the same value on it as on her item?