Chapter 462: The Demon Auction House (X)

The auction had finally ended.

The private viewing hall was slowly emptying as nobles gathered their purchases, servants carried sealed boxes toward waiting carriages, and attendants escorted important guests through separate exits.

Gray stood near the elevator with his hands inside his pockets, looking considerably more satisfied than he had when he arrived.

The Pure-Origin Heartseed had been secured.

The Heavenly Silk Alien Metal was safely stored in his Dimensional Storage.

And although he had missed the Worldroot Heart, the auction had given him a good idea of the sort of treasures circulating throughout the Demon Capital.

He had also learned that a few flattering words, properly timed, could convince two royal princesses to compete over something neither had originally intended to purchase.

’Not a bad afternoon.’

"Gray, are you planning to stand there smiling at yourself for the rest of the day?"

He turned his head.

Elira was standing beside him, looking at him with an amused expression.

She had already handed most of her purchases to her attendants, yet, for some reason, she showed no intention of leaving.

"Do you have a problem with me enjoying my afternoon?"

"Not at all. I was simply wondering what you were thinking about. You have been smiling ever since the auction ended, and I suspect it has something to do with the enormous amount of money you managed to save by avoiding most of the bidding."

Gray raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn’t say I saved money. I spent quite a lot."

"Yes, but you bought things you actually needed, unlike someone called Scarlett who spent thousands of Demon Gold arguing over a crystal they could have shared."

’So her name is Scarlett?’ Gray raised an eyebrow.

Scarlett, who had been speaking to one of her guards a few steps away, turned her head.

"Elira, I can still hear you."

"I know. I wasn’t trying to whisper."

Scarlett’s ruby eyes narrowed.

"Then let me remind you that you were the one who raised the Moon Sovereign Core to a thousand Demon Gold. You spent more than you needed to, and you know perfectly well why you did it."

Elira smiled sweetly.

"I wanted the core. You wanted the core. I was simply more willing to pay for it, and judging by the fact that it is now in my possession, I would say my decision worked out rather well."

"You bought half a treasure for the price of an entire one."

"And you went home without it."

Scarlett went completely still.

’Here we go again...’ Gray slowly turned toward the ceiling.

Elira noticed his expression and laughed.

"See? Even Gray agrees with me."

"I haven’t said anything."

"You don’t need to. Your silence speaks volumes."

"Then perhaps you should stop interpreting it."

Elira looked delighted.

Scarlett, on the other hand, looked as if she were seriously considering whether the elevator had enough room for her spear.

"Gray, I hope you understand that if you spend enough time around her, you will eventually develop a headache that no amount of medicine will cure."

"That’s reassuring, considering you are the person I have spent the most time with since arriving at the city."

Scarlett looked at him, and her eyes narrowed coldly.

"Are you implying I’m responsible for your headaches?"

"I’m saying I have considerable experience with your personality."

"And what exactly have you learned?"

Gray thought about it.

"You’re proud, impatient, occasionally unreasonable, and you have a habit of turning every minor disagreement into something that requires an entire battlefield."

Scarlett stared at him while Elira immediately burst out laughing.

"Pwahahhaha~! Ohhh, I just like him even more now~!"

Scarlett ignored her and stepped closer to Gray.

"You forgot something."

"Did I?"

"Yes... You forgot to mention how generous I am."

Gray looked at her for a moment and smiled.

"You’re generous when you feel like it."

"Acceptable." Scarlett nodded.

Elira looked between them.

"That’s an incredibly low standard."

Scarlett turned toward her.

"Nobody asked you."

"I was talking to Gray."

"You were talking about me."

"I can do both."

"Unfortunately, I know."

The elevator doors opened behind them, but neither princess made any move to enter.

Gray glanced at the empty elevator before turning to the two princesses.

"Are we leaving, or are we planning to spend the evening arguing in front of the auction house staff?"

Elira immediately stepped inside.

"Come along, Gray. I’ll have my carriage take you back wherever you’re staying. After spending the afternoon together, it would be rather rude to let you travel home alone."

Gray followed her gaze toward the carriage attendants waiting downstairs.

"That’s considerate of you, but I already have somewhere to go."

Elira tilted her head.

"Where?"

"Home."

"Your home?"

"Yes."

She smiled.

"Then take me there."

Gray stopped.

Scarlett, who had just entered the elevator behind him, also stopped.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Gray slowly turned toward Elira.

"...Excuse me?"

She looked perfectly serious.

"You heard me. I want to see where you’re staying."

"Why?"

"Because I’m curious."

"About my house?"

"About the person living in it."

Gray stared at her.

Elira continued as though she hadn’t noticed anything strange about her request.

"We’ve spent the entire afternoon together, and you’ve managed to surprise me several times. You also seem to have an unusually good understanding of valuable cultivation resources, despite your apparent lack of experience with the Underworld’s markets. I’d like to know more about you."

"That sounds suspiciously like an investigation."

"You’re free to think of it however you like. Personally, I would call it getting to know an interesting person."

Scarlett folded her arms.

"Elira, don’t you have a royal residence to return to?"

"Of course I do."

"Then go there."

"I intend to."

"Your residence is in the opposite direction."

"How fortunate that I haven’t decided to return yet." Elira smiled.

