An incomprehensible conversation went on in front of her, who couldn’t even open her eyes properly. Numerous men grabbed Luciella’s face and examined her by turning her this way and that, treating her like an object.

It felt like being inspected. No, they were actually determining Luciella’s commercial value.

“Clean without a single scratch. Haha, her p*ssy is brand new since it hasn’t even been opened.”

Luciella, whose vision had belatedly returned, looked around her surroundings. She saw strangely exotic trees and plants. This meant this place was no longer the kingdom she knew.

The accent of the words the men exchanged had also changed. It was definitely the accent of Empire people.

‘Have we already arrived at the Empire……’

Luciella bit her lower lip and rolled her eyes this way and that.

“Forty-five million gold.”

“Tsk, forty-eight million.”

“Forty-seven million.”

She could hear the men haggling over money. Soon the negotiation seemed to end, and Luciella’s body was transferred to another carriage once again.

“Clean her up and put her in the weekend auction. Be careful not to damage the merchandise.”

“Yes, understood!”

The man who bought Luciella was treating her completely as merchandise. The way he looked at her was exactly that too.

Unlike the previous men who had been gleaming with lust, he had dry, emotionless eyes. He was simply assessing Luciella’s commercial value meticulously.

‘……What chilling eyes.’

Whether it was this side or that side, the unpleasantness was all the same.

* * *

Luciella, sold to new people, had been confined for several days in a gloomy place like an underground dungeon. She seemed to be waiting for the weekend auction.

In the room where not a single ray of sunlight entered, Luciella sat blankly and thought.

‘I should be grateful to be alive.’

Right, let’s not complain. I’m no different from a criminal for having stood by and watched my brother.

The excuse that she lacked power would also be nothing but an excuse. The cornered people had risked their lives and headed to the royal palace.

However, Luciella couldn’t resist like them. She was afraid that her brother’s interference and anxiety would reach its peak and the blade would eventually turn toward her. She was confined to the separate palace like the dead, waiting only for her engagement.

‘If I had known it would come to this anyway……’

Whatever the case, these were all thoughts too late to have now.

How much time had passed since being confined in the dark underground? When she could no longer distinguish day from night and couldn’t tell how much time had passed,

Strangers came rushing in and dragged Luciella out. From their rough dragging hands, she could instinctively tell.

‘The auction day has come.’

Luciella, dragged away without even being able to resist, stiffened with tension. Though she didn’t show it, her heart was pounding wildly.

What would happen to her fate from now on?

Would she be sold to some old noble and forced to spread her legs? Or would she be sold to some perverted bastard and used for all sorts of bizarre acts?

Either way, it wasn’t pleasant.

“Handle her carefully. This b*tch is the main event of today’s auction “

“I heard that with rumors of a princess being captured, all the major players have come.”

“Haha, I’m already excited to see how much they’ll bid.”

Was this how her brother felt when he was dragged to the guillotine?

Luciella listened to the men’s conversation and squeezed her eyes shut. Her mouth tasted bitter. Her stomach seemed to twist with complexity.

Something like a sack was pulled over Luciella’s face after she was dragged somewhere. When her vision was completely blocked, she realized her situation once again.

“Now, here’s today’s final item! The one many of you have been eagerly waiting for…… Princess Luciella Bert of the Bert Kingdom!”

The moment the man with a strong imperial accent finished speaking, the cloth covering Luciella’s face was pulled off with a swoosh. Then short exclamations poured from the audience seats.

Brilliant lights and gazes instantly turned toward Luciella. Her confusion and frowning lasted only briefly.

The moment she came to her senses, masked spectators were gathered disgustingly close in front of her.

“Ugh……”

Even though they wore masks that barely showed their eyes, she could vividly feel what kind of gazes they were scanning her with.

‘Disgusting……’

Elderly men licked their lips while looking at Luciella. They also tried hard to fan themselves, pretending to be noble. The hypocritical behavior made her feel nauseated.

‘I knew the Empire’s public order was worse than the kingdom’s, but……’

To think they’re allowing such vulgar auctions to happen secretly among nobles. Those calling themselves imperial family must be no different in their ugliness.

Luciella, who had been continuing her thoughts, soon remembered her brother and smiled bitterly.

Right, who was she to evaluate and point fingers at others? A fallen princess, no less.

Soon Luciella stared at the audience seats with vacant, unfocused eyes, resigned. The host continued adding explanations.

