Imperial Crown.

Chapter 634 My Heart aches for Raven!

After dismissing the curious crowd, Raven chuckled confidently and walked out of the study as well.

Going down to the sixth floor, I happened to see Denise, Fiona, and a group of other women gathered there, preparing to have dinner.

"Hey"

That's a good thing, it saves Raven the trouble of going to find them one by one.

Actually, everyone gathered here because today is Raven's official start of work and his first day receiving guests. They all hoped to have a reunion dinner with Raven, since he hasn't lived here for many years.

“Where’s Melove?” Raven asked.

"My lady, she's sleeping next door," Danis's maid, Angie, replied.

"Oh"

Raven nodded slightly.

Fiona

Raven walked to the dining table and said, "From this day forward," "Angel's Feather will no longer use our own cotton and silk," "and will instead purchase them all from the province of Molinell at prices higher than the market rate." "The ultimate goal is to get everyone in the province of Molinell to start growing cotton," "or spinning silk," "especially focusing on purchasing the silk from Count Jonah," "and offering him a slightly higher price."

"what???"

Fiona looked surprised and confused.

The others stared at Raven in shock.

"Why?!" Fiona asked, somewhat disgruntled. "The territory's economic situation is already quite bad, sir."

"Hmph." "What else could it be?" "Because you're eager to court death."

"Among those present, besides my aunt, who else would dare to speak ill of Raven like that?" Denise rolled her eyes.

"Don't ask." "Anyone who asks about this will die."

Raven didn't explain. He then sat down at the head of the table and called everyone to start eating.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was somewhat heavy and oppressive, everyone preoccupied with their own thoughts. The clinking of cutlery echoed continuously, like a musical performance. However, someone seemed to be enjoying it, kicking off his leather shoes and forcefully, roughly, and aggressively wrapping his large feet around his aunt's perfectly arched, stockinged feet. After a few minutes of this struggle, he began to gently caress, tease, and tease... making it impossible for Denise to eat in peace. "Damn little bee," Denise cursed inwardly. This guy really hadn't changed at all. It instantly reminded Denise of her days at Old Eagle Hold. Back then, Raven's favorite thing to do was to torment her with various little tricks during meals, in front of Viston, making her feel embarrassed and ashamed...

Even now, in front of so many outsiders, he still wouldn't behave. Every now and then, he even stretched his hand under the table. "Bastard!" Denise quickly squeezed her thighs together. This guy was getting more and more outrageous. To avoid attracting attention, Denise gritted her teeth, enduring the waves of discomfort while pretending nothing was wrong.

On a pristine white round plate lay a medium-rare steak, seared to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, glistening with spiderweb-like red veins. Beside it were dipping sauces, half a bowl of mashed potatoes, and half a bowl of corn kernels. A large bowl of clear, flavorful mushroom soup followed. All the enticing aromas mingled together, creating an even richer, more mouthwatering fragrance. This was a simple, unpretentious dinner for a nobleman. At the long table, apart from Raven, who devoured his steak like a starving ghost, every woman present, even the goblin Lingling, used her knife and fork with exquisite elegance, taking small, deliberate bites.

At first glance, every mouth, whether cherry-like or full red, is glistening with the oil from the steak. A pink tongue occasionally peeks out, fleetingly, and the lips that move up and down incessantly, truly exuding an indescribable allure and sensuality.

The reason Raven ate so quickly was because he had "important things" to do.

After finishing the steak, Martha, accompanied by her maid, hurriedly brought over a pitifully small dessert and some washed and cut fruit for dessert.

"Lord Raven," "A nobleman should be elegant!"

Watching Raven stuff the dessert into his mouth and swallow it whole without even chewing, Martha couldn't help but speak up to remind him.

"Tsk!"

Raven frowned. "Old Gordon's not here, and you're meddling again." "Go away, go away." "I'll eat however I want," Raven said irritably. Why all the rules? When Old Gordon was alive, he was driven crazy by all the fuss. Raven was disgusted by this kind of aristocratic dregs. He wasn't wasting food.

Martha shook her head helplessly. She was an old woman; back when Poirot was alive, she had been a kitchen maid at Old Eagle Keep. After Poirot was transferred to the factory, she naturally rose to head chef. Unlike others, she wasn't so afraid of Raven. However, she knew she couldn't control Raven. Besides old Gordon, only Denise could manage her master. What puzzled her, though, was that despite Lord Raven's rude and uncouth eating today, Lady Denise's cheeks flushed red, and she remained silent. It was truly strange. Even Patty had been slapped by Denise for her poor table manners before.

After the meal, the women picked up clean white napkins and, like robots, wiped their mouths three times to the left and two times to the right.

Seeing the crowd preparing to get up and leave, Raven coughed lightly and gestured for them to sit down. "Sit down." "Everyone, sit down." "I have something else to say."

Upon hearing this, all the women turned to look at Denise. Only after Denise gave a barely perceptible nod did they all sit down again.

"I hereby declare," "The auction is now open!" "The item up for auction is—my right to use this property for one week."

