6.

Silvah wasn’t sure why the Tao-kai liked the colour black so much.

The inside of the high-rise building was covered in black carpet instead of a lighter colour, and the uniform the clerk behind the counter was expected to wear was of course also black.

‘Welcome back, princess. I’ll inform the chairman of your arrival right away.’

“Princess” was an old term they used for the boss his daughter, which Silvah wasn’t. However, because Silvah was born long before Uncle’s first daughter and was like family to him, she’d been coined princess as well.

The honorific made her stomach twist a little. How many times had she and her father gotten into an argument with that name as a catalyst? Too many.

She followed two men in black into an elevator which took her to the top floor. The walls were see-through. Silvah grabbed onto the railing. She would never understand why people felt the need to build so high. There were better ways to get closer to the Lord.

A ding sounded and Silvah let out a breath, glad to get off. The men did their best to stop their lips from curving.

‘Yes, yes, laugh at me, poor girl that I am.’

‘We wouldn’t dare, Princess.’

She stuck out her tongue at them and made her way to Uncle Kenichi’s office.

7.

The air inside was cool. Artificially so. The interior had been fitted with an air condition system that ran through a central station in the building. Dominating the rest of what she almost wanted to call a lounge instead of an office was a large, mahogany desk with carvings of birds on the front. Two leather chairs—burgundy, Silvah guessed—accompanied it. Soft light filtered through velvet drapes, landing on a reflecting, bald head sitting behind the desk.

Uncle Kenichi wore a simple white tee, which did nothing to hide the thickness of his forearms or the tail of the upside-down dragon tattoo which went from his neck to the side of his stomach. The scar running from the corner of his left eye to the beginning of his nose was still as visible as ever, but it looked darker. Grimmer. Underneath Uncle’s eyes, Silvah spotted groove after groove of eye bags.

One of the men who had followed her in escorted her to her chair. She didn’t sit immediately. But stepped around the desk and embraced her uncle. Uncle hugged her tight. Making it so she didn’t need to lean in to sniff. The scent was sharp. He had been touching the liquor. Ishwari Standard if I’m not mistaken. A popular brand among the citizens in the north of Ishwar.

He pulled away and gave her two kisses on either side of her cheek. A greeting he’d learned from Silvah’s father. Silvah smiled. But then turned serious.

‘Uncle! Have you and Aunt Fumiko been fighting again?’

The man, who still had his arms on hers, startled before going lax.

‘Good afternoon, to you, too, my daughter.’

He practically fell in his chair.

‘How did you know?’

‘I can smell it on you,’ she said.

Uncle sighed.

‘It’s the only thing giving me some peace of mind nowadays.’ He sounded so defeated.

Silvah considered for a second. Then leaned into the conversation, accepting it as much needed distraction. Uncle was the closest thing to family she had left in Yumekyo.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

‘What happened?’

Her father and the rest of her family were definitely a part of it. But Silvah’s gut said there was something else.

‘It’s about Emiko,’ Uncle said.

Uncle’s daughter. Silvah hadn’t seen her in over two years. But she was on good terms with her. Silvah and Asha had often gone shopping with Emiko back when the Tao-kai princess wasn’t allowed to leave the house unless she had five people flanking her. Silvah had thought the measure overkill. Until they’d been assaulted in the middle of a mall.

Silvah smiled. Good times. She had used the opportunity to show off her martial abilities and earn some praise from her Father all in one swoop.

‘What happened to her?’ Silvah said, kind of worried. Only she could tell by the tone of her uncle it most likely wasn’t as serious as he made it out to be.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Let me guess. Boyfriend problems.’

And his grunt confirmed it.

‘She wants to sleep over at her boyfriend’s house in Darkville. Well I’m not letting her!’

‘She’s eighteen, Uncle. You need to start letting the girl breathe.’

‘Barely eighteen, you mean!’ Then he waved Silvah off. ‘Let’s drop it. You’re already sounding like Fumiko.’