It was vulgar shouting to sell merchandise, to get even one more penny.

“Now, let’s start the auction. Starting at one hundred million gold!”

“One hundred ten million.”

“One hundred twenty million.”

“One hundred thirty million.”

“One hundred forty million.”

The moment the host finished speaking, the auction began to pick up speed. The sound of rising bids filled the auction house without stopping.

Then, at that moment—

“One billion.”

Someone suddenly shouted an amount nearly ten times higher. Even Luciella’s expression, who had been trying to appear indifferent, cracked. She turned her gaze to the bidder with a stiff face.

Though his face was covered and she couldn’t tell what he looked like, she could tell he was quite a large man with a big build.

He had a better physique than ordinary men. His broad shoulders and thick body lines stood out even in the crowd.

“One billion! One billion gold has been bid! One billion gold! Is there nothing higher?”

The auction house instantly became quiet. Even those who had been rapidly raising bids all closed their mouths.

“Tsk, she’s a plaything you can’t even take out publicly…… one billion gold is a bit……”

“Exactly. The Bert Kingdom is just a common small country, after all……”

Some people whispered about the one billion gold attached to Luciella. And no one raised the amount any higher.

The host enthusiastically asked the crowd several more times to try to get even a little more, but only silence returned.

Eventually, when there was no progress, the host rang a bell to announce the auction’s end.

“One billion gold! Then we’ll end the bidding at one billion gold!”

Hearing the blatant price for her existence made her feel like she had become a beast.

“The final successful bidder, please follow our guide staff to pay the contract money and complete the contract.”

The auction ended pathetically. The people who had filled the audience seats began to leave one by one.

The brief entertainment was over.

Among the bustling audience seats, only the man who had won Luciella sat in his seat without even moving.

Because of the mask covering him, neither his face nor expression could be known. However, it was certain that the man’s gaze was persistently staring at Luciella.

She felt unpleasant at the man’s straightforward gaze that was almost piercing. The staff led Luciella’s body toward the back, waiting for this moment.

Soon she could see the man who had been sitting in the audience seats paying and stamping documents not far away.

Only then did reality hit her.

That she had really become someone who was sold.

Even while being kidnapped, even while being at the center of the auction, it had felt like someone else’s business, but now she finally felt it was real. Luciella became mentally dazed. Overnight, she had become worse off than the poor in back alleys.

Numerous documents passed between the staff and the man. And soon Luciella’s body was handed over to the man.

“Thank you. We have many good items, so please show much interest in the next auction as well.”

The man put Luciella into a luxurious carriage. Behind her, she could hear the auction staff bowing politely.

The man followed into the carriage without any particular response.

She was left alone with the man who had purchased her in the cramped carriage.

Luciella stared intently at the innocent floor. She didn’t lift her head. She didn’t want to meet eyes with the man in front of her.

Someone who buys women in such places couldn’t be normal.

She desperately kept her head down and avoided the man’s gaze.

The carriage began to move with a rattling sound.

The man just silently watched Luciella. Heavy silence settled in the carriage.

‘Uncomfortable……’

What would happen to her from now on? What was the man in front of her thinking while looking at her?

She was curious yet didn’t want to know.

In the carriage, the man didn’t say a word to her. He just sat silently across from her, staring at her trembling form.

Every time she became aware of his gaze, Luciella’s body stiffened with tension.

His face, glimpsed beyond the mask, looked quite young. She had worried about being sold to some old man and having to suck a c*ck that couldn’t even stand properly. Fortunately, it wasn’t that.

‘Why would a young man deliberately buy a woman from such a place?’

Her suspicion was brief. She definitely concluded that he must have strange tastes that couldn’t be revealed publicly.

Whatever the case, it was certain that the man sitting across from her was definitely not normal.

The more Luciella continued her thoughts, the more anxious she became. She couldn’t get a sense of what this man would do to her.

It would have been more comfortable if he had blatantly displayed crude lust like the mercenaries who had first kidnapped her.

However, the man’s inner thoughts hidden behind the mask were completely unpredictable.

Luciella’s anxiety grew like a snowball. The carriage continued to run.

* * *

Not much time passed before the running carriage stopped. When the door opened, what appeared was a splendid mansion.

Though called a mansion, it was as magnificent as the Bert royal palace where Luciella had grown up. For a moment, Luciella thought something like, the Empire is indeed the Empire.

‘To think nobles’ mansions are at this level……’