The auctioneer stood rigid for a long moment, seemingly locked in an intense internal battle.
Ultimately, however, she slowly shuffled over and silently unlocked the cage for Su Zhao.
Su Zhao stretched her body with a sense of cozy relief and stepped gracefully out of the cage.
“Where are my other things?”
“The, the buyer has already taken them away,” the auctioneer whispered.
Su Zhao: …
Su Zhao’s footsteps paused; she couldn’t help but close her eyes for a second.
Fine, whatever.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Those auction items that had already been tainted by some filthy creatures. To be honest, even if she could get them back, she didn’t want to lay eyes on them ever again.
The clamor outside was growing closer and closer. The city’s resistance was fragile, and the offensive was advancing rapidly like a hot knife through butter, with the explosive sounds of various spells echoing without end.
Su Zhao jumped down from the high platform, bypassed the chaotic crowd, and strode toward the exit.
She looked radiant and energetic, preparing in her best state to welcome the good Saintess who had delivered her from the fiery depths of disaster.
Yet, she hadn’t walked far before she was forced to slow her pace.
Su Zhao’s excited mood suffered a setback; more than half of her joy withered away, and her entire figure drooped at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She had stayed in the cage for far too long, and coupled with the tormenting torture she had just endured because of the love curse, her legs felt like jelly, and her strength had not yet fully recovered.
She could barely walk anymore.
The auctioneer knew very well that enemies filled the entire city, making escape impossible. And if she were to take the princess hostage, it sounded like a surefire way to die even faster.
So, hardening her heart and gritting her teeth, she thought: Screw it, this lady is switching sides!
Trying to redeem herself and make up for her past mistakes, she stuck close to Su Zhao’s side like an unshakeable tail. The moment she saw Su Zhao’s dejected appearance, she immediately sensed her chance to shine and eagerly supported her.
“Your Highness, is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?”
“I miss the pretty older sister,” Su Zhao answered listlessly.
The auctioneer’s eager movements froze.
Her hand was caught in an awkward dilemma, because neither raising it nor lowering it felt right.
She stood frozen like a despairing wooden statue, her hands hovering weakly beneath Su Zhao without daring to touch the little princess the slightest bit.
That previously excited mood quickly cooled down like a bucket of icy water poured over her face. The auctioneer wore a completely numb expression as she listened to the little princess complain with sorrow:
“I need Sister so much. I need Sister to frown and scold me, to hate me for not taking good care of myself, to call me a fool with zero self-defense awareness, which is why I could still get forcibly snatched away by a bad older sister from outside even when I was right inside my own home.”
The auctioneer stayed as quiet as a chicken.
Feeling extremely guilty, she didn’t dare utter a single extra word.
As expected, half-baked lackeys picked up along the way were entirely unreliable, completely devoid of consideration, and completely oblivious to their master’s needs.
Su Zhao sighed helplessly and had no choice but to pull over a chair, climbing into it hands and knees before tucking her entire self into the soft back cushion.
Immediately afterward, she let her gaze drift away, staring listlessly at the empty air in front of her as her tone grew increasingly aggrieved.
“I miss Sister so much. I want Sister to grab me by the neck, scold me from head to toe, and make me obedient so I would never dare make this kind of mistake again. Then Sister would gently pat my head, softly kiss me, rub my face with her fingers, and gently comfort me.”
“I can’t walk, and I’m stubbornly refusing to move an inch. Sister wouldn’t care whether I’m willing or not, she would just hoist me up and forcibly throw me onto her back. When Sister carries me on her back like that, I would wrap my arms tightly around her neck.”
“I would whisper quietly into her ear, telling her how much I like her, how much I care about her, how very, very much I need her, and how a weak little fool like me could ever possibly survive without her!”
Her tone was filled with ups and downs.
The auctioneer: …
With a completely numb expression.
Unable to muster up a single facial expression.
Su Zhao didn’t care about her reaction in the slightest and continued to wallow in self-pity: “Sister really should have kept a close eye on me; she should have been firmer and tied me down, never allowing me to leave her sight for even half a step. A poor, helpless, and fragile little pitiful thing like me, being coveted by so many pairs of eyes.”
Midway through her complaints, it came to an abrupt halt.
Su Zhao suddenly raised her head and looked toward the second floor.
The twist came out of nowhere. Those wealthy distinguished guests in the private boxes were masters at reading the room.
