"Karl!" Alice called out softly, looking at Karl anxiously.

  Some people might feel proud to be the 'prototype' of a masterpiece sculpture. However, Lin Lei's work is different; for those who have some knowledge of sculpture, they can fully appreciate the subtle charm hidden in the five independent human sculptures and taste the past of Lin Lei and Alice.

  If Alice were just to become a wife of a small household, then so be it.

  But it was Calendobruss who married her.

  The future heir of the Debus family, the Debus family is also one of the top three families in the Kingdom of Finlay.

  "Don't worry, don't worry." Karl held Alice's hand.

  But Alice felt that Colin's hands were all sweaty.

  "Father——" Kalan looked at his own father, Bernard, and then at his mother. His parents were extremely fond of him, which was also why they were willing to take out 8 million gold coins for Kalan. After all, for the Debus family, 8 million gold coins were a huge sum of money.

  "Kalyn, don't even think about it, the family can't possibly take out over ten million gold coins for an unmarried wife." Bernard said with a serious face.

  Kara was stunned, and even Elyse looked up at Bernard, her eyes filled with worry and a hint of hope.

  "Let's go with our previous decision." Bernard declared indifferently, ignoring Elise's expectation.

  Karl froze for a long time, and Alice beside him tightly grasped his hand, staring into his eyes. Alice understood what Bernard's words meant, and she was extremely unwilling to accept that outcome.

  Kalan looked at Alice and let out a helpless sigh, shaking his head lightly.

  "Kālán dàgē, wǒ bù yào." ài lì sī dī shēng de shuō le.

  Translation:

  "Alice said in a low voice, 'Kalindra, I don't want to.'"

  Kalyn grasped Alice's hand and shook his head gently: "It won't do, Alice. I'm the heir to my family, I have to think of them too. And I hope you can make a small sacrifice for me as well. I promise, my heart towards you will never change."

  Alice was silent.

  The heir of the family!

  These simple words, however, sealed Carl's fate to be inextricably linked with the family's honor and shame. Although Bernard loved his son dearly, he would never allow Alice to become Carl's legitimate wife under any circumstances.

  Yes, can't become legitimate wife.

  In other words, from now on, Alice's children will not be legitimate sons.

  In fact, since the stone carving 'Dream Awakening' was seen by many people, the Debus family had asked Kalan to give up Ailis, even if he wanted to marry Ailis, it would not be possible for Ailis to become Kalan's legitimate wife. However, Kalan persisted.

  Later, Bernard, who loved Kalan dearly, compromised and decided that if he could buy back "Dream Awakening", he would reluctantly agree to this matter.

  But now it seems... "Karl, big brother." Alice looked at Karl, her eyes moistening. At the same time, she glanced around at the Debus family members, but neither Karl, nor Bernard, nor even Karl's mother paid any attention to him.

  At this moment, Alice felt a chill in her heart.

  She suddenly recalled the time she spent with Lin Lei, and how Lin Lei had taken care of her with meticulous attention. In the past, she thought it was only natural for Lin Lei to be so considerate and caring towards her. But at this moment, she felt a deep longing for it.

  She looked up, her gaze passing through the glass towards the third floor of the auction hall. But all she saw was a dark and glossy glass.

  "One million gold coins, one million gold coins, is there a higher bid?" The blonde host shouted loudly on stage.

  The man wearing a loose long gown glanced around casually and then shouted directly at the blonde host, "Hey, stop wasting time over there, hurry up with the countdown." The wealthy nobles beside him all burst out laughing.

  Would an auctioneer listen to what people below say?

  According to those wealthy aristocrats' understanding of this blond man, he would repeatedly hype up the auction items and inflate the price of the works to an extremely high level.

  The blonde host heard that voice and felt as if she had been hypnotized, saying very naturally: "Then I'll start counting down, three, two..."

  "10 million gold coins!"

  A hoarse voice came from a private room on the second floor.

  Everyone's gaze was focused on this one box, even the man in the loose long gown stared at this one box in surprise. In this second-tier box, apart from the Debus family, the other boxes were all large families known throughout the Yulan continent.

  The wealth of those large families is much more than that of the DuBose family.

  "Hmm, there's actually someone who knows their stuff. However, just adding 100,000 gold coins is a bit stingy, don't you think? I'll add a bit more, 10.3 million gold coins." The man wearing the loose long robe said with a smile.

  At this moment, Lin Lei and others in the middle of the third floor of the auction hall noticed the man wearing a loose long gown. However, from their position, they could only see the side face of the man wearing the loose long gown, and couldn't see his appearance at all.

  "Really?"

  The Cardinal Gilmour and Cardinal Rampson of the Holy See stood up, frowning as they walked along the glass window to the other side, carefully looking down at the loose-robed man below.

  At this moment, the man in the loose long gown seemed to find that the two red-robed cardinals above were looking at him, and he actually raised his head and looked at the two red-robed cardinals.

  "Is it him?"

  The two red-robed archbishops' faces suddenly turned pale.

  Gillmer and Lampson exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads. In fact, before the auction, the Holy See had already made a decision to spend a large sum of money to buy the stone carving "Dream Awakening" at a high price, in order to improve Lin Lei's relationship with the Holy See.

  However, Gillmer and Lampson changed their minds when they saw the man.

  "It's better not to argue with this madman." Gilmer said in a low voice.

  Lampson also nodded: "I don't want to mess with this madman."

