Deceived, Yet Drawn to You - Chapter 26

5. Infidelity

The auction was being held at an ownerless mansion slightly removed from the center of Borsa. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary two story building, but deep underground, a secret auction house existed, one frequented only by those with a discerning eye.

The entrance leading below was guarded by armed sentries, and guests were required to present their invitations and undergo identity verification before being allowed inside. As Blair followed Isaac, she kept glancing around, still unable to understand why she’d been brought here.

The underground auction hall was far larger and darker than she’d expected. Deep purple velvet curtains covered the windowless walls, and dozens of seats were arranged around a semicircular platform. The vast space was already more than half filled with people dressed in vivid, extravagant attire.

“Come this way. I’ve already secured our seats.”

Clearly amused by something, Isaac wore a sly smile as he took hold of her arm. Blair moved reluctantly toward the seats he indicated. Their places were in the center, directly facing the platform, and for some reason, she felt as though they were drawing attention.

Frowning at the unsettling murmurs around her, Blair soon realized why. Someone was already seated beside Isaac.

“…Ah.”

It was a familiar face. A woman with fiery red hair and strikingly ornate features. Dressed in a black satin gown that exposed her cleavage without reserve, she was none other than Nicoletta Underhill.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and sit down.”

Seeing Blair hesitate, Isaac casually tugged her along.

“You’ll both be spending a special time with me today, so I hope you get along.”

Nicoletta, who had been facing forward, lifted her head. Without the slightest hint of surprise, she smiled gracefully, her narrowed eyes making her look like a stage actress.

“It’s nice to see you, Lady Twyford. I never imagined we’d meet again in a place like this.”

“….”

“Lord Dorman invited me.”

Isaac Dorman took the seat beside Nicoletta and then tried to seat Blair on his other side.

Fiancée on the left, mistress on the right. The moment she grasped that arrangement, Blair understood the real reason she’d been summoned here. Isaac wanted to enjoy the spectacle he himself had staged, flanked by a woman on either side.

It was practically a preview of the life that awaited her after marriage. He knew that even if he went this far, Blair had no way to resist.

Blair quietly folded her cooling hands and sat down without a word. She steadied her breathing, hoping the frantic pounding of her heart wouldn’t be heard. She refused to show even a trace of humiliation.

Just then, the auctioneer stepped onto the platform and introduced the first item in a booming voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the first item of honor for today’s auction! A raw ruby discovered in the western mining region, as you can see, large in size and rich in luster! Bidding will begin at twenty thousand francs!”

“Isaac, are you going to bid on that?”

“Hm… not really my taste. But do you want it?”

“Isaac….”

Nicoletta drew in her shoulders, unable to contain her delight. Watching the unmistakable flush of a woman in love spread across her face, Blair was seized by a strange sensation.

Wasn’t this a place meant to demean not only herself, but Nicoletta as well? And yet Nicoletta, an illegitimate mistress, seemed perfectly content to be mocked.

“If you like something, just say so, Nicole.”

“That’s fine. But now I kind of want to look at other things too….”

Nicoletta’s whisper, deliberately laced with damp breath, carried clearly all the way to where Blair was sitting. Blair soon felt the urge to cover her ears.

“Something just as big, with an even deeper color.”

“Then shall we step outside and get some air?”

“Mmh.”

Isaac rose to his feet with Nicoletta without the slightest hesitation. Paying no mind to anyone’s gaze, the two walked off together and soon vanished from sight. Blair didn’t even let out a bitter laugh.

If Isaac’s goal had been to humiliate her by forcing her to attend this place, then he had succeeded. She’d never experienced a moment this unpleasant in her life.

“Is this seat taken?”

A low, composed voice settled over her head just then. Blair lifted her gaze a beat late and flinched without meaning to. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize the owner of that unannounced voice.

“…Ah, no. It’s free.”

“May I?”

Edmund inclined his head slightly and took the seat to Blair’s left. Keeping her eyes fixed on the platform, Blair lowered her voice unnecessarily.

“What bring you here, Lord Libert?”

“I received an invitation from Dorman as well and thought I’d come take a look. Auctions can be quite an interesting spectacle.”

The man murmured meaningfully, then looked her way and added, “If you don’t remember that night, I’ll be rather disappointed.”

He was referring to the moment they had discovered the golden key together in the clubhouse library. More precisely, the moment they had stood nearly touching, when Blair held her breath and waited for his kiss.

“…So, are you planning to place a bid?”

“I’m considering it. What about you, Lady Twyford?”

“….”

“Did you come to the auction to win something? Or to be won?”

Even without turning her head, Blair could tell from the gaze brushing her cheek that there was mischief in his eyes.

“It wasn’t a place I wanted to be, so neither. And the items up for auction are objects, aren’t they? Not people.”

“In some cases, people are given price tags too. Especially in places like this, desire often becomes the most accurate measure of value.”

There was no room to argue. It was a description that fit her situation all too well. Blair, sitting here now, was living proof of it.

“The fact that no one finds that strange is exactly….”

At that moment, applause erupted from all around them. The first auction item, the raw ruby, had been successfully sold.

“Isn’t it a rather elegant tragedy?”

Blair, who had kept her gaze fixed straight ahead the entire time, finally turned her head and looked up at the man. She met his shadowed eyes directly, then parted her lips.

“A lot has happened to me over the past few days. And I’ve confirmed that what you said was right.”

“So, you’re feeling betrayed?”

“I realized how naive I was. Even if I didn’t believe, I think I still expected something. That at the very least, they’d behave like human beings. But they’re somehow….”

How could she explain this feeling, burning as it tangled with countless thoughts? When Blair faltered and trailed off, Edmund didn’t miss the opening and replied quietly.

“You want revenge, don’t you?”

“…I don’t know.”

“You want to take a lover in return. And it just so happens that a suitable partner is right in front of Lady Twyford.”

Blair let out a hollow laugh. In one way or another, Edmund always seemed to make her laugh.

“I don’t want to sink to that level.”

“Then have you given proper thought to the proposal I made before?”

When she thought about it calmly, it wasn’t much different from an affair. If she took this man’s hand, she would inevitably be swept up in scandal anyway. A woman who married one of her former fiancé’s long time acquaintances in swift succession, not long after breaking off her engagement. In the end, the world would whisper that she’d chosen infidelity.

So the logic was simple. Whether she would be ruined by their hands, or choose for herself the place where she would fall.