There was probably no woman in this Empire who would hate having those red eyes fixed on her. Valia became conscious of her lightly beating heart and turned away.

After the designer had left, Valia had to choose a necklace.

Several jewelry necklaces were nicely arranged on the dressing table. All of them were selected from the jewelry storage room, with the designer having already singled out a few of them. Valia chose an emerald necklace. The maid should have been the one to put the necklace around the Marchioness’ neck, but because only Valia and Schuden were in the room, Valia hung it around her neck herself. The clicking metal sound rang quietly.

Valia checked herself in the mirror. Today, she wore a bright cream-colored dress and put on matching makeup. Except for the emerald necklace brought from the jewelry storage room, she chose simple earrings and bracelets. Valia deliberately dressed up like that because it was not a tea party attended by many noblewomen. The designer accurately accepted Valia’s request not to be too fancy. The designer’s aesthetic sense was a bonus for her.

‘Next time, I should propose her as my exclusive designer.’

Although, a man was staring intensely at her, so they did not get to talk much today.

Valia turned her head to the side. The red eyes looking at her came right into her view.

‘Does he look back at me every time I look at him?’

Only the employees knew that Schuden’s gaze was always on Valia. Even when they looked at each other, Valia always turned her head first. She was the only one in the manor unaware of his ever-present staring and merely thought that their eyes had met. Valia smiled as she turned back to the mirror.

“Valia.”

“Yes?”

“That necklace seems a little different from what you wore when you visited the Imperial Palace.”

“Oh, this was in the jewelry storage room. The jewelry I wore during the visit was prepared by Paul.”

“Paul?”

“Yes, he prepared this and that.”

Valia only learned about the property that was supposed to be her dowry not long ago. She was not clear-headed enough to even take care of the basics, but Paul was well prepared. In addition to her basic indoor dress, Paul prepared a box full of useful accessories as well. Thanks to him, Valia was able to conveniently wear the accessories when entering the palace.

“Hmm.”

Schuden got up from the sofa. As he strode forward, he stopped behind Valia. His cold hand caressed her slender neck.

Valia trembled at his sudden touch.

Click.

The metal joint made a small noise and then fell to the floor. The emerald necklace rolled on the marble floor with a dull thud. Valia blinked her eyes.

What’s this situation?

‘Did he not like the necklace?’

Even so, it was a bit strange to unhook the necklace without saying a word. Despite her doubts, Valia reached out to pick up the necklace for now. In the blink of an eye, her hand was softly grasped. Schuden raised Valia lightly like a doll and hugged her as she was from behind.

“No need to pick it up.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s an old jewel, isn’t it?”

“Oh… Is that so?”

Even though Valia answered that way, she was puzzled.

‘Why does it matter if it’s old?’

No one found fault with old jewelry. The design surely might be a bit outdated, but size and cut were important factors in judging the value of gems in the Gel Empire. The jewels in Garth’s storage room were by far the best. Each stone was the size of a baby’s fist, and the gem’s delicate cutting scattered light from various angles.

‘Something is strange.’

Perhaps he also knew, but Schuden’s explanations were so poor that it made Valia think as such. He locked her in his arms and said nothing. A strange silence passed, and the emerald necklace of the highest quality was left on the floor.

The longer the silence, the weirder the atmosphere would get. Valia escaped from Schuden’s arms, he obediently let her go. Valia turned her body to meet Schuden’s eyes.

“Schu, I don’t have any jewelry suitable for a tea party in my jewelry box.”

There was a proper formality in social circles. As a noblewoman, Valia had to have proper jewels. The manor’s storage room was lined with fancy jewels but there were only simple and neat accessories in the jewelry box Paul prepared for her.

Valia already knew that Schuden was not the kind to take back his words. There must be a good reason for his action.

“I would like to receive a new piece of jewelry. Will that be difficult?”

Schuden was silent for a moment, his red eyes only staring into her silvery-gray eyes. The silence did not last long.

“If you want.”

Valia smiled brightly. A soft smile also appeared on Schuden’s lips.

“What kind of jewelry do you like? Rubies, sapphires, or diamonds?”

Schuden spoke one by one based on the jewelry that women he had met briefly in the past preferred as gifts. Valia blinked her silvery-gray eyes before answering.

“I will trust your discernment.”

“That is the most difficult order.”

Schuden smiled briefly and kissed her fingertips lightly.

“I won’t be home for a few days.”

The Imperial Palace was busy with the delegation from the Eastern Union visiting. As a negotiator, Schuden was the noble who became most involved in this work. Because things had turned out this way, he could not have dinner with Valia as frequently as he wanted. Valia nodded her head without showing any disappointment.

