Chapter 36
“Fifty million gold!”
“No, sixty million gold!”
Unlike the hesitant bidding from earlier that day, the evening auction began with shouts of enormous sums echoing from all around.
Gradually, the color drained from Izren’s face. Hilbenzia glanced at that pale expression and smiled in satisfaction beneath her mask.
“A bodyguard whose purpose is unknown, hmm.”
If the Tower Master’s order made it impossible to separate him from Jayna… then perhaps she could make him quit on his own.
The corners of her lips curved faintly in amusement—until a voice spoke up beside her.
“Lady Hilbenzia. There’s something I want.”
Hilbenzia flinched. That voice shouldn’t have been awake. She looked down.
Jayna was still leaning against her shoulder—exactly as planned.
But the girl who should have been sound asleep under the effects of the sleeping powder was blinking her delicate eyes.
“Please buy those demi-human slaves for me.”
“…And what would you do with them?”
“You know, don’t you, Lady Hilbenzia? That I feel a kinship with them.”
At those words, Izren’s shoulders trembled, but Jayna continued speaking undeterred.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that I begged Lord Michael to convince the Tower Master to take Sir Izren in as my bodyguard.”
“…”
“If the people here knew who I really was, a ‘half-blood,’ I’d be up on that stage with them right now.”
Hilbenzia pressed her lips together. Her expression went blank.
“Half-blood? I thought she was just a dragonkin…”
She didn’t understand what Jayna meant—she barely knew anything about her at all.
But at that moment, Izren found himself wanting to learn more about her, even if he was nothing more than a puppet of the Tower Master’s orders.
Because before him stood a girl struggling to save worthless, display-only slaves—just to help them.
“I understand, Jayna. But you don’t need to worry.”
“…Huh?”
“Because there’s someone else here—a knight of justice, unlike me.”
Jayna followed Hilbenzia’s gaze.
There sat the ponytailed woman who had earlier competed against Hilbenzia during the bidding.
“How amusing. But this will go no further.”
Even amidst the chaotic shouts, her voice resonated clearly—a strange, commanding presence that silenced the room.
It wasn’t just Jayna who felt it. Everyone turned toward her.
“To think you’d dare buy and sell slaves within an Empire where human trafficking is forbidden.”
The auction house, which moments ago buzzed with feverish excitement, fell utterly silent.
“What did you just say?”
“If you can’t afford it, shut up and stay in the corner, girl!”
The bidders—angered at her ruining their fun—hurled insults.
But the woman didn’t so much as flinch.
It wasn’t that she was frozen by their hostility—she simply didn’t care.
“I am Elia El Izni Delide, Commander of the First Imperial Knight Order.”
Elia straightened her shoulders and drew the twin swords from her back.
“By the law of the Empire, I hereby place you all under arrest for human trafficking.”
BOOM!
The doors burst open. Imperial knights flooded in, surrounding every exit.
The panicked bidders ran in circles, but there was nowhere to flee.
“…Always so impressive,” Hilbenzia murmured, lazily crossing her long legs and leaning back in her chair, as if the chaos around her were of no concern.
A knight approached her, glaring.
“By order of the Empire, you are under arres—”
“Haven’t you heard what Her Highness said about me?”
“…What?”
The knight froze, eyes widening.
“L–Lady Hilbenzia?! My deepest apologies!”
Soon, the room quieted. The participants had been subdued.
Elia strode over to Hilbenzia. Hilbenzia greeted her with slow, deliberate applause.
“Impressive as ever.”
“Hilbenzia Rotien.”
A faint crack appeared in Hilbenzia’s composed expression.
“Rotien”—a title of respect for an exceptional alchemist—was not spoken with respect this time. Both women knew it.
“When will you ever act worthy of the title ‘Rotien’?”
“I was the one who informed you about this illegal auction, Your Highness.”
“You’re still as cunning as ever.”
