6080新视觉理论午夜

Chapter 923 923 The Auction

By comparison, Count Ara was in a wonderful mood, now that he had gotten his fourth and fifth sons to settle down with a good wife.

"Thank you for hosting my family, Countess Dewinter. They\'ve been praising your food since they returned, and if it is possible, my chefs would like to speak with yours about a few of the dishes that they were particularly fond of." The Count greeted them.

She smiled up at the somewhat portly man and nodded. "Of course. I believe I even know which ones they mean, as they were taught to my staff by the Noxus Family for the party. They really are quite spectacular, and the ingredients all come from my farms."

That made Baron Southland perk up, as most of the produce from her farms went to his markets.

"I have heard an interesting rumour about your farms. It is said that you have had a surprisingly good year, and the produce that they have been bringing to market the last few days has been exceptionally high quality, especially the greens and other fast-growing crops." He noted.

Countess Dewinter nodded and smiled. "Have you tried the baby potatoes? I got a message from our farms that they were trying something new, picking a portion of the root vegetables early and letting them regrow.

With the enhancements to our farms, thanks to Saint Noxus, they can now harvest them like that twice a week. Though the actual roots are small, the total volume collected his quite impressive."

Baron Southland chuckled. "They have been part of the breakfast at the Southland Diner for two days now, and they\'re a real hit. The cooks boil them in advance, then pan fry them halved in butter. The unique appearance, and the extra flavour of the red skins, have brought us a few extra customers every day. It\'s working quite well.

But I hear that there will be even more mouths to feed once Duke Roth\'s wives are ready."

That made the others chuckle, and the uncomfortable man shifted in his chair.

"I think I might have taken too much of the medicine, but I will say that it has proven highly effective. The oracle was utterly shocked when she got to my house to do the traditional reading of the fates for the children."

Cassie laughed. "Oh, I can imagine that she was not expecting what she found. But did she come up with any particularly fortuitous outcomes for your children?"

Duke Roth nodded, and sighed with relief as Cassie cast a healing spell on him.

"Thank you for that. How I wish that I had access to that all the time. But, I couldn\'t deprive my wives of the potions you left for them.

However, back on topic, the Oracle says that one of my daughters has a strong chance to grow up to be a Saint. She also identified three strong leaders among my potential sons."

Count Ara looked confused. "Just how many children are you expecting? I had heard your fertility issues were treated with magic, but did you just go and get all your concubines pregnant?"

The Duke looked a little embarrassed. "Yes. And one of the maids at my manor as well, though I have elevated her to Concubine so that her child won\'t be born in shame."

"And your concubines didn\'t attempt to harm you for getting the maid pregnant?" Cassie asked, somewhat shocked at the revelation.

"It was their idea. That magic of yours is too effective." The Duke complained.

The other Nobles looked slightly impressed. Even the young Countess had heard the other ladies joking about their men finishing too quickly, and here was a Duke complaining that he didn\'t have enough women to distribute the effects of the potion he was given.

The auctioneer took the stage accompanied by a short burst of music to get everyone\'s attention, and the Nobles turned to face the front of the balcony.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to the auction. Today, we have a fine variety of goods for you, including an unlisted last-minute entry from foreign lands. The product has been the talk of the town for the last few days, and so we thought that we would use it to start our bidding here today.

"Directly from the Lady Ella Noxus, wife of Saint Noxus, we have a fertility potion. Who in the crowd today isn\'t concerned about the future of their family? Who wouldn\'t want that extra bit of security should problems arise for your next generation?

The potion is stabilized and will last for generations, a security measure you can store in your vault. We will open the bidding at one Gold Penny. Who has one gold penny for the fertility potion?" The announcer called, falling into a familiar rhythm as he moved from announcer to auctioneer.

The room echoed like thunder, with booming voices trying to shout over each other, everyone vying for the chance to get the first bid in on the potion.

"If Ella was going to put one up for auction, she should have made a few just to calm the crowd." Cassie laughed as she saw how insane the crowd below them was going.

Countess Dewinter giggled. "You have no idea. Just wait for his next bit. The real value of that potion isn\'t for your own Family. It\'s for political alliance. What if you could arrange a marriage with a guaranteed heir within a year? How valuable would that be to a higher Noble Family with few children? How hard would they fight for your daughter if they knew that it would be part of her dowry?"

Duke Roth looked impressed with her cunning.

"I doubt that half of them have even realized that yet. For the Barons and Knights with little money and small estates, or large estates and low titles, this could be their way up the social ladder." The Baron agreed.

Count Ara nodded. "From Baron to father of a Princess or Duchess in one generation. It might not be an actual title, but it demands a lot of respect, and the connection to the high nobility will get them a proper title improvement soon enough."