The mall manager fixed Raven with a piercing re. "If your card fails to process the payment, we have every right to sue you for fraud," he dered his voiceced with threat.


    Without hesitation, Raven extended the card toward him. "As long as I can pay the bill of 1.5 million kryts, you are obligated to sell me the cufflinks. Foreb has now restricting purchases based on nationality."


    The manager''s expression twisted into something between disbelief and irritation. "You''re seriously going through with this? If that cardes up empty, security will take you out immediately."


    Raven had no patience for it. She pressed the card into his palm with deliberate firmness. Her master had recently transferred fifty billion kyrts to her ount, so she could buy not just the cufflinks but the entire store without blinking.


    To her, such sums were nothing but meaningless numbers, but in a tertiary city like Frihamen, 1.5 million kryts was a fortune beyond most people''s wildest dreams.


    The gathered crowd buzzed with judgmental whispers, convinced Raven was putting on an embarrassing charade. Local elites might afford such luxuries, but a girl from the lower realms? Impossible.


    "Fine," the manager sneered. "Let''s process the payment. But mark my words. If this card declines, you''ll face legal consequences." He added with a threat, "Forreb isn''t like yourwless lower realms where people act with impunity!"


    "Where''s your store supervisor? Get him to handle the transaction!"


    The repeated slurs of "lower-realm" from the staff made Raven''s demeanor frosty. Though born into Forreb''s rigid hierarchy, she had never believed those at the bottom deserved scorn.


    Instead, true power, in her experience, bred discernment, not petty bigotry. Her own family, despite their status, had always listened to and respected people from all walks of life.


    "Pathetic. She''s still putting on airs even with the noose around her neck," someone in the crowd jeered.


    Another voice chimed in mockingly, "I don''t believe there is so much money in her card!"


    "Even wealthy locals wouldn''t casually drop that much on cufflinks. After all, those things don''t hold value," a well-dressed bystander remarked. "I shop here often. These have been sitting in the disy for years because no sensible buyer would waste money like that."


    "For ordinary folks like us? Forget it. We couldn''t afford these even if we saved our entire lives."


    The crowd''s skepticism swelled into a chorus of derision, and no one gave a single trust to Raven''s purchasing power.


    Soon, the boutique supervisor emerged, her expression dripping with condescension as she took in the scene. "You''re certain about this?" she asked Raven, arching a brow. "Once the payment fails, there''s no taking it back."


    "Stop wasting my time," Raven replied coolly.


    "Your funeral." The supervisor snatched the card and jammed it into the payment terminal with unnecessary force.


    A sharp beep echoed through the store, followed by the machine''s cold, automated voice. "Transaction invalid."


    For a heartbeat, silence gripped the onlookers, then erupted into raucousughter.


    "Did you hear that? Invalid!"


    "Of course! A lower-realm peasant could never have that kind of money."


    "All that bravado, and for what? She''s just embarrassed herself."


    1240


    Ivay


    "Call security! Teach


    her a


    lesson about Forreb''s s rules!"


    The


    the


    cardi in


    her


    crowd''s mockery crescendoed, their scornful gazes boring into Raven.


    hand. Her face paled, her fingers trembling slightly as she scrutinized Yet amid the jeers, the


    I it again.


    supervisor remained


    eerily still, her eyes locked onto


    Unlike the


    others, she


    wasn''tughing. Instead,


    her expression morphed into


    one of


    utter astonishment.


    Pe


    AD


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