Chapter 12.2

“Save me…..?”

He frowned as if what he had heard was ridiculous.

I nodded my head with a smile.

The Elf, who was previously lying helplessly on the ground, rose up.

I think he finally had the heart to engage in a proper conversation.

“I hear every Elf has a common sense of medicine. And the elves have their own superior ability to purify, don’t they? I need that ability….

If you make me an antidote, I’ll take you safely back to your home.”

Isn’t this a pretty good deal? It’s not much, but we’d meet each other’s needs.

I get the antidote, and the Elf goes home safely.

It was a proposal that they could appeal to each other, and we’d have nothing to lose.

“If you make me a little antidote, I’ll take you home safely?”

“……..”

“…Okay?”

“How can I believe that?”

The Elf gave me a look of disbelief. He had suffered a lot.

The little beast managed to keep his nose from snorting with a growl.

“Don’t believe me if you don’t want to.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to believe me.”

I don’t want him to believe me.

I had no intention of forcing it. The Elf, full of distrust of humans–and rightfully so–will not believe me no matter what I say, and the more I force it and try and persuade him, the worse this relationship gets.

You won’t believe me anyway. What else can I say?

“I’ve been planning to buy you at this auction. I planned on buying you even if someone offers a high price. But why would I bother to come to you and tell you this?”

“……”

“And if I didn’t buy you, you’d still be sold to someone else who paid a high price. Of course, you don’t have a choice in it. Then you’ll have to pray that you won’t be sold to a rich sadist with nasty inclinations.”

Out of all the aristocracy, quite a few have disgusting and dirty hobbies. And many of the nobles who attended these vicious illegal slave auctions had terrible taste.

If the taste of the aristocrats who bought slaves is vicious, the fate of the enslave under them will be worse than death or death.

“But instead, here I am. Promising to get you out of here.”

“……..”

“Of course, there’s no evidence I can provide for you to trust me.”

“…….”

“There’s no evidence, but I mean it. Whether you believe it or not, I intend to take full responsibility for my vow to you.”

I lifted the mask I was wearing.

I desperately needed this Elf.

I didn’t hide the expression on my face, hoping that my earnestness would reach him.

Elf’s eyes opened wide, surprised.

The hero of this novel, Hypron, saved the Elf out of the goodness of his heart.

I am too selfish to save the Elf out of the goodness of my heart.

I’m not as good as Hypron, and more than anything, I don’t do good—I’m apart of a villainous family and am a villainess myself.

I’m trying to get the Elf out of here purely to accomplish my own purposes.

That’s why I was so much more desperate than the Hypron.

Because I had to accomplish my goal at all costs.

As desperate as I am, here too, I can help the Elf just as well as Hypron.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“……Yes, as you said, I have no choice anyway.”

“You know it well.”

“….Keep your promise.”

The Elf reached out to me through the iron bars.

I grinned, grabbed his hand, and shook it.

Our deal has been successfully settled.

I had no intention of letting this hand go until I had achieved my purpose.

“Hey, human. What’s your name?”

“I’m Serina. You?”

I didn’t feel the need, so I didn’t bother to reveal my last name.

“I’m Igelto.”

It’s a different species, so it’s a unique name.

The different culture of the Elves was felt in his name with a unique, strong accent.

The Elf twisted his hand as if to pull out of the handshake with me. But I grabbed him by the wrist and wouldn’t let him go.

“…..Why aren’t you letting go? What are you doing now?”

“Sorry. I apologize in advance.”

“What….?”

I apologized instead of letting go of his hand.

The Elf looked at me, puzzled, but I pulled him towards instead of asking the question.

The Iron Curl.

The bracelet I clasped on his arm. I filled it with magic.

Then the Elf’s face broke.

” I shouldn’t have trusted you!”

“Calm down. This is just a bracelet to make sure of the contract.”

There’s a magic spell on it that will make you suffer if you break the contract.

The Elf glared at me with a sulky look.

“Do you have another bracelet?”

“Of course.”

“Give it to me, then.”

I took another bracelet out of my arms and handed it to him.

After he snatched the bracelet, he fixed his eyes on me.

“Stretch out your hand.”

My arm was clasped with the same magic bracelet.

It was almost time for the auction to begin.

If I kept staying here, the guards might think it’s weird.

“I’ll see you later, then…”

“…Igeltho.”

When I call his name in a small voice, he looks suprised.

“···· Yeah, Serina.”

I pulled up the corners of my mouth, satisfied. I feel rewarded for all my hard work.

“Oh. I almost forgot to say this. There could be a disturbance. At that time, hide in a deserted place and don’t leave the auction house.”

“What?”

He frowned, confused by what I had said.

I’m afraid I don’t have time to explain.

I took my eyes off him and went back to my box, i.e. to the room assigned to Rotor.

They gave him a good room because of his high status.

The whole auction house was visible from my viewpoint.

There was a red sofa in the middle of the luxurious room.

Instead of sitting on the sofa, I approached near the railing and waited for the auction to begin.

Fingers twisted in suspense from the nerve-wracking boredom

I ended up tapping the railing with anxiety.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting! I’m formally announcing the commencement of the auction!”

***

On the first line of the letter, it said, “A request for my brother.”

That day, like every other day, I was in the midst of my routine.

I had planned for the next day and the next. It was organized without fail.

After handling the piled papers, I would be going to the Imperial Palace for a while and then processing documents again.

And on other days, I would write and mail a letter to Serina.

If his letter had not come, I would have been having a typical, predictable day like every other day.

Mikhail’s letter stated that Serina went to a slave auction due to “unavoidable circumstances” and that he could not be protect her due to “unavoidable circumstances.”

Mikhail, who could not manage to write down that his younger sister beat him, instead used the catch-all term: “unavoidable circumstances.”

Alastair, who was not aware of these ‘unavoidable circumstances’, clenched his jaw and grinded his teeth.

What the hell is that unavoidable reason to let her go to such a place?

For some reason, Serina went to an illegal and dangerous slave auction.

And it was bad enough to worry Mikhail. Nevermind Alastair.

There were too many evils in the world—especially concerning the world of the black market.

Alastair has never seen Serina ever pleased with a gift.

She always says thank you for courtesy when she is receiving one, but she always had a gloomy reaction.

The more Alastair accomplished, the more he had to give, and the more he wanted to give.

And the more urgent he became to find something she liked and desired.

Alastair wanted to give her everything, but she didn’t want it.

So he wondered what she would buy at the auction.

Simultaneously, he rationalized that although it was mainly a slave auction, they didn’t only sell slaves.

The rational thought calmed him down.

Alastar was convinced that Serina would never purchase an enslaved person.

‘Instead, let’s use this opportunity to figure out what Serina likes.’