Taming the Noisy Girl (2)
“Bidder 13, 1,100 gold!” “Bidder 11, 1,200 gold!” “Bidder 13, 1,300 gold!” “Bidder 11, 1,500!”
As the bidding between me and Morgan grew more heated, the atmosphere around us turned rowdy. Just what was that orb that it could drive the price up like this? Fifteen hundred gold. That was enough to buy one of those rare enchanted swords everyone talked about. It didn’t seem like a reasonable value for something that looked like nothing more than a fancy decoration.
“Who’s number 11…? Princess Morgan? Yeah, that tracks…” “Number 13 looks like a pretty boy. Must be that habit of hers again… How handsome is he, exactly? Ah… I get it now.” “Then we’d better keep quiet. Ahem.”
The nobles who frequented the auction house were chatting among themselves. Morgan driving up prices on a whim wasn’t exactly new. She did it all the time to show off to whatever man had caught her eye, flaunting her status as a princess and the depth of her pockets. The other nobles had no interest in stepping into that mess. No one wanted to earn the royal family’s displeasure over a man—especially not with a man-crazed princess like Morgan.
“Besides, they say that rumored item is appearing today. We should save our coin.”
The nobles hadn’t come for some shiny glass ball. The real reason they’d gathered was the item that had taken the entire continent by storm lately. Spending serious money on anything else was out of the question.
“We have a bid of 2,000 gold from number 13! Any takers? Number 11 bids 2,500! But number 13 has raised it again to 2,600!”
The only one truly thrilled was the auction house staff. This was beyond heated. Two bidders were locked in a fierce duel, and one of them was Princess Morgan herself. There was no doubt she’d keep raising the stakes.
All eyes were on Morgan, brimming with expectation.
Why is that man acting like this?
Her true feelings were completely different. Normally, anyone would back down after the price climbed this high. Two thousand five hundred gold wasn’t pocket change—it was what a commoner would need to slave away for an entire year to earn. On the surface he looked like nothing more than a low-ranking, absurdly handsome noble whose name she didn’t even know. It was bewildering.
Is he being sponsored by the Baekya Ducal House?
That had to be it. Nothing else explained such reckless spending. The Baekya family ruled one of the great cities at the very center of entertainment and pleasure. Money practically flowed from their coffers.
If only that Baekya bitch weren’t in the picture…!
She could have made that man submit so easily. Morgan’s frustration and rage turned toward Daeho. And the stronger her anger burned, the fiercer her possessive desire to steal him away from that Baekya woman grew. She prayed their budget was smaller than hers.
This is getting dangerous.
Ten thousand gold. That was every last coin Morgan had brought today. She had spent heavily recently while expanding her influence, leaving her with only ten thousand. In truth, the reason she had come to the auction today was the same as the other nobles, so spending heavily was a burden. Still—
“Number 11 bids 5,000!”
Her pride refused to let her care. This should be enough. Morgan was confident.
“Number 13 bids 6,000!”
But the reply was an instant, unwavering shout.
*
Six thousand gold. Of course, snatching it for seven hundred would have been ideal, but I still considered it a bargain. Princess Morgan seemed to have charged in without understanding the orb’s true worth. Among the beastmen, that orb was a sacred treasure. The Akasha who obtained it gained enough power to single-handedly destroy a major city. In the original story, she actually razes an entire small kingdom. In the hands of a beastman it isn’t mere decoration—it’s a strategic weapon capable of toppling nations. That’s why I was ready to empty my entire fortune to claim it.
“……”
After my bid of six thousand gold, a long silence stretched. Princess Morgan’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. The way her fists clenched tight told me she was wrestling with herself. Pride, or her original objective? She had to be torn.
“Number 11 bids 7,000!”
In the end, pride won. She might genuinely have had budget to spare, or perhaps she had other plans—I couldn’t know. Either way, it was a very Morgan-like choice for someone so greedy.
“Number 13 bids 8,000!”
I had zero intention of backing down.
With my call, the entire auction house erupted into murmurs.
“Any further bids? If not, the win goes to number 13!”
The fox orb was mine. Thanks to the fight, I had gained a sacred beastmen treasure and completely crushed Morgan’s pride as a bonus.
“Lord Sieg, don’t worry. If it comes to it, I’ll step forward.”
Daeho, sensing Morgan’s burning stare, whispered softly. He smiled brightly to reassure me, and that relaxed confidence was genuinely comforting. As expected of our king-god Daeho! My favorite character, always reliable.
With a name as powerful as the Baekya Ducal House, even pressure from the Arcadia royal family wouldn’t be a problem. If anything, the imperial family would have to tread carefully around them.
“And if you had told me you were short on funds, I was prepared to support you. Zero interest, of course. Hehe. After all, we’re close, aren’t we?”
