The news of Lord Devar's Golden Cup being sold spread like wildfires in the city.
In this country, the people were educated in its history as one of the main courses in school. The government even monitored the quality of history classes even stricter than in math and science classes.
That was how important the nation treated its history. Most people in this country could recite the names of kings and queens of this nation by heart and those who delved deeper would know the name of Lord Devar.
Lord Devar was originally a baron with a pitiful territory but he found an opportunity in the year 1432 when the country was experiencing an upheaval. At the time, he was in the capital and had the opportunity to meet with the most powerful men in the country. Here, he sided with the crown prince who won the war against another prince and was granted countship after that.
This would be a successful case of someone able to seize the opportunity and rise through the ranks if it wasn't for his bizarre death. In 1447, Lord Devar received a cup as a tributary from a local ethnic group living in his land and was instantly entranced with it. Weighting 789g and made in almost pure gold, the cup received a treatment of utmost craftsmanship which would be a most arduous task for the best artisan of the time.
This is what attracted many eyeballs to this story. For what's it's worth, official records say that the "barbarians" or the local tribes in the country were extremely backward and relied on trade to possess metal weapons. For a tribe unable to even forge the most basic metal equipment to gift the lord a cup of utmost craftsmanship, it naturally attracted attention.
After receiving the cup, Lord Devar was extremely happy and threw a celebration to show off his magnificent golden cup, attracting his peers' jealousy. However, 10 days later, he was found dead as he fell from his balcony.
Normal people probably thought it was a case of bad luck but some conspiracy theorists thought otherwise. Some say the cup had a curse on it and those who drank it would result in misfortune, some say that a jealous noble put poison in the cup hoping that he would while some say that the local tribe had unearthed it from a forbidden place and gave it to Lord Devar in hope to transfer the bad luck to him.
Anyway, all of this made the participants frenzy. The natural beauty, the cultural significance of this cup... All sorts of explanations were made to rationalize their irrational desires for the cup.
Finally, a certain gentleman named Allen Illyich acquired this artifact for 40 million pols.
But it wasn't the fact that a famous local item from a minor character in history was sold or that it was clearly over-bid that shocked the city, it was that the next day, this same gentleman lost his life in a gruesome way!
The People's Journal: BREAKING NEWS! Wealthy Billionaire Allen Illyich Dies in a GRUESOME Way After Acquiring Lord Devar's Famous Cup...
At 10'o clock this morning, well-famed billionaire Allen Illyich died in a mansion in a gruesome way. From what the police had been willing to us, the billionaire suffered many injuries and it seems self-inflicted. From what the preliminary inspections say, he had severe head traumas, a dislocated left arm, and a broken right arm, the internal organs seem to have ruptured, etc. The police are still trying to research deeper into what caused and the actual damage suffered by the victim.
It had been reported that yesterday, the billionaire had been seen in the auction house managed by the well-respected Opera firm. There, he had bid for an item known as Lord Devar's Cup, an item well-known for its owner's death. It had been rumored that the cup was cursed but it might simply be an unfortunate coincidence since there had been many antiques rumored to also be cursed but never caused much of a disturbance over the years.
We also approached Opera for a response and the firm's owner, Arianne Heil, agreed to release a statement, stating: "We're deeply sorry about the death of our valued customer, mister Illyich. However, Opera is in no way responsible for what happened to mister Illyich. We have worked for the people of Vidnotrov for five years now and it has not been the first time we have sold items rumored to be cursed and owners of such antiques did not suffer from any misfortune afterward. Thank you for your understanding."
We will cover as the investigation unfolds.