"Tell me what the favor is first. Then I'll decide whether to help you or not."
Angelina spoke in a tone that suggested she found the whole thing somewhat bothersome.
Despite how she sounded, she had actually given him high marks for one thing—before asking for a favor, he had removed his hood and shown her his face.
That's how it should be. If you're asking someone for help, you should at least look them in the eye.
Yet instead of answering immediately, her prompt only made his gaze waver.
For a brief moment, Angelina wondered if her voice had been too cold, but she made no effort to soften it.
The one receiving a favor had no obligation to comfort the one asking.
"I..."
He started to speak, then stopped and studied her expression.
It seemed he was trying to gauge her reaction.
Finding her still looking at him with the same indifferent face, he appeared to make up his mind.
"I need money."
One of Angelina's eyebrows slowly rose.
What? So he's not some heroic knight—he's a pauper?
Only then did she understand why he'd hesitated for so long.
Borrowing money must have wounded his pride as a knight.
Well... I suppose that's understandable.
People devoted to the sword were honest and steadfast, but looked at another way, they were often stubbornly rigid.
So she could understand his hesitation.
"How much do you need?"
She took back the magic pouch she had handed to Hallie and asked the question.
Instead of prying into why he needed the money—which felt like it would only trample on the pride he'd struggled to preserve—she asked something practical.
To be honest, she wasn't particularly curious about the reason anyway.
She assumed he needed help paying overdue rent or replenishing his travel funds.
But his answer was unexpected.
"I don't know how much it will take."
"Hm?"
Who borrowed money without knowing how much they needed?
"Did you borrow from a loan shark or something?"
Did he mean he didn't know how much interest they'd pile onto the debt?
"No."
"Then?"
Instead of explaining directly, he said something completely unexpected.
"My family has an heirloom that's been passed down for generations."
"Hm?"
It sounded completely unrelated to money, but Angelina didn't interrupt him.
She had always liked antiques and enjoyed hearing stories about them, so the word heirloom piqued her interest.
She nodded for him to continue.
"But recently... it disappeared because of an unfortunate incident."
"That's awful."
There really are strange Lupin-style thieves who only steal antiques.
The Marquess of Flobert's household had suffered from thieves like that more than once, so she could sympathize with his predicament.
"However, I recently learned that the heirloom has appeared at an auction."
"I see."
How infuriating that must have been.
Angelina offered a quiet word of sympathy.
"I contacted the auction house and demanded its return, but they said they had no obligation to give it back."
As he spoke, his sharp gaze swept over Angelina, as though silently asking,
What kind of reaction will you have?
But Angelina, sitting with her arms crossed in thought, failed to notice.
Only Hallie and Laura, standing behind her, became noticeably more intimidating.
"The auction house isn't wrong."
Angelina answered calmly.
Regardless of how the item had reached them, an auction house had no legal obligation to return property it had acquired through legitimate channels.
One of House Flobert's greatest sources of income was its art auctions, so she understood the business well enough.
After thinking for a moment, she let out a quiet sigh.
"The only way to get it back... is to win it at auction yourself."
Even if he insisted it had been stolen, the auction house had no reason to simply hand it over.
"So that's why you need money... but don't know exactly how much."
Only then did Angelina understand why this man had swallowed his pride as a knight and asked for money.
If she refused, that was the end of it.
But if fortune favored him, he might still receive help.
Money could be repaid over time.
An heirloom, once sold, could disappear forever.
Cornered as he was, he had no other choice.
"Hm..."
As Angelina let out a sympathetic murmur, he spoke again.
"There... is one other way."
"Other than participating in the auction?"
She looked at him in confusion.
He frowned slightly, as if wondering why she was pretending not to understand.
"Couldn't you simply have the item removed from the auction?"
"Hm?"
His words puzzled her.
Then realization dawned.
"Ah... so the heirloom is in a Flobert-owned auction house."
Well, that made sense.
Around here, nine out of every ten auction houses belonged to the Floberts.
Clicking her tongue softly at her own delayed realization, she shook her head.
"It's not that simple. If they already refused to return it, they've probably already started the auction process."
If the item had still been sitting in storage, the auction house would have tried negotiating instead of refusing outright.
Something like:
"The estimated auction price is this much. Pay that amount, and we'll release it."
But judging by their response, the exhibition had most likely already begun.
"But you're—"
"Even if I'm the younger sister of the head of House Flobert, that would be crossing a line."
Realizing what he meant before he could finish speaking, Angelina cut him off.
Apparently, he had expected her to use her authority to retrieve the heirloom instead of lending him money.
But she couldn't do that.
Nor did she want to.
"I understand how unfair this feels. I know losing your family's heirloom hurts. But the auction house has rules and procedures it must follow. And even as the young lady of House Flobert, I have a duty to respect them."
Managing the auction houses belonged to her elder brother, the head of the family.
To interfere would be a clear abuse of authority.
She had no intention of doing such a thing.
"If we don't follow the very rules we created ourselves... then what meaning do those rules have?"
Of course, even if she overstepped, her kind and gentle brother would probably just smile and tell her it was fine.
But she wouldn't be fine with it.
My brother's already busy enough. I can't dump even more stress onto him.
This wasn't merely a personal matter.
It directly affected the auction house's reputation.
After trade, auctions were one of House Flobert's greatest sources of revenue.
She could never allow their credibility to be damaged.
And if our profits dropped because of something like this, it'd be awkward. No, absolutely not.
If she wanted to spend the rest of her life in comfort, she couldn't allow that either.
"...I was too presumptuous."
He took a step back after hearing her answer.
Then he reached into his coat.
"If I crossed the line, I apologize. Actually..."
"No, it's fine."
Seeing him lower his head slightly, Angelina waved her hand dismissively.
Then she turned around.
"Anyway, I understand how desperate you are."
She started walking.
"So... lead the way."
"...Excuse me?"
He froze with something halfway out of his inner pocket, staring at her in confusion.
"To the auction house."
Angelina answered in the same casual tone as before.
"Let's at least take a look at this so-called heirloom."
Angelina had never been someone who enjoyed getting deeply involved with other people.
She preferred helping others when she could, while avoiding becoming personally entangled with them.
It was a quiet, individualistic way of living.
To be honest, she had no desire to become deeply involved in this man's circumstances.
Handing someone a little money and walking away was one thing.
Actually participating in an auction was something else entirely.
At the same time...
She wasn't cold-hearted enough to ignore someone who had openly come asking for help.
Well... auctions are anonymous anyway. This much should be fine.
There certainly wasn't any rule saying that a member of House Flobert couldn't participate simply because the auction house belonged to their family.
"So this is the Red Boat Auction House."
Angelina murmured quietly as she stepped inside the auction house the man had led her to.
House Flobert owned many auction houses, and each specialized in different fields.
Some dealt exclusively in sculptures and paintings.
Others accepted only antiques more than five hundred years old.
The Red Boat Auction House, however, had a different theme:
The unusual.
Rather than specializing in a single category, it collected and sold anything rare or extraordinary.
I heard this place is difficult to manage because there's so much miscellaneous stuff and it's hard to determine prices.
She remembered Ante mentioning that in passing once.
"This way, please. These are the items scheduled for this week's auction."
One of the employees guided Angelina through the exhibition.
From the look on his face, he had no idea she was a daughter of House Flobert.
Naturally.
Because of the auction house's strict policy of anonymity, everyone was required to wear masks before entering.
Many customers even wore wigs or used transformation magic to conceal their identities completely.
Angelina had made Hallie and Laura change their clothes as well.
After all, there was no point wearing masks if they were still dressed in maid uniforms embroidered with the Flobert family crest.