  Although they called him a 'madman', the fear had penetrated deep into their bones. Lampson and Gilmer were well aware of the terror that the man in his thirties inspired, especially Lampson... because if it weren't for this madman, perhaps Lampson wouldn't have had the chance to be promoted to become a Red Robed High Priest.

  There are only five cardinals in the Holy See of Light, and it was because this madman killed one of them that Lampson had a chance to take his place. However, even though he killed a cardinal, the Pope of the Holy See of Light still doesn't want to really oppose this madman because of this.

  "10.4 million gold coins." The old voice sounded again from the private room on the second floor.

  The man in loose long gown raised his head and took a glance, furrowing his brow: "You're really troublesome, 11 million gold coins."

  "11 million gold coins, this gentleman has bid 11 million gold coins, is there a higher price?" The blonde host also became excited, needing to know that the first of the top ten stone carvings, 'Blood Eyed Lion', was only worth 13 million gold coins.

  On the third floor, Gilmer asked Lampson in a low voice: "Lampson, do you know which family is in that box? Dare to fight with this madman, aren't they tired of living?"

  "Director Maya!" Lampson called out to Director Maya, who was not far away.

  The director of Maya immediately walked over.

  "Maia, do you know which family is bidding in the private room?" Lampson asked. "It seems to be a young girl who's in charge." Lampson stood on the third floor and could see through the window the people sitting on the sofa on the second floor.

  As for the old voice, it seems to be the maid of that girl.

  Maiya looked at him and smiled, saying: "Gilmour-sama, Lampson-sama, this girl is the legitimate child of the Lain family of the Yulan Empire. This box was reserved in the name of the Lain family."

  "Ryder family?" Lampson and Gilmer exclaimed in surprise.

  The Laine family, one of the top five super families in the Yulan Empire, the oldest empire on the entire Yulan continent. Any of the top five families in the Yulan Empire can easily kill off the Debus family.

  The younger generation of the Laine family mostly hold important positions in the Yulan Empire and have a vast power network within the empire.

  "Gillmer, our former number one magical genius 'Dixie' at Ernst Magic Academy seems to be from the Laine family of Yulan Empire." Lampson asked.

  Gillmer is more familiar with things at Ernst Magic Academy.

  "Yes, not just Dixie, he also has a sister whose name I don't recall. Both siblings are studying at our Ernst Magic Academy, but Dixie applied for graduation the other day," Gilmer said directly.

  Lampson also nodded.

  "It seems that girl is Dixie's sister." Lampson looked towards the private room.

  In the second-tier private box booked by the Laine family, Delia sat quietly in a purple suit, sitting on the sofa and looking at the 'Dream Awakening' stone carving below through the window.

  "Miss, don't argue anymore, the one below is not to be trifled with." The old man said with some worry.

  As a super family of the Yulan Empire, the Laine family is well aware of the potential forces across the entire Yulan continent, as are some other super masters. They understand that although they are a super family, there are some people who cannot be offended.

  For example, the young man who looks like he is only in his thirties or forties.

  The old man was very clear that although he is already over 400 years old this year, it's estimated that he hadn't been born yet when the loose long gown man had this appearance.

  "Don't worry, Uncle Xiū, can you help me deliver this note to him?" Delia took out a pen and quickly wrote a sentence on a piece of paper before handing it over to the old man.

  The old man took over the note and was stunned by its contents.

  "Miss, you... how..." The old man was shocked by the content.

  "Never mind, you give him the note." Delia didn't hesitate at all, while the old man hesitated for a moment before finally walking out of the private room to the first floor.

  "12 million gold coins!"

  Dilireba's clear and crisp voice came from within the private room.

  The man in the loose long gown frowned, and a hint of murderous intent began to condense between his eyebrows. At this time, the old man named 'Xiū' had already walked up to the man in the loose long gown, stood before him, and bowed respectfully: "Sir, I am a servant of the Lai En family, this is a letter from my young mistress for you."

  The man in loose long gown frowned and then took over this paper with great interest.

  "Ah..." The man in the loose long gown's eyes lit up as soon as he saw the contents, and then he burst out laughing.

  "Alright, alright, I won't argue anymore, I won't argue anymore." The loose long-gowned man's paper in his hand turned directly into flying ash, and the loose long-gowned man himself sat down with a smile, still looking up at the second floor where Delia was in the private room.

  At this moment, in the third floor of the auction hall.

  Lin Lei and Yale heard that crisp voice '12 million gold coins', both of them were stunned. This voice was too familiar, Lin Lei and the owner of this voice had known each other since they first entered Ernst Magic Academy.

  "It's Delilah." Yale exclaimed in surprise.

  Lin Lei immediately got up and walked to the other side of the window, walking to a position where he could see the box where Delia was. Indeed, Delia, who was wearing a more serious purple suit, was sitting on the sofa, staring at the stone carving 'Dream Awakening' below.

  "3, 2... 1, Bang!"

  The blonde host struck the small hammer and excitedly shouted, "Congratulations to the Laine family for auctioning off Master Lin Lei's work for 12 million gold coins! With 12 million gold coins, I am honored to announce that the stone carving 'Dream Awakening' has become the third highest-priced work among the top ten stone carvings. Only two works have exceeded the price of 'Dream Awakening': Master Hufu's 'Blood Eyed Lion' and Master Prucks' 'Hope'."

  The entire auction hall suddenly became noisy and enthusiastic applause also erupted.

  Lin Lei stood in front of the window on the third floor, looking down at Delia, then turned to look at Alice in another box. The two girls were sitting on the sofa, but Delia had a faint smile on her face, while Alice was pale.

  （）