“Here you are, ladies.”
The beautiful female attendant led them to a door.
It was a pair of double doors, exquisitely crafted, coated in a special layer of red lacquer, yet the natural wood grain still showed through.
You could even faintly smell the subtle fragrance of the wood emanating from it.
The attendant grasped the gilded handles and pushed the doors open.
Then, with both hands folded over her abdomen, she respectfully stepped aside.
Enya led Sophia inside.
As soon as they entered, the maids who had been waiting inside all bowed to greet them, and the door behind them closed with a soft thud.
This seemed to be a small private room.
The space wasn’t particularly large—maybe fifteen or sixteen square meters. Besides the beautiful maids, the room was adorned with many potted flowers and plants.
Smooth reddish-brown tiles covered the floor, reflecting the light from an ornate crystal chandelier above, bathing the whole room in brightness.
In the middle stood a small round table, with two intricately carved, luxurious rosewood chairs with violet leather seats placed beside it.
Just one of these chairs was probably worth a White Stone City middle-class family’s annual income.
On the small round table were a variety of beautifully arranged desserts, exuding a sweet fragrance that made Sophia unconsciously swallow a mouthful of saliva.
The entire room was tastefully and refreshingly decorated, though the lighting was somewhat dimmer than the corridor outside.
“Sit down.”
Enya casually chose a chair, stretching her long legs and leaning back lazily. Her eyes dropped to look at the red curtain.
Sophia also took a seat, though she still appeared a bit stiff.
After all, it was an unfamiliar place.
And with her current strength, she couldn’t be as at ease as Enya.
Once they were seated, two of the maids walked elegantly to the red curtain, taking hold of its corners.
They gently drew the curtain open.
As the curtain parted, a stage bathed in converging lights came into view.
From their angle, it was as if they were overlooking the scenery from a balcony, not too close yet not too far from the stage—an excellent vantage point.
Sophia’s attention was drawn to the scene.
However, she did not seem particularly impressed this time. Perhaps, in some ways, humans could still amaze elves, but when it came to architecture, elves’ craftsmanship was far beyond human reach.
The Elven Kingdom’s capital—a city that left every human visitor in awe—had always been Sophia’s home. For someone living in such a place, architectural marvels no longer held much wonder.
The Forest Elf Missy’s gaze was instead drawn to the food on the small round table. The faint, sweet aroma kept teasing her appetite.
Sophia felt as if those delicious pastries were calling her name, begging her to eat them.
Gulp~
She sneakily swallowed her saliva.
Sophia glanced at Enya, making sure she wasn’t being watched. Then, she reached out for a peach-pink square pastry.
The little cake was about two fingers wide, half a finger long, and a finger high. It tasted sweet, with a subtle floral fragrance.
But…it wasn’t particularly delicious…
Although Forest Elf cuisine was simple, the taste was actually quite good—mainly fresh and sweet, though occasionally there were some fruit flavors that were a bit overpowering even for elves.
Sophia decided to try everything she hadn’t seen before. Eating as she went, her small mouth quickly became stuffed full.
“If you like eating, have more. But don’t force yourself—if you like it, we can pack some to go.”
Enya, bored, teased Sophia.
Sophia’s cheeks flushed red. She turned her head away from Enya’s gaze and tried her best to chew and swallow the food in her mouth. Afterward, she took a white silk handkerchief from her robe and dabbed at her lips.
When she turned back, she saw that Enya was eating as well. A hint of grievance welled up in Sophia’s heart, and she blurted out, “So you like eating too, Senior?”
“Not bad. I can make these myself, you know.”
Enya had none of the Missy’s restraint, admitting openly that she liked eating these treats.
And she really could make them. In fact, she remembered many techniques from other worlds that didn’t even exist here. If she casually revealed one, she might already be a top—
—pastry chef.
Sophia, on the other hand, looked astonished.
“You can make them yourself, Senior?!”
“Of course. Not just pastries, but all kinds of cakes and desserts. When I have free time, I make them for fun.”
These were all easy to learn—nothing particularly surprising.
But Sophia’s mouth hung open in shock and stayed that way for a long while.
Senior is really beyond amazing…
The maids had already brewed the tea, bringing it over to the table and setting warm, fresh-scented black tea before them.