She pointed at her own chest while saying this, indicating the money pouch nestled between her cleavage. With the Baekya family’s wealth, it really might have been possible.
Baekya stared blankly at the glittering fox orb for a moment, then spoke.
“So Lord Sieg likes shiny, round things. In that case… should I open my pouch for you?”
“No, that orb has a specific purpose, so…”
She looked ready to buy every shiny decoration that appeared in the entire auction. I quickly calmed Daeho down.
The bidding had overheated because of Morgan, but we couldn’t forget why we had come here in the first place. Our true objective was to track down traces of the Demon King’s Army.
Daeho had predicted one of their items would appear in the auction.
“The next item is likely one many of you have been eagerly awaiting. A work by the dwarf Garcia that has shaken the entire continent recently!”
And there it was. The item the attendant presented was a dazzling necklace. At first glance it looked like an ordinary accessory, but—
“Whoa—!!! It’s impossibly beautiful!” “This is a miracle crafted by the hand of a god!” “I must have it! I’d stake my entire fortune!”
It was an object bearing a vicious curse. The curse of greed. Anyone who laid eyes on it would be overcome with an irresistible desire to possess it.
The Demon King’s Army’s strategy was straightforward. They would gradually reveal these cursed accessories to build hype, then gift them to high-ranking nobles like princesses. Once those influential figures began wearing them openly in high society, the trend would spread. Nobles consumed by the desire to own Garcia’s creations would fall prey to the Demon King’s temptations. Even if they never learned the true identity behind the gifts and simply saw it as a harmless request for more of the craftsman’s work.
What made the necklace especially insidious was that it was engraved with nearly forgotten runes that few people could recognize anymore. Those very runes only made the piece look even more exquisite.
“That’s…”
Even though Daeho had anticipated an item tainted by the Demon King’s schemes, he still lost himself staring at it for a moment. Maybe because I already knew what it was, I felt nothing in particular.
“Number 5 bids 4,000!!” “Number 19 bids 5,000!!”
The auction began without giving anyone time to breathe. Hands shot up everywhere, and the price had already skyrocketed to five thousand. Soon, many nobles could no longer keep up. No matter how wealthy they were, everyone had limits.
“Auctioneer! I can sell one of my buildings in the capital afterward. Please factor that in as well!!”
The necklace’s seductive pull—the longer you looked, the more it whispered buy me—must have been responsible. Several noble families began making unreasonable demands.
“That is not permitted.”
The house rule was strict: only money on hand was accepted.
“Number 11 bids 7,000!”
In the midst of the chaos, Morgan finally spoke. Her icy gaze swept across the room, silencing everyone. She already looked furious about losing the previous item to me.
The nobles hesitated. Was that necklace really worth risking Princess Morgan’s wrath?
“Number 16 bids 7,500!”
Yet some still charged forward, driven by the curse.
“Number 11 bids 10,000!”
The princess responded with steel in her voice.
“Tsk… Ten thousand gold is a bit much, even so.” “That’s enough money to train several knights—or even mages.”
No matter how you looked at it, the amount was sobering. None of the nobles had that kind of coin on them. More importantly, provoking the princess any further was simply too dangerous.
Just as the bidding seemed to be winding down—
“Number 13 bids 13,000!”
I raised my hand without the slightest hesitation. Then I looked straight at Morgan and said, “Pardon me. After watching for a while, I found myself wanting it too.”
Morgan’s face twisted in fury.
*
The auction concluded. After the Garcia necklace sold, the remaining items went quickly with almost no competition.
“Here are your purchases.”
I paid the auctioneer and received both items. In my hands were the fox orb and the cursed necklace. I had bought the latter in a fit of irritation after Morgan’s attitude got under my skin.
“If you hadn’t bid, Lord Sieg, I was planning to raise my hand as well.”
Daeho, who had studied curses for a long time, said there existed a magical tool capable of tracking the one who cast them. It wouldn’t reveal the exact location, but it was useful enough to help. That was why he had taken interest and attended the auction.
The downside was that the target would be destroyed in the process.
That gave me pause. While Morgan’s behavior had been the main reason I bought it, there was another motive. I wanted to test healing magic. As far as I knew, dispelling curses wasn’t limited to living creatures—it worked on objects too. I was intensely curious what would happen if I removed a curse that had been engraved directly into an item using runes.
“Of course, I’ll respect your decision, Lord Sieg. We can always try for a similar item next time.”
Daeho seemed more relaxed now that he had been freed from his own curse. Even so, I still felt a little conflicted.
It was then that—
“U-um… Lady Baekya?”
Blushing furiously, Morgan approached us.
“D-do you have a moment?”
Her eyes were fixed on the necklace in my hand.