Chapter 171: The Auction 3
Chapter 171: The Auction 3
Ryu had not spoken his bid and it let climb to over 25 Yuvas. His budget was 100, so he was still rather calm about it. Jake was in a similar condition, quietly observing Emma from the crowd. Opposite to them Emily had asked around for some wine and was peacefully sipping on it, like nothing here as of any concern to her.
"30 Yuvas! I hope my friends here can grant this junior here to have her." Nola had directly pushed the bid by an entire 5 Yuvas at once effectively stunning the crowd. His intentions were clear and others decided to call it off since it has gone over their budget to spend on a middle-aged woman. In a similar amount they can get multiple young women at once, albeit they won't have a noble cunt but will it make that big of a difference. That's how others convinced themselves and backed off.
Just as the crowd grew silent, Talia was vexed. How can they recover the losses like this? She was vexed, turning towards William, he found the guy rather composed. Looks like he too had given up on her. Seems like this is the best they can manage from her. Just as Talia was about to drop her hammer to initiate the countdown, a young voice broke the silence in the room.
"35 Yuvas." Since others had taken to the backseat Ryu made his entry, increasing the bid by 5 once again. Nolan wasn't expecting someone to drop in between him and his prize. He had the chance to taste Emma a few times and he knew paying 30 Yuvas to have her forever was a steal. That's the whole reason he had been continuously bringing up her past. On one hand, it forced the auction house to keep downgrading her price while on the other, it made sure to diminish the interest of the patrons in the mature woman. But out of nowhere a brat he didn't even recognize, dropped in to make his bid.
Ryu didn't let his heart rate increase under so many gazes. As opposed to Nolan, Talia was pleasantly surprised to find someone willing to keep going.
For the first time since she had been put on display, Emma's heart thumped. She had heard this voice, immediately her eyes tried scanning the crowd to locate the source. It took her some time but she eventually found a familiar face with long green hair and even deeper green eyes. Suddenly, the boy noticed her looking at him and gave a wide grin before pointing to the side with his fingers. She followed it to find someone she was not expecting to see here.
Emma wasn't able to control her emotions after that as she broke into silent sobs. She knew she had lied to him once again. She had no plans to get herself free at all. Her words were only meant to pacify Jake so that he focuses on his life instead of trying to get her back. A feat that was simply impossible for a young kid like him.
Talia too had noticed the boy who shared his facial features with Emma and her enthusiasm dropped significantly. As a policy, they can't sell Emma back to her kins even if they made the highest bid. She was caught in a dilemma. Should she let them continue or should she put a stop to this and let Nolan win this thing.
Till now even Nolan himself had found the boy with w similar face to Emma. It made his turbulent heart giddy back again. "Mrs. Talia, don't tell me I need to remind you guy the rules of your own auction house?" Talia tried feigning ignorance. "Why do you say that Mr. Nolan?" The man smirked like he was back in control of the situation. "Huu.. please don't tell me you can't notice that the one putting a bid is the slave's blood-related child. Doesn't that goes against the rules that your auction house had set up?"
Talia can't think of a proper response in time but fortunately, William took over for her. "You are absolutely right Mr. Nolan. But as you see, her son isn't the one calling the bid. It is the other one. Little friend. Can you please introduce yourself so our guests don't have any ambiguity regarding your identity?" Ryu didn't mind doing that but just as he tried to get up, he stumbled back down. Making others on the table except an oblivious Jake to burst into laughter.
'Fuck!! There goes all my awesome aura! Shitt..' Or course since an hour had passed since the time he had been in his seat, he completely forgot that the maid had pulled his cock out and then didn't even put it back in. In her defense she was returning to her chore from time to time, letting her jaws relax before getting back at it. That's why she decided not to put it inside, which led to the awkward moment from earlier. Even Emily can't stop herself from smiling as she saw the boy fumbling around to pull his pants up.
Naturally, a few other guests had noticed what had happened and with their laugh, the awe that Ryu has built up around himself went to smoke. "Ahemm... Like the mister there told, I ain't related to Mrs. Emma. I am just a random kid from this town, who just so happens to be friends with Mrs. Emma's son. Let me take this opportunity to assure all of you that my intentions of getting her as my slave are not at all influenced by my friendship with little Jake here."
Who was he fooling? Still, the perfection with which he lied through his teeth was eligible for a round of applause. Even Emily was astounded by his amazing ability to spout nonsense.
Obviously Nolan wasn't willing to buy any of that crap. "Do you guys need any more proofs? That person is surely putting the bids for his friend here. I demand their bids to be canceled."
