"One hundred Gold Marks!" Mr. Laine glanced around and felt quite satisfied, so he immediately placed a bid.
Seeing Mr. Laine bid, many interested nobles held back, waiting for the next item.
"One hundred and ten Gold Marks!" Who knew it would be that handsome man again, raising his paddle.
"One hundred and fifteen Gold Marks!" Laine raised an eyebrow and continued bidding.
"One hundred and fifty Gold Marks!" The handsome man politely smiled at Laine and continued to raise the bid.
"One hundred and fifty-five Gold Marks!"
"Two hundred Gold Marks!" The handsome man named Hadrian continued bidding against Laine.
"Damn!" Laine cursed under his breath; two hundred Gold Marks had already exceeded his bottom line. His adoptive father, Norman, collected roughly four hundred Gold Marks annually in taxes from Autene (with the exchange rate for Gold Marks and Gold Dinars being 1:1). He had money now, but money shouldn't be spent recklessly.
Inside the auction room, everyone was astounded by Hadrian's extravagance. A noble saw Laine give up bidding, so he tentatively called out two hundred and ten Gold Marks, to which Hadrian immediately raised it to two hundred and fifty Gold Marks.
Thus, the girl named Miranda was also won by Hadrian.
"Emmm~" Laine felt he might be targeted, so he said to Amelia, "Is it alright if we just have one who can work?"
"Hmm~ Everything is up to you, sir." Amelia declined to comment.
After failing to win anything twice, Laine's interest waned. After a string of unsuccessful bids, a matron was brought up. She was in her thirties, with a misshapen figure and rough skin from years of labor, but she looked like someone who could do the hard work, so Laine thought, surely no one would compete with me for her?
He was mistaken. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⸺fire.net
Hadrian, seeing Laine make a move, immediately competed with him. The matron, originally priced at only fifty Silver Coins, was bid up to five Gold Marks by these two, clearly showing that he was just bent on sparring with Laine.
Laine's face was as black as ink, seething with anger inside. The Genetic Primarch lightly slapped the table and stood up, "Amelia, let's go."
"Alright, sir." Amelia noticed a deep handprint left on the table, and the maid quickly stood up, following behind him, the two of them leaving the venue directly.
Just as they stepped out of the auction hall, they saw the snow falling heavily outside. Before Laine had a chance to breathe the fresh air, a steward-like person immediately blocked their path, "Hello! Mr. Laine! It's a pleasure to introduce myself; I am Mr. Hadrian's steward. I feel very, very sorry for our disrespectful behavior!"
The steward's attitude was extremely humble, bowing nearly seventy degrees.
"So what? Are you flaunting your master's power?" Laine replied with no emotion.
"No, not like that! Mr. Laine, what I want to say is that Mr. Hadrian wishes to befriend you! All the slaves Mr. Laine showed interest in at the auction will be sent to Mr. Laine immediately after the auction ends!" The steward could sense the overwhelming authority emanating from Laine, honed from countless battles, and he quickly exclaimed, bending even lower.
"Additionally, besides these, Mr. Hadrian is willing to offer Mr. Laine a grand gift! Right after this auction concludes."
"Mr. Hadrian sincerely wishes to make friends with Mr. Laine!"