A Soul Flower

The crowd immediately remembered the incident Lance had caused. They wondered if the manual was also 'great' like the slave he competed for but didn't want to risk it all, only to lose it.

After all, what use was there in buying a manual without a warrior to train in it? Most people needed attributeless manuals after all!

Ella smiled charmingly at V-6. The unknown man never failed to impress her!

"Going once, twice, thrice! Congratulations, young master! Should I send the manual right away?" She asked, remembering the preference of most of the guests.

"Yes," Lance replied. He soon received a maid knocking on his door, and he got the manual after paying. He read the title on its cover, "Crimson King's First Record. Seems a good fit for him." He kept it in his pink tuxedo.

Ardor smiled in his room after acquiring a manual for himself before focusing his attention on Jeanne. "Do you want to continue here?"

She shyly took a glance at the women minding their own business and shook her head.

He smirked, "Shy, huh? I understand. Not everyone can be as shameless as them." He totally ignored the reason for their shamelessness.

Jeanne immediately stared at him. He remembered that challenging gaze. As he expected, "You're shy! Your whole family's shy!"

Meanwhile, Isabella moaned out loud. *Splash*

Jeanne's ears turned red as she corrected herself. "Except these women…"

As Ardor was about to continue some light action with Jeanne, Ella's words on the stage halted his thoughts, and he sat on the wide sofa with Jeanne resting in his arms, like a cute kitten. While stroking her lush brown hair, he looked down at the stage.

"Now it's time for the last segment of this night!" Ella had the crowd's attention with those words. "A Soul Flower!"

As the crowd watched with bated breaths, a maid behind her removed the red cloth and brought out an ancient wooden box in front of her. Ella Clark looked at the crowd's eager eyes and began.

"This thing right here can guarantee a mage for your family! Your child will cross the Endless Ocean and grow powerful beyond imagination! All the glory is guaranteed, but only with this." She pointed at the box.

A woman couldn't help but shout, "Why don't you show us what it looks like? How can we tell if it's real when we've only heard rumors about it?"

Her question was genuine as other guests echoed in agreement. Ella didn't think she could shoot down their questions this time, but didn't intend to do that.

"It's simple. The person who gave us these flowers mentioned their properties can only be preserved inside the box. We even bought one from him and saw it soon wither away on the spot, so I can tell you it's not fake. Do you want me to waste this flower in front of you?"

She stared at the woman in the crowd as the woman shrunk back after receiving threatening glares from others. "I thought so," Ella nodded.

"Since it can only raise someone's magical talent to 'low,' and there's no market for it, let's start the bidding by 1 gold coin with no minimum increments!"

"1!"

"15!"

"40!"

As Ardor watched on, one by one, everyone joined the bid. Within a minute, he noticed he could hear fewer voices, but their quoted prices were significantly higher.

"300!"

"500!"

"1000!"

One deep male voice from the V-1 room finally resounded.

The crowd below stayed silent for a moment, perhaps considering whether it was worth it to oppose nobility for this flower, and got their answers—yes! They remembered the story of how their Kingdom of Zoran came to be and resumed bidding.

"1100!"

"1400"

While Ardor pondered about when to join the bid, it soon reached an unreachable point for most people.

"11,000!"

"12,000!"

Only the people in the VIP rooms, including Lance, were bidding with a few people from the crowd below. Ella looked at V-5 and wondered why he had not joined the bidding yet.

Just as Ardor was about to bid, the deep voice from V-1 shocked not only him, but the rest of the crowd as well.

"20,000 gold!"

The people sucked in cold breath at his viciousness for moving the price up high and intimidating his competitors. Ella looked at the other VIP rooms and noticed their silence.

"200 platinum coins, going once! Twice! Thrice! And sold! Congratulations, sir, you've now got a potential mage in your family! Should I send the item right now?"

"Yes!" the same voice spoke with some excitement.

Ardor felt some familiarity with that voice and remembered where he heard it.

'It's that Stone Patriarch! I remember! It's old Dickie! Hmm… if there are no more soul flowers, I might just have to take a trip there and pay to touch it for a moment. Once that eye scans it, I won't need it anymore.'

Ella stared at the disappointed crowd as she sent the box away. She gave the maid behind her a look, and she went backstage and returned with another box.

As the people became dumbfounded, she took the box and placed it on the podium. She sweetly smiled, "Who wants the second one?"

Everyone stayed silent, looking at her scheming gaze. Why had she not told them there were more?

Dickie was initially happy, holding the box in his arms, but when he saw her come up with another one, his heart ached at the loss, and he wanted to throw the one he was holding in anger, but had to hold it in because of its value, and felt helpless.

Now that the base price was already raised so high, the crowd knew the winner of the bid was going to bleed today, but they still began.

"10 platinum coins!"

"15!"

"25!"

Ardor looked at the desperate rich people below, and the beaming Ella on stage. Suddenly, he was interested in this woman who knew how to make good money and manipulate emotions.

Jeanne looked up since he stopped patting her head and noticed the desire in his gaze, and saw Ella at the receiving end of it.

"Do you want her? I don't mind," she whispered, knowing her place in Ardor's heart was secure.

Ardor looked down at the little minx in his arms. 'If you dare to keep teasing me like this, even I won't be able to control myself!'

"Are you sure? What if you think I'm unfaithful to you?" he asked, already having an inkling of the answer.

"Oh, so you're worried about that?" She finally beamed, knowing his thoughts. Yes, men always wanted more, she mused. "I'll only think that if you leave me for another woman! You can get as many as you want, master!"

Ardor smiled at her big heart. "Okay, love. But they'll be first under you. Remember to train them well!"

"Yes! I will!" Jeanne grinned at having one of her secret fantasies accomplished. "So, are you going to get her?" she asked, looking at Ella. Then she looked at the women weakly playing with themselves. "And what about them?"

Ardor thought for a moment and shook his head. 'I can't just go for anyone I see. They must be exceptional.'

He looked at Ella. 'Even though she seems like a good woman to help me get rich, I don't think she's the best. It's better to first become a mage, then look at other things.'

"I don't think Ella's suitable right now," he looked at the women temporarily obedient to him, "They have done too much bad to me, so no. I have better plans for them."

He looked down at Jeanne's disappointed face and added, "But when I find someone who's exceptional, I'll let you train them." Jeanne smiled and nodded.

Ardor stared down at the stage once again. The bidding for the second flower was mild, as everyone assumed there were many more to come. The ones who didn't bid this time were staring at Ella intensely, dearly wanting to know the remaining stock of flowers.

"75!"

"85!"

Ardor didn't want to wait too much. Since he could afford this, it was finally time to act like a whale.

"150! I'll definitely get it!"

The people heard his determination and went silent. They remembered how he raised the price of a 'great' slave to impossible heights and lost all motivation to bid against him. Even the other VIP room's nobles didn't want to waste money after the one in V-1 was fooled.

It disappointed Ella that this bid was not as high as the first one, but she didn't feel too upset.

"150, going once! Twice! Thrice! Sold! Congratulations young master. I'll send it to you right away," she decided for herself this time.

Ardor nodded in satisfaction at the smart woman. 'She knows how to please her customers.'

Still, he didn't change his thoughts about her.