Scarlett’s expression instantly became colder at those words.

"You’re doing this on purpose..."

"Doing what?"

"Following Gray around."

Elira placed one hand over her chest, looking thoroughly offended.

"Scarlett, I’m hurt. Am I not allowed to make a new acquaintance without you suspecting some ridiculous scheme?"

"New acquaintance? You’ve spent the entire afternoon trying to buy his attention, raised your offers whenever he looked at something interesting, and now you’re asking to visit his home. You expect me to believe none of that means anything?"

Elira’s eyes brightened.

"So you have been paying attention to everything I’ve done."

Scarlett’s expression froze.

Gray quietly stepped toward the elevator doors.

He had seen this expression before.

Whenever Scarlett and Elira started attacking each other with words, the argument rarely ended until one of them was satisfied that she had landed the final insult.

Unfortunately, neither seemed particularly interested in letting the other win.

"Scarlett," Elira continued in a perfectly innocent tone, "you have been looking after Gray for weeks, haven’t you?"

Scarlett immediately turned toward her.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. I merely wondered why you were so concerned about me spending time with him. If you’re only acquaintances, surely you wouldn’t mind."

Scarlett’s face tightened.

Gray slowly closed his eyes.

’Don’t take the bait.’

He knew how this worked.

Elira had discovered that Scarlett’s pride made her easy to provoke, and she was clearly enjoying herself.

Unfortunately, Scarlett had enough pride to make the situation worse.

"I don’t mind who you spend time with," Scarlett replied coldly. "I simply don’t want you following me around and bothering my guests."

Elira smiled.

"Your guests? You seem to be using that expression quite often today."

"Because he is my guest."

"Then I suppose I should ask for your permission before speaking to him?"

"That would be a wonderful start."

Elira turned toward Gray.

"Gray, would you mind giving me your permission to speak to you?"

Gray opened his eyes.

"...What?"

"Scarlett seems to believe she has some authority over your social life, so I thought I’d ask you directly. Would you mind if I spent more time with you?"

Scarlett immediately glared at her.

"Elira!"

"What? I’m being polite."

Gray looked at one princess, then the other.

Originally... he only had the intention of seducing Scarlett.

He had approached her deliberately, fought her, spent time with her, and slowly gained her interest.

It had taken weeks of careful effort to reach the point where she was willing to spend time with him without immediately threatening to stab him.

Now, after one afternoon at an auction, another princess had decided she wanted to follow him home.

’What the hell happened?’

He had to admit, however, that Elira’s interest wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

She was a royal princess surrounded by powerful demons. Most people either feared her, flattered her, or wanted something from her family.

Gray had done all three things differently.

He had teased her.

He had bargained with her.

He had openly manipulated the competition between her and Scarlett, then admitted it without any shame.

And, most importantly, he hadn’t acted as though her royal status made her untouchable.

To someone accustomed to getting her way, that kind of behavior was probably unusual enough to become interesting.

Still, Gray hadn’t planned for this.

He looked at Elira and gave her a diplomatic smile.

"I don’t mind speaking with you, Princess. But I would prefer not to become the cause of another argument between you and Scarlett. You two have known each other much longer than I’ve known either of you, and I’d rather not interfere with whatever complicated relationship you have."

For a moment, Elira said nothing.

"That was a very careful answer. You managed to avoid rejecting me without promising me anything," she smiled lightly.

"I’ve learned that being careful with words is important when speaking to royalty." Gray shrugged.

Scarlett looked at him.

"You’re learning?"

"I’ve been learning for weeks."

"Then learn something else. Elira isn’t someone you want following you around."

Elira raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that? Are you worried I’ll discover something about him you haven’t?"

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed.

"I’m worried you’ll spend three days asking him questions, become bored when he refuses to answer half of them, and then decide to make his life miserable because your curiosity hasn’t been satisfied."

Elira paused and looked at Gray.

"Would you refuse to answer my questions?"

"Depends on the questions."

"See? He’s reasonable."

Scarlett stared at her.

"That’s not what I meant!"

"Can we please leave the elevator before somebody decides to summon a formation master to settle this argument?" Gray sighed.

Elira laughed.

Scarlett finally turned toward the door.

"Fine. I’m leaving."

"Wonderful," Elira said cheerfully.

"I’ll accompany Gray."

Scarlett stopped.

Slowly, she turned her head.

"...What did you say?"

Elira smiled.

"I said I’ll accompany Gray. Since you have somewhere else to be, there is no reason for you to worry about it."

Scarlett stared at her for several seconds.

Then, without another word, she stepped out of the elevator beside Gray.

Elira blinked.

"What are you doing?"

Scarlett looked at her as if the answer were obvious.

"I’m going home."

"Then go home."

"I am."

Elira looked toward Gray.

"Is she always like this?"

Gray rubbed his forehead.

"Unfortunately, yes."

Scarlett ignored him.

"Come on. We should leave before the roads become crowded."

Elira’s smile slowly returned.

"Home, you say?"

Scarlett stopped again.

Gray felt an unpleasant sensation creeping up his spine.

Elira tilted her head.

"Wait a moment. You said you’re going home with him. Does that mean you two live together?"

The place fell into silence.

Gray stared at the floor.

Scarlett’s expression remained completely calm.

"Yes."