As I held the door for my woman, plus Vanimo, Talis, and Kurama, I closed and locked it before following behind them as they piled into the carriage, where Jackal was waiting for us. "Ho, can you handle two Sleipnirs?"
Faintly smirking, I folded my arms beside Jackal, who was holding the carriage door open for the others while I gestured to the two, eight-legged creatures. They were basically an upgraded version of Horses, bigger, stronger, and faster; they were also notoriously hard to work with.
"Hmph, I ain't got a choice, do I? You're the one who bought them." Rolling his eyes, Jackal snorted, glancing at the Sleipnirs with an uneasy expression, which made me chuckle. "Hehe, I hardly even bought them, the stable-master was practically giving them away for free; he must've been having a real trouble caring for them." Playfully shoving him, he shot me a glare before nodding.
"I don't know what that fool was thinking, trying to sell a Sleipnir, and TWO at that. They're hella unpopular for a reason, they eat a shit ton, they're aggressive, and there are plenty of other animals that perform just as well as them." I had to nod in agreement with Jackal; Sleipnir's weren't anything special compared to other beasts when it came to pulling a carriage.
"True… But, they're hella beautiful. Just look at their manes." Approaching the two, I caressed the female, who sported all-white fur with a lustrous silver mane that flowed elegantly against her muscular neck, before moving onto the male; the male also had a silver mane, but it was a deep black. "Tch. Well, they're considered exotic beasts for a reason."
While Jackal grumbled to himself, I glanced between the two beasts, offering them smiles. "Now, please behave, you two, I've been providing everything you'd need for the last few months, so the least you could do is behave when I need you to." As I shot the two delinquent beasts a look, they neighed in response, agreeing to listen to Jackal.
Nodding, I gave them a few more rubs, though, while doing so, my gaze happened to come across Mavis, who was sitting on the box-seat, wearing a maid's attire. I wasn't a fan of taking her with us, but I didn't trust her out of my sight for long periods of time or when no one was at the Estate. Mavis has been rather well-behaved these past three years, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten who she is.
"Is there something on my face?" Tilting her head slightly, Mavis glanced at me, causing me to raise an eyebrow before shaking my head. "No. Just thinking you've been quite well behaved." In response to my honesty, she just scoffs, intense hatred and anger flashing through her eyes before smiling while leaning forward, propping her chin atop her hand.
"If I'm not, I know very well what'll happen to me… I'm still astonished you managed to withstand an hour of that pain; it's thoroughly vexing." "Yeah, well, I had to deal with nightmares of that for like a solid year after returning home. I could barely get some sleep. I probably got like 100 hours of sleep that year." Rolling my eyes, I released the two Sleipnirs while I stepped away.
"Oh, I know… It's the only thing that has brought me joy these godforsaken years." A bloodthirsty smile crept onto Mavis's face as she followed my figure, causing me to snort while averting my gaze. "That makes one of us. I wish seeing you as a servant had brought me joy, but it sadly doesn't." Leaving her be, I passed Jackal and entered the carriage, sitting beside Kurama.
"You look annoyed." Glancing at Kurama, I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, it's nothing, just briefly spoke with Mavis." As the carriage began moving, I yawned and leaned back, peeking out the window through the curtain. "I'm still speechless that you managed to subdue such a powerful Vampire." "It was a group effort; besides, she was weakened; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy."
"You say easy, but we were all exhausted afterward." Jasmine, who was sitting opposite of me, gently kicked my legs while giving me an amused expression. "Well, that's partly why it was easy. We were just merely exhausted. Mavis is a powerful woman. Probably stronger than Kurama." I pointed to Kurama, who seemed offended.
"Hey! I'll have you know, I'm an Archmage-level Mage!" "Yet, all you do is spend time crafting potions. I've never once seen you cast an offensive spell." Raising an eyebrow at her, Kurama opened her mouth repeatedly like a fish before folding her arms and looking away.
Following her lack of response, the carriage turned silently; as I looked out the window, I could see several other carriages belonging to the wealthy, all probably heading to the auction house.
