Chapter 16

City Hall, Slyvor City, Schweston Province, Dragonia

Wednesday, August 21st, 1013 AW

The Auditorium of the City Hall was filled with hundreds of people. There were businessmen, local and foreign Dignitaries, and special guests who had been invited to attend the Annual Auction.

Almost all the people belonging to the upper echelon of the society in Sylvor City were present here inside the galleries.

Their representatives, who were going to take part in the Auction on their behalf, were sitting in the hall, under the Platform where the City Lord, the Deputy Governor of Schweston Province, and the Special Guest, Jose Ramanio, who was the former Governor of Schweston Province, were standing, meeting the people who came over to greet them.

Mikael and Raeya reached the venue at exactly 11:45 am, 14 minutes before the start of the Auction, and both entered Gallery C, which was on the right side of the stage.

Their seats were C-35, and C-36, in the back and both were glad that some unknown faces were on either side of them.

However, seeing them enter the gallery together, their acquaintances and other people in their circle were quite surprised.

A few even came over to say hello to them, but since the event was about to start, most remained seated in their places.

Even though their seats were in the back, the elevation of the gallery, and arrangement of seats, gave them a clear view of the entire Hall and the Stage.

Mikael immediately spotted Alison, who was seated in the middle of the Hall, and on either side of her were Jenna and James.

Almost everyone at the venue was unfamiliar with them, so, they did not know whom the three were representing.

Klara too had arranged new faces to present her and Raeya, and it was an old lady and a middle-aged man, who were sitting in the far left.

The City Lord started the event with a speech, welcoming everyone, and giving them some insight into the future development of the city.

He did not reveal much as the Provincial Government was still discussing the plans, and people did not pay much attention either.

Mikael, however, already knew what was going to happen in the coming months, and he was quite excited to grab all the properties that he and marked today.

However, the Auction started with the Tenders, so, he and Raeya spent that time chatting with each other, not paying much attention to anything else.

"Where did you and Klara go last night?" She suddenly asked, and he amusedly smiled at her.

"She did not tell you?"

"I did not ask her. You came very late."

"Why?"

"She seemed very happy, so I am just curious about what happened between the two of you"

"Just curious? Not jealous?" He whispered in her ear and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Just curious." She made it clear and he did not continue teasing her.

"I took her out on a date. We had a delicious meal and then we sat down on the car and gazed at the stars. Later, I took her to an Underground Fighting Arena, where we made some money by winning a couple of small bets. On our way back, we stopped at an ice cream parlour." He told her what they did last night, and after nodding her head, she did not raise more questions about this matter.

"If you dare hurt my sister, I will kill you with my own hands, Mikael." She, however, threatened him, and he believed her words.

To her, no one was more important in her life than her sister. Not even him.

"And why would I hurt my own wife?" He curiously asked with a smile.

"You hurt a lot of people around you. It's what you love doing the most." She scoffed at his question and left him speechless, unable to refute her.

The two did not talk again, and after the auction of Tenders ended, the Real Estate, which the Government had seized or owned, the Real Estate that had fallen into the hands of the Banks, and the Real Estate some people wanted to sell, was auctioned.

One of the biggest pots of gold in this Auction were the properties which were owned by a former wealthy family, whose head had passed away without a Heir and had struck off his young wife from his will. After a court battle, which the woman lost, the properties fell into the hands of the City Government.

Most wealthy vultures were here today to acquire these profitable properties and establishments.

However, Mikael was not interested in them. Though profitable, the cost of acquiring these properties was not something he could afford. Most importantly, he already knew who was after them, and he and no plans of fighting with that party.

Inadvertently, he glanced at Gallery A, where the Major Families of Sylvor City were seated. He soon found his mother, who was accompanied by Anaiah, whom she was grooming to become the future CEO of Ravenstein Conglomerate.

A little away from them, the old man of the Sterling Family, Boris Sterling, and his grandson, Ryan Sterling, were sitting.

Mikael looked at all the people in Gallery A, and finally saw Raeya and Klara's Father, Alastair, and the old man of the Albonn Family, Alexander, sitting in the corner.

He frowned when he saw a good-looking young man, probably a couple of years older than him, sitting by Alexander's side, next to the wall.

"Rae, who's that young man sitting next to your Grandfather?" He asked his wife, who immediately answered him.

"I don't know. I have never seen him before." She frowned, but then a thought crossed her mind, but she kept it to herself.

Feeling a little disgusted as she looked at the young man, she turned her eyes away and focused on the ongoing Auction of a small-scale Apartment Complex, which a new company had built, and now on the verge of bankruptcy, the Bank was auctioning it off.

It was one of the properties that she remembered Mikael marking in his file for them.

According to him, it was going to be auctioned off between 15 to 17 Million Draks and would appreciate by two times over the next three months. It would reach its highest value by the end of the next year.

Klara had already discussed with him that if they won this property, selling it would become the responsibility of his new Real Estate Company. So, Raeya really wanted to see if his first prediction would come true or not.

She noticed that his agents too took part in the bidding, but as soon as the price exceeded 12 million Draks, they pulled back.

The rest of the bidders continued fighting for it, but none of the wealthy groups were after it.

In the end, Klara's agents managed to secure it at 15.75 million Draks, and she surprisedly looked at her husband.

"Told you." He chuckled and watched her roll her eyes at him, and suddenly became very interested in this Auction.

Immediately after it, another Auction started, which was about a Warehouse Complex, sitting on 7.2 Acres of land, jointly owned by a Businessman, whose company was going through a divestiture, and the Viti Bank.

It was another property that Mikael had marked for them.

She was again surprised when they managed to acquire it within the range he had guessed. It cost them exactly 7.7 Million Draks.

One by one, they acquired all the properties within the range he had marked, and they spent exactly 52 Million Dranks.

If everything went according to his predictions, then they would be making over 200 Million Draks from these investments.

Her breathing quickened and she was now regretting that she did not spend the 50 million that she had in her hands.

And though she felt a little embarrassed, she turned to look at him.

"Is there another valuable asset or project in the Auction?" She hoped he would not make fun of her, and he just smiled at her.

"Tell your agents to stay in the Hall and wait for when the Crown Land around the city will go for sale. I will help you buy a few pieces of land, which will appreciate in the next summer."

"What numbers are we looking at?" She asked, frowning a little.

"30 Million Draks of investment, and an appreciation of six times. You can make over 150 Million Draks in profit if you sell them by December 1014."

"How?" She was very confused right now.

"Just trust me. I have inside information on this." He whispered in her ear and then planted a kiss on her cheek, which made her blush.

She was very doubtful about how a land outside the city would appreciate sixfold but decided to take a leap of faith and trust him.

"If I lose money, it's on you." She playfully said and took out her phone.

Raeya contacted her agents in the Hall and told them to stay till the end of the Auction. She told them that she would make a call later and that they would be bidding on new targets.

[Ding! The Son of Destiny, Aaron Stone, has detected the Host and the Heroine, Raeya Albonn.]

[Aaron Stone's favourability towards Host has reached -100 (Absolute Hatred)]

[Aaron Stone's favourability towards the Heroine has reached -50 (Strong Disgust)]

{The Son of Luck believes that "Dog Men and Bitch Women must suffer before their death. The hatred of stealing the wife and her twin sister is irreconcilable". The System warns the Host to be wary of the danger}

"What the hell?" Mikael was dismayed when he heard the System Prompts.

However, he managed to hold himself back from looking in Aaron's direction, but his eyes turned very cold.

"Is there a way to see a panel with his information?"

{Yes, Host, but it will consume Fate Value}

"How much?"

{10 Points}

"Do it."