Saving The Unfortunate Villainess: Chapter 2

Atlas

My father has the perfect card to play to get the king to overturn her new status of slave. The crown is currently in debt of millions of gold because of some rough times they’ve had in the past. My father was given the opportunity in the future to have one thing from the king, no questions asked. He tried to push one of his daughters onto me, but my father refused.

If I get Chloe’s approval, then use this chance with the King; it would allow me to marry her in the future with her status restored. Now I must get down there and place the winning bid no matter what.

As my father and I were conversing about the auction, my little sister and mother showed up for breakfast. Of course Avril runs right up to me, giving a huge hug with a kiss on the cheek. Both my mother and sister have cherry blossom hair with green eyes. I take after my father with dirty blonde hair.

“Happy Birthday, Brother." My cute little sister exclaimed! She’s so precious! I thought to myself as I looked at my mom, who was also approaching me. She also joined in on the hug, kissing the other cheek.

“Happy birthday, my dear son. What were the two of you talking about just now?" She said with a smile.

“He wants to purchase a slave at an auction house for his birthday present.” My father said nonchalantly as my mother’s face turned into a frown.

“What’s a slave?” Avril blurted it out as she stared intently at all of us, waiting for a response.

“A slave is someone who’s done something bad, honey.” My mom commented.

“Why would you want someone bad?” I was asked by my sister, who was unknowingly trying to block my future love! Downside of having a cute little sister: it’s hard to even be mad at her when she cock blocks you.

Before it gets any further, I need to interrupt this. “You know how you’ve been asking me to choose my personal attendant forever now, right?”

“So you want to choose someone convicted of a grave crime to bring into this house and give her the opportunity to see our important documents. Since you’re now sixteen, you will start learning how to take over the family for the future. You need someone whom you can trust.” My mom spoke with a firm tone.

“How do we know that her verdict can be trusted? If you truly look at the case, it seems suspicious.” I said with vigor, not willing to back down.

“What book did you read that in?” My mom looked at me as she glanced towards my father.

“He said something like that earlier; I have no idea where he got that. Most books, at least in the capital of this kingdom, put the king in a hero-type point of view. Not one of treachery.”

“Isn’t that why my sister and I have always been kept away from nobles because of how conniving they are?” I asked, seeing both their conflicted faces.

“While that may be true, she was convicted. Are you truly sure you want to give this kind of person the opportunity to possibly destroy your future? A personal aid is someone you have to be able to trust.”

“Yes, Mother, I’m sure I can trust her. I know it. Can you please just give her a chance?” I pleaded.

“Why can’t I be my brother’s aid?” Avril asked, my parents chuckled, and I sighed.

“While I would love that, I need one right now and not in the future. I’m sorry.” I pat the top of her head to reassure her. She stuck her tongue out at me.

“Can we just go to the auction and see her, then make the call?” I suggested.

“Hmm… I don’t have any problem with going and checking her out. But if she seems unreliable, you have to listen to my words.” My mother nodded her head to my father’s response, opening up a chance for my dream to come true.

Three Hours Later…

I’m finally going to get my first look at my future wife. I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m a few years younger than her. The idea of seeing Chloe in such a horrible state really does scare me, though; I have to keep myself from overreacting. Getting kicked out of here before the actual auction would be a horrible outcome.

It was only my father and I who attended the auction because it was no place for a little girl. She tried really hard to follow us, but my mother deflected her pretty well, allowing us to leave.

This world has a very familiar feel to most stories I’ve read in my past life, being eighteenth-century European architecture. It's a lot more advanced with many conveniences we can enjoy. Such as flushing toilets, telephones, and lights, all powered with magic. They were all recently invented accessories, so they're quite expensive. They've even developed their own type of car that makes traveling much easier.

Entering the venue, I see a high number of people. It feels almost like a festival, then some kind of auction. Considering what they sell at these types of things, the level of morality seems quite low in this world.

“Father, look over there!” I pointed in a direction where most of the people were gathering. I can only assume that holds the one I’m here to find and rescue.

“Alright, let’s go,” he replied.

I’ve got both my parents to semi-agree to what I want; now to seal the deal. We’ve got enough money to outbid anyone in this city, so we should be able to win no matter what.

As we got closer and closer to the location, I couldn’t help but smell something disgusting. Once I got a chance to take a closer look inside the cage, I understood why. I can’t believe those bastards; how could they do this to her? She’s being used as an exhibitionist, with her natural self for all to see. Just how long has she been inside that cage? They placed a bucket in the corner for her to relieve herself, being completely exposed.

