Jeanne’s Situation Changes

Ardor continued trying to act, but he genuinely felt sad, and sorry for himself. Jeanne and the "family" felt it.

He looked down and said, "I sadly don't, First Mother. Is it really necessary to sell her?" He looked up at her in genuine hope. The same hope she always loved to crush, and she didn't fail him this time.

"Yes, it is." Her reply was curt, leaving no room for refusal.

With a self-sacrificing tone akin to a man who learned it was useless to argue without power, Ardor softly said, "If it's for your daughter… Ah… I guess it can't be helped. You may do as you wish, First Mother."

What they didn't know was he was constantly looking through his Shop hoping to find something to get him out of his current predicament.

While he had some hope to save Jeanne, who now looked horrified and teary standing behind him, he wanted to know if there was a way to not temporarily lose her in the first place.

'Everything's either unsuitable or too expensive!' he mentally shouted in frustration.

Alse and Gawyn looked pleased at his response. They had heard of his behavioral change and expected him to cause them some trouble.

Gawyn was even ready to break some bones, but their plans turned out to be useless. It felt like preparing to punch with full force, only to hit cotton.

They still felt things were okay, as everything was moving according to their plans. Isabella looked exceptionally pleased at this moment, though none paid attention to her. If Ardor did, he might have impulsively thrown an Essence Bursting Dart at her.

Alse called the maid behind her and whispered, "Tell them to come and take her away."

While the maid left the room, Alse looked at the people staring at her. "You can continue eating. There's nothing left to discuss."

But Ardor's cousins and step-brothers who were Alse's children weren't having it. They knew of the first matter today, but did not know about the second.

"But mother, what opportunity are you talking about? You never told us about it!"

"Yes, yes, please tell us, dearest mother! We want to know."

"Come on, Alse, don't keep the children waiting."

Even the wives of Gawyn's brothers urged her. But all she did was look at Gawyn, and he considered it for a moment before shaking his head.

Alse put on a helpless look on her face and stayed mum while the others went silent. They had no courage to ask Gawyn, as they knew the stubborn fellow wouldn't change his decision.

Two men in black clothes, covering their faces with a black mask, soon entered the room after bowing towards Gawyn Flame, following the maid who had recently left. The maid pointed at Jeanne and they immediately approached her.

She stepped back and reached for the wall behind her. The soft wall carpet usually felt comfortable to touch, but now she only felt anger at their presence for stopping her.

Alse sternly spoke up, "Stop resisting! Don't forget your status as a slave!" She looked at Ardor and everyone did the same.

He loosened his clenched fists and decided to act with reason, though his heart that had started to mend once again broke into pieces.

He looked back at Jeanne and those men. "Relax. It'll be okay. Trust me."

The others didn't understand how it would be 'okay,' but perhaps because of her trust in Ardor, Jeanne stopped resisting and left the room with the two men in black, though he didn't miss her betrayed look.

'Does she feel I'm not worthy since I can't even protect my woman?' he thought in shame.

Ardor looked at the insignia imprinted on the back of the black men's uniform, 'Wicked Auction House.' He remembered about it.

He went through the memories he had of them and relaxed, but only a bit.

'It's a proper auction house. They won't damage the goods, especially those from noble households. Thankfully, it's not a slave shop where they train the slaves to be obedient to their masters…'

He felt fearful, knowing if that happened, he'd be on a one-way trip to eternal damnation.

The dessert now felt tasteless as Ardor schemed on how to rescue his first Permanent Harem member.

"Useless son," Gawyn barked, getting his attention. As Ardor looked up with hidden bitterness and hate that didn't escape Gawyn's experienced eyes, he continued, "You think she's fallen in love with you?"

"What!?"

The crowd connected the dots and looked at him as if he were an inferior creature, a dirty rat wearing noble clothes.

"You dare to love a slave!" Alse fiercely rebuked, feeling humiliated at having him in her family.

"Brother… no, you can't even be called that. How could you forget they're just tools to relieve stress!?" one of Ardor's cousins said this, ignoring the plenty of maids standing behind each family member.

The older maids looked indifferent, already used to it, while the younger ones lowered their heads in shame.

Ardor had already known this, but this exposal by Gawyn left him embarrassed. The small piece of chocolate fudge slid off his spoon that was near his mouth and fell onto his plate.

"Just because you failed to capture the heart of my daughter, you went for a slave?" Gawyn said. For a moment, Ardor felt something like concern in that tone, but it was quickly forgotten seeing the rest of their dark scornful faces.

"Don't think she's fallen in love with you," Gawyn declared. "Did she accept you because she likes you or because you stopped chasing my daughter, knowing she's out of your league and settled for chasing a slave? And you did it knowing she's your slave, and she can't reject you."

