Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

One Pawn Down (2)

The nobles nodded understandingly. A man in a purple silk suit who bought the first virgin child at the auction said, "Count Rozar is very trustworthy. The goods sold are always of high quality."

Goods? Rose gritted her teeth.

"Transactions are usually done after a few days. But you can bring the goods directly," explained the fat man in purple, "After a few days there will be a messenger who collects payment from you."

Rose pretended to be surprised. "You'd entrust such amount of gold to the messenger?"

"My messenger is very trustworthy, Lady," Count Rozar said.

The girl bit her lower lip, acting in disbelief. "I don't know... Maybe if you give me an example of another buyer who's been successful with this deal. Oh, I'm not saying you're untrustworthy, but you're wearing masks. I don't know how credible you are."

The nobles looked at each other. Of course, each one felt uncomfortable revealing their identity overtly.

Rose was getting ready to go with Victor when count Rozar finally said. "How about this? The lady can see my purchase report. All successful transactions are recorded there. There will definitely be a name you can trust." The man approached Rose. "Thus, you can trust me without the need for buyers here to reveal their identity."

Got you.

The girl went to great lengths to hold back her smile. She nodded at Count Rozar's suggestion. Within seconds, Count Rozar had handed the book over to her. Once received, Rose immediately saw the date on the first page and the last page. She frowned. "You've only recorded transactions from the last three months?"

"Oh of course not," replied Count Rozar, "I keep the books of the previous period in my office."

Rose nodded. The girl then traced the names of the parties who had already done transactions with Count Rozar. She smiled. "All right, I trust you."

Count Rozar smiled thinking Rose would continue her intention to buy a child. But actually, that sentence was a code for Victor.

Suddenly the sound of foot thudding was heard from the direction of the entrance of the room. Few of Rozar's soldiers suddenly fell to the floor. Their bodies bled profusely. The nobles and children screamed when they saw rows of knights with swords and full armors entering the room.

Count Rozar's soldiers pulled out their swords. But seeing a large number of knights, the soldiers looked terrified.

"What the hell, Duchess?" shouted Count Rozar angrily. His eyes were fiery and were directed at Rose.

"Duchess?" Some of the masked nobles gasped when they learned of Rose's identity. Feeling no need to hide anymore, Rose unmasked herself. Her red eyes stared at Count Rozar straight.

"Karma, Count Rozar," Rose said, "Karma."

Count Rozar's face was flushed in a matter of seconds. His jaw hardened and his nose enlarged. Count Rozar was about to pounce on Rose right then and there. But it turned out that the one who moved faster to Rose was the man in purple silk. The man took the sword from a nearby soldier and swung it at Rose.

The girl didn't have time to dodge. But why should she shy away from anything when next to her was a big man who could be her shield?

With just two movements, Victor could twist the man's grip and then took the sword from the purple silk man. While the knights subdued the other soldiers, Victor pointed the sword at the man dressed in purple silk. Victor had not reattached his magic bracelet since the time the soldiers checked on him, because right then and there, his hair and eyes changed–the bracelet ability had met its deadline.

Count Rozar, the man in the purple silk, and the other nobles became pale instantly. They were trembling greatly when they recognized Victor.

Gale, Johan, and Baldur quickly approached Victor and Rose. Baldur mainly dropped Count Rozar to the floor while Gale and Johan pointed their swords at the other nobles.

"Bu– but... But... how can...?" asked Count Rozar in disbelief. "Y– you, your relationship with the Duke is not harmonious. You... You..." Then Count Rozar glanced at Rositta. "But Rositta said..." As soon as he saw Rositta, he finally realized what he had been missing.

"You tricked me! You're playing me!" The man was about to step towards Rositta but Baldur again reminded the man not to move with his big sword.

Rose chuckled at Count Rozar's shocked and angry expression.

One pawn has fallen and brought a domino effect.

Then she focused on the nobles in the room. "I want to play guesses."

Previously Rose had seen the names of the accounting books that were still in her hands. She pointed to a man in the purple silk. "Viscount of Trembay." The fat man's eyes widened because Rose could guess his identity even though he was wearing a mask.

Then Rose pointed to the nobles one by one in the room. "Viscountess of DeSilva and Viscount of DeSilva. Baron Gremlin. Baron Renfred. Sir Albaster. Sir Polka." Rose's eyes flashed in that dark room.

There's nowhere for you all to hide anymore.

On the same night, by looking at the names in Count Rozar's book, Victor deployed his knights to capture all the other buyers simultaneously throughout the whole Maraina. Some buyers tried to escape but because the arrest happened suddenly, everyone was eventually caught. All buyers who were Maraina residents had been caught.

Meanwhile, Rose and Baldur remained in the cell room to calm the children down. Rositta was the most helpful in this regard. The teenage girl read their memories one by one and assured them that Rose and Victor would help them.

Without wasting time, Victor also confiscated all of Count Rozar's assets starting from his residences, nightclubs, to Count Rozar's inns. The good news was, since Count Rozar's residence was deserted and Countess Rozar was gone, Rose could put the children in Rozar's residence for a while with Rositta. Count Rozar's daughter was fortunately not at the residence, the girl was left to Countess Rozar's sister in another area.

After making sure all the children get warm food and clothes, Rose and Rositta made sure all the children get a bed in the residence. None of the staff of Rozar residence dared to oppose Rose who had the status of Duchess.

Rose ensured that the staff would also respect Rositta before she returned home to the Maraina residence in a horse-drawn carriage. Baldur was ordered to guard Rositta and the children at Rozar's house.

It was, according to her calculations, the same time that Victor should have finished as well. But she still had not seen him in the residence at all. Instead of waiting aimlessly, Rose finally decided to do the one thing she's been delaying.

Taking her payment from doing Victor's three terms–the requirement to go to the city market with Victor had been scheduled for the next week. So, Victor had given her access to the dungeon. She thought this was the right time to visit the teleporter before the prison would be full of illegal child trafficking buyers.

The dungeon warden greeted Rose and escorted her to a cell.

A pair of yellow angry eyes stared back at Rose from behind the bars.