It’s almost like they're trying to get people less interested in owning her. Knowing the original story, I know that horrible Saintess wants to give her to that despicable fat man, who treats women as toys.

My heart just completely breaks when I see her for the first time. Her silver hair looks almost black with how dirty it is, and her beautiful, bright sapphire eyes they talked about in the story look dead. She only had enough clothing to cover her upper body, while her lower parts were completely exposed. If I had it my way, I would rip her out of there right now and give her the love I know she desperately deserves.

I know in noble etiquette showing this much skin would be very much frowned upon. She must be completely devastated inside. For almost all nobles, this would disqualify her from getting married.

“Dad, I must save her! Just look at how she’s being treated!” I say to my father with venom. That Saintess will get what’s coming to her in the future. I’m just not sure how to make it happen just yet. It’s too bad I’m not some overpowered MC.

“Calm down, son; don’t make it obvious that we're going to bid for her just yet. Also, I think I understand your gut feeling now. She looks like someone who’s completely given up on life. I highly doubt someone who actually did everything they talked about in the papers would act this way. You would think she would have a lot more pride and fire within her to actually attempt what she was accused of committing.”

“She’s innocent; I know it, and I want to protect her. I want her to have a life she can be happy with.” I say in a mumble to my father, who I’m pretty sure heard me.

“Let’s win the auction first before we plan ahead.”

As I was looking up at my father, I saw something in his eyes, as if he just understood. I wonder if he knows my ultimate plan for this poor girl in front of us.

“Thank you, Father; I really appreciate your trust in me. I swear it won’t be in vain.” Looking in at the cage, I locked eyes with her for a few seconds. I tried my best to convey a message to her that she would be ok.

I’m sure she didn’t understand the meaning or think anything of it with her current circumstances. This stupid auction needs to start right now so I can save her.

"Everyone, please enter the auction area if you wish to take part in it. There will be many treasures up for sale; don’t miss out on your chance to own them.” A loud voice said off into the distance.

Taking one more maddening look at her horrible current condition, I turn around and make my way to our seats. I know from the story that she survives for two months after this, so she can survive the next few hours before I can take her out of here. With the way she currently looks, I’m surprised she even lasted that long.

Everyone has given up on Chloe, even her direct family. The whole world is against her; I know she’s extremely vulnerable right now and desperately wants someone to trust in. I will be that person for you, Chloe!

It took three hours of items I had no interest in before we got to the main event, as the auctioneer had announced. The luxury of being in a family with money coming out of our ears is to never truly need anything. I plan to shower Chloe with anything and everything she wants in the future. I wonder if she will be like those female leads that refuse to accept any money spent on them. She was a noble for a long time and is probably used to that kind of thing, or maybe not with that family of hers.

Seeing her being pulled up on stage, I felt a little relief as she looked a lot cleaner, for whatever that’s worth. At the same time, she was currently wearing a collar with a man pulling on a leash connected to it. All of my willpower was used for this moment to not jump up on stage and punch the man right in the face.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. What’s being brought on stage is the most anticipated item of the day. This noble-turned-slave has done many unforgivable things in her life, but none more than her attempt on the prince’s life. She’s now up for grabs; any man can use her to their heart's desire. You can literally do anything with her. It was heavily encouraged by the Saintess, who passed down this verdict.” The whole crowd started cheering while yelling obscenities at Chloe.

Would a saintess ask for someone to be violated? The crazy thing is no one seems to think anything’s wrong with that. Isn’t she supposed to be the one who brings peace to the world? Isn’t that a saintess's goal? You would think with such a high position she would have a great heart—someone like Chloe, for example.

“We will start the bid at one hundred thousand gold.” The entire crowd started murmuring in disbelief for it to have such a high starting price.

I’m not a fool about these types of situations, and I will wait to show interest once the main players have raised it a bit. I don’t remember the name of the noble who was supposed to buy her.

It slowly trickled up over the first few minutes of the auction to one hundred and seventy-five thousand. I’m not really sure if this is a lot of gold for being in a rich family, but it does seem like a lot. While deep in thought, when I was going to place a bid, someone made a huge move.

“I will place a bid of one million gold, and can you wash her up after this for the fun night we will have?" Said the fat man I was most likely waiting on. I took a look at who was bidding and smiled, finally having found the target. Even though it only happened in the book, if I have a chance, I will kill that man in the future.

“Father, what’s the maximum I can bid?” I asked with a little concern, even though I shouldn’t.

“Don’t worry about it; just win the one you’re after.” He gave a knowing smile, as if he saw through me. Does he not care, even knowing?

“Five million gold!” I yelled with enthusiasm. The best part of it all was Chloe looked me right in the eyes as I placed that bid.