However, even with the handcuffs removed, she couldn’t move rashly. More people had returned to their seats as the diamond commotion was nearly over. It seemed difficult to take advantage of the disturbance.

What should I do? Is there no way? That’s when she spotted the pistol hanging at the man’s waist.

How does he have a pistol? She’d heard that weapons were usually prohibited in auction houses that dealt in slaves…… In any case. Could she do something with that pistol?

Ribeta surveyed her surroundings and looked up. A splendid, enormous chandelier glittered brilliantly.

If only she could shoot the chandelier with that pistol and make it fall…… Even if she failed—

“Hah, hah…… We will, resume the auction. What was the last bid?”

The auctioneer appeared, disheveled from searching for the diamond. There’s no time. Ribeta reached her hand toward the pistol while opening her mouth to divert his attention.

“I don’t care how much people like you bid to buy me.”

The man tilted his head slightly. Ribeta’s fingertips touched the pistol. Cool, solid, and heavy. Just like the man’s eyes boring into her.

“I want freedom.”

Freedom not to be sold. Freedom not to be abused. Freedom to live by my own will.

Freedom to judge my own worth myself, not by others. Freedom not to be dominated by anyone.

Even if death is the only way to become free. I want to be free. I want to live like a human being. Even if only for a single moment.

“To my eyes, it seemed you wanted to die.”

“Do you want to die?”

Ribeta’s eyes widened at the man’s softly whispered words. The man’s lips formed a painted smile beneath his mask.

“How fortunate that you don’t.”

He removed her hand from the revolver with his large hand and said,

“80 million sola.”

His voice was utterly calm as he uttered the staggering number. Ribeta suddenly realized the identity of the déjà vu she’d felt when she first saw him.

His height and build were exactly the same as Count Ruperto she’d seen at the Sirente Exchange.

A fragrance brushed past the tip of her speechless nose. The same fragrance from the handkerchief she’d received from him. Heavy yet sweet, an unforgettable scent.

“E-eighty…… 80 million! Will anyone bid higher……!”

The excited auctioneer’s voice gradually faded into the distance. A man who looked nothing like Count Ruperto gazed down at Ribeta with his index finger pressed to his lips.

Clearly…… he’s a different person, so why…… Ribeta’s consciousness, which had been precariously holding on, cut off there.

※※※

“Ribeta! Get over here right now!”

Melissa’s irritable voice seemed to tear at her eardrums. Ribeta bolted upright. Her body felt strangely light. It was as if she were floating through the air.

“Ribeta!”

“I’m here, Miss. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What is this? Where did this come from?”

What Melissa held in her hand was a small stick with an unsmooth surface. Too thick to be a needle, too short and thin to be an awl.

Where did you get such a thing? Ribeta herself wanted to ask Melissa.

“Alec gave it to you, didn’t he?”

“Pardon?”

“Because you’re a lewd wench who trusts in your face and soft body to seduce Alec.”

“What are you saying all of a sudden……”

“Alec is my fiancé. You can’t have anything! You wouldn’t have even survived this long without me. And yet! How dare you, how dare you, how dare yooou!”

Melissa lunged at Ribeta with the needle. Ribeta grabbed Melissa’s arm and held her off. Melissa cackled. A white mask that hadn’t been there moments ago now covered her face.

“One million sola! I sold you for one million sola. It’s the first worthwhile thing you’ve ever done for me. But actually, your price was 80 million sola, wasn’t it?”

As soon as the words ended, Melissa’s form transformed into a plump man.

“I bought you for 80 million sola, so I’ll enjoy you thoroughly. Sluuuurp, what should I make you do first? Ehehehehe.”

“Hah……!”

Ribeta bolted upright. After remaining frozen in that position for a moment, she quickly looked around. No one was there.

“It was…… a dream.”

Her heart pounded as if it would burst. She pressed her hand firmly against her chest and steadied her breathing. Even so, she couldn’t calm down. It had been that horrifying and vivid a dream.

