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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Madman of the North
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He was a man with a cold demeanor. Unlike Eric, who always swept his hair back, this man’s golden hair flowed down past his eyebrows, fluttering gently.
“A seat? Since when did the auction house have assigned seats?”
As soon as the man finished speaking, a chilling aura permeated the auction hall. Was it Roje’s imagination, or did the surroundings suddenly grow quiet? Roje swallowed hard and looked up at the man. His fierce, blue eyes, like those of a predator, stared coldly back at her.
‘…He seems like a scary person.’
The moment their eyes met, Roje quickly averted her gaze. But she couldn’t just leave. That spot was definitely hers. Roje fiddled with her bidding paddle. Then, as if making a firm decision, she gripped it tightly.
“It says number 38 here.”
Roje subtly extended her paddle towards the man, fully believing that the number indicated a seat. When Roje didn’t back down, the man’s expression grew even colder.
“Madam! Just a moment!”
At that moment, Sereun, who had been nervously watching the man, turned pale and blocked Roje’s path. Sereun fidgeted, pulling on Roje’s arm. Then he whispered urgently,
“Madam, this isn’t a seat ticket, it’s a bidding number. When an item you wish to purchase appears, you simply hold up the number and state your price.”
“A—a bidding number?”
Roje’s face flushed with embarrassment at Sereun’s rapid-fire explanation. She tried to ignore the man’s piercing gaze fixed on her and whispered back to Sereun,
“Then what about seats?”
“You can sit anywhere you like.”
A bead of sweat trickled down Roje’s back.
‘So… I just told a perfectly seated person to move?’
Roje struggled to lift her stiff lips into an awkward smile, blinking her eyes. Was the frightening-looking man still staring at her? She darted her large eyes around, glancing nervously beside her. The man’s gaze was still fixed on Roje.
‘If I stay like this, something bad might happen.’
Sereun kept his guard up, watching the man. His gaze towards Roje was quite threatening. Those gleaming eyes visible through his hair… The rumors of him being the Madman of the North didn't seem to be an exaggeration. Sereun bowed 90 degrees towards the man and apologized. All he wanted was to quickly get Roje out of there.
“We apologize for the rudeness, Grand Duke Arteum.”
When the name ‘Grand Duke Arteum’ left Sereun’s lips, Roje’s already large eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
‘Grand Duke Arteum…!’
The bloodthirsty, tearless madman and murderer her governess had strictly warned her never to get involved with. That person was now sitting in front of Roje. The auction hall was as silent as a tomb. Everyone held their breath, glancing furtively at Roje and the Grand Duke.
They were curious to know who had dared to provoke Grand Duke Arteum without fear, and what bizarre act Grand Duke Arteum would inflict upon them. Grand Duke Arteum casually rose from his seat. Then he extended a pale, bloodless hand towards Sereun, who was bowing his head. The moment his hand reached for Sereun, Roje’s mind went blank.
‘What is he going to do to Sereun?!’
If young Sereun suffered something terrible because of her, Roje wouldn’t be able to sleep from guilt. Lost in her terrible imaginings, Roje barely managed to grab the Grand Duke’s coat collar just before his hand touched Sereun.
“…”
At Roje’s touch, Grand Duke Arteum stopped in his tracks, frowned, and looked back. Roje took a step forward, shielding Sereun as if to protect him. The Grand Duke’s gaze shifted from Sereun to Roje. Already tense, Roje began to tremble all over when her eyes met his.
“I apologize for my rudeness.”
A tremor was audible in Roje’s voice as she answered, not averting the Grand Duke’s gaze. She tried to stand tall and appear confident, but everyone present could feel it: Roje had stepped forward despite her fear.
“…”
Grand Duke Arteum’s eyes, as he looked at Roje, gleamed with a strange intensity. What on earth was he thinking? Roje, observing the Grand Duke’s expression, sighed in relief when she saw the faint upward curve of his lips.
‘He doesn’t seem displeased. Since I’ve apologized, I can leave now, right?’
She thought so and quickly tried to make her escape… but when Roje turned around, she realized. The area behind her was already packed with people. There seemed to be no space for her to squeeze through.
‘Ah, should I go forward?’
Unlike the crowded back, the front was unusually empty. Roje tried to walk forward with stiff steps. However, a voice from behind her made her stop.
“Sit.”
It was Grand Duke Arteum’s voice. A shiver ran down her spine. Surely, he wasn’t talking to her, she thought, and was about to take another step.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to sit?”
His voice came again. Roje thought the Grand Duke couldn’t be calling her, but just in case, she glanced back. And then, her eyes met Grand Duke Arteum’s directly. The Grand Duke curled his lips into a sneer, directed right at her. His smile made Roje’s insides churn.
‘He was really telling *me* to sit?’
…Why?! She was almost at the point of grabbing the Grand Duke’s shoulders and demanding an answer. But she didn’t want to displease him by doing that. Roje swallowed the words that rose to her throat and, with a trembling voice, asked the Grand Duke, who was pointing at her. She desperately hoped he wasn't talking to her.
“Are you speaking to me?”
“Yes. Who else is standing here besides you?”
“There are a lot of people standing, though…”
Roje mumbled to herself, looking around the auction hall. Contrary to the Grand Duke’s words, there were indeed many people standing. But that was only for a moment; the people who had been peeking like meerkats quickly turned pale and sat down. It must have been because of Grand Duke Arteum, who was pressuring them with his murderous gaze. Now, only Roje and Sereun stood blankly in the auction hall. To make people tremble with fear with just a look, without a single word… Roje felt even more afraid of Grand Duke Arteum in front of her.
