Unfortunately, Ilion didn’t disguise himself as a maid. Looking at me incredulously, Ilion carefully followed the maid and sneaked in through the back door.

Then, together with her, he knocked out a passing servant and decided to change clothes.

“I did kind of want to see Your Grace disguised as a maid.”

I muttered to myself loudly enough for him to hear, but Ilion pretended not to hear and put on the vest he took from the servant.

Well, if he did that, it would have stood out as much as wearing a name tag and breaking through the front door.

“It feels like we’re conspiring a crime.”

“We actually are.”

Ilion, wearing the vest he took from the servant, struggled to fasten the buttons, as it was a bit small.

“If we get caught, please bail me out. You’re the one who instigated the crime, Your Grace.”

Ilion seemed taken aback by my shameless response.

“Was your praised performance perhaps like this?”

He asked, eventually giving up on fastening the buttons, he left the front open.

“It’s a bit disheartening to hear you say ‘like this.’ Do you know how competently I assisted you, Your Grace?”

After hearing my answer, Ilion turned away, seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation.

He’s always picking fights. Spinel’s absence felt especially poignant in the face of Ilion’s persistent uncooperativeness.

“By the way, don’t you think we’ll stand out too much?”

“What will?”

“That hair and appearance.”

Even though his face was covered with a mask, his hair color was strikingly noticeable.

“If we get caught, there’s nothing we can do.”

“It’s not such a simple problem.”

He’s speaking so casually as if it’s not his affair. But technically, it is his affair. Why is he so carefree?

As I grumbled inwardly and arrived at the auction house, it became clear I wasn’t worrying for nothing when the person guarding the door stopped us.

“Hold on.”

As expected, Ilion’s appearance was the problem.

“What’s with that attire?”

“…Pardon?”

His attire? Contrary to my expectation that he’d point out the hair color, the man criticized Ilion’s attire instead.

“Don’t you know proper attire is basic? Didn’t you even receive that kind of education?”

I could imagine Ilion’s frown without even looking at him. To prevent unnecessary conflict, I quickly stepped between them.

“I-I forgot. I’ll button it right away.”

Then I pulled on Ilion’s vest and fastened the buttons, ignoring his groans.

Once inside, a rather spacious hall came into view. The guest seats on the first and second floors each had large tables with various drinks prepared on them.

The servants were busy attending to the guests.

Seeing them, I understood why the guard hadn’t commented on Ilion’s appearance.

The silver hair was nothing compared to the array of hair colors present. Some weren’t even human.

“What did Spinel say Royden looked like?”

Ilion asked as we naturally blended in among them.

“Spinel said he had light sky-blue hair and purple eyes. If he hasn’t changed his appearance, he should still look like that.”

His distinctive appearance should have been easy to spot, but no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find anyone with sky-blue or even similar hair color.

While searching for someone resembling Royden, the lights dimmed over the guest seats, and the stage lights brightened.

It’s already hard to find people, and now the lighting isn’t helping.

After circling the left section, I moved to the unlit passage beside the stage to regroup with Ilion.

“Did you find him?”

“No.”

Ilion shook his head.

As he suspected, Royden might not attend today’s auction or might have visited a few days ago.

“Maybe today isn’t the day.”

I sighed, looking at the guest seats. They were engrossed in raising bids to win auctions. Watching them bid fervently on people put on display wasn’t a pleasant sight.

“What do you think about throwing those people in prison and earning some merit?”

I casually remarked to Ilion while watching them.

“Not a bad idea.”

Ilion didn’t seem pleased with the situation either.

“Then let’s take one more look around and leave.”

I decided that if we couldn’t find him, we’d extract information from the auction operator and headed toward the guest seats.

“Oh, by the way, Spinel said not to make eye contact with Royden.”

I was about to pass on Spinel’s advice, which I had forgotten, when the auctioneer raised his voice, explaining about a person who had just stepped onto the stage.

Though I had been ignoring the chatter, as it was bothersome in such a cultured gathering, this time, it was hard to overlook.