All this time William had been standing against the wall, but now he moved to the center stage, beside Talia. "That can't happen, Mr. Nolan. Our rules only apply to the blood-related kins of the slave. No rule can deny a friend of the kin to take part in an auction."
Nolan knew he won't be able to turn the situation in his favor since William had already decided. "But then, can you make sure she won't end up back to her family after ending in his hands?" These words made Ryu frown. Will he not be allowed to transfer Emma over to Jake, even after he would have brought her? That will create some issues. He will have to wait and watch, no use speculating anything right now.
"You can leave that part to us, Mr. Nolan. No need to concern yourself with that." William responded with a firm voice cutting off any future arguments from Nolan. The man snorted before settling back in his seat. He can't give up on Emma just yet. "Then I bid for 40 Yuvas for her." Talia was enjoying the misery on Nolan's face. Now she can only hope that these two guests can fight it off, such that the price keeps soaring just like that. Though in her heart she wanted Ryu to win this bout, just because she hated the other prick yet she can't show any bias in the deal.
"45 Yuvas." This was nowhere Ryu's limit so he didn't mind taking it further. There was no way he was losing this. Worst to worst if the man proved to be too stubborn, he will just shamelessly drag Emily into this. He trusted she won't leave them hanging like that. But Ryu had miscalculated. Emily seems to have had enough for the day.
Nolan was just about to increase the bid by another 5 Yuvas but before he could do that a massive pressure manifested in the room making everyone cower. *Clatter* Everyone can sense where this enormous pressure was originating from. The only Grand Magus in the room had just placed her glass back on the table while letting some of her cultivation run amok.
"Hmm.. the wine was good." She got up before turning around and leaving the room without looking back. Ryu's jaws were left hanging. Didn't his credit card just give up on him? If Emily refused to get involved then he might be in some trouble. Jake too was not expecting Emily to give up on them just yet.
But contradictory to the thoughts of the boys, the grown-ups understood the real meaning of her gesture. The auction was done. Her leaving the auction mid-way meant a single thing to everyone, she didn't want this bidding to go on any further.
Talia was a smart woman, so how can she miss the subtle message? She promptly placed down her hammer three times. "Sold. Congratulations Mr. Ryu, she now belongs to you." Although, the organization behind her was powerful enough to go against Grand Magus but will they do it for a slave woman? That was an utterly stupid argument. What's more, Emily had just provided them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make her owe a favor to them, however small it could be. The value of a hundred Yuvas will pale when compared to that. Naturally, Nolan too was not stupid enough to go against the flow. He didn't even have a thick enough neck like the Dark Wings.
The two boys were the ones who were in the greatest turbulence of emotions. Didn't Emily just give up on them? How did that lead to the whole auction get rigged in their favor? Didn't she tell them that she can't interfere in the workings of this shady organization? Then what was this?
Anyhow, they will think about it later. Right now the truth was, that they had managed to win over Emma. "I thank you all for your presence, dear patrons. We are going to adjourn this auction now. Your slaves will be delivered to you by tomorrow." She bowed down before leaving her place on the stage.
While everyone began leaving the auction house, Talia called out to Ryu. "Young master Ryu, please follow me." She had grabbed hold of a befuddled Emma's chains as she brought her out of the exit, beckoning Ryu to follow behind her. "Don't worry. We already got her. But I don't think we can do anything about her branding procedure."
Jake shook his head before pulling Ryu into a tight hug. "That doesn't matter brother. At least, we got her. I am sure she can handle that." He knew it was impossible to save her from the fate of getting branded for life but this was surely not the worst Jake had anticipated. He was eternally thankful to Ryu for helping him out. Till now he had refused to tell him how he managed to gather such amount of funds within a day. He just hoped the guy doesn't get in trouble because of him and his family matters.
All four of them followed behind Talia. They entered into a side room to find Emma getting strapped onto a similar apparatus as in Dorothea's case. "Congratulations once again, young master Ryu." Talia turned around once she noticed the guests had entered the room. She waved her hands and a servant behind her, strapped a pad into Emma's mouth, so she doesn't end up biting her tongue in extreme pain.
"Thank you, Mrs. Talia." Ryu too bowed his head a little. At the end of the day, he was just a junior who can be swatted away like a fly at any time, right now. He knew he had to survive to grow and humility is necessary for survival in this dog-eat-dog world. Of course, his time will come but for now, he was not stupid enough to foolishly stick his head out.
"Now young master Ryu, I am sure you are already aware that she will have to be branded as per the procedure. I hope you don't hold it against her." She said with an innocent face. Ryu can only curse in his mind looking at her coy face. What exactly can he do even if he wanted to hold it against them? "Well although I would have wished her to be without a scar, but since this is your modus operandi, I can't say anything in this regard."