“Yes. Take care of your meal.”

“You too.”

It was a neat response. Sometimes Schuden had a thought, what would happen if Valia showed disappointment? He was indeed bothered by such people in the past. But now…

Schuden bowed his head to Valia while she was staring at him, her red painted lips unusually smelling of flowers. Schuden was about to kiss her on the lips but Valia stopped him by pushing his chest.

“You’ll ruin my lipstick.”

“Can’t you just put it back on?”

“No, The designer has already gone home.”

“What about the maids?”

“This delicate style is only possible because it was done by the artisan.”

Oh no.

Schuden eventually had to kiss Valia on the back of her hand.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The largest jewelry auction house in the Gel Empire handled everything from substantial gems to valuable and precious treasures. As with other auction houses, distinguished guests were managed separately. They mainly consisted of high-ranking nobles of the Gel Empire, foreign royalty, or the cream of the wealthy merchants.

Today was the day of a special auction for distinguished guests. Luxurious armchairs covered in red velvet were placed in the hall in the innermost part of the auction house. The seats were almost full, except for a few.

Since it was a rule not to enter in the middle when the auction began, the door was almost half-closed. Unlike the stage on which the jewelry would be displayed, the hall where the distinguished guests sat was somewhat dimly lit.

The last one to enter the hall was a tall man.

“This way, sir.”

Unlike other guests, the man was guided to a special seat. It was located a little higher than the hall where the seats were placed. Some of the guests sitting in the back showed curiosity as being guided to a special seat meant he had a considerable status or power.

It was a rule to wear masks in the auction for distinguished guests, so the last man to enter was also wearing a mask. Since the mask had a strong decorative aspect, it was not possible to completely conceal the identity behind the mask. It was just a kind of implicit rule. Even if they guessed each other’s identities then and there, they just did not say it out loud.

It was especially hard to properly identify the man who entered late because the hall of the auction house was dark. The auction started with small conversations that continued from time to time.

“Yes, it’s knocked down!”

From the start of the auction, the man’s presence began to skyrocket. The jewels had a particularly short time for the auctioneer to declare a successful bid, as they were all bid by the man in the distinguished guest’s seat. Usually, it was common for several people to raise the price little by little, but the man raised the price by a big amount from the first bid. Most of the jewels were sold out in an instant.

“I don’t know if it’s only me, but doesn’t it seem like he’s only been buying women’s accessories since the start?”

“So I wasn’t the only one who thought so.”

The man’s biddings were not on just any jewels, he only swept away women’s accessories. For example, sets of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Since every piece of women’s jewelry was sold out in the blink of an eye, people were more interested in how much money the man would call every time a piece of women’s jewelry came out.

“Introducing the last women’s jewelry of the day.”

The whole hall was focused on the word ‘last’. The reason the auctioneer insisted on using the word ‘women’ was probably so that the man will have the same thought. As the auctioneer flicked his hand, the red velvet cloth was lifted, revealing a glass display stand.

“A crown that shines like a constellation in the night sky. A beautiful diamond tiara.”

A gorgeous tiara with a large diamond in the center appeared. The diamond centered on a tiara was the size of a hand’s okay sign with other smaller diamonds the size of a fingernail drawing a graceful curve. It was as dazzling as the stars in the night sky.

There was a short time for the guests to admire the tiara. The auctioneer’s eyes, who had habitually glanced at the distinguished guest’s seat, were wide open. He bit the inside of his mouth. It hurt, and it was indeed not a dream. The auctioneer closed his eyes tightly before opening them. Then, he knocked the gavel three times. His loud cry filled the hall.

“Instantly knocked down!”

The echoes of those three words were truly enormous. The man held a golden auction card, which meant the highest auction price.

“…Instantly knocked down?”

“Did he bid for the tiara right away?”

The auction house became noisy in an instant. The Gel Empire’s auction was presented with the highest bid in advance along with the first bid. If one placed the highest bid, one could win the auction right away without any further bidding going on. However, it was seldom for such a situation to happen, because it had to surpass 100 times the first bid.

Perhaps he was no longer interested in anything other than women’s jewelry, so the man sitting in the distinguished guest’s seat stepped down the stairs. The distinguished guests who were sitting in the back abandoned their conduct and glanced at him. Following the assistant’s polite guidance, the man went out and took off his mask before the door even closed. The eyes of those who were secretly looking at him widened in surprise.

“Marquess Garth…?”

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