2025-06-23 16:59:04The crowd went dead quiet, not a single sound could be heard... Except for the snickering sounds made by Seth, credit had to be given to him, it really was growing harder to keep a straight face. People began to whisper.
“What?!”
“You mean… it really was fake?!”
Eyes darted from Gabriel's gaze, even the security men straightened up, everyone was as tense as they could be. Except, of course, for Seth who popped another candied grape into his mouth and watched the man's arrival.
Master Gabriel’s gaze slid to him sharply.
"You," he said smoothly. "You’ve been quite the... entertainer tonight."
Seth raised an eyebrow, staring the man down, popped another candy in his mouth then looked away from Mr. Gabriel with disinterest.
"I try," Seth said, voice casual. "Some of us were born to be beautiful, others to be funny. I’m both, tragically."
The guests gasped loudly, someone actually dropped their glass of wine, even the floor staff nearly passed out. But Mr. Gabriel didn’t react. He wasn’t some petty man who easily fell for the provocation of words. He was a man who took whatever corners were available to get results, good or bad it simply didn't matter.
"You’re causing unrest at a sacred event held in honor of the GOLDMASTER," Mr. Gabriel said coldly. “Out of respect for him, I won’t have you dragged out by force… yet. But I will ask you, leave. Now!”
The crowd exhaled. Finally, someone with authority.
Seth stretched his neck, cracked his knuckles, and sighed like someone had forced him to be here when he in fact hadn't wanted to be here. Which was true.
“I would,” Seth said. “But then I’d miss the fun part.”
He reached under the seat and pulled out the auction catalog and began going through the pages of things on the auction list.
“Item 17. Frost Gem,” he said aloud. “Supposedly recovered from the Glacier Caverns of Northern mountains.”
He held it up for the room. “That gem has been on permanent display in the National Ice Museum since 1937. I saw it myself last year. They let tourists even see it for just a small f*e.”
Gabriel’s eye twitched.
But Seth didn't stop and flipped to page four.
“Item 31. Sunset ring. Marketed as one of a kind, correct?” Seth tapped the picture. “Too bad it’s currently embedded in the statue of Prince Ron in the Royal Museum. That piece has never left its case. Ever!”
Now the murmurs turned dangerous. Even the guards looked at one another.
Collector Harry, who was previously red with embarrassment from William's disgraceful display, quickly snatched the catalog and pulled out his tablet like a man possessed.
“Wait... he’s… he’s telling the truth?” Harry muttered. “He’s not just right… he’s painfully right. These items are stolen, forged, or misrepresented. This catalog is...”
“Suspicious as hell?” Seth finished for him, casually leaning back in his chair. “But hey, what do I know? I’m just a poor entertainer with good eyes.”
Mr. Gabriel’s smile twitched. His voice dropped in cadence. “Security. Detain him.”
Ten armed men immediately stepped forward, weapons held in their arms, cuffs ready to lock Seth's wrists. Some guests gasped and shouted, even Rose who had watched everything with a deep frown on her face stood up in surprise. She couldn't stop Seth from being arrested. Not from this man.
But even after all this was happening, Seth didn’t move, he didn't blink or even flinch in the slightest.
Instead, he glanced lazily at the hallway and sighed in relief.
“Ah. He’s here.”
The doors swung open.
A gust of cold air rolled in, followed by a man dressed in the darkest shade of black that was possible. It was a simple but well tailored fit and it was...
Mr. Lucas Eden.
Mr. Eden was young, yet looked well beyond his age. His steps were calm, calculated, and easy. Many didn't know who he was but few did and those few quickly stood up sharply. No one had seen him in public in years. This was no ordinary man.
This was the hidden ruler of Velkor City.
The security halted mid-step as they recognized who it was.
“Stop,” Mr. Eden commanded. A single word was all it took and all obeyed, even Mr. Gabriel. No one was above his authority.
Mr. Gabriel quickly bowed, face full of righteous fury and a fake face of humility. “Mr. Eden! Thank heavens you’ve come. This man, he’s been causing chaos. Lying and disrupting the sacred auction. Spreading wild accusations. He even dared insult the GOLDMASTER’s name!”
The crowd nodded along. Of course they would, they would rather take favour in Mr. Gabriel than some nobody they knew nothing about.
Mr. Eden’s eyes narrowed.
“This auction… was meant to honor the GOLDMASTER.”
“Yes!” Mr. Gabriel said, hopeful. “And it’s being blemished by that nobody!”
Mr. Eden exhaled slowly. He turned, looking about and searching for who was responsible for this madness. And then, he saw him.
Seth tilted his head and smiled lazily, but Eden’s entire body froze instantly. His eyes widened ever so slightly. His fists slowly clenched at his sides, his lips trembled, for a brief moment.
Then without anyone expecting it, Mr. Eden dropped to his knees instantly, confusing everyone at the auction.
“My lord,” he said reverently.
Everyone seemed to be comatose at the scene before then, was Mr. Eden… the underground ruler… was he kneeling?
To whom? Surely it had to be some sort of mistake.
Seth sighed dramatically and crawled to the ground as well, joining him, then slowly whispering into Eden's ears.
“Get up, Lucas. You're causing a scene. Don't be a wuss and copy the things I do,” he said with a light tone.
