----


    198. LUCRECIA SILVER


    SIGRID


    "Sold! This magnificent ve now belongs to Lady Lucrecia Silver!


    Tlooked down, sighing heavily at the man who was now in the


    worst ce imaginable.


    “Ym leaving, mydy," Ss murmured, pulling my attention back


    to him—only then did I realize how close we were.


    1 immediately stepped back, not wanting to make him


    ufortable


    "Fine. Just don’t do anything reckless, please. Remember—I won’t


    fall for your sake. If you screw up even alittle, I can kill you with a


    snap of my fingers."


    I threw in thatst threat, afraid he might march straight toward


    Lucrecia to attack her.


    It would be like sending a pup to kill an adult lycan.


    I watched him walk out, the darkness around him swirling like a


    living thing. 1 had noticed it—his eye wasn’t just burned, it was


    cursed.


    Later, once I had earned his trust, I needed to ask exactly what that


    dark energy coursing through his veins was.


    He was an elemental—he shouldn’t be like this.


    ----


    I sank back into my seat. I had lost everything —the runes, and the


    man I was meant to save.


    This was a disaster.


    However, just as I was about to leave, I noticed that bidder 67—the


    one who had taken the runes from me—was now desperately


    bidding on another item.


    I gambled everything on it and won the Pearls of Longing. They


    were useless to me, but I hoped they were valuable enough to use


    as leverage in a negotiation with the person in booth 67.


    “Madam, if you’d follow me, you may collect your item."


    At the end of the event, one of the attendants led me toward the


    storage area


    ‘We descended a narrow staircase, and he unlocked the heavy steel


    doors with a spell. Inside, several people were already present.


    "Please wait a moment until it’s your turn. We have many items to


    distribute."


    “I understand," I replied coldly, my gaze sweeping toward the two


    small desks at the far end, where winners were being called


    forward to im their purchases.


    ‘The space was enormous, packed with guests crowding around the


    desks, while the area beyond was clearer—filled with crates, some


    massive, forming a maze of corridors.


    My instincts pushed me forward, slipping into the shadows,


    weaving between the stacks. The murmurs grew distant.