Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Auction (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I headed into the city with Saintess Rebecca.
The 'auction' wouldn't begin until the moon shone alone in the night sky, so we still had some time to kill.
"Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
"...Order whatever."
Her neatly groomed blonde hair peeked out from beneath her hood, blocking her view. It flowed down as softly as a stream.
Rebecca frowned and carefully brushed her hair aside. In that moment, the necklace that had concealed her breathtaking beauty until now slipped into view.
"...".
I paused mid-order and stared at her face. If Agnes's features carried stiffness and chill, Rebecca's held a gentle yet dignified grace.
Any cardinal who had trained her would have broken into a pleased smile at the sight.
"Let me be direct. How did you figure out who I am?"
She sipped the coffee that arrived with our order, then fixed her gaze on me.
Her expression made it seem like she couldn't bear another second without an answer, so I took a small sip of my own coffee.
That single action alone made Rebecca grow impatient.
"Answer me."
"Sorry. It's just too obvious a question."
With a faint smile tugging at my lips, I explained what I'd prepared in advance.
"You haven't forgotten which family I belong to, have you?"
"Even the Phillasia Ducal House couldn't possibly know church secrets..."
"Saintess Rebecca's hair sparkles with her innate holy power whenever she's in a good mood."
Rebecca's eyes went wide.
It was only natural. The fact that her hair sparkled was known only to a select few within the church.
It wasn't some grand secret worth hiding, but neither was it common knowledge.
Especially not something an outsider should know. After all, the Saintess was right here.
Ever since she'd decided to enroll at Iliad Academy, the church had clamped down on all information about her.
Aside from what was already public knowledge, that is.
Even my father, the current Phillasia Duke, probably doesn't know this detail.
The church's control was flawless.
It might only last a few years at most, but that alone spoke volumes about their influence.
Yet the world has no perfect secrets.
Irregulars like me exist, the ones who uncover them.
Well, in my case, I knew it from reading the original story.
Unaware of that, Rebecca looked somehow worried. No doubt fretting that such information had leaked to the Phillasia heir despite the church's lockdown.
"Saintess."
What mattered right now wasn't that.
At my call, she lifted her head slightly.
"Have you heard about the night auction?"
"Of course. It's a rampant rumor across the Empire. Word is, black market goods show up too."
"It's true. Even narcotics banned by the church go up for bid."
She frowned, her face saying she already knew.
The destination I had in mind was the Empire's underbelly. The back alleys. The night auction.
A place attended by wealthy commoners all the way up to royalty.
"You'll need to be my lover."
Among them, the one reputed to deal only in the most dangerous, exorbitantly priced items.
Masks were mandatory to obscure origins, and absolutely no disturbances were tolerated.
Rebecca's eyes widened at my words.
"Not literally, I hope. A masked auction?"
"Exactly."
"Not just anyone can attend... Though I suppose that's not for you to say."
"No, I'm still not quite enough on my own."
I could get in normally, of course.
There were scarcely any places in the Empire that the Phillasia name couldn't open.
However.
"Considering my reputation, the organizers won't let me through."
"Fair point."
It stung a little how readily she agreed.
My infamy as a noble disgrace, trash, and invalid didn't mesh at all with a masked auction.
They could guess my status from my sickly appearance alone—and I was the type who might kick up a fuss at any moment.
The whole appeal of the masked auction was the anonymity. No one could pinpoint identities or predict trouble.
If that changed? If identities leaked or chaos erupted?
Their prestige would crumble.
No more highborns with their exalted blue blood would dare attend.
Which meant even the Phillasia heir couldn't enter carrying this kind of notoriety.
Rebecca set her coffee cup down with a sharp clink.
Her golden eyes gleamed with piercing intensity as they bored into me.
As if seeing straight through to my core.
"So, you want to borrow my reputation?"
"If a noble's trash enters as the Saintess's lover—or an invalid accompanied by a church healer—the organizers won't be able to refuse."
