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 153. Orders from the Top.
Ceres's POVThe summons comes an hour before the break of the dawn sun, and the runner who brings it does not look at my eyes and doesn’t tarry for any kind of questioning. “Summons and complaint,” the runner says, thrusting the letter, it is the High Council Chamber. I know what it is about already.I get dressed without thinking, slip on my jacket over a shirt that reeks of smoke, and slide out of my quarters with my jaw closed hard. Two of my personnel are dead. One died where the west wall collapsed. Another bled out waiting on evacuation that never arrived. Their names are still lodged in my throat.The hallway leading up to the higher levels is quiet in a way that is definitely orchestrated. No chatter from the patrol. No movement. Just the smooth walls and the lights that give the sense that calm has not been purchased with bodies.The doors of the chamber open readily.They are already seated.Five of them today, sometimes seven, sometimes three. Depending on their expectat
Chapter 152. The Girl Who Didn’t Speak.
Seth's POV.The first time I saw her was in front of a broken staircase, one hand on the railing as if she was weighing whether the rest of the structure was sound.She did not appear to be hurt. That was the first thing that registered. Everyone else showed their injuries. Limping legs. Bandaged arms. Weak gaze that kept darting to corners that no longer existed. She simply stood, stable and calm in a manner that did not belong in a situation like this.It had formerly been an outpost for Ceres’ relay. Reinforced walls. Heightened lines of sight. Good places to create choke points. It could have withstood. It didn't. The burn marks can tell far more about it than any survivor. Breaches in the walls of the west. Internal damage done. Fire was applied in places where a precision strike would have been better. Failure upon which layers of poor decisions are heaped.She was watching me as soon as I entered.I felt it. That subtle push against the eyes that means a person is paying attent
Chapter 151. What Shadows Don’t Say
Noel's POVThe base just didn't feel the same after the mission.It never did, especially after intense brawls, but this time it wasn’t because of damage, loss, or wear and tear. It was eerily quiet, as if the walls themselves were listening. Soldiers trooped along at a slower pace. Muttered conversations ceased as soon as someone walked into a room. Everyone was thinking, and no one wanted to be the first to open their mouth.I went to the locker room and sat down without removing any equipment.The smells of metal, oil, sweat, and disinfectant lingered. It was a familiar scent. One that should have been grounding. Instead, it made everything feel all too real.I closed my eyes and here it came once again.That shadow.I hadn’t counted on that. Now I understood that. During the struggle. While everything was mayhem. While orders were being barked out. While opposing abilities were erupting into vicious bursts. I’d felt it extend the wrong way. A.pull that was nonsensical. A presence
Chapter 150. The Cost of Standing Still.
Seth's POVA struggle like this lingered in me after the struggle itself.Not the movements. Not the blows. These faded quickly, stored away with the rest of the physical memories. But the sensation, the weight in my chest, the shakes long after the adrenaline left my system that stayed.I had raised my fists against my own people.No. That wasn’t true.I hadn’t fought them. I had fought the uniform, the orders, the situation.“That’s the lie I kept telling myself,” that's how I summed up... It was a quiet road from here to the castle. Too quiet. They drove along the road hugging the cliff, with the moonlit sea shimmering far below like a scattering of broken glass. The wind beat against the windows with a mournful, deep moaning noise, and I tried to hear what guilt sounded like when words failed.Ceres drove as if nothing had happened.One hand on the steering wheel, a relaxed posture, humming to herself as if after a successful training mission rather than a field where blood and sm
Chapter 149. The Shadow I Didn’t Chase.
Noel’s POVThe first thing I felt was pressure.Not fear. Not excitement. Pressure, like the air itself was leaning inward, compressing around my chest, reminding me that this wasn’t training anymore. This was real. Real enemies. Real blood on concrete. Real lives hinging on every wrong step.Velkor’s outskirts were burning.Floodlights cut through smoke in harsh white lines, slicing shadows apart and stitching them back together in ugly shapes. Government units moved with discipline, voices clipped, orders sharp and efficient. This wasn’t chaos. This was controlled violence.I stayed low, close to broken walls and overturned crates, my shadow stretching thin beneath me, alert, listening. Shadows always talked. Not in words, but in pressure, in direction, in that quiet pull that told me where danger lived.“Advance left,” Alex’s voice came through the comm. Calm. Too calm. “Noel, cover the rear.”“On it,” I whispered.I slid backward into the shadow of a collapsed beam, breath steady
Chapter 148. Lines in the Dark.
Seth’s POVThe car smelled like oil, metal, and something burned into the upholstery long before I ever sat in it. The engine hummed low, steady, like it had made this trip too many times to care anymore. Ceres drove with one hand on the wheel, relaxed, as if we were heading to a meeting instead of a battlefield.I stared out the window, watching the dark blur past, trees thinning into broken land and concrete scars. Camps like this were never placed somewhere clean. They thrived in forgotten spaces. Places no one would miss if they burned.“Where are the others?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral.Ceres didn’t look at me right away. “Redeployed,” she said. “Different camp with a higher priority.”That answer sat wrong in my chest.“Just us?” I pressed.“For this operation,” she replied. “Yes.”The silence that followed was thick, heavy. I didn’t like being alone with her thoughts. Ceres was dangerous not just because of her ability, but because she enjoyed watching people figure out
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