Raven said something that was sure to shock people.

He was about to spend a fortune to buy Jonah's cloth and silk. Over the course of a year, it would cost at least 200 million gold coins. He still owed Mr. Crab 200 million, and advertising with the Church of Light, the Council of Nobles, and the Mercenary Guild would cost at least another 100 million. Raven was desperately short of money. This was the only option he could resort to. Of the 380 million gold coins Adjani had, 80 had been spent on supporting the army. He'd given Mr. Crab another 100 million, leaving him with only 200 million. The money from the confiscation and extermination of families in the North Sea Province had also been spent on the army. The army was incredibly expensive. Raven was about to lose it. And the Piler Ring he'd taken from the capital was filled with worthless junk. Even Habsburg had been emptied; how could Piler, the court jester, possibly have any money left? As for Lux's teacher, Crouch, he was a notorious ascetic. Aside from some divine weapons and spells, there wasn't much money left. Maybe 3 to 40 gold coins. For Raven now, that's barely enough to fill a tooth. To be honest, Raven was already thinking about dismantling the teleportation array and selling it for money. Anyway, Eivor's side had already been destroyed, so keeping the teleportation array wouldn't be of much use to Raven.

As for changing the teleportation array to a dedicated teleportation array for the three northwestern provinces, Raven wasn't that extravagant.

Even if it were built, I doubt anyone would be willing to use it.

Connecting to other provinces would require a large sum of money for renovations. Both options are somewhat impractical.

Seeing the lewd look on Raven's face, the women all lowered their heads in shame. Their cheeks were as red as boiled shrimp. They couldn't understand how Raven could be so calm and lewd. Wasn't this something utterly shameful?
"Me!" "I'll offer two gold coins!"

However, to Raven's great surprise, it was Lingling, who was last in line, who spoke first.

Having half-goblin blood and having grown up in goblin crypts, Lingling didn't fully grasp the ways of the human race. In other words, she didn't know the meaning of "shame." Perhaps she genuinely liked Raven, and naturally couldn't resist making offers. To be honest, with her small frame, she was practically crawling with goosebumps when naked, and Raven wasn't aroused at all. Besides, she was only short, and when she wore white stockings, she resembled Nancy from behind somewhat. Her pink hair was also a bit similar. Other than that, she wasn't particularly pretty. A round face with many freckles, she looked nothing like Nancy. Although Raven didn't care that Doug had taken her virginity, he genuinely felt nothing.

When Lingling first arrived, she faced discrimination, her slender back marked with bloody welts from the whip. It was Raven who applied the medicine; otherwise, she would have frozen to death that snowy night. Now, after so many years, she has finally been accepted by the people of Eagle Hold. However, she receives no salary. It was Patty who took pity on her and gave her some copper coins a month for pocket money. It took her over a year to finally save up two gold coins.

At this moment, however, they did not hesitate to take out all of their resources, hoping to bid for Raven's "one-week usage rights".

"Is there any more?!"

Raven knew he couldn't win with just two gold coins, so he continued asking without worry. Otherwise, he might really start to wonder if he was getting too old and impotent over the next week. "Two." "2000."

A voice barely audible broke the silence. Elaine buried her head in the table, eyes tightly shut, cheeks flushed, too ashamed to look up at anyone else. She was Conchi's daughter, the one whose catchphrase was the Nordic slang "Mamma mia!" Raven had once asked Conchi to infiltrate the North Sea Province to gather intelligence for him. In return, Conchi had insisted on giving his daughter to Raven. With Raven's return from the capital, she had come to live in New Eagle's Keep.

Chaos! Utter chaos! Father had long said that the lives of nobles were quite debauched. Now Elaine had finally seen it all... she had actually witnessed this debauchery firsthand. It turned out that nobles had to auction off who they slept with at night.

She had no money on her. Her family didn't have much either. Her father was merely a knight. However, Elaine had just mentally calculated that selling the livestock and stored grain could yield around 2000 gold coins. She had to seize this opportunity. Although this was something Elaine found hard to accept, making her feel like a wanton prostitute, she had no background and had arrived the latest. Her most valuable asset was her youth compared to everyone else present. If she didn't serve Lord Raven now, she might never have another chance in her life.

The disgraced Patty beside her might be her future. To remain in this vast Eagle's Castle, wasting her youth and squandering her time.

"Hmm." "Not bad."

Looking at Elaine, who was fair-skinned, delicate, and had a rather large bust, Raven complimented her casually. "That's more like it," he thought, "I'm actually a little interested." However, knowing Elaine had no chance, he deliberately used reverse psychology, saying, "Anything else? If not, I'm going with Elaine."

This kind of thing, though lewd, shameless, and explicit... is all about having someone start it. Luckily, Lingling started it, so the other women weren't so embarrassed. Besides, shouldn't the real victim be Raven? He was weeping inside, bleeding inside, even wanting to hug himself in heartache. He'd sold himself for money.

"I'll offer 2 gold coins."