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Chapter 94. A Deal in the White Room.
Seth’s POVThree days.That’s how long it had been since I last saw Lucas. Three long, empty days filled with sedatives, sterile lights, and the mechanical sound of my own breathing echoing against white walls. I’d been fed, spoken to, and put back to sleep like a lab animal. Somewhere between the second and third injection, I stopped resisting.My reasoning was simple, if I couldn’t think of a way out, I might as well do nothing at all. I let them poke, prod, question, and study. At least it gave them purpose.I didn’t have one anymore.The silence of the room had become a living thing, a companion that hummed softly in my ears. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and burnt metal, a mix that somehow reminded me of the lab before it exploded. Sometimes, when I stared too long at the ceiling lights, I could still see the flash, the wave, the moment everything changed.That afternoon, if I could even call it afternoon, since the light here never changed, the door hissed open with its
Chapter 93. The Weight of Obedience.
Lucas’s POVThe door clicked shut behind me, sealing Seth inside the sterile white chamber. The sound echoed in my skull like a gunshot. I stood there for a moment, my hand still resting on the door handle, as if part of me was afraid that letting go meant accepting what I’d just done.The hallway was just as blinding as the room—white walls, white floor, white light. No warmth, no comfort. Everything about this facility was designed to strip the soul out of whoever entered.I finally exhaled, long and shaky. My lips felt dry, and I licked them instinctively, trying to ground myself in something human—something real. But the bitter taste of guilt lingered there.Seth’s voice still echoed in my head. The way he shouted my name, the confusion in his eyes, the betrayal that I couldn’t bring myself to explain.He had every right to hate me.And the worst part? He didn’t even know the half of it.I turned and began walking down the corridor, my steps heavy. The guards stationed near the c
Chapter 92. The Chair.
Seth’s POVWhen I woke up, I wasn’t sure if I was alive, dead, or something in between. My head pounded like a drum, and every muscle in my body ached. My vision blurred at first, then cleared slowly under the blinding white lights above me. Everything was sterile—too clean, too perfect. A white room. A single white chair. And me, strapped to it like a test subject in some twisted science fair.The air was cold enough to sting my lungs. My hands and legs were bound, but not by metal. It wasn’t steel or iron or any alloy I could twist or bend. The material felt strange—warm, flexible, and yet… unyielding. It was like rubber, but tougher. Reinforced. Designed specifically for me.I tugged at it once, twice. Nothing. No give, no strain. My pulse quickened.“What the hell is this?” I muttered under my breath. I pulled harder, twisting my wrists, trying to feel for any weak point, any tear. Nothing.Frustration rose in me like fire. “Hey!” I shouted into the blinding white void. “Is anyone
Chapter 91. The Golden Fugitive.
Seth’s POVThe moment I heard the words restrain him, something in me snapped. There wasn’t time to think, just pure, animal instinct. I ran. My feet hit the gravel so hard that I felt the ground dent beneath me. Then came the sound I’d been dreading, the sharp hiss and thunder of gunfire.Rubber bullets, I thought at first. It made sense, they weren’t trying to kill me, at least not yet. But there were so many, thousands of them. It was like standing in a storm made of pain and compressed air. Every impact jolted my body, knocking the breath out of me, but I didn’t feel torn apart the way I expected to.Then I realized why.My skin didn’t bruise.Each hit produced a faint metallic echo, a vibration I could feel down to my bones. I glanced at my arm while running and saw the faint shimmer of gold flicker across it beneath the moonlight. My blood, the thing that had terrified me since I woke up wasn’t just for decoration. It was protection. My body had turned into something else.The s
Chapter 90. The Breakout.
Seth’s POVI’d lost track of how many days I’d been in this sterile white box they called a recovery room. Could’ve been five, maybe ten. The food always arrived on schedule, usually tasteless mush delivered by a faceless guard who never looked me in the eye. The doctor supposedly advised against any physical activity or external exposure, whatever the hell that meant. They called it precaution. I called it what it really was... captivity.At first, I didn’t care. My body was still healing, still... changing. My reflection had become something I barely recognized. Golden veins that pulsed faintly beneath my skin. Eyes that shimmered like liquefied metal when the light hit them wrong. Machines around me glitched if I stared at them too long. My touch bent the steel railing of my bed like it was clay.But boredom is a dangerous thing. It breeds questions, questions that can kill you if you think about them too hard.Why hadn’t Lucas visited?Why hadn’t Alex?Why had the president’s aide
Chapter 89. Metal and Flesh.
Seth's POVI had been awake for hours, yet the room felt the same as it had when I first opened my eyes. Sterile white walls, the faint hum of machinery, the occasional beep from monitors that charted my vitals. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic, a thin layer of hospital smell that clung to everything. And yet, despite the clinical monotony, nothing felt normal. Nothing had been normal since that explosion.I had been lying there for what felt like an eternity, confined to a bed that was far too small for what I now was. I hadn’t seen Lucas, I hadn’t seen Alex, and there had been no word from the president’s aide, just food, water, and the faint assurances that I was recovering. Recovering, as if I were some fragile human being, when the truth was far more complicated now.I flexed my fingers and noticed something strange. My skin glinted faintly gold under the harsh fluorescent light. My eyes, once dull brown, now shimmered like molten metal. At first, I thought I was imagining i
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