“Sky-blue hair, purple eyes. Isn’t it truly mysterious?”

Sky-blue hair, purple eyes. Those words instinctively drew my eyes to the stage.

There stood a man with long blue hair and mysterious eyes, too beautiful to be human.

“Why shouldn’t we make eye contact?”

Curious about the interrupted advice, Ilion asked, and I mumbled the rest of Spinel’s advice while unable to take my eyes off the stage.

“If you make eye contact… he can read your memories…”

The man’s purple eyes slowly moved and stopped on me.

“Miss, Miss Rischefeld.”

Ilion pulled my arm and turned me around as I continued to stare at the man in a trance.

“Y-Yes?”

Finally coming to my senses, I looked at Ilion with a dazed expression.

“Is that man Royden?”

His voice held a slight edge as he asked.

“Well, I’m not sure.”

The description matched, but I wasn’t sure he was Royden. What else did Spinel say? I remember her saying he’s a more sane dragon compared to Ceras. But what does being more sane than Ceras even mean?

The man on the stage glanced at me with a peculiar smile.

“Now, let’s start at a thousand gold.”

The auctioneer’s announcement made the hall fall silent.

“Is there no one for a thousand gold?”

The people who were eagerly raising paddles just moments ago were now eerily quiet. Looking around, everyone seemed dazed, staring blankly ahead.

The only difference from before was that the person on the stage had changed.

I turned my head again to look at the man. He slowly stepped down from the stage and walked toward us in the corner of the auction house. The guards didn’t even try to stop him; no one moved at all.

Once he was close, he crouched down on the stage to look at me.

“You came looking for me, didn’t you?”

“Are you Royden?”

“Yes, I’m Royden.”

Was he not the buyer but the one being sold?

Spinel’s advice that he was more sane than Ceras echoed in my mind again.

I had a mountain of questions about this absurd situation, but I set them aside and addressed the most urgent matter first.

“I came because I have a request. Could you help me?”

“If you need me, you should participate in the auction.”

I glanced at Ilion at his suggestion. Ilion, standing behind me with his arms crossed, was watching me and Royden with a slightly stiff expression.

“I-I believe buying and selling people is an act that disregards the value of life.”

Squeezing out a textbook answer between them didn’t seem to please Royden.

He paused for a moment as if pondering and then changed his proposal.

“Well, then you can think of it as helping me escape from here.”

What nonsense is that? You’re the one who came here voluntarily.

His ridiculous choice of words, claiming to be trapped, left me speechless.

“So, are you going to help me or not?”

Royden urged me for an answer. I doubted he really needed my insignificant help, but either way, I was the one at a disadvantage if I refused.

The problem was…

“I-I’d love to help, but I don’t have any money right now.”

“Stop playing along with his nonsense.”

Ilion, unable to watch any longer, cut in.

“Ceras’s son, stay quiet. I’m talking to this lady right now.”

Saying that, Royden flicked his finger, and Ilion’s voice seemed to be caught in his throat, leaving him speechless.

That spell is amazing. If only I had the talent for magic, I’d want to learn it.

“How much do you have?”

“Pardon?”

“Your money.”

This feels like I’m being extorted…

Even if it were extortion, I had no choice but to comply, so I hurriedly rummaged through my pockets.

All I found was a single silver coin. It wasn’t even mine but belonged to the maid who originally owned this outfit.

I showed him the coin with an awkward smile, and Royden returned my gaze with a smile. At the same time, the auctioneer spoke again.

“Then let’s lower the price to one silver. Is there no one for one silver?”

The auctioneer asked in a robotic voice. Despite the absurd price, the hall remained silent.

Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my elbow, and my hand involuntarily rose.

The auctioneer looked in my direction and pointed at me with an open hand, confirming my bid.

“W-Wait, this is…”

I quickly lowered my raised arm and shook my head, but he ignored me and looked around.

Seeing no other bidders, the auctioneer soon struck the gavel to announce the sale.