“The first item up for auction today is a gold coin found on a Viking pirate ship from 500 years ago. Let’s start the bidding at 100 gold.”
Quietly, the hands of the auction participants went up, and Lady Jenkins enthusiastically raised the price.
“150 gold, 200 gold, 250 gold…!”
The bidding stopped when the bid reached 350 gold. With no one else raising their hand, Lady Jenkins looked around and asked,
“350 gold. Any more bids?”
“…”
Bang! The gavel struck once. The gold coin from the Viking pirate ship went to Count Karma, who was immersed in archaeological research.
“Now, let me introduce the next item.”
Soon, another one of Lady Jenkins’s treasures was up for auction. Pristin watched with interest as people raised their hands passionately once again.
‘I wondered why so many people were flocking to this bazaar.’
It was quite an intriguing sight. Moreover, the prospect of the proceeds being used for a good cause further fueled participation. When the second auction item was sold, Lady Eusten, who was beside Pristin, asked,
“Your Excellency, aren’t you participating?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I’m just enjoying watching.”
“Still waiting for something worth coveting?”
“Just wait a little longer. Beautiful jewels are bound to come up.”
Pristin did have enough money to participate in the auction. Before attending today’s auction, Jerald had told her to name any price if she wanted something.
However, as she rarely attended such events, the auction setting wasn’t familiar to Pristin, so she simply watched as others raised their hands. That alone was entertaining enough for her. Of course, if something she liked came up, she would raise her hand, but so far, there hadn’t been anything worth considering.
People who were initially just watching began to raise their hands as time passed. Lady Eusten, who sat next to Pristin, also raised her hand three or four times. By then, Pristin had absent-mindedly watched as others raised their hands. Suddenly…
“Now, let me introduce the next item, a pair of glass slippers donated by Lady Hopkins.”
A pair of transparent shoes rested quietly in a glass box. The decorations on the border, which could not be a diamond with a subtle rainbow color or an unknown stone on the beach, were especially beautiful. Pristin looked at the shoes with an unknowingly blank expression. Lady Eusten asked with a small laugh when she saw that,
“Do you like those slippers?”
“…They’re pretty.”
“Then buy them. You’ve only been watching until now.”
Encouraged by Lady Eusten’s urging, Pristin hesitated. But only for a moment.
“Let’s start the bidding at 400 gold. 400 gold, 450 gold, 500 gold!”
Pristin raised her hand. If she didn’t buy anything, Jerald might wonder why she came back empty-handed. What was pretty in her eyes would be pretty in others’ eyes too. There were far more people raising their hands now than for the previous item.
“600 gold, 650 gold!”
The price continued to rise, but the movement of raising hands didn’t stop. Even nobles who hadn’t raised their hands initially started to do so as the price went up.
“We’re at 850 gold, 900 gold!”
As the auction price approached twice the original amount, the number of hands raised in the air decreased. From five to four to three, until finally, only two remained. One was Pristin’s, and the other…
“We’ve reached 1,000 gold!”
It belonged to Tanya Gennant. At that moment, Pristin’s and Tanya’s eyes met in the air.
Did they have to meet again like this?
Pristin felt this situation was quite exhausting, but she had no intention of backing down.
“From 1000 gold, it goes up 100 gold. 1100 gold, 1200 gold, 1300 gold!”
From 1000 gold onwards, the bidding increments rapidly increased.
“1900 gold, yes, 2000 gold!”
And when the auction price went up to 2000 gold, Pristin began to hesitate slightly.
‘Even though they’re pretty, is it worth bidding more than 2000 gold just for glass slippers?’
While she liked them, the slippers weren’t worth paying over 2000 gold for. If she thought logically, there were better options for the same price.
In the end, Pristin decided to give up. Even as she did, Tanya continued to raise her hand. There was a kind of determination in Tanya’s eyes that she would definitely win the slippers.
“If it were someone else, I might not care, but I won’t let her have it.”
It was more of a competitive spirit than a desire to own the glass slipper. Tanya didn’t want to lose, especially not to someone like Pristin. Brelin, who was beside her, looked worried about Tanya’s determination, but she didn’t dare to interfere. She didn’t want to provoke any outbursts.
“2100 gold! Any more?”
“…”
“If not, the winning bid is at 2100 gold…”
But at that moment, someone suddenly raised their hand. They wore a mask, so their face couldn’t be recognized, but their attire was definitely masculine. It was the first time this person had raised their hand during the auction, so they were also a stranger to Lady Jenkins.
