Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Unmasking the Fraud
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***
“Then, this magic tool is………!”
Merat was introducing an auction item when he spotted a woman entering through the entrance and taking a seat.
‘Hmm?’
It was that woman from earlier. The pretty-faced sucker who had given him a silver coin upon entry.
‘She looked like she was leaving just a bit ago, but she came back?’
Merat was a bit bothered but ignored it and continued the auction.
Anyway, that woman hadn’t bid on anything earlier. Being young, it was obvious she didn’t have the money. She was probably just there to watch.
“Then, this holy relic starts at 70 gold…….”
“Here!”
But as soon as the auction started, the woman shot her hand up and shouted.
“I’ll buy that!”
……Is she really an idiot?
Merat sneered inwardly.
“Excuse me, lady, but this starts at 70 gold……….”
However, the woman actually paid.
Ching.
“Is this enough?”
She even pulled out a bag full of gold coins right in front of him.
“O-of course, lady!”
What she won was a glass cup adorned with colorful glass jewels. It looked pretty but had little practical use.
If it weren’t a holy relic, no one would pay that amount for it.
“Wow, so pretty…….”
‘Idiot. Doesn’t even know it’s fake..’ Of course, it was a replica, not even a real holy relic.
However, the woman admired it innocently, unaware that the glass cup had been switched with a fake.
“Then, this next item is a holy relic from the 3rd century—”
Crash!
As he was about to proceed, there was the sound of something breaking from somewhere.
“Are you alright, miss? You should have been more careful.”
“Ung….”
It was the woman from just now who had broken the cup.
‘No way she’s going to demand a refund because she broke it?’
Merat quickly went over, pretending to soothe her, and muttered.
“Hmph, the sucker deserves it.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, no. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ung.”
Fortunately, she wasn’t that much of an idiot. She didn’t ask for a refund.
Juliet won several holy relics. Merat increasingly thought that this sucker must be an angel sent by the goddess.
‘No wonder I had a good dream last night!’
“As for this ivory porcelain, I should tell you—”
“I’ll buy that too!”
“Sold!”
Merat, who had been beaming, was momentarily flustered.
Unlike before, Juliet didn’t wait in her seat for the item to be brought. She came up to the stage herself.
“W-wait a moment!”
“Huh?”
Crash!
“......!”
Sure enough, the porcelain slipped from her hand as she carelessly picked it up after flouncing onstage. The ivory porcelain shattered on the floor.
Merat foamed at the mouth.
“W-what the hell! Do you know how much this is worth! You crazy bitch……!”
“Why?”
“What?”
“I paid for it, so it’s mine. So why are you talking about its value?”
Flustered, Merat couldn’t grasp the situation right away.
Juliet stared at him coldly and calmly retorted.
“Why? Because this one is real?”
“Pardon…?”
“When I broke the glass cup earlier, you didn’t say anything like that. Why the change in attitude?”
The childish, excited girl from moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, I get it.”
With an icy, expressionless face, the woman smiled thinly.
“The glass cup and holy relic you gave me earlier were fake replicas, and this is the real holy relic before the switch, right?”
“W-what are you talking about…?”
This is bad.
Merat felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
“What? Replicas?”
“Fakes? They switched the items?”
Murmurs began to spread among the packed crowd in the auction house.
“N-no, that’s not it! Replicas? What nonsense……!”
In a panic, Merat decided to deny it outright.
“Is that so?”
Juliet smiled and called toward the entrance.
“Theo!”
The one who sauntered in was the notorious youngest scion of House Levatan.
“T-they’re trying to frame me……! I’m innocent!”
The terrified Merat cried out preemptively, but the one following Theo was a petite figure draped in an all-white robe. It was a priest.
“A priest?”
“Why is a priest here……?”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Juliet smiled at the priest.
“Priest, could you appraise the holy relics on stage and the ones I won?”
“Yes, of course.”
The priest replied in a clear voice.
“W-wait!”
Merat’s jaw trembled.
He finally understood what was happening. But he couldn’t deny the girl’s words here.
“What are you doing? Hurry and appraise the holy relics as the lady said!”
“N-no! Everyone, there’s a misunderstanding…….”
Clatter.
With a loud racket, something loaded on a cart began to roll onto the stage.
“What’s that?”
“Holy relics?”
“But why are there two of the same shape?”
Merat squeezed his eyes shut.
His jaw trembled. If that got exposed too, it was over.
Merat rushed to Juliet’s feet, practically crawling, knelt, and whispered.
“Y-you’re right, miss……. I’ll refund everything you’ve bought so far…….”
“That’s not the deal.”
“Pardon?”
Juliet suddenly held out her palm.
“You took my entry fee earlier, right? Give that back too.”
What the…?
Flustered, Merat hastily placed the silver coin he’d received earlier onto her palm.
“Y-yes! I’ll refund it all.
Just don’t reveal those items—”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
Juliet smiled brightly.
“You said it earlier. ‘The sucker deserves it,’ right?”
Merat’s eyes rolled back.
“Y-you……!”
This demon of a girl!
**
In truth, Juliet’s plan was exceedingly simple.
Pretend to buy the fakes by paying, swap out the real items before they could switch them. Then expose it all, get her money back, and keep the real holy relics. Done.
“L-let go of me! Do you know who’s behind me? Hey!”
Merat was dragged away, caught red-handed.
That was probably fortunate for him.
Otherwise, he’d have been beaten to death by the furious crowd in the auction house.
“You insolent wretches!”
But as he was hauled off, Merat shouted something odd.
“I am a man trusted by Marquis Guinness!
I won’t let you get away with this!”
Marquis Guinness?
“What, who’s that?”
It was a name unfamiliar to Theo.
But Juliet’s face went pale.
Marquis Guinness was a great noble of the south. His adopted son, Count Casper, was engaged to Lady Priscilla, the emperor’s niece. He was also a leader of the old noble alliance that checked House Carlyle.
And—
He had been Juliet’s fifth husband in her first life.
Her uncle, Baron Gaspar, had sold her off to him.
“What? Why’s your face so pale?
Guinness…… who’s that?”
Theo asked from beside her, but Juliet had no answer to give.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Of course, things were different now from back then. In this life, Juliet had no ties to that man.
But every time she saw Marquis Guinness playing the refined gentleman in front of people—even right up to her death—Juliet had often felt like vomiting.
But Marquis Guinness was a southern noble. Carcason was in the east, the Akytas family’s domain. Why was a southern noble extending his claws all the way to the east?
As Juliet rummaged through her memories of her first life, Theo said slyly.
“Hey, about that porcelain you broke at the end.”
“The ivory porcelain?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t that a shame?
It was one of the pricier holy relics……”
Suddenly, Juliet pulled a white porcelain piece from a stack of boxes behind her, shoved it into Theo’s arms, and smiled.
“The broken one was fake.”