Ellen moved her gaze over everyone, and with a quizzical expression, she asked:
"What?"
They all shook their heads and quickly looked away.
'Like father, like daughter,' Jinx thought, closing her eyes again.
'I can't believe she's already copying him... I knew he was bad luck for her.'
"Wow... who is that girl?" a person in the crowd whispered.
"Don't you know! That's the God Wolf's daughter!" another replied.
"Daughter? That little girl is a dragon, while the God Wolf and his wife are werewolves... How did--"
"--Are you that stupid! Adopted daughter!"
"Oh... Wow, she's so lucky!"
Everyone started murmuring amongst themselves, staring at the little girl who had just placed a bid of fifty trillion in a single go.
"Was it too high?" Ellen asked herself, her voice barely a whisper.
"We can't let some kid defeat us!" Victoria said with a frown.
"Some kid?!" Josephine's voice was low, filled with a dangerous killing intent.
Victoria merely gave her a glance and scoffed, then yelled, "100 Trillion!"
"...?!"
The other queens were dumbfounded.
"Oh... you want a battle, do you!" Josephine's posture shifted. "250 Trillion!" she yelled.
"You!" Victoria turned to her with a scowl. "Do you have that much money?!"
"I don't, but my husband has it," Josephine answered with a devious smirk. "Does yours?"
"You!" Victoria turned her gaze back to the stage. "300 Trillion!" she yelled, adding, "My husband also has money!"
"It seems these two are going all out," the Dragon Queen muttered to herself.
"Let them," the Ogre Queen said, her arms folded. "Victoria started it. She should know what defeat is."
"How are you so sure Victoria will lose? The Elves are second in the ranking."
"So?" The Ogre Queen scoffed.
"Strength ranking is different from money ranking... The God Wolf went head-to-head with Matilda until the bid reached 900 trillion... Do you think he's low on money?"
The Dragon Queen fell silent.
'Indirectly insulting Josephine's daughter... Anyway, I should watch the show.'
"500 Trillion!" Victoria yelled.
"....?!"
The entire hall fell silent. No one dared to say a word; they simply sat there, listening to the two queens' bidding war.
"Hmm... Wife," Austin looked over his shoulder at Victoria.
"Shut up!" she yelled at him. She was clearly enraged; Sunny and his family's arrogance had struck a nerve.
"Oh... the Queen is so angry," Josephine said with a chuckle, which only made Victoria angrier.
'Love gave the money to Ellen to use... It only means he needs this shield... And I must have it,' Josephine thought.
'What did he say in the store? "The husband made money for his wife to spend"... Sorry, but I will have to spend it here.' She had no idea Sunny was listening to her every thought.
'So cute... Come on, wife, help me complete this quest,' Sunny thought with a smile.
"600 Trillion!!!" Josephine yelled, and turned to Victoria.
"I won? Come on, you won't let me win this easily, right?" she provoked.
"....?!"
Everyone was stunned.
"She is planning to humiliate the Elves' Queen," someone whispered in a low voice.
"The Elves are different from the Star Nation... Maybe the Beastify Nation can take them on."
"Yeah... maybe."
Victoria gritted her teeth in rage. 'So much money... I can't go beyond 700 trillion, and I'll never spend that much on an auction... But I can't back down now, I'll look weak!' she thought inwardly, then turned to Matilda.
"Queen Matilda, how about a hand?"
Matilda turned her head to Victoria, who sat a few seats away. "Okay... I will help with 200 trillion," Matilda said with a smile.
"Thank you!" Victoria sighed in relief, and yelled:
"900 Trillion!!!!"
"...?!"
Brittney and the whole crowd were dumbfounded.
'What is the relationship between the Elves' Queen and Matilda? She can't just give 200 trillion because they're from the same race... Something isn't right here,' Sunny thought with a frown.
"900 Trillion! Going once!" Brittney yelled, staring at Josephine, who looked completely lost.
'900 trillion... that... that is too much money, it's enough to feed my people for a lifetime; putting it on this auction will be a waste... right?' Josephine thought to herself.
"900 trillion! Going twice!" Brittney yelled again.
"Oh... It seems with their combined force, they will win," the Dragon Queen said.
"I won't call that a fair match... These two queens are cheaters," the Ogre Queen said in a calm tone.
Sunny looked over his shoulder at Josephine, who was completely at a loss. She looked up, and her eyes met Sunny's.
"I can't," she mouthed, while Sunny smiled and urged her with his head. She shook her head in response.
DING!
{Master, you received a message.}
{Josephine: That is too much money! I can't bring myself to say it, let alone spend it on some shield!}
He read the message and chuckled inwardly. 'Isn't she so cute.'
He thought, and sent his reply.
DING!
Josephine blinked, reading the message on her cosmic brain.
{Love: Are you saying I don't have money to spend on you? I dislike defeat, so you must win... I already gave up the artifact to Matilda, I am not planning on giving this up, too... Use as much money as needed to acquire it!}
'I have to know where he gets his money from! I really need to find out.' Josephine thought.
'Oh... Already thought of the way out of that issue,' Sunny thought with a smile.
"900 Trillion going Thrice—"
"990 Trillion!!!" Josephine yelled, shocking everyone in the hall.
Brittney's mic fell from her hand, hitting the ground with a thud.
Jinx snapped awake again. "What type of couple did I get myself entangled with?" she asked herself in shock.
PIFF!
Falkor spat out the water he was drinking and looked over his shoulder at Josephine. "What did she just say?!" he asked aloud.
"990 Trillion," Austin answered, his face blank.
Matilda was frozen; she had just received a huge blow to her ego.
'Did that mean... he gave me the artifact? He wasn't low on money!! Who is this man?! Why haven't I heard of such a person?!'
Countless questions raced through her mind without answers.
Victoria was so stunned her brain, shut down.
"What... What... Impossible!"