After several more minutes, we slowed down, and just outside the carriage was a large building, with carriages, wealthy people, and knights at its entrance. "Looks like we've arrived." Once the carriage came to a stop, Jackal opened the door for us, prompting me to exit first while the others followed.
"Okay, whose going to be my woman of honor tonight? No, not you, Kurama." Turning around, glancing at Kurama, who pouted, the others quickly discussed amongst themselves before collectively pushing Yuki toward me. "So it's you?" "Um, d-do I have to? Why not let Vanye do it?" Awkwardly fidgeting, Yuki glanced around at all the people attending the auction before gesturing to Vanye.
"I can't. I'm wearing a suit; two negatives won't make a positive." Pursuing my lips at Vanye's words, I suspiciously eyed her. 'Hmm, was this her intention from the beginning?' Shaking my head, dispelling those thoughts, I grabbed Yuki's hand, pulling her close as I locked arms with her, only to quickly look stupid with locked arms.
'Yeah, this ain't possible with the height difference.' With Yuki having damn-near three and a half feet on me, my arm was pointed to the sky; after fiddling around, we eventually settled with her holding my arm.
"You two look wonderful!" Pushing Chloe, who was trying to suppress her laughter, to the back, Michelle offered us, mainly Yuki, a reassuring smile. "Oh, don't need to tell me, I know." Flashing Michelle a smile, with Yuki beside me, I led us into the auction house. "Alright, you guys can go to the booth… Accompany them." Waving at them, I briefly glanced at Mavis, who silently nodded.
"So, um, what are we doing?" While the others went another way, leaving Yuki and I alone, she looked down at me. "Greeting everyone." "E-Everyone? That's going to take so long." "Well, not everyone, but as many as we can. As tedious as it is, Nobility is 80% networking and forming connections." "What's the other 20?" I shrugged my shoulders while leading us to a familiar noble. "I don't know. Jasmine didn't bother explaining the other 20%; she said it wasn't that important."
With Yuki acting as my woman of honor, we spent roughly half an hour going around the lobby, greeting, interacting, and forming connections with several others; Yuki was thoroughly bored, but that's only to be expected. The only things on her mind are fighting, sleeping, eating, cuddling, and sex.
"Oh, you guys finally arrived! Hurry, they're going to start the auction soon!" Entering our booth, Vanimo eagerly waved at us, causing me to nod as I patted Yuki's hand, causing her to release my arm before she fell face-first. "Were you that bored?" At Vanye's question, Yuki rolled onto her side and groaned. "Escorting Alex should prove to be beneficial for you, considering your low intelligence. Or perhaps everything was too much for you to comprehend?"
Growling, Yuki glared at Lazuli, though before things could escalate, Michelle intervened, pulling Yuki to her feet while I sat beside Vanimo. "What's got you so excited?" "It's my first time at an auction, I'm excited to see what they'll be auctioning!" Vanimo was practically jumping in his seat, causing me to raise an eyebrow before shrugging my shoulders.
"Mavis, the auctioning list." A few moments later, Mavis handed me a pamphlet, causing me to skim through it as I glanced at the various items that would be auctioned off. 'None of these things is that interesting.' "Oh, that looks beautiful." Michelle, who had been peeking over my shoulder, pointed at a pair of earrings, for which the starting bid would be ten gold coins.
"Oh, do you want it?" "I don't know, ten gold is pretty expensive for just earrings." "I'll get them for you." "T-Thanks." Kissing Michelle on the cheek, I closed the pamphlet and handed it to Vanimo. The pamphlet wasn't the entire auction; it was only the first half. The second half would be where undisclosed items would be sold.
Also, save for Lazuli, no one else knew our financial situation. Well, Jackal also knew he was the steward, so that was a given, but besides those two, no one else knew. 'Heh, I wonder what Michelle's reaction would be if she knew how much debt we were in.' Wryly smiling, I leaned back and closed my eyes, resting while the minutes passed, waiting for the start of the auction, which eventually arrived.
"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Tiba Auction House! I hope you all brought your wallets, as I can assure you, tonight's auction will be one to remember."