" Yes, m'lord. We are taking the same number as last year " Ralf replied.
The yearly royal auction is an affair that most kings and nobles of Midgard don't like to miss. If they're unable to make it, they'll send their representatives to attend for them.
" That's good... "
Another knock on the door interupted their conversation. " Come in "
Nero pushed open the door and entered with a defeated expression on his face " m'lord " he bowed in greeting.
Dagan motion for him to rise. " So, I heard you got nothing again today? " he asked in disappointment.
Nero sent a dager look at Ralf when he saw him in the room. He turned back to Dagan and went down on his knees with a thud. " I'm sorry m'lord. I tried really hard m'lord, but I didn't get any again today. "
Dagan's expression turned a few shades darker. " Oh? And why is that? You've been giving me the same reports for the past few weeks. What the hell is going on?"
Nero lowered his head " I'm so sorry,m'lord. That girl, no matter how much I tortured her, she just won't cry. Today I only got a pair of useless stones again. I think--i think she's dry, m'lord." He stole a glance at Dagan whose expression was as hard as stone and quickly lowered his head.
" Is that why you almost killed her today? I thought I told you to be careful when torturing her?" Dagan slammed his palm on the table and stood up. His tall frame easily dwarfing the two men in the room. " And What do you mean she's dry? How can she be dry? Didn't you use the Flameheart incense? "
The Flameheart incense is a kind of magical incense that emits hot smoke that's extremely irritable and damaging to the eye.
" I've been using that everyday, m'lord but it seems it is no longer effective against her " Nero replied.
When the cruel Lord first got a hold of Lilura, they could easily extract real top tier diamonds from her by torturing her for hours everyday. But as Time goes on, she got used to the pain , and stopped giving them the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
That was when Dagan decided to resort to using the Flameheart incense. It was effective at first. The incense would irritate her eyes and tears would stream down involuntary. As time goes on she grows weaker as if her power was being sucked out of her.
Eventually her visions started failing as she grows weaker. Her tears doesn't come so easily anymore no matter how much they torture her. If eventually it appears, it solidifys into dull useless stones.
Dagan cursed under his breath. " Does that mean she's no longer useful?"
" Actually, M'lord, I do have a suggestion as to how she can be of use one last time " Ralf replied this time. Though he couldn't voice his complains In front of their Lord, but their conversation was beginning to irritate him. They were talking of torturing a person, a young girl for that matter as if she's an animal.
" Oh? And what might that be? " Dagan turned his attention to Ralf with a frown between his brows. He wondered what other use the girl might have.
" We should sell her at the auction, my Lord " Replied Ralf.
" Oh? " Dagan raised his brows, waiting for him to continue.
Nero looked at Ralf and scoffed " And pray, tell me, mate, who's going to buy her? How are they going to buy her if she doesn't produce any diamond?"
" Do you think people at the auction are dumb or are you just trying to look for an escape for her? " Nero looked at Ralf as if he was stupid.
" You..." Ralf glared at him. He would really like to break this guy's neck if it wasn't for their Lord being in the room.
" Shut up, Nero. Let him finish first" Dagan snapped. He turned his attention back to Ralf. " Continue, Ralf. Explain."
" Yes, m'lord." Ralf tried to calm his breath. " First of all if we're going to auction her off, we have to make sure her health and vision is good first. I said this because I noticed she stopped crying after her health started to deteriorate greatly a couple of weeks ago and right now she's on her last leg. She could die any moment from now which will be a waste since we can still make good money from her for the last time. If her health improve before the auction, it might be possible for her to produce the diamonds and the it won't be difficult to sell her" Ralf explained.
" And why should we have to sell her if she can still produce diamonds after she's been healed? Why not keep her for ourself and continue getting the diamonds from her instead?" Nero sneered.
Ralf shook his head " You're really stupid." Nero glared at him but Ralf ignored his angry expression and continue.
" You know the state she's in right now. She's already almost half dead after today's torture, her vision is getting more worse because of the irritation from the incense and too much tears, her health has already deteriorated from bad to worse. Her healing ability has stopped working for the past few weeks now. She's briused and battered and almost on the brink of death. Even if we heal her now so she can continue producing the diamonds which is highly unlikely will be everyday, how long do think it will take for her to breakdown again? Or do we have to keep healing her Everytime she's broken? Won't that be a waste of our time and resources? And what happens after she finally looses her vision which I'm preety sure will be soon enough if the tortures continues, Do you still think we'll be able to get the diamonds from her? wouldn't all our efforts be in vain then. Use your brain, mate and stop interrupting if you don't have any sensible suggestions to contribute." Ralf napped at him.
Nero couldn't retort. He just glared at him and remain silent.
" So you're suggesting?" Dagan finally asked.
" For her to be auctioned off is the most profitable way, m'lord. It would be a waste if she dies like that." Ralf replied. Although not having much hope his suggestion would be taken seriously but he was betting on the greedy nature of Lord Dagan. He knows Dagan wouldn't say no to more money. If there's a way for him to make more money off the girl before she dies, he won't pass it off. Wicked son of a bitch!
Dagan was silent for few minutes before replying. " Okay. We'll do as you say, Ralf." He's contemplated about it and decided that was the most viable option.
Ralf was relieved inside but didn't let it show on his face. Seeing the girl enduring such monstrosity has been weighing on his mind greatly until he thought of this solution.
" Nero,you go and get her to the healer. Tell them to treat her wounds and heal her eyes if possible. They should also give her food enough to give her strength to heal before we go for the auction next week. She should be strong enough to stand on her own two feets by then."
" Alright, m'lord. I'll do that now " Nero bowed and walked out of the room.
Dagan then turn to Ralf. " You go and begin preparation for the auction against next week and contact the Azuran tower to let them know we have something we would like to auction off. We'll be leaving three days before the auction day."
" Alright, m'lord. I'll go get it done " Ralf bowed and retreated from the room.
***********
" You look like... terrible "
" I feel terrible "
Levi was having lunch with his father under the twilight pavilion. The pavilion has a water Lily pond in the front with lots of colourful fishes swimming about it. It also have other beautiful flowers plated around it. The atmosphere was serene and beautiful. But there's nothing calm about Levi. He knew it was only a matter of time before his father talked about why he'd called him there.
" What happened to you Levi? Didn't you get any sleep last night?"
Rex ask as he watched his son wolf down his food as if he'd been starving for days. He noticed his haggard expression and the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.
" I didn't sleep until this morning and then I had to be tortured by that dream again." Levi replied without looking up from his plate.
" Oh " he knew what his son was talking about since this wasn't the first time for him to have the dream. " You should rest some more then and don't overwork yourself "
Levi continue to focus on his food while Rex remained silent. He'd wanted to broach the main subject before but after seeing his son's terrible state, he wanted to reconsider.
" Do you have something you want to tell me father? " Levi asked after pushing his food aside. He drink a goblet of water and wiped his mouth.
" Yes " Rex pursed his lips.
After watching his father remain silent for a few minutes Levi decided to broached the subject himself. " If this is about the choosing ceremony, I have to say that I'm not ready, father. Right now, i don't have the time or patience to entertain a bunch of spoiled and stupid princesses. You know i have more important things to do with my time and a lot of things on my plate lately." The sooner he they talk about this the better. But he should have known his father wouldn't give up that easily.