Chapter 36

When I offered the price firmly, the auctioneer nodded and raised the hammer.

“Then, at 100 rue—”

“For 150 rue.”

Then a low voice came from the floor.

“That man”

The source of the voice was a young man with gorgeous silver hair.

The man, who was sitting leisurely with his legs crossed, slowly raised his head and made eye contact. I couldn’t see his eyes because of his face covered with thin cloth, but I was sure.

Now that guy, he’s looking at me.

That punk.

“At 170.”

Are you the only one with money?

“At 180.”

The red lips under the black cloth drew an arc. As if to laugh at me.

The theater began to tumble again with heated discussions.

“To provoke the duke. That’s crazy.”

“Who the hell is it? It’s my first time seeing him.”

“The proud duke won’t back down from here.”

“Shh, even if you’re not talking about the Duke.”

Everyone’s eyes were on me.

“At 200.”

“At 210.”

“At 220.”

As the pointless battle continued, I was suddenly tired.

I’m already tired because I don’t have time to sleep.

Besides, I need to be alert for future operations.

I stared at the man ferociously and finally rebuked him.

“On 1,000 bases.”

The hammer made a cheerful noise.

“It’s sold for 1000 rues!”

Mr. Lee. My blood money.

Just by looking at the speed of her spending money, she is likely to go into exile while being broke.

I stared fiercely at the place where the man was again, but he had moved or disappeared.

“Ha ha. You have a great eye.”

The Marquis of Treve flattered me by looking at my countenance.

Thanks to the disturbance, no one seemed to regard me as a weak woman who poured 1,000 rues on two worthless slaves.

If you are a tough human being who protects your pride no matter what happens, wouldn’t you know?

As a result, it was good, but I felt really bad without knowing why.

I sat down again, swearing.

During the remainder of the auction, the slaves I bought were brought to the box.

The security guard who dragged them greeted me in a crude manner.

And roughly knelt the two people in front of me.

“This is Knoxus, a 26-year-old man. This is Catherine, a 20-year-old girl.”

The guard gave information about the two slaves that were kneeling down.

“He will be your master from now on. Take care of him well.”

Noxus? Sir Ethan’s name is Noxus?

A familiar name flashed through my mind remembering the contents of the original.

Knoxus, a man who would later be the mastermind of the slave uprising.

In the original story, he/she becomes half-mad and instigates a riot when he/she hears that his/her sister, who has been sold to another place in the slave market, has died.

In addition, even though he did not receive proper training due to his natural talent in the original, he reached the level of being a swordmaster.

The empire was easily torn down between riots led by people just before the invasion of Esland.

“Hoh………….”

So Sir Ethan in front of me was the mastermind of the original uprising. I thought he was just a supporting role, abandoned by Duke Baloa.

The guard licked his lips at how he interpreted my false laugh.

“You can’t come and close the deal now.”

I coaxed a pompous voice, looking at the countenance of the Marquis Treve next to me.

“Don’t think of anything.”

When the promised money was handed over, the expenses were quickly received and disappeared.

“Hoho, do you like the slaves?”

When the Marquis of Treve asked me secretly, I clicked my tongue.

Here, if it is known that they were bought purely out of sympathy, I will lose face as Duke of Baloa.

“Well, it’s worth a look.”

Fortunately, the Marquis of Treve nodded without much doubt.

Kung.

Then Sir Ethan walked knee-deep in front of me.

“Master.”

For a moment, I got goosebumps all over my body.

No… Don’t call me master.

I wanted to shut him up if I could.

But I couldn’t even frown because I was pretending to be arrogant, and I couldn’t help but nod.

“May I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

Sir Ethan put his forehead on the floor.

“Please let go of my sister.”

After a brief hesitation, Sir Ethan added in a small way.

“For the sake of old times…………. Please show me your mercy once.”

The face that looked up at me was a mixture of guilt, desperation, and desperation close to resignation.

I suddenly realized it.

Recognizing with my voice that I was the Duke of Baloa, Sir Ethan seemed to think that I had bought them out of revenge for the other assassination attempt.

The notoriety of the Duke of Baloa would have made him prepare for a painful death.

And he was afraid I’d kill his sister out of anger.

