Chapter 49: A Chance Encounter with a Blue Dragon
Imperial Calendar Year 1372, Late Autumn.
Frostfall City, capital of the Caldron Empire.
Lia stood at the entrance of the auction house, looking up at the gold-inlaid sign and silently estimating how many pounds of meat that much gold could buy.
[Royal Treasure Auction House: Quarterly Special]
The eight large characters shimmered in the setting sun, making her eyes ache. Two rows of attendants in gold-trimmed uniforms stood at the door, each with their chest out and chin held higher than the sky, looking at people as if they were walking piles of trash.
Lia was wearing a newly purchased mage robe today—deep blue with silver thread embroidered at the collar. The fabric was soft and the cut was perfect. It had cost her eighty gold coins, enough to feed an ordinary family for three years. Yet, standing before these attendants, she still received a dozen rolls of the eyes.
"Please show your invitation."
Lia pulled a gold-stamped card from her sleeve and handed it over.
The attendant took it, checked it carefully, and his expression instantly changed.
"M-Ms. Lia? Special Consultant to the Mage Guild, Dragon Language Magic Expert, Level 3 access to the Royal Library—"
His voice grew smaller and smaller, his waist bending lower and lower, until he was practically folded at a ninety-degree angle. "Please, come in! The VIP seats are on the second floor. I'll take you up!"
Lia nodded and followed him into the hall.
The interior of the auction house was larger than she had imagined.
The dome was twenty meters high, with three massive crystal chandeliers hanging from it. Each had over a thousand crystal pieces, casting flecks of light across the room. The walls were lined with deep red velvet and covered with portraits of past emperors, all stiff-faced with majestic gazes, as if monitoring every guest who entered. The floor was paved with black marble with white veins, polished so brightly it reflected figures, with every step echoing clearly.
The first-floor hall was filled with over two hundred chairs, already packed with people. Merchants in silk, nobles in formal wear, and mages in robes sat upright, staring at the auction stage ahead.
The second floor held the VIP seats, a ring of semi-open boxes. Each box had four chairs and a small round table with snacks and drinks.
Lia followed the attendant up the stairs and turned into the third box on the left.
"Please take a seat. The auction will begin shortly. If you need drinks, just ring the bell on the table."
The attendant withdrew.
Lia sat down and picked up the wine glass from the table to sniff it.
Red wine, of a decent vintage, worth ten gold coins a bottle.
She took a sip, her gaze scanning the first-floor hall and then the other boxes.
Then she saw that person.
The fifth box on the right, about twenty meters away.
A young man sat there, wearing a well-tailored black formal suit with a white silk scarf tied at his collar. His hair was meticulously combed, every strand lying flat against his scalp. He sat bolt upright, back not touching the chair, hands on the table with fingers interlaced—a posture so standard it looked like an illustration from a textbook.
The problem was his hands.
He was staring at his fingers, brow slightly furrowed.
Then he pulled a silk scarf from his breast pocket—pure white, silk, with silver patterns embroidered on the edges—and began to wipe his fingers.
One by one.
From thumb to pinky, from base to tip, not missing a single gap between his fingers. After finishing his left hand, he did the right. Then he held both hands up to the light to check for any stains. Only after confirming they were spotless did he nod with satisfaction, fold the scarf, and tuck it back into his pocket.
The entire process lasted a full three minutes.
Lia stared at him, her wine glass frozen in mid-air.
That face.
That blonde hair.
That "I'm the cleanest person in the world" punchable expression.
Talos Thunderhowl.
Blue Dragon.
The one she had seduced and then robbed of his treasure two years ago.
Lia silently put down her glass and shrank back into her seat.
She instinctively touched her face. Human form, red hair, golden eyes—completely different from her "Pink-Scaled Female Dragon" appearance back then. He shouldn't be able to recognize her.
Hopefully.
She quietly opened her system panel and selected target scan.
[Target: Talos Thunderhowl]
[Race: Blue Dragon (Pureblood Storm Blue Dragon subspecies)]
[Age: Young Adult (Human form approx. 28 years old)]
[Body Length: 23 meters (Human form: 185 cm)]
[Status: Single]
[Current Emotion: Calm (Slightly displeased because the silk scarf provided by the auction house isn't soft enough)]
[Special Note: Germaphobia level—Worsened. Now cleans scales for 4 hours daily; washes hands 6 times per hour in human form; carries disinfecting silk scarves, disinfecting handkerchiefs, disinfecting wet wipes, disinfecting spray, and three spare pairs of gloves at all times.]
Lia stared at the word "Single" for three seconds.
Single.
Still single.
She silently closed the panel and took another sip of wine.
On the auction stage, the host began introducing the first item.
But Lia's gaze never left that box.
Talos was focused on... wiping the auction catalog with his silk scarf.
The catalog was printed on coated paper, stiff and smooth without any stains. But he clearly didn't think so. He turned a page, wiped a finger, turned a page, wiped a finger, and after each wipe, he would check it against the light to ensure no fingerprints were left before he would turn to the next page.
