Fourth Prince's Debauchery

When I asked Lena if she wanted to go to a place in particular, she tilted her head cutely and shook her head.

Lena obviously just wanted to spend time with me, so she did not care what place we visited.

I shook my head helplessly and asked the coachman to take us to the Reincarnation Auction Hall. I could as well take advantage of this opportunity to see how my aunt and Susan are doing.

Different from me, who usually is not accompanied by guards, each time Lena leaves the palace she is accompanied by an entourage of guards and servants. Most of them followed behind us in another carriage, but I could feel some of them hiding above and below the carriage.

The difference in treatment is truly huge.

Well, it makes things more convenient for me, so I don't care.

We took less than twenty minutes to reach the Reincarnation Auction Hall. When we stepped out of the carriage, the auction hall's guards bowed respectfully towards us.

"Welcome, your highness, princess Lena."

"No need to be so formal." I nodded at them. "Is my aunt here?" I asked.

"Madam Dayana is inside. She is discussing something with some guests that came earlier."

"Guests? Do you know who they are?"

"We don't." The two guards shook their heads simultaneously. "But Madam Dayana seemed very serious."

I nodded with a thoughtful expression and entered the auction hall together with Lena. Most of the guards and servants remained outside, but some of them followed us in.

Once inside, I was greeted by the clerks and some customers. I then guided Lena to the second floor, where most of the valuable things were located, and patted her head.

"Lena, I need to see aunt Dayana for a bit. Why for me here, okay?"

Lena looked at me and nodded begrudgingly but not without before making me promise her that I would spend the rest of the day with her.

I then went up to the third floor.

When I reached the third floor, two strangers were leaving aunt Dayana's office. They looked at her with a dark expression.

"I hope that Mrs. Dayana can consider our offer."

"There is nothing to consider. I already gave you my answer."

The two men shot my aunt a deep look before turning around and leaving.

They were slightly surprised when they saw me, but they just greeted me perfunctorily and followed their way.

Aunt Dayana also saw me and sighed in relief. "Claus. It's good that you are here."

"Something happened?" Seeing my aunt's relieved expression, I knew that she was having trouble. I followed her to the office and sat down.

"Susan, bring us something to drink." Aunt Dayana told to a girl that was seated nearby. I instantly realized that it was Susan, the girl I met at aunt Dayana's home.

She looked down shyly when she noticed my gaze and ran away. Seeing that, my aunt smirked.

"… I wonder what magic you used to make her fall in love so deeply with you."

"The same magic I used in you, aunt."

Aunt Dayana blushed and rolled her eyes. "Stinking brat. Daring to tease your aunt."

The next instant, however, her expression turned serious.

"Claus, we had some troubles."

"What happened?"

Aunt Dayana sighed. "It's like this…" She then recounted everything that happened in the last few days to me.

After the farse with her husband, aunt Dayana became more cautious. She knew that her husband was just a pawn, one of our enemies' attempts to weaken our businesses and that they would attack again soon.

And just like she expected, the next attack came less than two days later.

Some of the customers accused the auction hall of selling low-quality goods. At the same time, some merchant organizations refused to continue dealing with us.

Aunt Dayana realized that the enemies' attacks had started, so she replied firmly. In less than two days, she had uprooted the rumors about the quality of our products. As for the merchant organizations that refused to deal with us, aunt Dayana had been ready for something like that long ago, so she quickly found a solution.

But even she was overwhelmed by the enemies' next attack.

"… An unknown group had been attacking our stores. We received more than five attempts to robberies and more than ten violent assaults. Many of our workers had been threatened, and many of our customers were assaulted after leaving our stores."

I wrinkled my brows. They were more ruthless than I thought.

They even dared to attack the customers, something like that is a taboo in business.

It looks like they are going all out against us.

"… Have you tried to ask mercenaries for protection?"

"I did, but they refused to accept our request or their conditions were outrageous." Aunt Dayana shook her head dejectedly. "You saw the two men that just left, right? They asked for shares of our businesses in exchange for protection!"

I nodded. "I understand. Don't worry, I have a solution for that. I'll send you a group of men in a few days."

Aunt sighed in relief. "Thank god."

"What about our deals outside the capital?" I asked.

"… Two of our caravans were attacked by bandits, but I'm not sure if it was a coincidence."

"Do you have a suspect for the attacks?"

"The clues point to the Riea family and the Ferret family…"

I fell deep into thoughts. It's normal for the Riea family to attack us, but the Ferret family too?

I could not help but think about the white-haired girl I met a few days ago. Is it also part of her plans?

While we were talking, Susan brought us cold drinks and left the room. Although she had become aunt Dayana's apprentice, she was not still qualified to know some things.

After all, aunt Dayana must test her loyalty and character before giving her more responsibilities.

Once she left, we continued our talk for another hour. The auction hall had more troubles than I thought.

Finally, aunt Dayana heaved a tired sigh. "It's all."

I smiled and stretched out my body. I then used a thread of mana to lock the door.

The next second, I walked behind my aunt's chair.

"Aunt, did you miss me?" I breathed on her ear while hugging her back.

Aunt held her breath and shivered.

...

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