But where is this?

A bed, two chairs, one table, a small wardrobe, and a round mirror hanging on the wall. It was a small room that felt neat, perhaps because it contained only minimal furniture, but it was a place she’d never seen before. Her mind snapped alert and her spine went cold.

Ribeta quickly traced through her memories. The masked man she’d encountered at the auction house. Had that man truly been Count Ruperto? Moreover, before she lost consciousness, that man had definitely—

“80 million…… sola, he said.”

The color drained from her face. She couldn’t understand at all what was happening. However, if she hadn’t misheard, that masked man had bought her for 80 million sola.

Then is this that man’s house?

There was nothing particularly special about the room. Perhaps she could learn something by looking outside. At least she could tell whether it was day or night.

Ribeta, who had been about to push herself up from the bed, froze. A bandage was wrapped around the palm that had gripped the needle. The bandage was spotlessly clean and didn’t smell musty. The white bandage carefully wrapped around the wound almost looked like a handkerchief.

She hadn’t even known she was injured.

Come to think of it. She was wearing clean, neat clothes. Ribeta’s face belatedly flushed as she recalled the clothes she’d been wearing at the auction house. It’s fine. It couldn’t be helped. Shaking her head, she headed toward the window.

She undid the latch and opened the window. The pitch-black sky rushed forward. It was a deep night.

Ribeta let out a sigh. This way, she couldn’t make out what was around her. However, she didn’t give up and leaned her body out, gripping the window frame. As if doing so would let her see what couldn’t be seen.

That was the moment.

“You’d be better off staying put.”

Ribeta lowered her gaze toward where the voice came from. Count Ruperto stood beside a carriage. Ribeta, who had been on the verge of climbing onto the carriage, found herself staring intently at his hair without realizing it.

Golden. It’s golden. A vivid gold visible even in the dead of night.

“If you jump down, then what? Do you think you can run away with an injured body?”

“I wasn’t thinking of……”

Ribeta trailed off. She hadn’t been completely without such thoughts.

The room she was in seemed to be on the second floor. Since she could converse with the Count, it wasn’t a height from which she absolutely couldn’t jump.

The Count, who had been silently watching her as she failed to say anything, spoke coldly.

“Don’t confuse courage with recklessness. What you’re trying to do is meaningless struggling.”

Count Ruperto tilted his head crookedly as if urging an answer. Ribeta tensed and gripped the hem of her skirt slightly. She hadn’t expected to encounter the Count at all.

“I…… I’m not thinking of doing that.”

“Let’s say that’s true. Go inside and close the window. It would be troublesome if someone snuck in, wouldn’t it?”

“……As you said, it’s the second floor—is such a thing even possible?”

The Count smiled faintly. The smile that brightly illuminated the dark night was splendid but not kind. Ribeta felt a chill run down her spine.

“I apologize. I was rude.”

She hurriedly pulled herself back into the room and closed the window.

Count Ruperto was exactly the same as when she’d met him at the Sirente Exchange. Leisurely, vulgar, and overbearing.

Ribeta crouched down beneath the window. I need to think about what’s happened, what I should do from now on. However, perhaps because she was so bewildered, her mind wouldn’t work properly.

‘The man who bought me in Lerrbatia wasn’t the Count. But…… his build and manner of speaking are similar. And that fragrance……’

The nightmare-like experience in Lerrbatia came flooding back and Ribeta trembled briefly. In any case, even if that man wasn’t the Count himself, he clearly had a close connection. The reason that man had bought her in Lerrbatia must also be related to the Count. Since he’d brought her to where the Count was.

‘……Why? And paying as much as 80 million sola?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t grasp anything.

That’s when she heard a knock. Ribeta’s shoulders twitched and she approached the door.

“Who is it?”

“I’ve brought a meal.”

It was a flat, gruff voice.