"Ok, Sir, with your request, this is the most expensive celestial item in our store." Julian’s voice was smooth, polished by years of dealing with the elite. With a flourish, he gestured to a diamond necklace. It was a masterpiece of excess, overflowing with countless gemstones that seed to trap and refract every ray of light in the room. The jewel was placed on a glass showcase, sitting on a decorated board that looked like it cost more than most houses.
"Hmm... Do you like it?" Sunny asked. He didn’t look at the gems; he turned his gaze to Josephine, searching her face for any spark of desire.
Josephine frowned slightly, her eyes tracing the heavy lines of the jewelry:
’This thing is too shiny, and too big,’ she thought. She preferred elegance over sheer volu, but she knew the value of utility in their dangerous world. She turned to Julian.
"Does this co with any advantage?"
"Oh yes," Julian replied, his smile widening as he moved into his sales pitch. "Once soone puts this on, it will strengthen the wearer’s body and give you strength. Not only that... it can protect the wearer from two lethal attacks. The grand class celestial necklace can also heighten the wearer’s sight and reaction speed. Before you ask, this has been tested and confird."
"It is good," Morgana interrupted, her voice dripping with boredom. She leaned against a pillar, her eyes rolling toward the ceiling. "But it’s only a grand class item. It’s not like it can protect soone from a God rank item."
Julian’s professional mask twitched. "Yes... God rank weapons are too strong and rare. Don’t forget that not everyone can use God rank weapons, Madam," he countered, his tone gaining a sharp edge of defensiveness.
Morgana’s eyes narrowed, a predatory glint appearing in her gaze at his dismissive words. The air in the room seed to grow heavy.
"Calm down," Sunny said, stepping effortlessly between them to break the tension. He ignored the clerk and turned back to Josephine, his voice softening. "Just say the word."
"Hahaha! Just say the word?!"
The mocking laughter echoed through the third floor as Carlton swaggered in with his wife, Elara, followed by two other sales staff who looked like they were enjoying the spectacle.
"She should tell you to run away!" Carlton sneered.
"This poor guy didn’t even ask for the price," Elara laughed, pointing a manicured finger at the necklace. Her eyes were filled with a cruel sort of amusent:
"This necklace is beyond powerful. Not only that, it can still protect you from attacks that can kill you... It’s technically giving you two more lives to your pathetic ones."
"Don’t say that, Honey," Carlton said, though his smirk deepened. He turned his attention to Sunny, scanning his modest appearance with pure condescension. "You don’t know if they can afford it. These humans always think they’re superior because they belong to the Star Nation."
He stepped closer, his voice laced with venomous pride. "Too bad the Elves’ Nation is now stronger than the Star Nation."
Sunny’s expression remained a calm mask, but his mind raced. ’Stronger than the Star Nation? There is no way the elves can have that much strength. Did Queen Victoria use so sneaky ways to get by? Anyway, Eldoria will still crush the two easily.’
He had brought Josephine and Morgana back to the lower world to escape the pressures of high-court politics in the upper world; no one here knew who they really were. He had planned this trip as a quiet prelude to Josephine’s birthday next week. Now, this fool and his wife were turning his peaceful afternoon into a circus.
"I don’t like the necklace," Josephine said, her voice cutting through Carlton’s arrogance like a cold wind. She raised her hand, showing Sunny their wedding ring. "The ring is even better than it... Besides, they’re both grand class items." She didn’t even spare Carlton a glance, treating him as if he were part of the furniture.
"Both grand class items?! Isn’t that a useless ring!!" Carlton hissed, his face reddening as his disgust boiled over. He couldn’t stand being ignored by those he deed "lower" than him.
"If you think you’re so great, why don’t you pay for the necklace? Running away and making excuses... Poor people will always remain poor!!"
"I so want to kill him... Just say the word," Morgana whispered, her blue eyes flickering dangerously toward their usual, blood-red hue. The killer instinct she usually kept under wraps was beginning to leak out.
"Hold on, he wants to play, let’s play with him," Sunny whispered back, a cold spark of mischief in his eyes. He turned to Carlton, his posture relaxing into a stance of quiet confidence.
"Whatever you are called... what about we make a bet?" Sunny asked.
"Bet?" Carlton scoffed, looking at the onlookers who were starting to gather. "What can you seriously bet with? You’re just a poor loser."
Sunny snapped his fingers. In a blur of movent, a sleek card appeared between his fingers.
"There is ten million in this card. If I can’t buy this necklace, you take the ten million," Sunny said, his voice steady.
"But if I can buy it, you will kneel in front of my wife and kowtow one hundred tis while slapping yourself. Do you dare bet?"
"You!!" Carlton stared at the card. His heart hamred against his ribs.
’That is ten million galaxy crystals... That must be his full money, using it to brag, so foolish.’ He greedily calculated what he could do with that sum. He nodded sharply.
"Good then!! If you can’t buy it!! I will not only take that ten million, you will also kneel and lick my shoes. Topping it up, you will hand your won to for three nights," he said with a foul sneer.
"Carlton, you?!" Elara gasped, montarily shocked by her husband’s boldness.
"Calm down, I will only love you... We can just toy with these two together, won’t that be fun?" He said, pulling his wife closer to him, his eyes dancing with malice.
"Oh... You are so wicked," Elara said with a small, sharp smile, lightly hitting Carlton’s chest in faux-protest.
’Now I will have to kill him,’ Morgana hissed inwardly, her fingers twitching with the urge to draw blood.
The onlookers and custors on the third floor all turned their heads to the commotion, whispering as they watched the drama unfold.
"Wow, this is Master Carlton sure win. He never loses," soone whispered from the crowd.
"Haha, yep! Free ten million, and he’ll also hand over the won for three nights. So painful," a second man said, leaning in to get a better view.
"This will be interesting. I also want to see the main price of this necklace," a middle-aged woman said. The elegant horns curving from her brow marked her as a noble from the Dragon Nation.
"I would have loved to stand beside our fellow human, but Carlton is powerful. He even has an uncle in the royal court," a man added, staring at Sunny with a look of deep pity.
"What are you waiting for?!!" Carlton snapped at Julian, his patience evaporated. "Reveal the price!!"
"Yes. Yes." Julian nodded frantically. He rushed to the showcase, his hands trembling slightly as he reached for the security controls. He pushed the red button on the base of the board.
Everyone held their breath. The holographic display above the necklace shimred to life. The numbers began to climb, spinning so fast they were a blur. It zipped from one zero, to two, then three... it reached seven zeros and kept moving upward with terrifying montum.
After what seed like forever—though only ten seconds had passed—the counter clicked into place. The final price revealed itself in glowing, crimson digits.
"Hahahaha!!!! You are done for!!" Carlton burst out laughing, his voice triumphant as he stared at the staggering number. Even the onlookers shook their heads, looking at Sunny as if he were already a dead man.
"These people are finished," they muttered amongst themselves.
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