0&1 Ch 17.2

The receptionist recognized Lowell. “Young master? How come you came without notice?”

“That’s how it turned out. I want to watch the auction too. Please get me a seat next to the person who entered before me.”

The receptionist nodded.

Lowell suddenly asked, “Are there any special items today?”

“There is a gem called ‘Mermaid’s Tears’ scheduled as the last item today.”
“Nothing else unusual?”
“What kind of thing are you looking for? You know what kinds of items are auctioned here, don’t you?”
“Never mind.”

Lowell entered the auction hall. It was dark inside, with tall chairs. The participants were scattered here and there.

He saw the young master and their servant being shown to their seats. Lowell naturally followed them.

There were many empty seats. The participants sat at a distance from each other, and if Lowell wanted to act natural, he should have chosen one of the empty seats.

However, Lowell quickly sat down next to the young master. The young master turned to look at him.

“Hello?” Lowell greeted him cheerfully. Dimples appeared on his cheeks.

People who saw his smile for the first time had one of two reactions. They were either stunned or smiled back without realizing it.

The young master did neither.

“Hello.” He greeted Lowell in a low, soft voice. Then he turned his head and looked ahead.

Huh? This isn’t right.

Lowell was about to speak again when he felt someone’s gaze on him. It was the young master’s servant.

There were people in this world who retained their childlike innocence even as they grew older, and the servant was one of them. He was a tall, slender adult man, but his face was boyish.

Lowell loved all kinds of beauty, so he was willing to smile at the servant. However, he couldn’t because the servant was glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him.

Huh?

Lowell knew the effect his face had on people. He modestly believed that 30 percent of the reason most people enjoyed his antics was because of his face.

However, the servant glared at Lowell as if he were his enemy. Lowell was so surprised that he didn’t even get angry.

Suddenly, the servant smiled and said, “Yes, young master.” The young master said something to the servant. His voice was so soft that Lowell couldn’t hear it.

“Ah. Yes. You mean the Box of Wishes, right?” said the servant.

“Lower your voice.” the young master warned.

“I’m sorry, young master.”
“I don’t think anyone would want something like that, but you never know.”
“Right!” The servant agreed.

The box of wishes? It seemed that the young nobleman was after something. He wasn’t just there to look around.

Lowell belatedly opened the catalog. He flipped through the pages. The Box of Wishes. There was such an item among the auction items.

It was introduced in the middle of the catalog, so it was obviously not a special item. The name itself was suspicious.

A box said to have special powers. It is said to bring the user whatever they need.

“What is this…” Lowell muttered to himself without realizing it. Are there really people who come to buy such a fraudulent item?

All the lights in the room went out. The buzz of the participants subsided, and soon the lights illuminating the auction stage came on.

The auctioneer walked out. Lowell glanced at the young master. His white face was faintly visible in the light.

He had a serious expression on his face.

Was he really serious?

Suddenly, he remembered the young master buying things at ridiculous prices at the market. Was he really unaware, or was he just pretending not to know?

Lowell questioned his own judgment.

In the game, the Box of Wishes was a random item that gave players the item they needed most at that moment.

When players couldn’t obtain or broke an item necessary for the quest, they could use the Box of Wishes to get the same item again.

In this game’s world, there was no magic, but alchemy existed instead. It was a cheat key that could be used just like magic, and it seemed like something the creator had added to make the world make sense.

For example, there were hot tubs in this world. I had been using them without thinking, but it was actually a very strange feature.

In a world without steam engines, hot tubs were a luxury item. But then again, if the heroine had to wash herself with cold water even in the middle of winter, the player wouldn’t feel very good.

Candles that stay lit all night were also a product of alchemy. Anything that seemed like magic or science in this world could just be attributed to alchemy, like the Box of Wishes.

Noble children began their social activities at the age of fifteen. The Queen was planning to send Joffrey to various parties according to that schedule.

As his external schedule became busier, Joffrey naturally gained more freedom. It was time to start a plan to ruin Joffrey’s reputation.

Luxury and debauchery.

But I had no idea how to go about debauchery, so I decided to start with luxury.

I went to the market, bought strange items, and piled them up in the palace.

I thought the Queen would call me to ask where I was spending all the money, but there was no sign of that. At some point, my relationship with the Queen had become quite cautious, and we had reached the point where we avoided each other slightly when uncomfortable topics arose.

I didn’t want to fight. I didn’t want to make the Queen cry.

It seemed that the Queen felt the same way. No matter how strange I behaved, she left me alone.

That didn’t mean she gave up on me, though. The list of parties and gatherings I had to attend grew longer every day. If I attended them all, I might die of overwork.

Dying of overwork at the age of fifteen would mean a reduction of three years in my life expectancy. I didn’t think the Queen would want that, so I skipped many parties.

The Queen didn’t say anything about that either.

I learned about the Box of Wishes while indulging in luxury. Until now, I had never been able to attend an auction because the timing was never right, but I heard that The Box of Wishes would be up for auction this time.

Could the Box of Wishes give me what I need?

I was curious. It was like an item in a game, a one-time cheat key for quests.

But what I wanted wasn’t an item to complete a quest.

Joffrey has enough money to buy anything.

“The next item up for auction is the Box of Wishes. This item is said to be a product of great alchemy. It is said to bring good luck to its owner. It belonged to Angelos, and this is the first time it has been put up for auction since his death. Do you have a wish? Do you want to make your wish come true? Bidding will start at 50 gold coins.“

The Box of Wishes looked unremarkable. The small brown box looked even more shabby in the light.

It was exactly what I wanted.

I raised the price tenfold. The auctioneer asked, “Ten times? Is that correct?”

No one followed suit.

It was sold.

The person sitting next to me widened his eyes and asked, “Are you out of your mind?”

Dot took a deep breath. It was obvious that he thought he was being disrespectful to the Prince. I blocked him and replied to the person next to me. “I don’t know.”

Would it be good if rumors spread that Joffrey was crazy? Wouldn’t that be too much for the Queen to tolerate?

After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that there was no need to worry. The person next to me didn’t know that I was Joffrey.

“You bought that for that much money? Do you have that much money? No, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to look down on you. But you look like a sucker.”

The person next to him looked to be around Joffrey’s age. It was dark, so it was hard to see, but he had a handsome face and was well-dressed.

He might be a noble. He could afford to come to an auction like this, so he must be a noble.

I didn’t want to leave him with the memory of being rude to Prince Joffrey, so I decided to keep pretending I wasn’t him. I wasn’t sure if it would work because of Dot.

“I have money, and I’m not a sucker.”

“This is your first auction, isn’t it? It’s okay. I can show you how to cancel the bid. It’s not difficult. There’s no need to lose face. Come with me for a moment.”

The person next to me had no intention of listening to me.

“Why? It’s a box that grants wishes, so isn’t it a bargain?”

“Um. You’re right. Is there really such a thing as a box that grants wishes?”

“You just said I had a point.”

“I was just agreeing with you. If there really was a box that granted wishes, would it sell for that price?”

The person next to me kindly explained why I was a sucker. 

“So I got a good deal on it, right?”

“How am I supposed to convince this sucker?”

Was that a soliloquy?

I thought he would leave me alone if I played along, but he followed me until I got the auction item and paid for it.