“I was going to go sit in the front…”
Roje offered an awkward smile, trying to hint that she would move. But the Grand Duke’s next words made it impossible for her to go forward.
“Are you going to block my view from the front?”
His sharp voice pierced her ears.
‘Maybe it’s better to sit here like an invisible person than to displease him in the front.’
When she heard the Grand Duke’s chilling voice, Roje had no choice but to grudgingly sit in the seat next to him. Not long after Roje sat down, the auction began. Roje, who had been tense, wondering if the Grand Duke would do something to her, sighed in relief when he did nothing. Only then could Roje focus on the auction. There weren’t any items she particularly wanted to buy, but watching the rare items was quite entertaining.
“Thirty million Lires.”
“Thirty-five million Lires!”
Voices of people bidding for items could be heard. As expected of nobles, the starting prices were extraordinary.
‘I heard a lower-ranking noble’s annual living expenses were between one thousand and two thousand Lires. And commoners needed an average of one million Lires per year.’
Roje’s mouth fell open at the bidding price, which was more than three times a lower-ranking noble’s living expenses.
‘The nobles gathered here really are on a different level from ordinary people.’
Roje looked at the people with eyes of awe, not yet fully realizing that she herself was now among people of that level.
“Any more bids? Then, counting down now. Three, two, one.”
To win an item, one had to offer a higher price before the person on the podium counted to three. Otherwise, the item would be awarded to the last person to call out a price. Thud, thud, thud.
“This item has been successfully bid for thirty-five million Lires.”
Once the bid was confirmed, a maid approached the successful bidder. And then, she took his bidding paddle.
‘It seems you can only win one bid.’
Without a bidding paddle, one wouldn’t be able to bid anymore. Roje thought she should carefully choose the item she wanted to buy and scanned the auction list. She didn’t know of any items besides ‘Luna’s Tear’. However, Roje had no intention of bidding for ‘Luna’s Tear’. Just then, the auction for Luna’s Tear began.
“Next is Luna’s Tear. Starting bid is fifty million Lires.”
At the auctioneer’s words, people quickly began to raise their bids.
“Fifty-five million Lires.”
“Sixty million Lires!”
“Sixty-five million Lires.”
“Eighty million Lires.”
‘It’s a fake anyway…’
Everyone was so desperate for a counterfeit without knowing it. Roje clicked her tongue inwardly, listening to the rapidly increasing amount. At that moment, Grand Duke Arteum, who had been silent, picked up his bidding paddle and spoke.
“One hundred million Lires.”
Grand Duke Arteum added twenty million Lires to the eighty million, calling out one hundred million Lires. It was a considerably high bid, but other nobles didn’t give up easily.
“One hundred twenty million Lires.”
“One hundred twenty-five million Lires!”
Grand Duke Arteum picked up his bidding paddle again, as if to make another bid, as the price continued to climb. Roje, sitting next to Grand Duke Arteum, couldn’t help but be concerned about him bidding on ‘Luna’s Tear’ right beside her. She couldn’t stop everyone far away, but Grand Duke Arteum was right beside her. In an instant, the bidding price soared to three hundred million Lires.
‘What should I do? It’s bothering me.’
Roje furtively glanced at Grand Duke Arteum. After all, he was offering an enormous sum for a fake. Just as the Grand Duke was about to raise his hand to bid a higher price,
“No, don’t.”
Roje blocked the Grand Duke’s hand and shook her head.
“What is it?”
The Grand Duke showed his displeasure at Roje’s interference with his bid. Facing his chilling expression that sent shivers down her spine, Roje felt a fleeting thought that she shouldn’t have meddled. Even so, she squeezed her eyes shut and spoke in a small, timid voice.
“Don’t buy that.”
“What concern is it of yours?”
As expected, his voice was thorny. Roje was drenched in sweat, scolding herself for having meddled after all.
‘I really need to fix this personality… I just habitually stepped in without thinking. I could have just ignored it and pretended not to know.’
She appeared timid and quiet on the surface. By nature, she was kind, often taking on tasks others didn’t want to do by saying, ‘I’ll do it,’ and helping people before they even asked for help. She was the kind of person who couldn’t pass by someone in distress.
‘The Grand Duke probably has plenty of money anyway.’
The Grand Duke was once the Crown Prince. She couldn’t even imagine how much money he had. Whether he spent three hundred million Lires or a billion Lires on a fake, that amount of money might not be a large sum to the Grand Duke. It was too late to regret not speaking up, not bothering.
‘Should I just tell him to buy it again?’
Roje glanced at the Grand Duke and then clamped her mouth shut after seeing his expression. He was glaring at her as if to say he wouldn’t tolerate her bothering him over something trivial. Roje finally decided to tell him the truth, whether he believed her or not.
“That’s a fake.”
“A fake?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that? Are you saying those people are insulting the nobles here?”
“No, it’s not that… I don’t think they know Luna’s Tear is fake either.”
Roje mumbled timidly that he could buy it if he really wanted to. But perhaps her words had an effect. The Grand Duke, who had been holding his bidding paddle, slowly lowered his hand.
“Countess Wence.”
Roje was startled when the Grand Duke called her name.
‘He… knew me?’
“Yes?”
When Roje answered in a bewildered voice, the Grand Duke spoke in a low tone.
“If that turns out to be genuine… you will pay dearly for interfering with me.”
Her body stiffened as the Grand Duke’s low voice resonated. Even knowing it was a ‘fake’, Roje’s throat went dry under his predatory gaze. Grand Duke Arteum, the Madman of the North. She had a dreadful premonition that she had somehow gotten on his bad side.