'You!' Ardor's hatred almost became physical. It shocked the others, seeing him emit such maliciousness.

But Isabella failed to see it, despite sitting beside him since she had kept her head down in shame for letting such a wimp who settled for inferior creatures to chase her.

Meanwhile, Ardor didn't do anything. He just held it in. The faces of Gawyn and Alse superimposed the parents in his other life. He saw everything. Their twisted gazes, their warped common sense. Their warped smiles as they tortured him. Everything.

Once again, his hatred for Gawyn reached an all-time high, and his bottled emotions filled up again. Unless he got a larger bottle, they would explode. He was sure of that.

The rest of the breakfast was uneventful. He left the side dining room before others, then saw Gawyn and Alse move in different directions and a light bulb lit in his mind.

'For now, I can't take my revenge against Gawyn. But Alse is a different story.'

Ardor began walking slowly, not towards his house, but towards Alse's residence. In about 5 minutes, he was standing at the entrance. When the maid who spoke to him this morning noticed his presence, she tried to leave sneakily. But he stopped her.

"Come!"

With a sigh, she looked at other maids working and wondered why he had to choose her and approached him.

"Tell her I'm here to seek an audience," Ardor commanded. He still looked at ease, as if this was his own house.

The maid nodded and quickly went inside to inform Alse. She returned in a minute and passed a positive response.

Guided by the same maid, Ardor entered the house of his enemy for the first time. He noticed the water fountain in her courtyard. There were small animals like rabbits, cats, and other cute creatures. He even noticed a few deer.

Ardor went deeper inside and soon arrived in front of a room meant to meet guests. The maid went back to continue her work while he kicked the doors inwards with a bang and entered the room.

"What is this? Have you no manners?" Alse, seated on the opposite end on a sofa, asked angrily. A faint pressure exuded from her which Ardor didn't miss. Never in a million years did she think she'd see the wimp rudely enter her room.

Ardor ignored her. The room was laid with a soft brown carpet, with brown chairs, sofas, and the brown office table behind which she sat. He inspected, and the shine confirmed that it was bronze, not brown.

'Why's she into brown when the entire estate is red?' he wondered, but didn't care too much about that. Even his house couldn't escape being painted flaming red. He finally looked at her and approached her table, step by step.

Alse felt something different when she looked into his domineering eyes that concealed his maliciousness. He felt like a completely different person! Was he still the wimp who submitted to her back in the dining room?

Ardor finally stood in front of her, his pants touching the table. He held a small perfume bottle in his left hand, which she noticed but didn't pay any attention to. He raised his right hand for a handshake. She stared at him, confused.

"It's for a handshake. After all, I've never greeted you properly before," Ardor explained, reining in his disgust.

Even though it was somewhat uncommon between family members to greet each other like this, she thought of their relationship and understood. But why did she have to listen to this brat?

"Why should I shake it? You didn't even explain yourself after kicking the door like that?" She snapped with folded arms.

Ardor brought a forced smile to his face. "Yes, I'll explain after a handshake." He insisted.

Alse looked at his face, then his hand, and finally shook it. She felt nothing wrong with it. He had just agreed to sell his slave for the sake of her new daughter, so he at least deserved a handshake.

Ardor finally gave her a genuine smile that seemed slightly bizarre. Dazzled by his pearly white teeth that shone when he smiled, she didn't notice his left hand holding the perfume turn in her direction and spray its contents on her.

The liquid inside it swiftly broke down into droplets in the air, but instead of gradually spreading into the surroundings as usual, it floated towards her, as if attracted to her.

"What?" Alse shouted and swiftly retrieved her hands upon smelling something new. It felt foreign, but pleasant. Her mind felt as if it was on clouds, in a land with no pressure or threat, filled with pleasure.

"I need to talk to you alone," Ardor quietly said before the doors burst open once again. Only this time, it was a group of men in black.

The one in the lead wore a black mask, fully covering his face. Ardor looked back to see his red eyes approach him with crushing pressure.

"First Madam! Are you okay?" He asked with concern and respect. His hand forcefully pressed on Ardor's head as he asked Alse, "Did this boy trouble you? Should I immediately end him?" He acted as if Ardor would comply with whatever was going to happen to him.

'He's still a Death Warrior, but this one can speak.'

Ardor calmly noticed the difference despite feeling a heavy weight on his head. He knew the perfume would fulfill its intended purpose, but his eyes were staring at the worst enemy of men, a Peak Essence Bursting Dart in his Shop, in case of any emergency.

"It's fine," Alse replied. "Leave us. I have something to ask him."

The man stared at her in confusion. He noticed the command was not the usual 'guard the surroundings,' but 'leave.'

"Do I need to explain myself to you?" She asked him in slight anger.