The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 52
It was like that.
Honestly, it was after escaping the shadow of the ducal family that she started harboring resentment towards her family.
Twenty-seven-year-old Roxelyn realized the weight of the walls surrounding her.
So, at twenty-seven, she no longer resented them.
She stopped comparing herself to others, stopped envying what she didn’t have.
She had grown up enough to think that way.
But it was only after coming to a different world and becoming seventeen again that Roxelyn could reflect on the life she had been given.
What she couldn’t see in her haste to survive was now visible.
Looking back, there were things she regretted.
Questions that would forever linger, with no one left to ask or confirm.
‘I thought I was just annoying and hateful.’
Because she didn’t have the abyss, was physically weak, and had nothing exceptional.
Because she only knew how to act out.
She believed without doubt that she was hated.
But if her name had been on that dagger…
If her father in the past had made that dagger for her, and Lady Carmel had kept it without telling anyone…
‘Did I hurt my father without knowing?’
Roxelyn slowly opened and then closed her eyes.
“…”
It felt like someone had stuffed a fist down her throat, it hurt so much.
But her eyes remained dry.
“Even a broken doll would be better than this.”
After rubbing her dry eyes, Roxelyn let out a faint laugh.
With more to do than cry, Roxelyn simply closed her eyes slowly.
***
“Welcome, Red Cat.”
Roxelyn inwardly scoffed at the nickname.
The ‘underground auction’ started at 8 PM and ended around midnight.
Unlike the main auction, VIP purchases started at 5 PM.
If there were rules, they included wearing a monochrome mask with a black veil that could cover the entire face and hair.
Only one accompanying knight or escort was permitted.
Carrying weapons was prohibited.
The color of the mask was to be pre-determined by the organizer.
That was all.
With a red cat mask came the nickname Red Cat.
With a blue dog mask, Blue Dog.
This was how attendees were pseudonymously referred to.
Roxelyn wore a red cat mask.
Her purpose for coming here was to buy a person.
“Do you have any particular item of interest?”
“A slave.”
As Roxelyn responded curtly, the man in a featureless white mask and clad in a black robe nodded.
“Allow me to guide you.”
The underground auction house was like an ant hill, even referred to as such.
‘Without a guide, I’d be lost,’ Roxelyn thought, frowning in the confusing underground maze.
‘It’s perfect for discreetly handling people.’
She glanced behind. The knight her father had assigned, wearing a nondescript black mask, followed beside Roxelyn.
“This is the room where the items you’re looking for are gathered.”
Following him through narrow paths like an ant hill, they entered a large room filled with cages.
People were in the cages, all wearing resigned expressions, draped in tattered clothes, half-naked.
Roxelyn wasn’t the only one viewing the slaves. Distasteful appraisals continued from all around.
There were people inspecting them as if they were livestock, not hesitating to strip them if necessary.
‘Disgusting.’
Roxelyn inwardly clicked her tongue.
“Do you have any specific age or gender in mind?”
“A teenage boy would be good.”
“In that case, you can start from this side.”
Roxelyn moved, following the guide. She was looking for a 12-year-old boy.
‘This will be my bargaining tool for Kaluta.’
She didn’t walk far before stopping abruptly.
In a narrow cage, a boy sat hunched, glaring fiercely, his lips tightly shut.
Green eyes and silver hair.
Eyes narrowed like a cat.
Tanned skin.
Shackles on his neck and wrists.
A long scar, drawn with red dye, ran from his forehead across his left eye to his chin.
‘Found you.’
He was the second son of the Kaluta king that Roxelyn was looking for.
