Bala: The Duke's Contract Wife

One Pawn Down (1)

When the red curtain of the stage was revealed, Rose and Victor entered a dark passageway. Count of Rozar and Rositta led the way. Fire torches were lit on both sides of the hallway walls. The air in the hallway was somehow colder, making Rose unconsciously moved closer to Victor's body.

They walked long enough to finally reach another large and stuffy room.

There were dozens of soldiers standing guard there. And on both sides of the room, there were dozens of cages–yes, cages–filled with children that were previously auctioned off. Each cage contained one child, sometimes there were two children in one cage. And the size of the cages was too small to be called humane. Count of Rozar put the children in animal cages.

Rose squeezed Victor's arm. But this time she didn't do it to calm the man down. Instead, she did it to contain her own emotions. Victor seemed to have the same sentiment. The man's big fingers warmly clasped Rose's hands.

"As a protocol, to make sure none of you have any intention other than buying, we have to do a quick check."

The soldiers in the room walked to the group. A soldier instructed Victor to stretch out his hand. Then the soldier groped Victor's body and legs to feel whether Victor hid something under his clothes. Luckily before entering the room, Victor had already removed his disguise bracelet and slipped it to Rose. The bracelet was an expensive commodity but quite popular among the nobility. If Victor was still wearing it, it was certain the soldier will find out. After the bracelet was removed, Victor only had a few minutes before his hair color and eyes would return to their original state.

After the soldier found nothing on Victor's body, the soldier began examining Rose's body. As soon as the soldier's hand touched Rose's shoulder, Victor immediately pulled the soldier's collar and growled. Victor acted like a man who doesn't like his woman being touched by another man while Rose quickly slipped the bracelet back on Victor's fingers that were coiled around his back.

"Woah, calm down. Relax," Count of Rozar walked up to them. "Possessive guy, eh?" The count blinked to Rose before continuing, "This is just protocol, sir. Don't be rash."

Victor finally removed the soldier's collar and let him examine Rose's body. As Victor continued to throw a stare full of knives, the soldier tried to touch Rose as little as possible. The girl caught Victor's gaze, saying with her gaze, 'If I come with Baldur we don't have to bother doing this.'

'it's no trouble at all,' protested Victor with his gaze.

'Look, Vic. Your aggressive nature scares the kids to death.'

'Tch. They'll also be grateful later when we save them.'

After all the nobles were successfully examined, the count herded them to the end of a room where a prison cell was separated by iron bars in the corner of the room. The cell was very narrow but was used to house dozens of children. They all sat on the floor in thin and ragged clothes, barefoot. The children swept up close to the wall when they saw the group coming.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present the best collection of children I have," the count said.

At first glance, they were not much different from the children who were auctioned off.

"Almost all of these children have magic abilities," continued Count Rozar, "Some have rare talents."

Rose's eyes met the eyes of one of the boys. His gaze was empty, like looking but not paying attention. Rose saw the skin of his hands and feet. There were a lot of whiplash wounds.

"You hurt them?" asked Rose spontaneously.

"Only a few because they were a bit difficult to tame. But after a few days, I can make sure every child is tamed. They will be very manageable."

When looking at Rose's gaze, Count Rozar added, "Certainly for the beautiful children, I make sure there are not the slightest wounds on their bodies."

Disgusting.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen," exclaimed Count Rozar, "The system will work like this. I will recite one by one the advantages of these children and you can choose which children you want to see in person."

Count Rozar took a thick book from a soldier. From looking at the outward appearance alone, Rose already knew it was the book they were after. An accounting book that recorded all children and to whom those children were traded. It was possible that the book also recorded expenses from this auction income for everything. That would be helpful to determine the next strategic step in this political battle.

"This year, ladies and gentlemen," Count Rozar's voice boomed out. Surely the guy was happy because he was about to get a lot of gold. "We have five virgins with angelic faces. One low-level fire witch. One child can see the memory of the objects he touches. And one child who is a descendant of Drogo, the World Destroyer."

Some people in the room gasped when they heard the last sentence. Drogo was the ruler of the Dragon Island from another continent. The large snake was famous around the world and put its seed on many women. Almost all descendants of the black dragon had an affinity for various types of magic or abilities above the average human being. Starting from higher intelligence, elemental magic, or even just a very beautiful appearance.

Rose's eyes were again glued to the child with whiplash scars. The boy's shoulders spiked slightly when he heard Count Rozar's sentence.

He's the Drogo's descendant.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen. What kind of child do you want to see first?"

"Before that, Count," Rose said melodiously. The girl glanced at Rositta, giving her a sign that Rose was about to start her plan. Rositta nodded and slowly walked out of the room. "May you please explain how the transaction would take place?" Rose glanced at the other nobles, "Sorry lords and ladies, this is the first time I have participated in this activity. Pardon me for asking."