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“I told you…. I accomplished everything well,”
said Elisha.
“The whip I entrusted to Nora… … . Over there.”
A whip lay on the table near the hotel bed where Elisha was lying. Lucerne brought it.
“I took it from the man who attacked me.”
“It looks like something made to a certain standard,”
Lucerne turned the whip while examining it.
“It looks like something the knights use.”
Elisha nodded her head. A white pattern was engraved on the head of the black whip.
“I struck the person who attacked me with the whip once horizontally and vertically. You just need to find either Jacob’s knight or Marco’s subordinate with a new scar on his face from today. And… … . We just need to find the knights that are issued these weapons. It will not be difficult.”
Lucerne nodded.
“You did well. Meanwhile, did he whip you?”
“Yes. But it didn’t look like he had any intention of killing me. The goal was to lock me up during the auction… … .”
As Elisha spoke, she seemed to have made a slip of the tongue because Lucerne’s expression turned cold again.
“You could have ended it by just resigning to being locked up.”
“He threatened to scar my face.”
“It’s better than risking dying.”
“Are you serious?”
Elisha wanted no part in that experience of her previous life. She never wanted to become a woman again whose face was disfigured by burns. She hated the idea of knife slashes as well.
“Then I won’t be able to act as your wife,”
Elisha asserted firmly. Now Lucerne wanted her body, but what if her face was really ruined? He would probably change his mind.
Lucerne thought she was ridiculous, replying in a tone of bewilderment,
“Well, there’s one thing I know from this— I let you go out and do what you want for half a day, but now that you’re back.”
“… … .”
“I can’t take my eyes off you.”
“Why the hell are you drawing such a conclusion?”
“And—”
“… … .”
“Be prepared to be locked up for a while,”
Lucerne promised he would prepare a prize. But this was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Elisha tried to protest, but Lucerne’s expression looked so bad she held it in.
***
After Elisha had slept for a few more hours, the knights standing and pacing in front of her room arrived. She was leaning on the bed.
“It’s time for my wife to eat. Get out.”
Lucerne frowned. The knights looked at each other and pretended not to hear. It was a calculated risk that he would not hit them in front of his sick wife.
“She’s been monopolized by the general for two whole days,”
Lapis protested.
Elisha heard that and blinked her eyes. It was surprising that he had been by her side for so long. Upon hearing this, Lucerne growled. “Nora, take them all out.”
Nora, who was the most obedient, flinched.
“Please, I’ll serve the meal!”
Nora exclaimed. Lucerne’s eyes dimmed, looking bloodier. The Seeds had a gut feeling about the upcoming ‘mental-strengthening’ training, but none of them budged.
“Do as you please,”
Lucerne finally said. He sat down on a chair at the table, a short distance from the bed.
The knights gathered and huddled around Elisha, and Nora started pouring thinly boiled chicken soup into her mouth.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, it’s good,”
Elisha whispered with a sallow face.
“It’s a soup that Lazri boiled for hours after the madam collapsed!” Lapis said quickly.
Elisha looked at Lazri in surprise and thanked him. Lazri replied with a nod.
Nora began to seriously consider learning how to cook.
Everyone rushed to ask about Elisha’s condition, and then Ian carefully brought out her words.
“All of Yurif is now abuzz about the property. How the hell did you get it?”
Elisha looked calm and collected.
“It seems that the general is not curious about how much I bought the land for.”
“Hey, we’re curious,”
Ian said hurriedly.
No one knew the concluding bid of the land auction. This was because the agency delivered the relevant documents to the successful bidder’s home within a few days after the land’s auction was completed and the bid was settled. Because Elisha passed out afterwards, no one heard the details.
“Two thousand gold coins,”
Elisha said quiescently as usual. The knights looked at each other.
“That… … . Isn’t that the starting price of the auction?”
“Yes.”
Elisha nodded. Apparently, the bid went up to 200,000 gold coins.
Nora and Ian knew the property’s secrets, but the rest of the Seeds did not. They thought that if Elisha had won the land for 200,000 gold, she might really be knocked out by Lucerne.
“How on earth?”
Elisha’s eyes widened as she recalled her conversation with Lucerne.
‘General, I heard that the current mayor of Yurif has been indebted to you. He was originally a small-time mayor of a nominal town, but when the community was attacked by monsters, the General’s army saved them.’
‘Where did you hear that?’
‘Princess Illione,’
Elisha continued.
‘I want to ask the mayor for a favor.’
‘If I say anything, he will listen without payment.’
‘Great. Then, if the bidding price surges, please stop the auction and make an offer to the bidders to reach an agreement.’
Moreover, Yurif’s mayor was a good-natured but small-minded man. He was worried that if the land were sold at an outrageous price, it would negatively affect the town. So Yurif’s mayor stopped the auction when Elisha called a bid for 200,000 gold coins.