WHO DOESN'T HAVE MONEY?

Ara's expression changed upon hearing those words from Iris, but she immediately reverted to normal and still stood between the two. Tch tabletop, like I care.

"I said move aside, or else I'll have to burn you to make a path for myself," Iris threatened and when the auctioneer saw the threat of a fight, he couldn't stand there silent anymore.

"Ladies, can we settle for a bit?" He suggested nicely, but...

"Know your place, commoner!"

"Know your place commoner!"

Iris and Lia both shouted at him at the same time which scared him to mute.

Iris looked back at Ara but the other girl was still calmly standing in her way. Iris expected a major reaction from Ara because of the earlier insult to her figure since all girls were bound to care about how they appear before others, but when she received none, she was utterly disappointed. It was like she didn't feel bad in the slightest about those offensive words. She was about to speak again when her brother grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. She complained but he silenced her with a look.

"Annoying idiots," Lia said the moment she was pulled aside. She took her seat again and watched Isir whisper something into Iris' ear which pleased her. The twins were busy, knowing they were out of earshot but they had no idea Lia knew how o read lips a little, and that Ara and Mozrael had also been taught the same skill by Gebreth, or that they were now intrigued by what the twins were planning on doing.

"Forget it right now, Iris. Don't make a mistake and make a fool of yourself," Isir scolded her, and she got angry at him for reminding her of how stupid she must look to all the people around.

"You have no idea how I feel okay? She just made me look stupid and you want me to leave it just like that?" She hissed at him

"Of course, she did that, but what are you going to do? It's true that the auction house mainly belongs to our family but there are rules. You can't attack them here. We would be kicked out, and that would be a worse embarrassment."

"So I should just leave them? If that's what you have in mind, then I'm going to do things how I like-"

"Just listen to what I have to say, okay? We can't do anything here, but that doesn't mean they won't leave the auction house, and when they do..."

This statement pleased her greatly and she turned back to the three brats, "You three just want to waste my time and make me look bad but I'll leave you to have that rock so you don't come crying when I make you buy it with all your family's possessions. But...you'll soon regret we ever crossed paths."

Lia only stared at her in her most relaxed manner, then laughed. "Of course, of course. We're about to find out, then we'll see who will be sorry."

Her statement annoyed Iris but she just kept calm and left. Everyone settled down again and the two parties ignored each other even though one could still feel the sparks flying about. The rules were clear no one was permitted to fight under the roof of an auction house, and they ll followed those rules well enough otherwise they would have already been engaged in a serious battle by then. Soon after everyone was settled, the auctioneer, wiping sweat from his face was about to continue but then Lia suddenly got up again and shouted

"One hundred and fifty thousand gold coins!"

The auctioneer's jaw dropped to the floor and everyone else was shocked. Even Iris and Isir couldn't keep their cool anymore. It was true that Iris had given up on wasting her efforts on the crystal, so why did she have to add about a hundred thousand gold coins to what was already there? Now all Iris had said earlier was more like a joke. Who didn't have money?! If that person spending money as such could be called a poor person, then what was it like to be rich? What she'd just done was a slap across Iris' face, a resounding one as such, nothing more nothing less.

Iris' cheeks burned with embarrassment and as hot-blooded as she was, she would have done something had her smart brother not seen her and stopped her in time. She would only have been selling herself out for more disgrace and was grateful that she had been protected from herself by her brother.

On the other hand...Mordin stroked his beard as he studied the three girls whose identity was a blur in his mind. "I wonder which family those three are from. I feel I have known them before, or maybe their background but it remains a blurred image in my head. Who exactly are they?"

"I can go and find out for you if you want, grandfather," His grandson whom he was with said to him and was getting ready to get up when Mordin gestured for him to remain in his seat. He knew that grandson too well to let him go find out. By 'find out, what he meant was to go to the other party and ask them straightforwardly- Who are you? which would cause a scene itself. Either that, or he would fight them for them to tell him. Mordin after thinking for a while shook his head and chose to forget about those kids, he would try to find out when he was out of the auction house.

Isir was an observing man, but it was a bit odd that his eyes constantly kept coming to land on Mozrael now and then. It seemed the silent beauty of hers had captivated him. She did nothing to make her presence known, but that was what made her look even more beautiful. One wouldn't notice her so quickly, but once you did, she would capture you. Her image would be imprinted in the mind, a beautiful image that one would not want to erase ever. He hadn't noticed her till he got up to pull his stubborn twin sister back and was captivated. He would try his chances on her. He knew his sister very well and knew she hated those three not only because of the incident but also because of their good looks. She was jealous. She had adorned herself more than them, but they looked better than her in their 'casual' clothes. They didn't have to do much to look good, but they were better than her and she hated it. She would go against him trying to get close to Mozrael and ruin it all but the only thing he could think of that could help him is that the silent girl didn't directly do anything against his sister apart from sitting with the other two, so she couldn't just hate her. [surprisingly, he forgets that the beauty that draws him to her is the main thing that Iris hates about them. So much for she cannot just hate her lol]

It took a little while more before the man on the stage remembered that he was the auctioneer and when he continued, he just went straight on to proclaim "The frost Phoenix's crystal has been sold to buyer 219 for one-fifty thousand gold coins!" He said awkwardly and wiped some more sweat as he waited for the next product to be brought on stage. The bought products were sent to the exit, so buyers would pay before leaving and then take their bought products with them.

"Next, we have a sword forged from a heavenly rock. Starting price is at one thousand gold coins," he presented the next item and not shortly after,

"Two thousand," someone immediately announced interest in it, doubling the price.

"Three thousand five hundred," another spoke up, and once again the normal routine of the auction house was restored as more people mentioned prices.

Lia looked at the sword there without interest.

"Lame," she said with a sigh as she turned to Ara. "I'm bored. They haven't brought anything nice apart from that stone" [Did she just call the crystal a stone?]

"You're bored doesn't mean you should start depriving people of their peace of mind like you always do and besides, it was your idea to come to this place remember?" Ara stated more than asked. Lia looked at her and grinned.

"I thought Ara was different from Aramith but turns out they're no different. Ah...so apart from looking exactly alike, big sister and big brother are the same even in behavior." She said with a grin still on her face, totally ignoring the vein that appeared on Ara's forehead.

"You know, that tongue of yours is going to get you into some serious trouble one of these days, Lia," Ara said. Lia feigned yawning and intentionally wiped a 'tear' from her eye, pretending not to have heard what Ara said. "I thought I heard something," She said lazily, then continued again, " Did you hear something? Maybe a-"

"Don't even think of saying anything stupid," Ara cut her off, leaving Lia's mouth half open, but

"-bug," Lia finished and Ara rapped her head.