At this moment, Ailaira Green was still unaware that she had been backstabbed.
She was hurrying toward Andrea, because just now, the Concealment Magic she’d set on that VIP Card had been triggered. It was meant as insurance to prevent Andrea from exposing her identity in the city.
Since it was triggered, that meant something had happened, something serious enough for Andrea to risk returning to her dragon form to resolve it.
Ailaira traced the card’s signal in her mind, and discovered that Andrea had already left the Merchant Guild, vanishing into an unnamed alley.
That was the entrance to the Black Market, guarded by magical protections, accessible only by invitation. Who had brought Andrea there?
Ailaira’s face darkened. Her boots struck the ground and invisible wings unfurled, helping her soar over the bustling crowd.
“Always causing trouble for others.”
Half an hour earlier
Andrea held her Black Gold Card pressed to her chest, hopping and skipping into the sales section of the Merchant Guild.
Most of the goods here were put up for sale after someone paid a commission, and were sold under the Merchant Guild’s name. For Andrea, it was her first time shopping, and the dazzling array of goods left her wide-eyed and dazed.
A gemstone glowing with strange, seductive colors caught Andrea’s attention. As she drew closer, the endless row of zeros on the price tag below made her wish she could gouge her own eyes out.
She didn’t fully understand human pricing standards, but she could at least gauge value. And the value of this gemstone was an astronomical sum that made her dizzy just thinking about it.
“I wonder if the money Ailaira threw out that night was even close to this much?”
“Sigh, when is she finally going to give me all those gold and jewels? She promised, after all.”
Andrea leaned against the glass display, gazing longingly at the gemstone, fantasizing about the day she could buy it herself. As she left, she lightly patted the display and waved her little hand, consoling it as if coaxing a child.
“You have to wait for me obediently until I save up enough money to come get you, okay? Don’t go running off with anyone else!”
After that, Andrea turned away resolutely and continued her quest. She’d slipped away from Ailaira, and not just for a stroll!
She wanted to find an item that could ensnare the mind, to hypnotize Ailaira into becoming her obedient slave or even turn Ailaira into a motionless, exquisite doll to hug every night on her bed!
And to top it off, she’d use Ailaira’s own money for it. How utterly ruthless!
She really was so wicked, hahaha!
Just imagining Ailaira kneeling, bowing before the great Red Dragon, made Andrea burst out laughing. Unfortunately, her plan failed right from the start.
After searching the sales area for a long time, she couldn’t find any item with those functions. In the end, she unwillingly approached the front desk, stood on tiptoe at the counter, and asked the smiling Front Desk Miss:
“Hello, are there any other items? I can’t find what I want here.”
The Front Desk Miss looked at the well-behaved red-haired girl in front of her, her smile growing even gentler as she bent down to reply kindly.
“What kind of item are you looking for? We can help you search.”
Andrea immediately brightened, blurting out her wicked thoughts like listing dishes:
“Then I want an item that can arouse other people’s desire for me!”
The Front Desk Miss broke out in a cold sweat, wiping her brow as she struggled to maintain professionalism.
“I’m sorry, dear, we’re a legitimate Merchant Guild. We really don’t have that.”
“Then I want something that can hypnotize someone, make her obey my commands!”
“We definitely don’t have that!”
“Fine, then at least something that can make people unable to speak or move, you have that, right?”
“We still don’t have that.” In fact, such items did exist, but given what the girl had just said, the Front Desk Miss wouldn’t dare sell them to her.
Not getting what she wanted, Andrea pursed her lips in disappointment, even glancing at the Front Desk Miss with a hint of contempt.
“You don’t have this, or that, and yet you built such a fancy place. It’s bound to go out of business sooner or later.”
Beneath the counter, the Front Desk Miss clenched her fists and cursed silently: If it weren’t for your cute face and that black card I can’t afford to offend, I’d have had someone throw you out already! But no matter how much she cursed inside, as a front desk staff member, she maintained her “politeness” and ushered Andrea out.
Nearly shoved out, Andrea stared blankly at the sales area behind her. After a while, she stomped her foot and complained,
“So you don’t have it, but why get so angry!”
She hadn’t expected her plan to fail at the very first step. Frustrated, Andrea slumped against a wall, watching the crowds come and go.
A restless unease grew in her heart, just like the first night at Ailaira’s home, when she woke from a dream and gazed around the empty room, feeling no sense of belonging.
It was as if she, a misfit, didn’t belong here. Even though she was in a much more comfortable place, her soul still dwelled in that cold, lonely lair.
“Forget it, I’ll just go back and find that wicked woman.”
Just as Andrea was about to retrace her steps, someone stealthily approached and tried to poke her shoulder.
Before they could touch her, Andrea swiftly grabbed their wrist. In that instant, a terrifying, predatory aura radiated from Andrea, her emerald vertical pupils locking onto the person like a beast eyeing its prey.
The sneaky woman felt for a moment that she’d become meat on a chopping block, clamping her legs in fear. She shrank her neck and mumbled,
“I… I just wanted to tell you, the things you wanted, we actually do have them.”
Hearing that, Andrea released her grip, returning to her dazed, adorable self.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? Where are they? But let me say this first—if you’re charging too much, I can’t pay.”
The woman looked at the bruises on her wrist, cold sweat running down her back, and could only force herself to say,
“They’re not expensive. Come with me, the goods aren’t here.”
Although Andrea was a little suspicious, she still followed the woman, leaving the Merchant Guild through the back door.
The woman led her into a back alley behind the building. After moving the third paving stone from the top, Andrea sensed a wave of magical energy scan over her.
Andrea instantly grew alert, afraid that her hidden draconic features would be discovered. Fortunately, it was only a simple verification.
The woman up ahead pulled a pass from her bosom, and a concealed door in the wall slowly opened.
Before Andrea appeared a world hidden beneath human society, overflowing with violence and chaos.
“Welcome to the Black Market.”