She raised her hands in surrender.

‘Back to more important matters,’ Uncle said. ‘You wanted to speak about the auction? I hadn’t expected you to be interested in it. Are you selling your father’s old items?’

‘Absolutely not.’

She planned on keeping everything she could find of her family.

A brief explanation of the situation and the leads she had been chasing followed.

‘I see,’ her uncle said. His nails bit into his palm. ‘I knew the Ryūjin-kai was involved somehow.’

The belief from the beginning among the entire Tao-kai was that Silvah’s family was murdered as a revenge tactic by their foremost rivals whom they often had ‘disputes’ with. The disputes were because of their similar areas of expertise: entertainment and real estate. It didn’t help that both associated themselves with dragons. Dragons were prideful.

There was a part of Silvah that wanted to hate her uncle. Scream and shout at him. But she knew. She knew he had tried to warn Father off the lifestyle after Mother got pregnant with her. But there was no convincing her father. Not when he was right. Or wrong. He wore his opinions like snakeskin boots sinking into mud, and when Uncle pushed, he replied with only a single sentence: ‘I don’t need your help making my decisions.’

Silvah looked down, her lips pulled despite herself. That mindset made him who he was, and she had both hated and loved him for his mentality. Though in the last year she had leaned more on the side of hate.

‘That’s why I want to get into the auction,’ Silvah said, swallowing the lump in her throat. ‘Can you get me in, Uncle? I would like some men as well.’

‘Yes to both. But as for men…not a lot, I need to confess.’

‘Is the auction not a part of the entertainment business?’ she said.

It should be under his influence. Or was it the Ryūjin-kai that had the upper hand there?

‘That it is,’ Uncle said. ‘However, the auction is one of the few establishments in the city that neither we nor the Ryūjin-kai have been able to get a proper foothold in.’

Damn. She’d been counting on that. Had even hoped Uncle could simply tell the organisers to give her her father’s blade back.

‘Is the Bai Group that powerful?’

‘They are not to be trifled with. They made sure we understood that from the beginning. Thus, I cannot get any real manpower in there. Two or three men maximum. However, I do have a place in the audience for you. A box, to be specific.’

‘A box?’

‘A privileged seat in the auction. If I vouch for you and make you my representative, you’ll be able to make use of it. There’s even space for if you want to take some friends with you.’

He paused there.

‘It would do you good, Silvah.’

Uncle gave the impression of a grandfather pleading his grandchild to return home early. Silvah had friends, of course. Ones whose messages of concern she had ignored completely. She didn’t feel like talking to them, let alone seeing them. That. And her goal at the auction was more than just requisitioning her heirlooms.

Given their influence, the auction should attract people of all kinds. And if the bank statement for the pawnshop was any indication, the Ryūjin-kai were included in those.

‘Are the Ryūjin-kai in the same boat as us?’ Silvah said.

It would be trouble if they could get more men in there than her. She wanted a word with whichever higher up she would find there, and she wasn’t quite sure that word would stay peaceful.

‘The exact same. Though this year is a little different. From what I heard; Ryu is attending.’

Ryu. She had heard that name.

‘The boss his son?’

Uncle was a little surprised she knew but he nodded.

Silvah’s eyes narrowed. Good. Chasing shadows could be fun—it was what she enjoyed doing—but having a target and a location was better for her mental state. Now she only needed a time.

Uncle told her the auction a week from now. He also gave her some items he was interested in and wanted her to bid on. A small ask.

It meant he wasn’t joining her himself, though. Apparently, the Ryūjin-kai were up to something and tensions between the two mob bosses were rising. So, Uncle was needed elsewhere.

That wasn’t Silvah’s concern, though. Her enmity with them was personal. She wouldn’t get between their rivalry for it was a good way to end up like her family.

Uncle promised to send her his two best men on the day of the auction. The two continued to talk some more before Uncle announced he had a meeting coming up. So Silvah left. A clear purpose on her mind.