Sylvia winced in pain as she took a step forward.

Her eyes were blindfolded but she could feel the warm sunshine and the gentle wind caressing her body, her thin robe fluttering. So she could tell that she was out in the open.

She could also tell that there were a lot of people surrounding her. They were all in high spirits and yelled random obscenities, most probably aimed at her.

Even though she was wearing a robe, that wrapped around her body, Sylvia couldn't help but feel naked in front of so many people, men mostly, judging from the sound of their voices.

It was as if they were undressing her mentally.

Sylvia bit her lips in frustration. She had unintentionally slowed down.

The man standing behind her immediately poked her with the hilt end of the whip, his voice commanding her. "Move it."

Sylvia bore the pain and took another step forward. She didn't dare to disobey him.

The metallic clasps around her feet and her arms weighed her down heavily and sent shivers of pain through her body.

Sylvia bitterly wondered what she had done to deserve this punishment. She had always doubted her uncle and aunt.

She knew deep down that they harbored ill intentions towards her.

But naively, she had chalked it up to them lusting over her family house and the medium-sized farm.

She had never once considered that they would actually be this cruel… cruel enough to sell her off…

As Sylvia's thoughts trailed away, the loud boisterous noise around her surprisingly died down.

She could now only hear whispering and murmuring noises in the crowd.

She wondered why the slave market had gone suddenly silent, not realizing that it was she who had brought about this silence.

But she didn't have much time to think.

The man standing behind her pushed her forward with an exaggerated force, making Sylvia stumble and skid forward.

He then loudly announced. "The final item of today's auction is here!"

Everyone in the crowd immediately started cheering.

Sylvia parted her lips slightly as she sucked in a big breath of cold air. This time, she had no doubt what or rather who was being auctioned away.

It was none other than herself!

A bitter melancholic smile surfaced on her lips.

Who was going to buy her? What kind of torturous life awaited her?

Sylvia's mind swirled with a million questions that she didn't want answers to.

"Long silver hair that is as soft as feathers, smooth flawless porcelain skin, cherry red lips, a slender figure with seductive curves and last but not the least, a beauty that could topple nations!!!"

"Gentlemen and women, here we have the finest slave you will ever see in the Kalindor Empire."

"Who wants her?" The auctioneer winked and added. "She is an 18 years old virgin and an orphan with no one to care."

Tears streamed out of Sylvia's eyes completely soaking her blindfold.

She wanted to scream but having been whipped several times, she was too terrified to open her mouth and cry.

Everything was already over…

All she could do now was bite her lips and silently pray for a good master… but how could someone like her get lucky? She shuddered in fear.

"1000 gold coins"

"2000 gold coins"

"10000 gold coins"

"100000 gold coins"

The crowd erupted into a commotion and continued chaotically shouting. The price was exponentially increasing by the second.

Every single voice sent out a tremor through Sylvia's body.

To her ears, somehow all the voices sounded as if they belonged to some dirty old lechers. Each worse than the previous one.

The commotion continued for another few seconds when suddenly a cold and arrogant voice thundered from the back.

A lone silhouette shrouded in black appeared with a powerful magical aura.

"10 million gold coins." He said.

The crowd was immediately silenced and no one dared to speak anything at all.

Even Sylvia blinked in confusion, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Someone had paid 10 million gold coins to buy her?? That was simply ridiculous!!!

At that time, she couldn't help but feel a small joy and satisfaction in her uncle and aunt's misery.

The duo had sold her for a mere 1000 gold coins.

How would their expression be when they hear about her actual selling price?

Sylvia chuckled inwardly.

She knew that she had gone crazy to feel happy about something like this when her entire world had collapsed and her future was dark and gloomy, but still…

The auctioneer was also equally shocked. He felt his throat dry up.

10 million gold coins were nothing to scoff at!!

It took a couple of seconds for the man to digest the bid that was presented, but he quickly regained his composure and continued.

"Any other bids?" He awkwardly laughed.

The crowd whispered amongst themselves but no one dared to raise their hands or even speak up.

"Going once"

"Going twice"

"Going thrice"

"Sold!"

As the man's shrill voice beamed in her ears, Sylvia felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck and she fainted.

The black-robed figure had already materialized next to her and picked her up as she lost her consciousness.

He threw a small sack as payment at the auctioneer and then right in front of everyone's eyes, the man and his newly acquired slave disappeared into nothingness.