A waiter came upstairs with a tray of snacks. As he passed the box, Talos suddenly looked up, his gaze shooting out like two bolts of lightning.
The waiter froze in fright.
Talos stared at the tray—specifically, at the napkin next to the snacks—and spoke slowly: "Is that napkin new?"
The waiter was stunned. "Huh?"
"I'm asking you, is that napkin new? Or was it washed and refolded?"
The waiter looked down at the white napkin folded into a swan shape and stammered, "I-it should be washed..."
Talos's brow furrowed into a mountain.
"Take it away." He waved his hand. "I don't need snacks, and I don't need napkins. And tell your manager that VIP napkins should come in disposable sterile packaging, not this—this—" He took a deep breath. "This thing that's been touched by someone else's hands."
The waiter fled with the tray.
Lia silently shrank back into her seat.
Guilt.
Just a sliver.
Really, just a sliver.
After all, the treasure she swindled back then was enough for him to buy a hundred sets of tableware.
——————
The auction reached the third item.
[Twelve-Piece Sterling Silver Tableware Set: With Enchanted Disinfection Function]
The host passionately introduced the origin of the set: crafted by Imperial Royal artisans, made of sterling silver, each piece engraved with the royal crest. The key selling point was—
"Every knife, fork, and spoon is enchanted with a permanent 'Cleansing Spell'! Any stain that touches the surface will automatically decompose! It never needs washing! It will always be as clean as new!"
A collective gasp rose from the audience.
Lia looked toward Talos's box.
The Blue Dragon gentleman had already stood up, hands gripping the railing, leaning forward with his eyes glued to the shimmering tableware under the lights. His breathing had visibly quickened, his chest heaved, his pupils dilated, and his expression was like—like a lion she had seen in a zoo in her past life, watching a keeper approach with a bucket of meat.
"Starting price, three thousand gold coins!"
"Three thousand five hundred!" someone raised a plaque.
"Four thousand!"
"Five thousand!"
Talos finally moved.
He raised his number plaque, his voice not loud but clearly reaching the entire venue: "Ten thousand."
The room went silent for a second.
The host was stunned. "O-one ten thousand gold coins?"
Talos nodded, his expression as calm as if he were saying the weather was nice today.
An unwilling voice came from another box: "Eleven thousand—"
"Twenty thousand," Talos said without looking back.
The entire audience gasped.
That voice went silent.
The host swallowed hard. "Twenty thousand gold coins once! Twenty thousand gold coins twice! Twenty thousand gold coins thrice! Sold! Congratulations to this gentleman!"
Talos slowly sat down, pulled out his silk scarf, and wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
Lia stared at him with mixed feelings.
Twenty thousand gold coins for a set of tableware.
The treasure she stole back then was worth at least two hundred thousand gold coins.
No wonder he's still single.
——————
The auction ended, and the crowd began to leave.
Lia intentionally dawdled until the end, waiting for Talos to leave first.
She stood at the end of the second-floor corridor, looking down at the street through a window.
Talos walked out of the auction house, followed by two attendants carrying a large wooden crate—the twenty-thousand-gold tableware set. He stood at the door, first looking around to ensure there were no puddles, no mud, and no suspicious stains on the ground before carefully taking his first step.
A carriage drove past him, its wheels rolling through a puddle and splashing a tiny speck of mud.
Talos's pupils contracted instantly.
He looked down at the soybean-sized mud spot on his trouser leg, and the whole person froze in place as if struck by lightning.
Three seconds later.
He pulled out his silk scarf, handkerchief, wet wipes, and spray, then squatted on the ground and began to clean.
First, the disinfecting spray.
Then, the wet wipes.
Then, the handkerchief to blot it dry.
Finally, the silk scarf to polish it.
The whole process lasted a full ten minutes.
Passersby glanced over, some covering their mouths to giggle, others whispering. Talos was oblivious, focused as if performing the most sacred ritual in the world.
Lia stood by the window, watching that figure squatted on the ground wiping his trousers, and the sliver of guilt in her heart suddenly grew just a little bit.
Just a little bit.
She turned to go downstairs and left through the back door.
Reaching the alley, she stopped and looked back at the Blue Dragon still wiping his trousers at the auction house entrance.
A system pop-up suddenly appeared:
[Detected status update for target "Talos Thunderhowl"]
[New Note: In the last six months, he has begun to suspect the true identity of the "Pink-Scaled Female Dragon" from back then and is secretly investigating human-form female Red Dragons. His germaphobia continues to worsen, possibly related to psychological trauma.]
[System Suggestion: Maintain distance and avoid direct contact.]
Lia closed the panel and walked into the night with an expressionless face.
In the distance, Talos finally finished cleaning, stood up, and disappeared at the end of the street carrying the wooden crate with the twenty-thousand-gold tableware.
The moonlight shone on his straight back, lonely and stubborn.
Lia watched in that direction, silent for a long time.
Then she turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Her pace was just a little bit faster than usual.