They shouldn't refuse.
"Fine. That's all well and good, but..."
A sudden chill pressed down on my body.
"Why me?"
Her gaze was so sharp it hardly seemed saintly. I swallowed hard.
From here on, I had to choose my words with care.
"Rumor has it an elf slave is among this auction's 'items'."
"What did you say?"
Elf slave.
Those two words shifted Rebecca's entire demeanor.
Slavery itself was illegal in the Empire—but only for imperial citizens.
Kidnapping other races for slaves was rampant. With so many nobles employing them, it had become tacitly overlooked.
And among those slaves, elf slaves were the rarest and most coveted.
An aloof race that never ventured from their forests, yet their otherworldly beauty had nobles drooling.
Plus, if luck soured, one might be a centuries-old elf who infiltrated and obliterated an entire house. Small wonder they tread carefully.
"Is this reliable?"
"I can't guarantee it. Rumors are just rumors, after all."
Rebecca gritted her teeth.
I'd phrased it that way, but Petra had already confirmed an elf slave would appear at the auction.
Not one of the original story's characters, mind you.
The fifth heroine.
An elf spiritist and princess.
She'd appear at this masked auction a little later from now.
Around the time I got close to the imperial princess... was it?
My memory was fuzzy.
"I'll go."
Rebecca muttered, snapping me from my thoughts.
I grinned and asked once more.
"You're really going? It might not pan out."
"You wouldn't bring vague info while invoking the Phillasia name."
Her tone was oddly familiar, like she'd known me forever.
I felt a strange twinge but nodded anyway.
Truth was, she had no choice but to follow.
Officially or not, the Saintess opposed slavery.
I didn't know the exact reason, but she loathed it to the point of near fits.
Its backstory never came up in the original either, so whatever.
I rose slowly.
Since we were headed to the black market anyway, her current outfit needed some work.
A mask could hide her face, but not that innate grace. And clothes betrayed one's station.
The auction allowed participants and one partner, and for prestige's sake, we needed to dress the part.
I extended a hand to her as she sat there.
From here on, we'd play the doting lovers.
"Shall we go?"
"...".
Rebecca scowled for a moment but took my hand without a word.
Unlike her gaze, her hand felt warm.
**
On the way to the masked auction, we picked up suitable outfits. They weren't cheap, but my accumulated funds covered it easily.
Rebecca balked in horror and flat-out refused at first, but when I warned that anything too shabby might bar entry, she grumbled and changed.
By then, the sun had set, and the sky had grown dusky.
People headed home, and the city streets began to glow faintly with magic.
The streets of night had arrived.
Unlike the modern world, the imperial capital lay quiet.
The place I was taking Rebecca was one of the darkest corners amid that hush.
The so-called back alleys.
A fetid, sealed-off warren where seventy percent of the Empire's crimes took place.
Even the imperial family rarely touched what happened here—unless it involved major nobles.
Deeper in, artificial lights welcomed us.
Only then did Rebecca remove her hood, baring her beauty to the world.
Her face drew stares in an instant.
Yet no one dared approach.
Because I was at her side.
With our arms linked, we looked like lovers from afar.
And no one in the back alleys had the guts to tangle with the Phillasia heir and the Saintess.
"We're drawing stares."
"Does it matter?"
We both knew incidents in the back alleys never leaked out.
Which meant our lover act was safe from prying eyes.
A little farther in, a bear-masked guide blocked our path.
"Masks are required to attend the masked auction."
"No need for the spiel. We know the drill."
"Ah, understood. Please choose one from the masks on the table here."
The table held intricately crafted masks—enough to hint at status without confirming it.
I selected a wolf mask; Rebecca picked a rabbit one.
Once we'd donned them, the bear-masked guide stepped aside.
Gazing down the dark, rounded passage, I took Rebecca's hand.
"Let's go in. Saintess."