When Arel and Sile arrived at the mansion, they were greeted by Salessa herself. The two of them were born in aristocratic family, and even though they hadn't been there for nearly a century, the etiquette hadn't been forgotten.
Salessa invited them in and waved away the accompanying servants. They spent the meal chatting about various tasks and goals that they each had.
At the end of the conversation, the two sides left quite happily, which meant the discussions had benefited both sides.
When Arel and Sile arrived at their newly built mansion, Arel sat down on the couch and asked
"What do you think of Salessa?"
Sile sat down next to her before replying.
"Shrewd".
Arel agreed with that description. Even after all the things they had been through, Salessa could still make them feel a sense of oppression. The two were both in awe of, and wary of such a person. However, when it comes to business, the two of them were very happy.
They gave up 20% of the profits from their harvests per year, in exchange for various benefits from the government. This can be said to be an even deal. The profits from their planet were astronomical with only the people of the empire able to purchase, now they added the federation to that, and what the government gives them in return is guaranteed protection of sales, as well as access to all the warp points.
Now they can finally go out above board, without worrying that the empire will try to close their accounts, or steal their life's work.
After travelling so far, and dealing with an old fox like Salessa, the two of them were exhausted. They walked to the bedroom, and fell into each other's arms naturally, their pheromones subtle repelling of each other had become the norm for them to fall asleep to.
The federations capital had seen a great surge in population. The successful merchants of the empire saw where the market would be in the future and quickly began to buy up the land that could prove their status. Following the trend of Arel and Sile, new constructions were started one after another.
This meant that a shake up of the original wealthy circle was about to be underway. The merchants of the federation weren't happy with this, but they had no chance to stop it, so an auction was set up. These events were usually held for a charity of some sort, but it's main focus was to get to know other merchants, as well as earn a decent reputation for themselves as philanthropists.
Arel opened the invitation letter sent by the event managers, wondering why they still used such an outdated method as paper. She guessed it was a sort of prestige that merchants liked to use to make themselves feel special. She handed the letter to Sile before asking
"Are we going?"
Sile read the invitation before answering
"We probably have to. Although our business doesn't involve cooperation with any of them, but it's better to have one less enemy" a harmless smile appeared on her face.
Arel wondered if anyone that decided to be their enemy would regret such a decision after seeing the methods of her wife.
"Well since we're going, we'll need to spare some time to get dresses for the occasion" Arel said, already showing boredom for the upcoming event.
Sile knew Arel didn't like these kinds of events. When they were still young, they had participated in many of the banquets for their families. There was never a shortage of hypocrisy mixed with interests and calculations in places like that.
Sile got up and gently soothed her wife, dropping a kiss on her cheek.
"Well let's go and order the dresses then".
The days passed by uneventfully and the day of the auction arrived as scheduled. In the time, the two had purchased some things needed for their status,such as jewellery and vehicles. The two boarded the expensive hover car and headed towards the destination.
When they arrived there were countless reporters standing on both sides of the entranceway, fenced off and guarded so the people going in wouldn't be harassed.
When Arel and Sile got out of the car, they drew the attention of many people. The two are new faces to the federation, which means that they're from the empire, but it's rare for two omegas to show up to the event together.
This isn't just because there are few Omega merchants, but because this is a place where there is no shortage of others trying to show off. Alphas and betas will of course try to choose the most delicate and beautiful Omega, and the omegas will naturally try to find the most handsome and imposing alpha, but seeing the two beautiful and delicate omegas walking towards the entrance arm in arm, the crowd couldn't help but watch.
When they reached the door, Sile handed over the invitation and the doorman that wondered who these two were looked down at the names, and quickly showed a pleasing gesture, inviting them in immediately.
He had been given a list of the more important merchants that were coming to the event, and these two omegas were on the top of it.
Arel and Sile walked into the event calmly. The two of them didn't intend to mingle with others. Only if you had the intention to cooperate would you choose to make small talk, and they didn't require it, so they found a small lounge to rest at before the auction started.
Those that were in the know, were well aware of the identities of the two omegas, while others were completely unaware.
Naturally this is a place for the rich and wealthy to appear, so no one that was invited should be stupid enough to offend anyone else, especially if there are countless new faces that they don't know the strength of.
However where there are smart people, there will often be brainless people too.
A young Omega woman looked at Arel and Sile from a distance. She had seen her fiance's eyes locked on the two of them since they entered, and jealousy began to sprout in her heart.
"Damn those filthy little vixens" she sneered under her breath.