Severin suppressed a smile and followed Mylana’s raised cane with his eyes. What he saw told him they were getting close to their destination; nothing but the distant block of marble could possibly deserve the name White Hall.

Just as eye-catching, were the many carriages, which, one after the other, stopped in front of the building.

It wasn’t the people coming out of them that drew Severin’s attention, but the carriages’ curious lack of coach horses-or any other animals-pulling them.

‘Magic?!’ Severin marveled at the sight of must have been autonomously driven vehicles. He couldn’t wait to see them up close.

But it didn’t take long for his excitement to wane. He had suddenly come to a realization, that dampened his mood.

The closer they got, the more distinguishable the actual individuals entering the White Hall became. Everyone of which, and with no exception, as far as he could tell, was dressed in fancy clothes that made his own look like rags in comparison.

Also, he realized, none of the other guests came by foot. As far as he could tell, everyone arrived in one of those vehicles.

Walking was obviously not the preferred mode of transportation for high society.

With every step, Severin grew more and more anxious. How was he to argue his case if he was rejected even before he has reached his destination? Severin was becoming bitter. Coming here was clearly a mistake.

Why didn’t Mylana warn him? And why didn’t they too use one of those carriages? Surely she owned not just a few of them herself.

At first it seemed Severin’s concerns were exactly right. By the time they finally arrived in front of the Hall, all scrutiny of the reception staff fell onto them; everyone else, it seemed, was already inside.

Nobody pulled a face at them, but once the two were close enough that there was no longer any mistaking their destination, one particular staff member stepped forward, obviously intent on preventing them from entering the Hall they were securing.

But just before she could say her piece, recognition flushed over the woman’s face. Her expression turned from professionally neutral to barely restrained enthusiasm; Severin sighed a breath of relief as he understood that he had still been too naïve.

“Lady Mylana! You are honoring us with your presence at our White Hall. Please, please come inside.” Without waiting for a reply, the woman led them towards the entrance. “Excuse me for being so frank, but given the nature of this auction, I had my doubts when Lady Sorn suddenly expanded the guest list by your name, and at such a short notice.

The Lady will be very pleased and I am sure she will be eager to greet you in person herself, once the auction has concluded. But please, we are about to start.” The servile woman said, as they walked through the portal and into the foyer of the imposing hall.

Golden light flooded over them and Severin needed some time for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he found his surroundings weren’t nearly as pompous as he had expected. The entrance hall was largely empty, not at all flaunting its wealth with expensive exhibits.

Thick cords blocked access to several recessed doors.

Other than that, only a few strategically placed plants livened up the atmosphere, and three pristine red carpets, magically kept clean no doubt, indicated the way for the guests; one straight ahead, leading into a large hall where Severin could already see people gathered inside; the other two led up the stairs on either side of the hall.

“Will you participate from the main hall, or do you want me to escort you to your private booth?” inquired their guide.

“The booth,” Mylana answered with no hesitation, obviously not very keen on mingling with the other guests.

Her instruction was acknowledged, and they were led towards the flight of stairs on their right, and into a corridor of unmarked doors, about five meters apart from each other.

At the beginning Severin counted how many of those doors they passed, but stopped bothering when he reached twenty. Still, it was clear their guide hadn’t just picked one at random when they eventually stopped in front of one door that looked just like all the others; Mylana's barely perceptible nod confirmed as much.

The woman then stepped to the side and excused herself. “Please enjoy your stay.”

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“Hm. Thanks.”

For a moment the Severin, who had stayed silent until now, was confused. But he understood when Mylana produced a key and started fiddled with the lock. This wasn’t just a private booth, but literally her private booth.

The door swung open and revealed more of a balcony than an actual room, one which overlooked the main auction hall below. It too was only sparsely decorated, with a small tea table and two comfy looking armchairs.

The two stepped inside the dimly lit room and Mylana directly made for one of these seats while instructing Severin to close the door behind them.

