Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Seraphina the Village Girl
In the end, it was Hughes and Terrence Grant who came to pick up Seraphina Sterling.
Terrence Grant eyed Seraphina Sterling, who was dressed in a tracksuit with a huge sports bag slung over her back. ’Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was going on a picnic.’
Hughes had learned his lesson by now. In his young master’s presence, he absolutely wouldn’t give Seraphina Sterling a second glance. ’Otherwise, those sharp, dagger-like glares would come flying my way without a moment’s hesitation!’
"What are you doing in the city? With a sports bag that big, are you going shopping?" Terrence Grant shot a disdainful glance at Seraphina Sterling’s black sports bag. ’She’s from Aethelgard, for crying out loud. Even if she were just going shopping in the city, there’s no need to carry a bag that huge!’
"Teacher Grant, you’re usually so busy. How do you have time to go into the city today?" Seraphina Sterling hugged the sports bag to her chest and glanced at Terrence Grant, who was putting on his usual lordly airs. ’If I could, I’d much rather go alone. The fewer people who know about today’s business, the better.’
"Sanford is an ancient city with a thousand years of history and countless unearthed antiques. There’s a large-scale auction every year, and this year is no exception. Somehow, the organizer heard I was in Tollan Town and sent an invitation my way."
Hughes was driving fast, yet smoothly. But when he heard what Terrence Grant said, he was so startled the car lurched. ’Young Master, you threw that invitation in the trash! If you hadn’t heard last night that Seraphina Sterling was going to the city, there’s no way you’d be going to an auction! You’ve never been interested in antiques, have you?’
’An auction...’
Seraphina was at a loss for words. ’I was planning to find a way to ditch him once we got to the city, but it looks like the chances of that are practically zero now!’
The drive from Tollan Town to Sanford wasn’t short; it took a full two hours.
Hughes pulled up to the auction venue first. Terrence Grant got out of the car. "Where are you headed? Hughes can give you a ride."
Seraphina slung the sports bag over her shoulder and got out of the car as well. "Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine on my own." Without waiting for Terrence Grant to reply, she turned and walked away.
Only after Terrence Grant and Hughes had entered the auction through the VIP entrance did Seraphina Sterling reappear. With her huge sports bag on her back, she walked into the venue.
Everyone who could enter the venue was a person of some standing. If not in a full suit, they were at least dressed formally. But Seraphina Sterling had just shown up in a tracksuit, and the staff member checking invitations immediately stopped her.
"I’m sorry, miss, but you can’t enter without an invitation."
"Could you please tell me where the staff entrance is?" Seraphina Sterling didn’t get angry. ’I’m here on important business. I have to get inside before the auction starts!’
"Oh, you’re a staff member! The staff entrance is to the left." The attendant didn’t give Seraphina a hard time, but there’s always someone looking to stir up trouble.
"What department are you with? Do you have any sense of punctuality whatsoever? Don’t you know how busy it is today? And you’re only just arriving now! Why don’t you just come back after the auction is over? Huh? I have never seen such an irresponsible employee!"
The venue manager, without asking a single question, immediately laid into Seraphina Sterling. The commotion attracted the attention of many arriving guests.
"Sir, I don’t believe I ever said I was an employee here." Seraphina watched the time ticking away, growing more anxious by the second.
"If you’re not an employee, then why ask for the staff entrance?" the man pressed, refusing to back down.
"Is there some rule that says only employees can ask where the staff entrance is? Your IQ can’t be that low, can it? You can’t even figure something that simple out?" Seraphina shot him a massive eye roll and turned to leave.
"Well, if it isn’t Miss Sterling. What’s this? Are you here for the auction too?" Aiden Faulkner, clad in a little black dress, looked both elegant and sensual, radiating the unmistakable aura of a wealthy socialite.
"It looks like this is your first time in the city, isn’t it? Since you’ve lived in Tollan Town your whole life, you probably don’t understand how things work in the city. You have to wear formal attire to enter a high-class establishment like this. Even if this is the best outfit you own, it’s completely out of place here."
Aiden Faulkner remembered with perfect clarity how Seraphina Sterling had humiliated her at the stone exhibition. Now that she finally had a chance to retaliate, there was no way she would let it slide.
"Oh, so she’s just a country bumpkin!"
"A country bumpkin wants to go to an auction? Did I hear that right? Does she even know what antiques are?"
"Maybe she actually does know a thing or two."
"Even if she does, can she afford anything here? Does she think this is a flea market?"
...
Aiden Faulkner’s arrival made the scene even more chaotic. A staff member had already notified their superiors to come and handle the disturbance.
Seraphina simply stood there, quietly listening to the murmurs around her. When she saw a staff member make a phone call, her anxiety vanished. She just remained where she was, a placid expression on her face, offering no rebuttal.
Aiden Faulkner was quite pleased with the scene unfolding before her. Having successfully taken her revenge on Seraphina Sterling, she was in high spirits.
"Since you’re so eager to see what it’s like, I’ll let you tag along with me—out of the goodness of my heart, since we’re acquainted. It’s your lucky day, running into me like this!" Aiden Faulkner said, her face a mask of arrogance, her eyes filled with a look of condescending charity.
"What’s going on here?" a man in an impeccably formal suit asked as he walked over.
