Will you be my Princess?

Chapter 32: The Auction

"It has been reported that Lady Lyrica Castillo and the First Prince of Valentino have called it quits! The Emperor announced formally today that they mutually decided to split up. Many had already suspected they called it quits when Lady Lyrica returned back home and we never heard back from her. Other have suspected it was also because of the Prince's cold attitude everyone has known about in the past. They made a lovely couple when we interviewed them before, but sadly the Prince will just have to—"

Peter turned off the TV and looked at Cassien who was ignoring it the whole time, "M-Maybe I shouldn't have turned it on."

"You think?" Ariana had her arms crossed. She and Grey were there today because they were all going on a mission.

It was March two months since the incident. Ever since then Cassien was placed in the group that was in charge of finding out where the Duke was. He invited Ariana, Grey, and Peter onto a specialized team to find out the distributors of the Kama plant. Today was their final meeting until they go underground into the black market to find out the distributors.

"When is your friend coming?" Cassien asked Peter.

Peter had a friend who would help out in the investigation. Apparently he was an expert when it came to the Black Market of Valentino.

"He should be arriving soon." Peter looked at his watch on his left wrist, "He is kind of a busy guy but—"

"I'm here." The doors opened and it revealed James wearing hes usual grey suit.

Cassien looked at Peter annoyed because he hated James. Peter also didn't inform them the friend he was referring to was James.

"It's him?" Cassien said in an annoyed manner.

"It's great to see you too Mr. Prince." James responded cocky.

"Look I know you both hate each other, but we have to help each other out on this one." Peter looked at the two, "James knows a lot about the Black Market that happens near Downtown."

"What kind of business were you doing there?" Ariana questioned.

"Eh, I'm usually just there as an audience member. I don't really buy anything, because half of the items are fake." James explained, "But I did hear from a friend of mine that this new plant you guys are investigating has been circling through this auction."

"How long has it been circulating?" Grey looked to James.

"It's been a couple of months, I'm not necessarily sure who supplies it. But, I'm sure that if you buy the plant in a large quantity the guy running the auction might refer you to the supplier of the plant." James explained to all of them in the room, "There is an auction later today. I'm sure I can bring all of you in. Just make sure you hide your face's with a mask."

"Why?" Cassien cocked his head.

"Well for starters, most people wear masks at the auction to hide their faces. The people there are actually apart of Valentino's royal society, most of them at least. Secondly, look at you all. The two Princes of Valentino, daughter of a powerful Marquis, and Valentino's youngest knight, if they see your faces your screwed." He pointed at each of them when he referred to their characteristics, "They'll kick you out and probably even shut down the auction to not get caught."

"He's not wrong." Ariana nodded her head.

"Okay so when is the auction." Cassien looked at James.

"It starts at midnight. So make sure you drink your coffee." He winked.

- a few hours later -

"Oi where is he." Grey was looking at his watch. Grey, Cassien, James, and Ariana were all standing outside in the night sky while it was freezing cold. They were dressed up in suits and Ariana was wearing a long black dress.