The very moment the accident occurred, they had immediately sealed their boxes.
Across the entire second and third floors, the windows of every room were nervously shut tight. Among all the closed boxes, only a single one had its window left casually wide open, standing out boldly and looking exceptionally striking.
Su Zhao had already stepped down from the high auction platform and was sitting in the low spectator seats. After tilting her head back for quite a while until her neck grew sore and stiff, she still couldn’t see the scene inside the room.
The auctioneer had originally been keeping her eyes fixed on her nose and her nose on her heart, looking straight ahead while pretending to be invisible air to avoid drawing any wrath.
At that moment, hearing the sound of garments cutting through the wind, she quietly raised her gaze and saw that this frail, pitiful, and helpless little princess had straightened her posture at some point.
With her elbow casually resting on the armrest, she was thoughtfully tilting her head up and surveying the private boxes on the second floor.
The auctioneer found it utterly baffling: “What are you looking at?”
“I have a feeling it’s like someone is watching me.”
Su Zhao had originally just mentioned it casually, but the auctioneer’s reaction across from her was huge. Her expression stiffened, and her whole body seemed to slowly freeze into place, practically flashing the capital letters of wanting to escape.
Su Zhao narrowed her eyes slightly, watched her for a few seconds, pointed at the room with the open window, and asked, “Which box number is that?”
The auctioneer took one look, and her entire body stiffened once more. Biting her lip, she finally spoke: “It is Box 12.”
“Box 12, huh?”
The love curse had been far too excruciating when it flared up. Su Zhao’s willpower had been scorched within the searing flames, causing her to drift in and out of consciousness with zero capacity to pay attention to anything else.
She could no longer clearly remember what had happened while she was suffering, let alone know that someone had waved a hand and spent a massive fortune of 3 billion gold coins to purchase ownership of her.
Right as she muttered that number, her pocket suddenly grew hot. Without any warning, it felt as though it had caught fire, burning her so intensely she almost jumped right out of her seat.
Finding it completely inexplicable, Su Zhao reached her hand into a non-existent pocket and began slowly groping around.
Amidst the auctioneer’s astonished gaze, Su Zhao fumbled for a long while before finally digging out that scorching-hot card she had obtained during a previous quest from a remote corner of her game inventory.
[You have unlocked the Favorability System.]
[Would you like to view the details of this item’s contents?]
There were surprises like this too?
Su Zhao was pleasantly surprised. When she first obtained it during a quest, she had assumed it was just a useless, blank card of zero value, purely a piece of space-hogging garbage, and had despised it thoroughly.
After receiving it, she had tossed it into her game inventory and never paid attention to it again.
Now, prompted by the system and seeing that the item actually seemed useful, Su Zhao grew full of enthusiasm and immediately clicked to check its contents.
Dazzling golden particles danced and leapt about like fireflies.
A line of glittering golden text eagerly jumped out before Su Zhao’s eyes.
Favorability Item:
[Brave One’s Hymn]
[Your courage is admirable! When you selflessly present this precious trophy to the Saintess Evelyn, you will harvest the Saintess’s respect.]
[Saintess Favorability +10, Light Faction Prestige slightly increased]
Ooh!
That sounded fantastic!
It was the first time Su Zhao realized that this game actually contained such items capable of boosting target characters’ favorability ratings.
Judging solely by its effects, it definitely counted as a rare item. It was as if the game itself had sensed Su Zhao’s distress and, just as she was worrying over her stagnant favorability progress, thoughtfully delivered a grand gift pointing her toward another viable path.
The back of the card seemed to have more content. Su Zhao’s curiosity grew even stronger, and she naturally flipped the card over.
Following her conventional train of thought, she had assumed that one side of the card contained text while the other would feature a pretty character portrait of the Saintess. She had already mentally prepared herself and was eagerly looking forward to admiring a beauty.
Only for a ring of ominous crimson light to jump out instead.
The red glow surged forth like a violent, bloody tide, crazily spreading from the card without any warning. A line of text that looked as though it were woven from blood vessels squirmed and laid itself out crookedly in front of Su Zhao.
[Bloody Gaze]
[A lowly human dares to offend the dignity of a Vampire Grand Duke! Until you are turned into a blood slave to vent her anger, the Grand Duke’s gaze upon you will never cease.]
[Grand Duke Ophelia Favorability -30, All Dark Faction Favorability -10]
Su Zhao: …
The hand holding the card trembled slightly.