He complied, but didn’t immediately follow to take the remaining seat.

‘Again, not nearly as extravagant as I expected,’ he observed, but also realized that in this case, it was likely, per Mylana’s design.

Still, he made a mental note of his observation.

Only then did he turn his attention elsewhere: towards the booths on the opposite side of the hall, the ones reached, presumably, via the other staircase in the foyer.

“Isn’t that bad?” He pointed out after a moment of observation.

“What is?”

“That everything is so visible. You can easily tell which of the rooms is occupied. You might even recognize them. Especially if you know who owns the booth. Doesn’t that beat the purpose?”

“Oh? Tell me which ones,” Mylana challenged while again using her cane to point towards the booths in question.

“Eh?”

“Tell me which ones are currently occupied,” she clarified.

This took him by surprise. Was she simply mocking him now? Only grudgingly, he began to answer, “Well, right now, all lights are off. So none. I just mean in general when-” but was again cut-off just when he was about to justify his train of thought.

“Given this is just such a small and private auction, you are probably right: there is no one there. But it’s too naïve to take these things at face-value. This isn’t just some backwater town hall or the like.

Ever since we entered the White Hall, we are surrounded by all kinds of different enchantments. And that is doubly true in here.

No one on the outside can tell we are in here. Unless I want them to.

But it’s good that you are thinking about these things.”

Somehow Severin was more surprised by Mylana’s rare praise than by her explanation.

“That said, look at them. They want to be seen.”

With this, Mylana directed his attention to the main attraction, the auction hall below them. And the crowd of people socializing.

Severin estimated the main hall fit maybe five-hundred people in total. At the moment, it was filled to maybe around one-tenth of its capacity.

‘Which I guess makes sense, considering this is a private event.’

The atmosphere was cheerfully exuberant, much more so than Severin would have ever expected, given this was supposedly a highly esteemed auctioning hall. In his mind, a typical attendant would be a pretentious snob, with more money than sense, and who valued appearances more than anything else. But again, the private nature of this event might have explained some of the assumed differences between imagination and reality.

Severin hadn’t really noticed it when he had observed these people from afar, arriving in their fancy carriages. Now he couldn’t help but wonder if he really was in the right place.

Judging by the opulent clothes and rich jewelry those people wore, he was.

But going by the number of children he saw-and most importantly heard- he couldn’t help but have his doubts.

What was going on?

Severin debated with himself whether he should risk making a fool of himself and mention his doubts to Mylana, when the lights on the slightly raised stage at the far end of the hall came on.

Apparently, this was the sign that things were about to begin; it seemed their escort hadn’t exaggerated when she said they didn’t have to wait long.

Within a minute, everyone in the crowd took had taken their seats.

Another minute and things had quieted down.

‘That’s more like it’, Severin thought. Things finally looked proper.

Still, looking at the seating arrangement from above, Severin saw his suspicion all but confirmed. It seemed it was mostly families who were attending.

Then another minute passed and just when the younger audience members started becoming restless again, some actual movement on the stage could be observed in the form of an immaculately dressed and well-groomed man in his mid-fifties walking onto the stage.

‘Mr. Reigh,’ Severin understood, as the man took up his position behind the rostrum.

“Dear Ladies. Dear Gentlemen. Welcome.

It is my pleasure to, at Lady Sorn's invitation, welcome you all to this very special occasion. Following recent circumstances, her Ladyship has decided to auction off large parts of her famous and much coveted collection.

I speak for the entire White Hall when I express our deep gratitude for entrusting us with such an important task. Thank you.” The man deeply bowed towards one particular woman in the audience.

“Ever since the items came into our care, we have worked incessantly,” Reigh continued. “We have meticulously reappraised each item’s origin and authenticity.

And today we are very pleased to present to you all of our findings and some of the finest handcrafted dolls and puppets the continent has ever seen.

And so, without further ado, allow me to present to you tonight’s first item.

A Model-5 Isabell.”