The third bidder, unsurprisingly, was Patty. Within Eagle Castle, she was third from the bottom of the social hierarchy. Patty's origins were the lowest. Now older and out of favor, while she didn't suffer the same discrimination within the castle as Lingling, her status was certainly low. Her giving Lingling money was partly out of pity, but there was also some other motive. After all, with Lingling and Elaine here, she was no longer the most insecure person!

Patty was much more well-rounded. Aside from her tanned skin, she was beautiful in every way. Strong thighs, exaggerated breasts, a rather large mouth… And to be honest, after not having slept with her for so long, Raven was feeling a bit like he was on honeymoon again.

"A bunch of shameless sluts!"

Just as Raven was about to speak, a cold, cursing voice suddenly came from behind him.

Raven turned around and saw that it was Angel. Angel was dressed in a standard black and white maid outfit, and her figure was not to be underestimated. She also had a beautiful oval face. To be honest, if she weren't Denise's maid, with her looks, she could easily marry a nobleman and become a baroness. Judging from her hairstyle, she was clearly still a virgin. Don't let her sharp and mean personality fool you; she had served Denise for so many years, and they were already on the same wavelength.

Seeing Raven looking over, Angie immediately changed her expression to a sweet smile and said somewhat shyly, "Brother Raven, I, Angie, am willing to offer 3 gold coins."

Denise remained unmoved throughout and didn't give a single glance.

Raven had never had any interaction with Angie.

This is where Angie's brilliance lies. She was clearly bidding on behalf of her master, Denise. Moreover, the depth of her scheming and her manipulative nature left Raven speechless. Her "brother," delivered in a sweet and seductive tone, subtly drew closer to Raven while simultaneously exuding a more alluring charm than others. That's the essence of her manipulative nature. Her initial insult was clearly intended to prevent others from bidding further. And her price was exactly ten thousand gold coins more than Patty's. She obviously wanted Raven to accompany her master while perfectly catering to Denise's reluctance to spend more money.

If too much money is spent, even if Raven stays, Denise won't be happy.

To be such a meticulous servant is truly admirable; even Raven would be captivated by him.

"cough"

A soft cough was heard, and Fiona sat up straight, like a general about to go into battle. She pushed up her glasses and said, "I'll offer 5 gold coins!"

Angie's scolding might be able to subdue Lingling and the newly arrived Elaine. As for the old folks in the castle, Patty and Fiona, they naturally knew what was going on. Publicly bidding for Raven's "one-week usage rights" was probably the second boldest thing the socially awkward Fiona had ever done. The first was that night when, in a moment of madness, she and Patty wore sexy lingerie and hid under the covers, scaring Raven half to death. But that was a private matter, known only to Raven and Patty. This time, it was a public bidding. Fiona had also struggled with her conscience. To avoid appearing too timid or awkward, she deliberately straightened her back. She had slowly learned how to overcome her social anxiety: the less embarrassed she appeared, the better.

However, to prove her innocence, she added, somewhat unnecessarily, "My reason for making the offer wasn't for that; I simply wanted to discuss with Lord Raven the matter of acquiring cotton cloth from the province of Molinell."

It would have been better if she hadn't said those words; after she did, everyone started looking at her with strange eyes.

"Does discussing official business require a 'one-week usage right'?" "Does Miss Fiona perhaps enjoy discussing official business in bed?!" Angie retorted with utter sarcasm. These outwardly dignified but inwardly lewd bitches, each one shamelessly promiscuous themselves, yet secretly gossiping about their master. Angie naturally wouldn't give them a pleasant look.

"The masters didn't say anything." "Why should a mere maid like you have to meddle?!" "Your mouth should be torn to shreds!"

Fiona immediately launched into a tirade. To be honest, the reason she had developed such courage over the years was partly due to her constant verbal sparring with Angie.

"Dede dede"

Raven's head was about to explode. There's an old saying: three women make a drama. Raven didn't believe it before, but now he was convinced. "Quiet! Quiet! Just bid normally!" In novels, the protagonists all have harems of three thousand and live in perfect harmony. How come with just a few women, they're already at each other's throats? Damn it, these novelists should all be burned at the stake. Not one of them is innocent.

"6!" Angie shouted, her beautiful eyes blazing with anger.

"7!" Fiona retorted, not to be outdone.

"8 million!"

"9 million!"

"10!" Clearly, Angie was determined to go after Fiona! She didn't care about the money anymore; she just wanted to vent her anger. Even if Denise blamed her, she still had 5 in her own savings.

bang——

The restaurant door was suddenly pushed open. The glow of the setting sun refracted through the glass windows, bathing the newcomer in a golden halo.

"I'll offer 22 gold coins."

"Come with me!"

The person stood at the door without entering the restaurant and spoke in an unquestionable tone.

"Wow!" "Overwhelmingly powerful!"

Raven looked at the newcomer, initially delighted. He hadn't expected to be so valuable. Then he sighed, marveling at the other person's domineering presence. But when he recognized the person, a hint of embarrassment crossed his face.

……

(End of this chapter)