The audience was in a frenzy, all of them admired the beautiful wings that had originally sat on Astra's back.
"They're pretty, your wings," Elish commented, looking in her direction.
She blushed, turning her face so he couldn't see. Elish couldn't help but consider it an endearing reaction, like that of a child who was complimented.
"I can see why those guys betrayed you for them," Once he added this, though, her face had a more disturbed expression trapped on it.
"What's on your mind?"
Astra looked at him in surprise, perhaps not expecting the question. However, after seeing him give her a calm nod, she decided to open her lips.
"Are you really going to get it? For me?" She muttered.
'Why is she suddenly asking me about this? Is she suddenly beginning to doubt me… my capabilities?' However, before Elish's thoughts quickly veered into the realm of assumption, he calmed himself.
He found himself assuming the worst, even though he didn't have the full picture.
'Does… she have such little faith in me?'
"I-It feels so unbelievable. Like I'm dreaming. You already told me you would get it, and I still believe your words. It's just that, this feels so unreal," Astra suddenly broke into tears, which surprised him.
'Ahh… it seems I misunderstood.'
While Elish couldn't say he was thrilled by her current emotional state, it cleared his earlier misconception.
She did trust and believe him; she was just finding it difficult to come to terms with reality.
'I guess she still has little self-worth in her own eyes.'
That was a problem.
"You should have a bit more confidence in yourself," Elish told her before facing his front to fully concentrate on the auction.
He noticed her looking happily at him from the corner of his eyes, and that caused him to smile too.
Astra nodded her head rapidly, slapped her cheeks, and then faced the stage as well.
******
"We'll begin our bid from..." The auctioneer began.
Everyone held their breath; a moment of suspense ensued.
"Five million coins!" He announced.
Immediately, people started bidding crazily for the wings.
In his mind, Elish played the event that would have taken place if he hadn't obtained Pandora or had the ancient coins and Scylla auction house on his side.
He clearly remembered the membership price for premium was fifty million. And now the mere starting price of Astra's wings was equivalent to ten percent of that amount.
These people had crazy money to spend.
That said, only the premium members would be bidding at this point. The regular and special members could only watch.
There was no surprise there; if they had that much money in the first place, they would have gotten premium membership.
Other than exclusive bidding rights on some items, premium members and above had some closed bidding events, with only them in attendance.
That was the advantage of premium and royal membership.
"A hundred and three million" A person bid.
"A hundred and twenty-one million" Another said.
Elish just sighed.
'This has gone on for too long. In order to not waste anyone's time, let's put this to a close.'
Julius had already told him that the estimated value of the wings was about five hundred thousand ancient coins. An ancient coin was currently equivalent to a thousand regular coins. That gave Elish five hundred million coins at his disposal for this auction.
He was not a big fan of wasting money. After all, he was practically spending so much money on something that originally belonged to someone who belonged to him.
That just meant that he was buying a property that he was already entitled to.
However, since he had enough at his disposal, plus for the sake of good relations with Scylla auction house and beyond, he'd participate this time.
"Five hundred million," Elish bid instantly.
Everyone was surprised by his rash bid. He'd just increased the bar to a remarkable level. No one was bidding again.
Elish was certain it was for two major reasons.
One, they simply did not have enough money to compete with the likes of himself. For him to bid five hundred million, he had to have more in store; he was sure they all knew that.
The second reason was simply because he was of royal membership, and while his identity was hidden, there was the general assumption that he was a royal.
No one in the room would dare to bid so seriously against a royal.
"Six hundred million" A buzz, followed by a voice was heard.
Elish recognized that voice. 'Of course, it makes sense.'
The only one who would oppose him, one of royal membership, was another royal. The royal who obtained the two elves, and now also wanted the wings.
'How laughable. Well, he must have very deep pockets. Let's see how far they run.'
"One billion" Elish raised the stakes.
He was not one for bidding little by little to minimize cost. He preferred having an undisputed and overwhelming win.
'Now then, let's see if the other royal could keep up.'
"One billion and a hundred million." A voice emerged, after a while of silence.
"One billion and five hundred million," An immediate response followed.
"O-One Billion, five hundred and fifty million" The voice now croaked.
Okay, now Elish knew he was reaching his limits. Let's kick things up a notch, shall we?
"Two Billion." Elish declared.
The crowd let out noises of shock and surprise.
Even amongst the rich, two billion was a lot. Certainly, not the kind of money one spent on fairy wings, which, while they were very special and potent, were simply not worth that price.
The royal remained silent for a while. Just for amusement's sake, Elish decided to use his enhanced vision to see his face and reaction.
It was just as he expected.
The man was biting his nails and looking really frustrated and angry. Elish could tell that he didn't have enough funds to continue.
'I guess that's a wrap. It's over.'
"2.1 Billion coins" The loser royal suddenly spoke up.
This caused Elish to frown almost instantly.
'He is bluffing. He doesn't have the money, at least not anymore.'
After all, the fool had recklessly bought two elves at the price of a hundred million each. He had also purchased other items as well.
The only reason he was doing this was to spite Elish. By raising the price, Elish would have to bid higher and he'd bid higher again until Elish had lost a lot of money meaninglessly.
Anyone would get visibly upset by this knowledge.
But not Elish.
"How foolish,"he simply smiled, closing his eyes a little. "Fools like that needed to be disciplined."
Suddenly, there was an intercom announcement in the room. Elish guessed that the voice was being projected by a Relic, but the most interesting thing about the announement was the person who was making it.
Julius Biden!
"Sir Zeke, that's enough. As a measure against intentional puffing of the prices of the items for certain reasons, we requested for your bank statements and the capacity of your coin cards. Both are below two billion. With all due respect, do not bid any longer when you have no means to back your bids. It reflects badly on the other royals,"
Elish and the other members of Scylla heard the message loud and clear, and at that instant, everyone looked in the direction of the private suite of the so-called Sir Zeke.
"Well then, you may continue," Julius's voice echoed before the intercom disconnected.
And then there was silence.
'As expected.' Elish smiled to himself. 'For such a prestigious company, they would have certain measures concerning the handling of problems in bidding.'
Zeke made no further bid after the announcement, and neither did anyone else.
"Sold!" The voice of the announcer cured the silence in the room, and not long after, the closing words were uttered.
"I hereby announce this Auction sale officially over!"
Elish instantly rose to his feet, and following him in his action was Astra.
'It's finally time, Astra.' His thoughts echoed as he glanced over his shoulder to see the excited look on her face.
'Time to get my slave and your wings.'
*
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[A/N]
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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