"Take a good look, Ladies and Gentlemen," the auctioneer said, as the cage rotated slowly to give everyone a good view.
The stage was lit up with torches, and the buyers were hidden in the darkness of the theater-like seats, only their bidding paddles with numbers on them were visible.
"We have a rare beauty from the West, captured in a shipwreck. She's well educated, obedient, and knows her place. Her void crystal is still intact, no sign of being possessed. Perfect for any master who wants to train his own spheral warrior. Do I have any offers? The starting bid is twenty gold coins."
She ended up being purchased for eighty coins. The auctioneer continued to introduce the slaves, their backstory, their skills, and their potential uses. When it came to Lucian's turn, the auctioneer looked him up and down as he improvised his lines.
"Now, this is an interesting one, Ladies and Gentlemen. His looks say it all. Look at those arms, those legs, and that height. He's a perfect specimen for any bed, oops, I mean, for any master," he laughed, and a few chuckles came from the crowd. "Even the marks on his body don't take away from his charm. Maybe it's a bonus for those who like their toys a bit broken in."
Another wave of chuckles came from the crowd.
Lucian's looks that he was once praised for, now felt like a curse, drawing unwanted attention and causing his stomach to churn with disgust. A hundred gold coins was the starting price for him, and the crowd went wild.
"It's just a hay head," someone complained.
"It's not about the face only, my good sir. Doesn't his aura scream that he will satisfy your every desire?" The auctioneer began to stir the pot, "We had to drug him to the point where his eyes are like this. Imagine what he could do when he is fully awake and full of energy."
The crowd became more and more excited, raising the price to hundred and fifty gold coins.
A buyer stood up, "Take off his shirt!"
Lucian's eyes twitched, and the auctioneer wasted no time, ordering the guards to rip his shirt apart.
The crowd gasped and murmured in appreciation.
"Look at those abs and the V-line, perfect," the buyer said, "Do I hear two hundred gold coins."
"I give you two hundred and fifty!" another one shouted, not wanting to be outdone.
"Three hundred." A female voice raised the bar, "What's his background?"
"A priest from the Diamante Kingdom," the auctioneer spewed one lie after another, "We got him from a burned church, a real treat for anyone who wants to sin with a holy man."
The crowd went even more wild, the bidding went up to four hundred coins, and the female bidder ended up winning.
Everyone treated her with great respect as she made her way out of the auction house.
She wore a tight black corset that hugged her curves, a hood covering her head. Her hair, which Lucian thought was black, had a sheen of red to it when she stepped under the light. Her pants were loose and tucked into her boots, which had a hidden blade sheath.
Lucian found out she was the daughter of the richest Kingpin, the way she handled the guards and the slave merchants. She ordered them to deliver Lucian to her ship, and paid them upfront without haggling.
Daughters were surprisingly treasured in the pirate society, but only if they showed great talent for blessings.
The guards bowed and took Lucian out of the cage, holding him tightly as they led him away.
The carriage waiting for them outside bore no crest, only reinforced iron bands and small barred windows. They threw him inside roughly, clamping heavy chains around his ankles.
The Kingpin's daughter climbed in after him, the carriage dipping slightly under her weight.
'I'm dead,' seeing her tuck the proof of ownership in her cleavage made Lucian's heart sink, 'I'm so dead. She's going to murder me, skin me, and burn my bones.'
Lucian stared at her cleavages, trying to burn the proof of purchase with his gaze.
"So, you used to be a priest?" she asked, her lips pressed into a line of mild disdain. That's all he could see from his position as he upper face was still covered, "Ogling my chest like that. Have you never seen a pair of breasts before?"
"Ogling is a strong word, My Lady," Lucian tried to weasel his way out of it, "I've seen so many that I can't help but compare. To be able to fit all that paperwork in such a space, you must have mastered the art of storage."
He called her bosom fake, not full of flesh, but full of paper. She did not find it amusing, and instead of turning him into mincemeat, she tried to prove him wrong.
"They are not small," she defended herself as if his opinion mattered to her, "Everyone says they are too big for my frame."
"...and you believed them?" Lucian asked.
"N-no. I don't care. I'm just telling you that I'm not stuffing my corset with paper."
Lucian dozed off as she kept rambling about how people were stupid for not seeing her true worth and how her body wasn't the only thing she had to offer.
He would have preferred an old pervert he could kill in his sleep, maybe even take over his ship, than this woman who was trying to convince him she had more to her than her body.
But he couldn't choose his buyer. He overheard some male slaves calling him lucky for being picked by such a beautiful woman with a powerful background.
'As long as she doesn't fall for me, I will be fine,' Lucian thought and then regretted thinking it, as if he had jinxed himself. Showing disinterest was an easy way to make a woman more interested in a man, and he didn't want to deal with any more women, his hands were full with Celine.
Rivalry between women could be quite scary too, and the stronger their background, the more dangerous they could be.
"I can't perform in bed like they said," Lucian decided to reject her in advance, "I'm not worth the money you paid for me."
The woman stopped her rambling, "Don't flatter yourself, slave. I need you for something else. Just pretend to be my lover, and you will have a better life than most pirates out there."
"That...won't do either," Lucian shook his head, "What if they ask for a kiss as proof of our relationship? You know…I prefer men…and I believe throwing up in your face, if it came down to it, won't be pleasant for either of us."
"..." She looked like she was about to have a stroke, her face going through a million different expressions. But she calmed down and put on a smile, "That's fine too. It's even better, in fact. We can share the same bed and act like we don't like each other. My father will get off my back, and you will get to keep breathing."
Lucian still preferred an old pervert he could kill over acting like someone else's lover. "It might be better to sell me to someone else. I don't think we will get along."