Chapter 15: Raisins Can Be Sweet

Halcyon Auction House.

The heavy carriage had finally arrived.

The place looked ridiculous.

It beautified the district like a palace, and it was also the tallest building under the Gilishon sky.

Though to Adonis, it looked less like an auction house and more like those gaudy mega-malls you’d see in Dubai.

The carriage doors opened. Two well-dressed menservants in spotless white tailcoats bowed sharply.

"Welcome to the Halcyon Auction House, Your Grace."

Behind them, a squad of heavily armed Falsbane royal guards was already unloading large iron-bound crates from the back transport carriage.

By the time the last crate hit the transport dollies, Adonis and Queen Minerva were already inside the grand reception hall, seated on sofas and sipping rose-scented tea.

The woman sitting across from them was the very definition of dangerous elegance.

Lady Ariel Halcyon.

She sat with a posture so straight it looked sculpted. She wore a wide, dark-brimmed hat adorned with dark red roses, feathers, and a lace veil. Her long, wavy brown hair was as light as her pale, unblemished skin. A high-collared back dress and long silk gloves decently covered her long, shapely, beautiful body.

Sitting right beside Ariel was a woman who looked like she belonged in a museum.

Lady Gertrude... Ariel’s mother.

She was so old that if she’d ever been tall in her youth, she was now compressed into a short, intensely wrinkled size no bigger than a dwarf. Her skin looked like dry parchment, and her eyes were half-covered by heavy, folded lids.

Adonis greeted her when they sat down, but Gertrude didn’t even blink. She was 118 years old; it’s possible her ears were gone sometime during the last century.

Minerva and Adonis sat across from the two women.

Adonis, however, could barely lift his teacup to his lips.

Minerva was clinging to his right arm like a child possessing a favorite teddy bear. Her huge, bulging, soft chest didn’t fail to bury his elbow.

Ariel delicately sipped her tea.

"I must say, Minerva, it’s been far too long. The kingdom’s trade routes have expanded by nearly thirty percent under my house’s management this quarter. I hardly have time for idle chatter these days."

Minerva smiled sweetly.

But her grip on Adonis’s arm tightened severely.

"Is that so, Ariel? How delightful. Meanwhile, the Royal Court has stabilized three separate regional border disputes without firing a single spell. Efficiency is so much easier when one holds actual political authority."

Adonis closed his eyes, taking a difficult sip of his tea.

’Here we go again...’

These two were clearly old friends, but the kind of friends whose entire dynamic relied on constant, passive-aggressive flexes. They had both achieved so much in their respective fields, and here he was, Adonis...

Disowned Fifth Prince. Trash Copper-class Enchanter.

Minerva growled furiously at Ariel in her mind.

’THIRTY PERCENT?? This bitch... she really thinks she’s one-upping me in front of my boy?’

Minerva suddenly let out a soft, airy laugh as she nestled even closer into Adonis’s side.

"Though, I suppose money mean very little when compared to the true treasures of life. Take my stepson, Adonis, for instance. Isn’t he simply exquisite? So handsome, so refined... wouldn’t you agree?"

Lady Ariel looked at Adonis.

She smiled mattely and took another sip of her tea.

"Like my son, he’s quite charming. Though... it really is such a shame, Minerva. You’re far too old for him."

SNAP.

Adonis almost felt a muscle tear from Minerva’s finger digging into his arm with brutal force. It pained like hell. She smiled sweetly but her once romantic arm snuggle felt like sticking your hand in a vehicle compactor.

Ariel tilted her head toward Adonis.

"Tell me, Prince Adonis... what do you think of our Halcyon Auction House?"

Adonis swallowed hard, forcing his most charming, dimpled smile through the killing pain in his crushed arm.

"Very beautiful, Lady Ariel. In fact, I wouldn’t even mind working here as a simple cleaner... if it means I get to appreciate such a sight every day."

He was halfway through the sentence when Minerva’s grip tightened by another fifty percent.

’HOLY SHIT—THIS CRAZY SHEBEAST IS GOING TO AMPUTATE MY ARM!’

Ariel smiled warmly.

"Good answer."

"Oh, yeah... by the way, Lady Ariel, do you happen to know a Baron Korvan Thale?"

"No? Should I?"

Adonis shrugged casually. "Never mind. Just curious."

Minerva and Ariel drifted back into business, discussing the security protocols, item appraisals, and VIP seating arrangements for the upcoming auction. But as the women spoke, Adonis suddenly felt something strange.

A slender, silky leg bumped against his knee under the tablecloth.

At first, he thought it was an accident. But then, the leg began to slide higher and slowly caress his calf. The crawled higher to touch his legs in erotic ways, slithering up toward his inner thigh and nudging dangerously close to Mr. John resting between his legs:

Judging by the angle and distance across the table, no way this belonged to Minerva.

Adonis slowly lifted his eyes from his teacup.

Sitting across from him, Lady Ariel smiled softly.

Adonis’s mind raced.

’I knew it... their competitiveness is acting up again. She sees how much Minerva is enjoying me, so now she wants a piece of the action too. Man, being this handsome really is a curse... fine. I’ll let her enjoy herself for a bit.’

He shook his head proudly.

Then Ariel gracefully stood up from her chair.

"Excuse me, I’ll go fetch a fresh pot of tea."

She smiled at Adonis again and left.

Adonis chuckled quietly to himself.

’Ah, I see how it is. She’s leaving first and expecting me to make up an excuse to go somewhere... private with her.’

[Ding! Gertrude has developed romantic feelings for Host!]

Adonis’s eyebrows shot straight up.

’Huh? Gertrude?’

Ariel was gone, but... the slender leg under the table was STILL poking him.