Elia’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at Jayna standing beside Hilbenzia.
“You brought a child to a place like this? I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.”
Izren, who had seen Hilbenzia secretly put Jayna to sleep earlier, looked at her. But Hilbenzia only smiled languidly.
Jayna blinked heavily, her eyes fighting to stay open.
The only reason she’d managed to resist the sleeping powder at all was that her instincts had sensed something was wrong—but even as a dragonkin, she couldn’t hold out much longer against Hilbenzia’s concoction.
“I want to clear this misunderstanding…”
Jayna clung to her fading consciousness and spoke slowly.
“Lady Hilbenzia put me to sleep. I just… woke up earlier than expected.”
“You are…”
“My name is Jayna.”
“So you’re that child.”
Elia studied Jayna carefully, about to say something more—
“Your Highness.”
—but an urgent knight approached and whispered something into her ear. Elia nodded, then turned to Jayna.
“I would like to meet you again soon—at the palace. You’ll receive an invitation shortly.”
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and left.
For someone like Elia Delide—a royal princess and a celebrated hero of the Empire—to invite someone was nearly equivalent to a royal decree.
“What an honor,” Hilbenzia mused. “It’s probably the first time Her Highness has ever invited anyone herself.”
“…Why didn’t you explain anything?” Jayna asked quietly.
“There was no need.”
“Even though Her Highness misunderstood you?”
“How do you know that?”
“I read it in a book from the Tower’s library. It said Lady Hilbenzia created the healing elixir during the era when the Demon King’s curse spread.”
“Oh? You remembered that? It wasn’t exactly emphasized in the text.”
Elia’s resentment toward Hilbenzia stemmed from a misunderstanding—that Hilbenzia had hidden away in fear when the Demon King’s curse swept across the continent.
In truth, her poisons and curses had simply been ineffective against the demonic forces.
So she had turned her efforts toward alchemy, devoting herself to developing a healing elixir—and succeeded.
The Healing Elixir.
A potion that could heal nearly any wound short of death itself, crafted by her alone—and sold at an exorbitant price.
Hilbenzia had learned about the illegal demi-human trade only because her elixir had been listed as an auction item.
Jayna, knowing this from the original story, felt sorrow.
Her eyes—clear and full of understanding, as if she already knew everything—made Hilbenzia recall her childhood.
“Success.”
That was all she had ever chased, never resting.
But no one had ever acknowledged her efforts. They’d only pointed and called her a coward.
So Hilbenzia had stopped showing her creations to others— even at the Tower, where poisons and curses were most valued.
“But…”
If she had shared her healing elixir with the world…
Would this girl have ever needed to suffer or risk her life?
Hilbenzia lowered her gaze, her long lashes casting a faint shadow.
Her pale fingers tapped lightly against the chair—then went still.
“You already know the answer.”
Smiling faintly, Hilbenzia reached out and gently stroked Jayna’s hair.
What had once been mere curiosity toward a strange child… had now become something that genuinely stirred her heart.
That day, Hilbenzia wasn’t the only one who changed.
After returning from the auction, Izren quietly followed Jayna to her door and said softly:
“I… will learn the Imperial tongue. Because of you.”
“…What?”
Jayna blinked in confusion, not quite understanding.
Izren didn’t elaborate.
Until now, he had deliberately avoided learning the Imperial language deeply.
No matter that he was born within the Empire—he would always be an outsider.
He hadn’t wanted to understand the words of scorn or contempt thrown his way.
But at that moment, he regretted it.
He wanted to ask her why she risked her life for others, why she ignored gold and status to save the Neandra tribe.
He wanted to ask—but couldn’t.
“I am Izren. Izren Danarode of the beastkin Neandra tribe.”
As he introduced himself in clumsy Imperial, Jayna looked up at him with clear eyes and smiled.
“The dragonkin call me Ashrid, but… please just call me Jayna. That’s the name my mother gave me.”