Two more maids approached with two white porcelain plates from the dining cart, placing them in front of Enya and Sophia.
As the covers were lifted, the soft, tea-colored puddings trembled gently. Sophia’s eyes beneath her veil widened.
She immediately reached for her knife and fork, but when she saw Enya wasn’t moving, her hands stopped and returned to her lap.
Enya blinked, smiling.
“Go ahead and eat.”
After saying this, she gestured to the maid beside her, who immediately picked up Enya’s pudding and placed it in front of Sophia.
Sophia’s ears perked up beneath her hood.
“Thank you, Senior!”
“Eat up.”
Enya smiled softly, watching Sophia eat with elegance.
Compared to eating herself, she now preferred to watch others enjoy food.
Shortly after they sat down, the Auction officially began.
Enya sensed that there were about seven private rooms occupied: three with a single person, two with two people, and the rest with more.
They were in box number seven, but the other boxes weren’t in sequence.
The magical lights in the venue were dimmed, leaving only the central stage illuminated. Then, the huge curtain was slowly drawn open.
A young man in a mask stood center stage, behind a podium, and began his opening address to the sparse audience.
Only now did Sophia look over.
This was her first time attending an Auction; previously, she had only heard of such events. In the elven lands, there seemed to be no such thing.
The reason was simple…
Elves were a people of few desires, mostly self-sufficient. Only recently had they begun transforming, establishing commercial systems similar to humans, and actively developing their economy.
Sophia knew this was all thanks to the Saintess, who pushed forward the reforms against much opposition. The goal was to prepare for future integration with the human world.
On stage, the host introduced the first item—a fairly ordinary defensive Magic Tool, with only a mediocre rating, and the biggest problem being it was single-use.
For someone of Sophia’s level, this was a completely optional item, but for those with average strength, it was already quite a find.
The buyer in box thirteen spent two hundred gold coins on this appetizer.
Performance aside, at least it looked like a beautiful gem. It could even make a decent gift for a woman.
Several more unremarkable items followed. Enya even closed her eyes, waiting patiently for the item Sharon had mentioned.
Suddenly, Enya opened her eyes.
She looked toward the stage, where a maid was displaying a section of radiant spine bone on a tray.
Sophia turned to look at Enya.
“Senior, that seems to be a—”
“Mm.”
Enya nodded calmly.
A dragon bone? But it seemed to be only a section of a high-level Draconic Beast’s spine.
Alchemy material—she wasn’t very interested.
The starting price was two thousand gold coins. As soon as the bidding began, someone immediately called out a much higher price.
“Thirteen, five thousand gold coins!”
Enya narrowed her eyes, sending her senses probing. It turned out to be the Nobleman who had tried to hit on her earlier.
A blondie, at that.
Tch, I hate blondies the most!
Thinking this, Enya glanced at Sophia, and after a moment’s look, she amended herself inwardly.
With a few exceptions.
Her own naive Missy wasn’t a blondie—hers was a shining golden mane, nothing like that dull yellow.
Sophia shuddered slightly, raising her head to look at Enya, but Enya had already looked away.
“Ahem, I bid ten thousand.”
Enya cleared her throat and instructed the maid beside her.
The maid was momentarily surprised by the price, but, well-trained as she was, she reacted quickly, striding to the railing, taking a deep breath, and calling out the bid.
“Ten thousand!”
“Number seven, ten thousand gold coins!!!”
Her cool, clear voice rang through the hall, drawing curious glances from many.
But Enya instantly sent a mental hammer to the spiritual senses prying their way, making those would-be spies dizzy and dazed.
“Hmph~”
Enya picked up her cup of black tea, sipping it delicately.
Meanwhile, in box thirteen, the blond Nobleman saw his guards suddenly reel as if struck. His eyelid twitched.
“What’s going on?”
Ten thousand gold coins? Who could that be?
He’d already made arrangements with everyone not to raise the price—so who was this number seven?
Wait, there should only be five groups here; where did number seven come from?
He soon realized it must be those two women he’d met earlier. He slammed his fist on the table and, gritting his teeth with a vicious expression, barked at the maid,
“Bid two thousand more! I’ll pay twelve thousand!”