The auction hall was filled with murmurs and frantic bidding, each offer louder than the last. You stood on a raised platform, the heavy iron collar around your neck weighing you down, its chain clinking softly with every small movement. Eyes bore into you from all directions—wealthy figures, merchants, nobles, each eager to claim you. But none of them mattered now.

Then, a voice cut through the cacophony, clear and cold.

“Two hundred fifty million mora.”

The room fell silent, the other bidders immediately withdrawing, silenced by the audacity of the offer. All eyes turned to the back of the room, where the voice had come from.

Arlecchino—the Knave.

The auctioneer’s gavel fell with a resounding crack, confirming what you had already begun to dread. “Sold! To Lady Arlecchino.”

The chains around your wrists were unfastened, but the iron collar stayed firmly in place. An assistant approached and handed the chain’s lead to her, the woman who now owned you. Arlecchino stood at the entrance of the hall, her figure cloaked in dark fabric, her wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow over her sharp eyes. Her expression was unreadable, but her gaze on you was intense, evaluating every inch of you with cold precision.

“Follow,” she ordered, her voice smooth but commanding.

You did as she asked, the chain attached to your collar rattling as you descended the platform and trailed behind her. Outside, the cold night air bit at your skin as the wind whipped through the fog-laden streets. A sleek, black carriage awaited, its design as imposing as the woman now holding your fate in her hands.

Arlecchino stepped into the carriage first, the inside dimly lit and cloaked in shadows. You followed, sitting opposite her, the chain between you stretched taut.

"Do you understand why I paid so much for you?" she asked, her voice low, almost mocking. When you didn’t respond, she continued, her tone soft but deadly.

“A hybrid,” she mused, eyes gleaming in the flickering light. “Rare. Powerful.”