C50
"I said coldly.
Even if I didn't try to force my voice strongly, a cold tone flowed on its own.
"You're trying to influence me according to your intent, but why are you responding like this? Are you trying to waste the opportunity I gave you to build your pride right now?"
"You've got it all wrong. This is not a matter of pride. Every food has its own expiration date, what you're giving me now may have been what I wanted to eat once, but now I can't eat it because it expired a long time ago, it's expired food."
"What?"
Philap's reddish-brown pupils trembled.
"How would the person receiving it feel if they were given spoiled food right in front of their nose? Of course, they would feel dirty."
I gently held Isidor's huge hand.
He looked at me with a surprised look that was uncharacteristic of him.
"Philap, don't suddenly pretend to be kind, just take care of your partner. I'll finish the Year Flower Dance in a beautiful way."
Perhaps the Year Flower is Isidor, right?
Why not dance with just one person? It was more glamorous than anyone here.
As Thierry said, no one would disagree that Isidor is the flower of the year.
"I was going to skip the last dance."
I pulled Isidor slightly and walked towards the stage where people were dancing.
Leaving behind Philap who stood frozen without understanding.
------------------------
There were more nobles who stayed inside the palace, but as soon as the last song ended, I hurriedly left the ballroom and took out the black tunic I had brought in advance.
"Princess!"
As I walked outside with the tunic, the knight escort stuck to me and followed me hastily.
"Where are you going so suddenly? Where the hell did you get that clothing from?"
He gasped heavily, perhaps surprised by my sudden disappearance.
"James, take me to the night market."
Wearing a mask with a boring design over my face, I said as if I had been waiting.
"Why would you go to that crowded place?"
The knight escort was taken aback as soon as he heard my destination.
This was because, unlike the fountain square around the palace where the nobles played with grace, the night market was a complex place where all kinds of human crowds came and went.
Of course, there were hundreds of other beautiful things for the Spring Flower Festival.
"Hoho. You have a lot to say when this body wants to go. There's something I must buy at the night market."
"Princess Deborah. There are more people inside the night market than around this square. Your body might be pushed by those humble people."
"You are the one who should block well so that I don't stumble upon those humble things."
The escort knight made a facial expression that seemed to indicate he was going crazy with my immature words.
"If I were to compare, crowds of people would come like waves. How can one person block the waves?"
I narrowed my eyes.
"Hm, maybe, are you blocking my entry into the night market because it's a difficult and uncomfortable place to watch? I heard that many nobles also go there to play. I'm very disappointed in you."
"No way!"
"Then let's go. What's so difficult?"
After slowly provoking his pride, the escort knight finally started to guide me on the path to the night market.
"All right! Let's see, let's take a look to hit the jackpot."
The night market of the Spring Flower Festival.
Among the endless rows of stalls, the novel claims that an interesting auction was held every year in the basement of the building behind the black pot stall.
"Noir Pot."
It was speculated to be a strong auction that only insiders knew about, starting with trash worth less than 1000 wones until high-value treasures came out.
Also, one of the very old relics from the auction house that would go into the hands of Diery Orge.
"It turns out that this trash was an ancient artifact that could incubate a Holy Spirit egg...".
Holy Spirit.
In ancient times, when interaction between different species was much more active than now, there were many Holy Spirits born between the spirit and the animal that existed on the ground.
Due to the dirty darkness in the ground, Holy Spirits currently hid their traces, but fossils remained everywhere.
Since Holy Spirits had an infinite lifespan as spirits unless physically attacked, dormant Holy Spirit eggs would awaken if there was an ancient artifact that matched their mana wavelength.
Through this object, Diery Orge hatched the egg that was underwater and obtained a white Holy Spirit in the shape of a turtle.
Furthermore, he gave that precious thing as a gift to the female protagonist.
That white turtle was a precious Holy Spirit that could deliver a strong blow to evil spirits.
Sensitive to the devil's darkness, it even had the ability to quickly detect a hint of cracks.
"It's very useful in unexpected situations."
The turtle threw its body into the crack and saved Mia's life once.
"Honestly, as the evil woman, I need it more."
Mia will be lined up with robust fish that will save her life, but not me.
