Chereads / The Succubus System: Art of Seduction. / Chapter 2 - Chapter 1 : auction

Chapter 2 - Chapter 1 : auction

The Succubus System: Art of Seduction

The air in the marketplace reeked of sweat, roasted meats, and the sharp tang of desperation. Lilith stood on the raised platform, her wrists bound in front of her, her head bowed low. The crowd below leered and jeered, a writhing mass of eager faces bidding on her like she was cattle.

"She's a rare one!" the auctioneer boomed, his voice cutting through the noise. "Beauty like this doesn't come often. Black hair like silk, eyes like burning rubies—who'll take her home?"

Lilith's ruby-red eyes flicked upward for a moment, meeting the crowd's gaze. The men leaned forward, drooling at the sight of her. The women glared with envy or disdain. She quickly lowered her head again. It was safer that way.

Inside, her mind raced. This is not the end.

"Ten gold!" a voice called.

"Fifteen!" shouted another.

The bidding war raged on. Each number felt like a nail in her coffin.

---

Lilith's thoughts drifted back to the night she was betrayed. A former friend, desperate for coin, had sold her out. She'd fought back, but what could a girl with no weapons and no allies do against men with swords?

Her capture had been swift and brutal, and now she was here—stripped of freedom, her life reduced to a number on a stranger's tongue.

---

Among the crowd stood a woman unlike the rest. Dressed in dark, flowing robes, she exuded an aura of power. Her eyes, sharp and calculating, scanned Lilith with interest.

Essety didn't bid. She waited.

---

Lilith was sold for thirty gold pieces to a man named Marcellus. He was sleek and polished, his smile hiding teeth that could devour.

"You'll earn me double what I paid for you," he whispered in her ear as he dragged her away.

The brothel was a house of shadows and sin. The other girls looked at her with pity—or worse, with dead eyes that had long since stopped hoping.

Her first night was supposed to break her.

But that was the night everything changed.

---

Her client was a middle-aged merchant with greedy hands and a lecherous grin. As he leaned in, touching her with a familiarity she despised, something inside Lilith snapped.

She felt a surge of power, a warmth that spread from her chest to her fingertips. Her gaze locked onto his, and his movements stilled.

"What…" he murmured, his voice trailing off as if he were in a trance.

Lilith didn't understand what was happening, but she felt it—his energy, his essence, flowing into her. She saw his life flash before her eyes, a rapid montage of memories. And then, he collapsed.

Her breath came in short gasps. Her hands trembled. But deep down, there was a part of her that felt… alive. Powerful.

---

That night, Essety came to her room. She didn't ask how Essety had gotten past the guards.

"I've been watching you," Essety said, her voice smooth and confident. "You've tapped into something extraordinary."

Lilith backed away, her mind racing with fear and confusion. "I—I don't know what happened."

"You've awakened a gift. Most would call it a curse, but I see potential. I can teach you to control it, to wield it."

"Why?" Lilith demanded. "Why help me?"

Essety's smile was cryptic. "Because the world needs women like you. And so do I."

She extended a hand. "Come with me, and I'll show you how to become unstoppable."

Lilith stared at her, heart pounding. Outside, the brothel creaked and groaned, a prison that would never let her go. But here was a stranger offering freedom—or something close to it.

With a deep breath, Lilith took her hand.