In fact, it was poking him quite aggressively now.

’Eh?’

Adonis slowly tracked the leg to the source; 118-year-old Lady Gertrude. She was staring right at him with her toothless smile and disturbing wink.

Adonis almost threw up his rose tea right then and there.

’OH GOD NO!’

He covered his mouth with a hand.

’Wait... she’s old. She’s VERY old. And she’s the co-owner of this entire establishment.’

Adonis squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered.

’The goal is to survive. Desperate times...’

Adonis slipped out of Minerva’s arm hug and offered Gertrude a hand, a graceful bow, and a gentlemanly smile.

"Lady Gertrude, would you do me the honor of showing me around your grand establishment?"

In his mind, the plan was brilliant.

He could use the old matriarch to case the entire security layout of the auction house without raising a shred of suspicion from Ariel. Plus, it was the perfect excuse to escape Minerva’s limb-crushing physical affection for an hour.

Minerva’s ruby eyes widened in shock.

"Adonis? I can easily show you around myself—"

"It’s fine, Mother."

Adonis reached down, gently taking Gertrude by her tiny waist and helping her up from her armchair.

The old woman turned red like a wilted rose.

"I want Gertrude."

"M-, Me?"

Gertrude was swooned by his divine looks. Her frail, ancient legs were shaking so much from excitement that it looked like her bladder was about to give out at any second.

Adonis looked at the toothless, blushing face and sighed deeply in his mind.

’The wrinklier the raisin... the sweeter the fruit, right? Please let that be right...’

...

The tour was surprisingly informative.

Gertrude happily shuffled alongside Adonis, eagerly pointing out every detail of the building. Her genuine affection made her spill every piece of operational protocol. Adonis felt a slight guilt for using the poor woman’s century-old heart like this. He learned the guard patrol rotations, the mana-alarm triggers, and how the bids worked.

"Can you take me to the main security vault?"

Adonis asked with a boyish smile.

Gertrude giggled and patted his arm.

"Oh, my dear... of course, but I can’t take you inside. Rules are rules, even for an old woman!"

"I completely understand, Lady Gertrude. Security measures must be respected."

True to her word, she took him there.

Standing before them was a colossal, reinforced adamantine vault door glowing with complex runic arrays.

"This vault holds our highest-value items. It has countless layers of defensive magic installed by the top research mages of the Soron Duchy! Though, of course, it doesn’t feature high-tier enchantments. Good [Enchanters] are so hard to come across in Falsbane."

Adonis listened closely.

’So that’s why Prussia gave me that magic item... she knew Falsbane’s defensive infrastructure lacked high-grade protective enchantments.’

An info panel on the hidden item popped up:

[Item: Dragon Teleporter]

[Grade: High-Tier Marsofian Tech]

[Description: A pair of palm-sized, blood-red gems encased in golden dragon frames. Created using refined dragon cores. Allows the user to open spatial gates through heavy layers of magical security and spatial barriers without detection.]

[It’s less effective against high-tier protective enchantments, as it is engineered to counteract structural barriers rather than bypass active defensive runic wards.]

Adonis clicked his tongue.

He needed to plant one of the teleporter gems on the vault door right now, but Gertrude and the two heavily armed guards stationed outside the vault were watching his every move.

So he rubbed his throat and coughed dryly.

"Ah... all this walking has made me quite thirsty."

Gertrude’s eyes lit up.

"Oh! Let this old lady fetch you some fresh spring water—"

Adonis’s eyes widened. He lunged forward, grabbing the old woman firmly by her narrow hips, pulling her back, and shouting at the top of his lungs—

"I REFUSE!"

He dramatically glared at the two stone-faced guards standing near the vault and.

"How dare you?! How dare you allow Lady Ariel’s mother to labor like a servant?! The two of you, go now! Get a pitcher of fresh water RIGHT NOW!"

The two guards blinked, bewildered. They opened their mouths to refuse, but then they looked at Lady Gertrude. The ancient lady was staring at Adonis with wide, puppy-dog eyes, clutching her chest as if her heart was about to explode from love.

"RIGHT AWAY!"

The two guards almost tripped over their own boots as they ran down the hallway to fetch water.

Gertrude looked up at Adonis.

"Oh... what a true gentleman..."

Adonis smiled down at her.

"This gentleman has a little surprise for you. Why don’t you close your eyes?"

Gertrude gasped softly.

She didn’t hesitate for a microsecond.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tilting her wrinkled face upward. Her dry, saliva-soaked, wrinkled lips puckered up, hungrily sucking the air as she waited for the handsome prince to choke her with a rough, youthful kiss.

Adonis cringed so hard his face nearly inverted.

While she was aggressively puckering at the air, Adonis quietly stepped past her and firmly pressed one of the red dragon gems against the bottom frame of the vault door.

The gem turned invisible right after.

It worked like a spatial transmitter and receiver. One sends the mana signal, the other receives it, linking the two spatial zones regardless of where the user stands.

Adonis dusted off his hands and sighed with satisfaction.

’And that... is the end of tha—’

"How dare you?"

Said a powerful voice in the quiet corridor.

It was a voice Adonis had never heard before.

Adonis froze. He slowly turned around.

Standing at the end of the hallway was a young man.

Tall. Immaculate cream-colored hair falling neatly over a very handsome and aesthetic face. Bright, glowing purple eyes that held zero warmth.

Adonis suddenly felt not-okay.

He didn’t need the system to identify him.

He knew exactly who he was looking at.

Lloyd Halcyon.

The ruthless protagonist of Volume 4.

The very same man destined to brutally behead the First Prince in the original webnovel plot.

’Shit... he caught me.’