“Those worries…”

As I tried to explain quickly, I could feel Marquis Treve’s eyes looking closely at me.

If you do all the slave’s favors here, you’ll be suspicious, right?

“Alright.”

No matter how hard I was, I couldn’t say a heartless word in front of Sir Ethan, who clenched his fist so that blood would fill under his fingernails.

“I will restore your sister’s status.”

As Sir Ethan’s fist loosened, a stream of blood flowed down and soaked the floor.

A small sigh broke through his gums.

The gaze that looked up at me contained an unknown enthusiasm.

The gold color, which had only been seen at first glance in the green eyes, shone brilliantly for a moment.

“Thank you, master. I’ll pay this debt with my life.”

Oh, what master, please.

But I had to pretend to be a vicious duke.

“Of course you should.”

Then the Marquis of Treve stepped in.

“Haha, Duke of Baloa, you have a big heart. To listen to the request of a slave.”

It seemed that my viciousness was lacking.

Ignoring the sweat that began to peek through my forehead, I quickly rolled my head.

How do I justify accepting a slave’s request?

Eventually, I raised my chin and twisted my lips, recalling the most evil smile I knew.

“I don’t want to hear people say that I am so desperate that I can’t even accept the request of the man who will become my lover.”

Shi—.

(T/N: she’s cursing here, I suppose. It was written as 시X in the original)

I didn’t know I’d have to be like the emperor.

The corners of my eyes fluttered with shame, but fortunately, they were hidden by a mask.

✿✿✿

As the duke and his party left the box, the man covering his face with a black cloth threw off a rough silver wig behind the curtain.

The exposed hair was darker black than the night sky.

The man’s blood-red eyes flashed and he smirked.

“I was wondering why you’re pretending to be nice again. Ha, lover?”

✿✿✿

When the auction was over, Marquis Treve led me to a small office hidden behind the theater.

It’s where I’m supposed to meet the slave dealer.

When we entered the office, the slave dealer was already waiting for us.

A middle-aged man, who was short but generally thick, nodded half-heartedly.

Having always gotten used to receiving polite greetings, I naturally frowned.

As expected, he was not an easy opponent that could be intimidated with just the status of Duke Baloa.

Marquis Treve tried hard to lighten the mood, perhaps because he felt my displeasure.

“Duke Baloa, this is the Faus I mentioned the other day. They are a little rough because of what they do, but they make sure they do things properly.”

However, Faus leaned comfortably on the back of the chair, placing his thick hand full of gold rings on his protruding stomach, as if he could not see the restless marquis.

“How did the noble duke find such a lowly man as myself?”

It was a self-deprecating and arrogant attitude, but I decided not to care.

I just wanted to get it done quickly and go back and rest.

I went straight to my point.

“Legalizing the slave market.”

He was still sitting poorly, leaning deeply against the chair, but I could see the pause clearly. Even the tight fingers are on the verge of choking on the gold ring.

I grinned.

“Let’s make a deal.”

Of course, I didn’t really mean to legalize it.

It was intended to take out their transaction books or records under the pretext of legalization and then make a single strike.

There was no bait as good as legalization to obtain data.

Legalization was a golden opportunity to further expand the small-scale market, avoiding the eyes of the law.

Of course, because the law has become lax due to the tyrant’s reign, it will soon become prosperous because of its size, but does the current slave leader know that?

“If you hand over the stake, I’ll try to legalize it.”

I smiled with satisfaction.

The Duke of Baloa, who wields absolute power, said she would try her best, which was tantamount to confirming the legalization of the slave market.

“Duke! Are you really legalizing it?”

The Marquis Treve made a fuss and quickly elevated me to Duke.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s up to Faus to decide.”

Marquis Treve began to spit and speak enthusiastically.

“Faus! You! What are you waiting for without saying you’d do it? Aren’t you going to do it? Isn’t that what Duke Baloa is suggesting?”

However, Faus did not speak for a while despite the pointing of the Marquis Treve.

I was a little nervous, but I leaned back comfortably and waited for Faus to open his mouth.

“Legalization…………”.”

Faus slowly began to rhyme.

He didn’t show any emotion on his face, but he looked worried when he opened and folded his hands.

“I refuse.”

That was an unexpected answer.