The Villainess With A Heroine Harem

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"Hasn't the Ring of Cassandra been in the Dimitrescu family for over five hundred years?"

"After so many failed attempts by various influential factions to either buy or even steal it in the past few centuries, who could have imagined that lady Dimitrescu would be willing to just give it up?"

Of course, while many were impressed, a few others couldn't help but sneer. "Giving away the one thing that made their old aristocratic family unique for temporary clout… no wonder they declined so fast."

Emilia naturally wasn't very interested in their gossip, but she still quite liked how the ring looked. With a faceted royal gray gemstone and an intricate platinum band, it might look unremarkable at first glance, but the more one looked, the more exceptional it started to appear.

Of course, since it had a more muted aesthetic by itself, the beauty it would be able to bring out greatly depended on who was wearing it.

"A hundred thousand!"

"Hundred and fifty!"

One of the elderly males in the crowd coughed. "I've always admired the Ring of Cassandra, and it would be an honor to finally have it before my passing. Five hundred thousand!"

Unfortunately, his trick of trying to win over the audience while deterring them with a big jump didn't quite work.

The valuation of the ring quickly reached a million within seconds, and in just a few minutes, it peaked at nine million.

The auctioneer smiled. "Congratulations to Miss Emilia, the Ring of Cassandra now belongs to you."

The crimson-haired girl also grinned. 'That will suit Noelle so well.'

Unfortunately, nothing too interesting came up after the first item, at least in Emilia's eyes. From various art collections to antiques, the things that were put on display were certainly valuable, but none of them really sparked any joy in her.

Emilia couldn't help but sigh. 'Guess I'll just have to look for more gifts some other place later.'

"Mr. White has, uh, generously contributed… t-the most ancient specimen theorized to be one of the first ever versions of the modern crowbar."

Trying his best to cover up his initial awkwardness, the auctioneer continued. "First used in a kidnapping incident aboard a royal's ship, it was later seized after the miscreants failed in their nefarious plots, and confessed that this was the instrument they used to forcibly pry open both nailed boards and doors."

Feeling Crystal nudge her, Emilia couldn't help but raise a brow. "What is it?"

The blonde girl pointed at Sam, whose face was so dark that one could practically hear the storm clouds roaring with lightning. "Uncle stole it while your big sister was away."

Emilia blinked. "Is he not afraid of being beaten later?"

Sam may not be able to do it herself, but with Mr. White's position in their family's 'food chain', all it would really take to get him 'taught a lesson' would be for the girl to go cry about it to her mother.

Of course, all that being said, the crimson-haired girl didn't hesitate to start bidding for it to 'get it back'.

She knew it wasn't considered 'nice' to buy things from someone related in this auction, but her big sister's happiness obviously took precedence.

Fortunately, none of the gentlemen and ladies present in the auction felt very eager to own a crowbar, and those who did bid for it were only doing so to please Mr. White.

After all, if the item he put up failed to fetch a good price, it would be the same as slapping the man in the face.

Emilia easily nabbed the crowbar for just a hundred thousand dollars, and gave Sam a thumbs up in victory, though the older girl just looked away while looking embarrassed.

Crystal giggled. "I guess she didn't want you to find out about her thing for crowbars."

The crimson-haired girl couldn't help but roll her eyes. "With it being a part of all her go-to threats, how could I not know?"

Fortunately, Mrs. White only went with the standard valuable painting approach, and didn't give her any more surprises.

Even Mr. Sanders Grey didn't bring anything interesting to the table, though his antique dagger did fetch the highest price in the auction so far.

Though Emilia wasn't sure if it was because someone was trying to earn his favor, or the value of the dagger itself.

Though aside from it being over-studded with gems and crystals, Emilia didn't feel anything special about the ornamental weapon. It didn't even look that good, either.

Getting a little bored, the crimson-haired girl decided not to wait till near the end of the auction, and decided to make her 'donation' a little earlier.

As a 'first timer' to the auction and a frequent hot topic recently, Emilia could practically feel the hundreds of eyes eagerly crawling over her back, wondering what it was that she would bring.

Under the auctioneer's curious gaze, the crimson-haired beauty just smiled and undid the choker on her neck before handing it over.

The man in white suit waited for her to let him know the item's name and origin, as while he knew quite a bit about antiques and famous jewelry from around the world, he wasn't quite familiar with this one.

It was only natural, considering Sam had had her little sister's entire outfit from shoes to hair clips completely custom made not long ago, including the choker on her neck.

When Emilia stepped back without a word, however, he could only cough awkwardly. "Miss Emilia has presented this gorgeous piece of jewelry for the cause. Please be generous, everyone!"

He didn't expect the item to do very well given that even the jewel at its center was unknown, though it couldn't be cheap considering who its owner was, right?

Reality soon left him dumbfounded, however, as people jumped in to bid like sharks smelling blood in the ocean.

"One million!"

"Three million!"

"Ten million!"

"Twenty!!"

The people who weren't participating could only gape in shock at the ones who seemed to have gone completely crazy, increasing each subsequent bet by double if not more, every time!

Of course, none was more dumbfounded than Alexander Gray, who recognized that all the participants in the current bidding war were the ones who had been 'blocking his way' to a certain 'infatuated' girl not long ago.

The moment he recognized them, Alexander couldn't help but have a terrifying thought.

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