Caught off-guard by the sudden turn of events, Lady Jenkins hesitated for a moment, but then resumed the auction as if nothing had happened.
“Yes, we have 2200 gold.”
Tanya glared sharply at the man who raised his hand abruptly, just a second before winning the bid. He didn’t seem polite at all, intruding so suddenly.
‘Who on earth is he?’
Tanya stared closely at the man to deduce the identity, but she couldn’t deduce the identity as he thoroughly covered his face with a mask. Tanya eventually raised her hand again, as if it didn’t matter who it was.
“We have 2300 gold, 2400 gold, and 2500 gold!”
Prices began to rise again. Pristin watched the auction with a tense face. The price was rising so high that Lady Hopkins, who donated the shoes, was embarrassed.
Pristin became very curious about who would win this auction.
“2800 gold, 2900 gold, 3000 gold!”
Eventually, the auction price jumped to more than seven times the starting price. There was an exclamation everywhere.
As Tanya was about to raise her hand again after the last man, Lady Jenkins spoke first.
“You two seem to have quite a desire for these shoes.”
“…”
“If we continue like this, the auction might never end, so from 3000 gold, we’ll increase the bid by 500 gold each time.”
500 gold!
It was an enormous amount of money. Pristin thought she had made the right decision to give up early and watched with tense eyes to see how the two would fare. Others also observed with nervous expressions, wondering what the outcome of this auction would be.
“3500 gold, 4000 gold, 4500 gold!”
And finally, at 5000 gold, the man raised his hand, and Tanya did too.
“Lady, don’t do it!”
Brelin, who was worried, stopped Tanya.
‘Why does it have to be her today of all days!’
If it was Duke Gennant next to her, she wouldn’t have been so anxious. As expected, Tanya glared at Brelin, who was next to her. It was a tone that seemed to question why she was interfering. Brelin spoke in a voice that only Tanya could hear,
“5000 gold for a pair of glass shoes… This is madness, lady.”
“Don’t stop me. I’m definitely going to buy that.”
“Oh, my lady, you can’t.”
“5000 gold! Don’t you have any more?”
“Miss, you can’t. Think rationally. Please?”
“…”
In the end, Tanya gave up raising her hand further, and Lady Jenkins’s voice rang out.
“5000 gold, 5000 gold! Sold!”
Bang! The gavel struck after a long time. It had been a very long auction indeed.
“In the end, the gentleman with the mask won.”
“That’s right. Who on earth would spend 5000 gold on a glass slipper?”
“I’m really curious who it is. The person receiving that as a gift must be lucky.”
Listening to the chatter nearby, Pristin silently agreed. He would not wear it and it would be for a gift, but she thought she would be envious of the person receiving the gift.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
After that, the auction was over only after several more items were sold. However, even after the auction, the party continued, and most of the invitees stayed drinking and talking.
Pristin was also having a conversation with her old friends, whom she hadn’t seen in a week. She also had to occasionally receive greetings from those who wanted to impress her as their future empress.
‘It’s definitely much busier than just being the Countess of Rosewell.’
As the sun set and night fell, people began to leave slowly. Pristin also thought it was time to leave and was about to finish her conversation when someone called out to her.
“Lady Rosewell.”
Someone called out to Pristin. When she turned around with a puzzled expression, there was a man standing there. Pristin asked with a bewildered expression.
“What’s the matter?”
“Our master would like to meet the Countess.”
“Who is your master…”
“You’ll see when you come.”
Pristin felt a bit uneasy for some reason. But refusing to go was also awkward.
“It’s not the palace; it’s the Jenkins Mansion, so nothing serious will happen.”
But just in case, Pristin jokingly told those with her,
“If I don’t return in an hour, assume something’s wrong.”
“Oh my, Countess.”
Of course, the listeners took it as a joke. Pristin smiled and then followed the man with Christine. However, the man gradually led them to a deserted area. Pristin followed without letting her guard down. And at some point, she saw a familiar figure.
“Huh…?”
It was the man earlier. The man who won the glass slippers after competing with Tanya. Pristin looked at the masked man with a puzzled expression. The man who brought Pristin immediately stepped aside, and Pristin opened her mouth with a puzzled face.
“You said you’d like to see me.”
At Pristin’s words, the man slowly began to remove the mask on his face. And when the man’s bare face, which was hidden behind the mask, was finally revealed, Pristin was surprised.