I wanted to carry with me a Holy Spirit that had about half the capacity of a full Spirit for my well-being.
"The turtle was small, so I could carry it in my pocket."
That mysterious Holy Spirit was my ultimate goal, but for now, I was thinking of dealing in advance with ancient artifacts with hatching functions.
I pushed through the crowd with dreams of great success and finally found a stall selling a black pot.
"Princess, where are you going again?"
Dark circles were already drawn around the eyes of the escort knight.
"Wait in front of the door. I have something to do in this building."
"I think it's a suspicious place, so I'll follow you inside as well."
"What? What do you mean by suspicious? Who the hell do you think I am?! Perhaps you think I'm indecently playing in this building?! How dare you insult me, the princess of Seymour?"
My eyes glared fiercely like a rabid dog.
"P-Princess. I never meant that. I made a mistake."
"Then stand here. I'll be out before midnight."
After putting on the elegant black mask, just like a villain, I walked away into the dimly lit hallway.
Also, I took out the invitation to the auction, which I asked the Master to give me in advance, and handed it to the huge security guard.
"4 gold! 4 gold!"
"6 gold!"
"7 gold!"
The interior was already a mess.
"It's already started. I should have left the ballroom a little faster. I refused to give in vain because of that punk..."
"10 gold!"
"They've offered 10 gold! Any more?! Tears of the Siren, sold for 10 gold!"
"Wow!"
Intense heat hit my cheeks.
Fortunately, seeing the final winning bid playing on the edge of 10 gold, it seemed like it had just started not too long ago.
Among the people desperately trying to win the jackpot, I also, with my eyes lit up, began to explore the auction items lined up on the board.
"Ancient Phoenix Feathers; the auction begins at 15 gold! Look at this bright and mysterious light!"
"15 gold!"
"20 gold!"
I squinted slightly when I saw the feathers on the auctioneer.
"He's talking nonsense as if it's a phoenix feather. It looks exactly like the pink pen I use."
No matter how I look at it, it seems like he added some magical attributes to the red-colored feather.
"However, people who don't know will be enchanted when they see it."
The auction participants were looking at it as if it were a successful item.
Like gaming addicts who kept spending money on loot boxes hoping for SSS-class items.
"I'm a nuclear crap hand, but can I pull the golden item from here?"
The auctioneer, who opened his mouth like a swindler, made me even more gloomy.
No matter how much the bidding auction has been opened for a certain period of time, the host simply put any plausible word on the item.
Ancient, legend, emperor, dragon...
Well, these words.
Maybe there's a high chance he's unaware of the actual use and value of the item.
If he knew, he might not even appear in this auction in the first place.
"I really have no idea what the hell the artifact that can incubate the Holy Spirit among them is."
Of all things, the specific form of the item doesn't appear in the novel.
The only clue I had was the content that the trash that came out of the auction house turned out to be a precious ancient artifact.
Crazy, they're all trash.
The auction items today were lined up in a row on a long table with a red tablecloth, but most of them were rusty antiques.
Container, shoes, cane, necklace, bracelet, mask, book... It was endless.
"Where the hell is the artifact that incubated the Holy Spirit among them?"
Perhaps if I put the Holy Spirit's egg in that trash pot, will it hatch?
My guess felt more plausible because an animal painting was engraved on the pot.
"I want to cry."
No, the ancient artifact came in many forms of ornaments, so the ancient mana wavelength bracelet might be a successful item.
I'm confused, but should I just bid?
"80 gold! Does anyone offer more?"
"90 gold!"
Cold sweats flowed as I heard the ever-increasing number.
Perhaps due to the speculative nature of this auction, the price range of items was ridiculously high.
A dyed feather sold for only 40 gold, and the Orc Patriarch's necklace, currently being auctioned, soared to 100 gold.
"It's just the beginning of the auction, but I can't believe it's such a brutal price..."
If you want to buy all those items, it might be equivalent to the cost of buying a title.
I nervously bit my nails.
"I'm going crazy. Oh... wait, I think I know what it is!"
I was carefully looking at the items and jumped up when I realized what had crossed my mind.
"That's it!"