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Chapter 49
The Marquis opened his eyes wide. Then, smiling brightly, he greeted the person entering the auction hall.
“Duchess Ameron!”
She was walking in confidently, without even wearing a mask.
The Marquis was overjoyed to see her. Just her presence alone made it clear that the bidding prices would skyrocket. And coming without a mask meant she completely trusted him.
“How did you come here?”
“They said this is the final auction today. Of course I had to come.”
The Marquis’s eyes then followed the maid walking behind her. She was struggling under a very heavy bag.
How much money would it take to fill that bag?
The Marquis swallowed hard and guided Duchess Ameron inside.
“You may look forward to it. Hey, prepare the best seat again.”
“Yes.”
“Shall we go in?”
The Marquis took the hand of the duchess, his savior, and led her inside.
Those who recognized Duchess Ameron couldn’t stop whispering.
Seeing her walk in warmly with the Marquis confirmed the rumors that she had purchased one of his paintings. Moreover, her presence at the auction again meant she was satisfied with the previous purchase and was here to buy more.
Even before the auction began, people were already readying themselves to raise their hands.
The Marquis, watching this with satisfaction, guided Duchess Ameron to the front seat and stepped forward.
“Thank you all for gathering. Today is the final day of the auction. We have found all of Melchasky’s unpublished works and plan to put them all up for auction today.”
At the mention that all the works would be available, everyone’s eyes flickered quickly, counting the paintings behind the Marquis.
“The paintings that will appear today are the last remaining works of Melchasky in the world. If you miss today, you may never have the chance to obtain them.”
The Marquis stoked the crowd’s desire to buy like adding another log to a fire, fanning the excitement further.
“Let’s begin the auction. This work appears to have been painted immediately after Melchasky’s famous piece, The Sea, and is titled In the Forest. Inspired by the forest, Melchasky captured the liveliness of the various creatures within it.”
When the painting was revealed, people’s gazes darted eagerly.
“Due to the number of items up for auction today, we will start at 200,000 litas.”
The high starting price caused a stir.
The Marquis seized the opportunity, knowing he had to drive the bidding quickly before people had time to think. He signaled to his assistant.
“200,000 litas.”
“210,000 litas.”
As the numbers rose rapidly, one by one, people began to raise their hands.
“350,000 litas.”
This already surpassed previous auction prices.
Just a little more.
As the Marquis pressed the crowd with his gaze, demanding even higher bids, someone opened the door and called out:
“One million litas!”
One million litas. Haren entered the auction hall.
The Marquis, who had been laughing happily at the high bids, turned his head and froze upon seeing Haren. Though what first caught the Marquis’s eye wasn’t Haren’s face but his Imperial Knight uniform.
Haren gestured to Tom and the other knights behind him.
“We are from the Imperial Knights.”
“This is private property. If you—”
Before the Marquis could speak, the knights restrained him.
“Yes. We came after receiving a report from Duchess Ameron that Melchasky forgeries were being sold here. Everyone, stop moving and cooperate.”
All eyes turned toward Duchess Ameron. Haren also looked at his mother.
She rose from her seat with a triumphant smile, a sight Haren hadn’t seen in a long time.
Last night, after the Imperial Banquet, his mother had quietly called Haren.
“The Marquis of Monjas is selling forged Melchasky paintings. So, go to tomorrow’s auction and arrest him.”
At first, Haren thought her words were absurd. She had been so delighted to purchase those paintings herself, and now she claimed they were forgeries? It didn’t add up.
“Don’t you trust me? I recognized the forgeries the moment I saw them and prepared everything in advance.”
Even Haren found it hard to believe. If she really knew they were forgeries, she wouldn’t have displayed them in the center of the estate. It seemed strange that she had believed Espin’s words and taken the paintings down.
Haren didn’t want to completely dismiss his mother’s words, even if he doubted them. She had been in a bad mood these past few days because of Chloe, and he didn’t want to make things worse.
“I’ll report to the Captain first.”
Haren reported the situation early in the morning to Captain Travis, hoping he might know something.
“If Duchess Ameron is using the Imperial Knights for this, she must be certain.”
Indeed, a mother so concerned with her reputation wouldn’t use the Imperial Knights for personal matters. If there were a problem with the Marquis, she could simply pay someone to handle it.
Thus, Haren and the knights headed to the auction hall.
“Search here.”
Seeing the Marquis’s panicked expression confirmed to Haren that his mother was right.
“Wh-what do you mean by ‘search’? All of these… are authentic Melchasky works. I found them when I bought this house.”
The Marquis seemed brazen, even becoming more indignant.
“Very well. That can be clarified later. Here is a search warrant issued by the Captain of the Imperial Knights.”
When Travis presented the warrant, the Marquis’s eyes widened in disbelief. Yet, thinking only of his own survival, he shouted once more:
“You can’t just arrest a noble like this! Release me! There’s no concrete evidence!”
“Evidence?”
“Yes. There’s no evidence, yet you treat me like a criminal. This is an insult I cannot accept as a noble.”
“Evidence? Oh, there’s plenty.”
Unlike the Marquis, Duchess Ameron spoke calmly:
“Marquis, I knew from the start that the paintings you had were forgeries. The details were too poor to be Melchasky’s work.”
“What are you saying? You were delighted to purchase Melchasky’s painting! You paid 200,000 litas for it. Surely you thought it was worth it?”
The Duchess wagged her index finger at him, a gesture even her son Haren found exasperating.
“No. From the moment I saw it, I knew it wasn’t a Melchasky. That’s why I bought it. Anyone with even a little artistic knowledge could tell this wasn’t painted by Melchasky. Isn’t that right, everyone?”
When she asked the masked people, they nodded as if in a trance.
“What do you mean…”
“So, I bought it to collect evidence.”
“Don’t lie. You clearly said at the time that you were getting the Melchasky painting you wanted. If it were a forgery, you shouldn’t have bought it at all.”
“No. If I didn’t buy it, someone else would have.”
The Duchess crossed her arms casually, scanning the crowd. Among them, one masked person stood up.
