The Royal Deal

Chapter 248

Chapter 248

“Are you the person who asked to buy the slave?” Veolense said, as he examined Amethyst. By the way he looked at her, Amethyst could tell that he knew she wasn’t noble. She tried to hold herself with an air of authority so he wouldn’t dismiss her outright. She nodded to the man before her.

Veolense laughed. “You should know that a slave can’t be sold.”

“Then don’t sell him and give him to me,” Amethyst said with confidence.

Veolense looked surprised at her words. “I’m sorry, but if I do that it would cause us more trouble than it is worth. If an auditor comes, I will have to explain why I gave away a slave that was assigned to us, and I am not prepared to deal with that.”

Amethyst didn’t believe him. This noble, who could have easily dismissed her, came to meet her personally, covered in jewels. It was obvious that it was money that drive this man and he was curious to what she had to offer.

“Everyone has a price. How much to let this slave come with me? I’m assuming that my money may change your mind.” Amethyst could see the slight glimmer in the man’s eyes.

Veolense’s considered the slave lying motionless on the ground. The merchant-like tendencies started considering the value of the slave. He was going to have the man killed, which meant he would get nothing for him. But if he could make a slight profit and also get the man away from Viyan before she caused any further trouble, then selling him might just be an option. Also, by not killing him he would save the donation fee that he would have had to make to the temple. Going over all of the options, it only made sense to sell the slave for whatever money he could get. He decided to test the limits that Amethyst was willing to pay.

“Slaves are rather expensive. You wouldn’t be able to afford him.” Veolense said.

Amethyst smiled. She knew she had him. As soon as she had mentioned money, his whole attitude on the situation changed. However, she did not have a substantial amount of money left since it all had gone into her business. If she drained the remaining amount in her emergency fund, she would be in trouble financially. She was now at a loss at how to proceed, for it seemed Veolense was expecting a large amount for the slave. She couldn’t offer too little, or Veolense would just laugh in her face and kill the slave in front of her.

As she considered what to offer, she observed how the jewels he was wearing were sparkling in the sunlight. The answer came to her. This was a man who operated in the jewel market. They were an important commodity to him. Amethyst reached up and undid her necklace. The pink diamond at the end of the chain glinted back in response to the gems adorning the man.

“Would this be enough?” Amethyst asked, handing Veolense the ring that hung on the necklace. Her heart cracked. This was the last memory she had of Alexcent, but this seemed to be the moment that she would need to let him go. He would have wanted her to help this man.

“Let me examine it. I’ll need to check the purity of the gemstone.”

Veolense held out his hand for the ring and Amethyst gave it to him reluctantly. He took out a loupe from his pocket, that was used when examining jewels, and lifted the ring to be magnified by the lens. Holding both up to the sunlight, Veolense squinted at the minute details of the gemstone. In an instant, a huge smile erupted from his lips.

“It’s real! I haven’t seen any jewel this rare before. The colour, transparency, cut, weight, nothing compares!” Veolense could confidently say that this jewel was more valuable than any of the jewels that ever had come out from the mine. Even if he sold every jewel he owned, he wouldn’t be able to buy the ring. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

“Is that important?” Amethyst asked back.

“Yes. You could have stolen it. That would be a big problem for me.”

Amethyst decided to be honest. “It was my wedding ring.”

“Wedding ring? You would trade your wedding ring for a slave?” Veolense had never heard of such an action before.

“I’m divorced. There is no reason to hold on to it anymore.” Amethyst said with a slight quiver in her voice.

Veolense thought over the situation. If this had been a wedding ring, then the woman was of higher rank than she appeared to be. Her family must have fallen hard if she was now a simple merchant. She may have been left with a collection of other jewels as payment to leave her noble husband’s estate.

“Do you have any other jewels?” Veolense asked.

“I’m afraid not. I was only allowed this ring when I left the household.” Amethyst was not about to tell him of her monetary savings. She could see that Veolense was disappointed, but this was the most she could do. “So, what will it be? Are you going to sell him, or not?”

Veloense thought about the offer. “Fine. It’s a loss, but he’s yours.”

Amethyst could tell that he was lying, so decided to get one more thing out of this deal. “Fine. Since it’s already a loss, I’ll ask for one thing more. I need your men to help bear the slave to my café.”

“Fine. All right.” Veolense motioned to the two large guards who had been beating Alexcent. “Do as the lady asks.”

“Yes, My Lord.” The two men lifted Alexcent’s battered body on to Amethyst’s carriage, then got in beside him to return to the café and help get Alexcent into a bed.