Artifact Reading Inspector

Eric was waiting outside. Haejin then came out, looking somewhat happy.

“What happened? What did you talk about?”

“It went well. He promised to return some artifacts within this year. It is so much better than 200 thousand dollars. I should thank him.”

Each Korean artifact in the Metropolitan was valuable.

Haejin had to bring it back if possible, even if it cost 20 million dollars instead of 200 thousand, so he kept smiling.

“What, did he write down that promise or something? But he would never do such a thing!”

“He didn’t, but he will keep his promise. He has to.”

Eric stared at Haejin with shock, then he nodded and smiled.

The painting wasn’t the only thing Howard wanted. If ‘that’ also got out, his political life would end, and he would have to stand in court.

“That makes no sense, but I guess there’s a good reason? And you’re not going to tell me, right?”

“It can be a little… sensitive.”

“Okay. I’m just glad to hear it all went well, but you must be always careful with politicians. They can threaten you with a bomb anytime. You have Princess Hassena of Abu Dhabi behind you, so he won’t be able to mess up with you easily but be careful.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Haha! Then let’s go to have a drink.”

They returned to Eric’s hotel. Haejin then looked at the catalog of Sotheby’s auction which Hassena had given him to make the time pass faster.

Eric had left, saying he had another urgent business, and Hassena was to stay in her room until the auction, so Haejin had nothing else to do.

“Hmm… was it called vestigium?”

The symbol on the brooch that Hassena had argued they had to get was really strange.

She knew that the symbol of the organization and the symbol that gave magical powers were different. Haejin could guess she had studied a lot on her own.

He wanted to talk to Hassena more about it, but there were eyes watching them. It was a shame.

The other objects that would be on the auction were magnificent, all worth at least billions of dollars.

There were even a few that were about to be sold at tens of billions, and among them, Haejin spotted the one that would be sold at the highest price.

It was a painting of Gustav Klimt. It had been sold at over 90 billion won, so Haejin wondered if it would be sold at over a hundred million dollars or not.

Even Haejin was interested, so the participants must have been putting great effort into the preparation to get that painting.

By preparation, it meant people were trying to find out in advance what kind of people would bid for it and how much would they bid.

Although it usually takes more for an expensive artifact to be sold, the time given to bidders to bid and the time needed for the auctioneer to settle the winning bid are the same with those of the artifacts that were worth only a few thousand dollars.

In short, bidders are not given more time to think.

They have 5~7 seconds to bid more or stop. They bet billions in that short moment. So, preparations are necessary.

Of course, most of the time, that preparation is no good. And as Hassena was about to take place in this auction, other rich people would get headaches.

If Hassena had been right next to Haejin, he would have immediately asked if she was going to bid for Klimt’s painting. He was that curious, but he had to keep that question until the auction.

However, a Buddhist scripture written with golden ink in the middle of the catalog drew his attention. It was assumed to have been made in the Ming period of China.

It was about Kṣitigarbha speaking to Buddha.

The handwriting was beautiful and yet lively. Haejin wondered whose handwriting it was.

However, it strangely looked familiar. Haejin had remembered all good handwritings he had seen until now, but this time, he couldn’t recall no matter how hard he tried.

“Well, whatever!”

Eventually, he gave up and lay on the bed. He fell asleep quickly.

Two days later, in the morning, Haejin arrived at Sotheby’s in Manhattan, New York. He hurried to go up to the seventh floor, where the auction was about to take place. Then, he looked for Princess Hassena.

The crowd was even bigger than usual as there were many valuable artifacts. Haejin went through them and went to the front. Hassena was sitting in the front row.

“I am a little late.”

“It’s okay. The auction hasn’t started yet.”

“But Saliyah is…”

Saliyah was always with Hassena, but now, she was nowhere to be seen. Haejin looked around and asked about her. Hassena then pointed at the back.

“She left, saying she had to make a call. She will be here soon.”

“And your bodyguards?”

The buffy bodyguards were not there, either. Hassena smiled.

“A few of these people are my guards.”

“Oh…”

“Actually, although Saliyah assists me, she is only one of my many attendants. Those who are guarding me in the shadows have also watched over me for more than a decade. You sitting right next to me and talking is in fact quite dangerous.”

“Are you saying Prince Sahmadi will hear about this?”

“They won’t tell him. They are my people that my father gave me. But if something happens, they will have to share my fate.”

Haejin gulped hard. He only thought about avoiding this danger, but it was more serious than he had thought.

“If you don’t marry me…”

“They will get executed or punished severely for not protecting me well.”

Haejin wanted to curse, but he didn’t. What could he do? The rules of the royal family were firm…

“Then I won’t be able to live well if I don’t marry you. Many will blame me…”

“Apart from that, we have a mission to do. Things to protect. You and I have been chosen, it is inevitable.”

Hassena looked toward the front after that.

Haejin was agitated. The auction started soon and Saliyah sat next to her princess. She looked at Haejin, but he pretended to not feel that gaze.

He then suddenly recalled the painting he had seen on the catalog yesterday. He asked, “Are you planning to bid for Gustav Klimt’s painting?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I am curious. Will its price go over a hundred million dollars… and would the lady next to me bet that much money…”

Hassena smiled and took out an ID card from her bag.

“Louvre Abu Dhabi has given me the rights to buy artifacts for it.”

Next, she said something to Saliyah in Arabic. She then turned to Haejin again.

“Louvre Abu Dhabi is showing interest in Klimt’s painting. We have enough money.”

You would think billionaires would spend the most on auctions, but that’s not it. Museums and galleries with huge funds spend even more.

Museum owned by the country used art funds and surplus funds to demonstrate power in auctions.

Additionally, when buying artifacts with great historical value, they don’t hesitate to pay much more than the market price. Museums in the US and the Middle East have the biggest money.

In conclusion, Hassena was a rich collector of the museum, she was about to spend the most in this auction.

A few objects passed, and the golden brooch finally came out.

Haejin thought Hassena would get it without a problem, but the tension was rising as an unexpected opponent appeared.

“2.2 million! 2.25 million! It’s on the phone! The princess from the desert bid 2.3 million!”

Hassena’s bright smile was long gone, she was calmly raising her paddle.

It wasn’t supposed to go over 1.5 million, but someone was as persistent as Hassena. It was strange.

Eventually, Haejin pretended to go to the bathroom and tried to find who it was.

“2.4 million! How far will this brooch go?”

There he was, a white man in a black suit. He was probably in his 30s or 40s. His red beard was very impressive.

He kept looking at the auctioneer and then on the iPad on his lap again, but something about him caught Haejin’s eyes. Haejin kept looking at him and then saw a small tattoo on his palm as he raised the paddle.

‘Vestigium!’

Hassena wasn’t the only one who knew about the brooch. That strange organization had sent someone to buy it.

Haejin was worried. He wasn’t worried about Hassena spending more money, but the artifact’s price had soared up so high that it could draw the attention of the others.

He didn’t know if the organization would care about it, but there was no reason to draw the world’s attention to New York. Especially when Hassena was involved…

“4 million dollars! Is there 4.1 million?”

Collectors in the room started to look with doubt already. They were wondering if there was something they didn’t know. It got even hotter.

It couldn’t go on any more, but how was Haejin supposed to stop that man? He couldn’t use magic. If things went wrong and the existence of his magic was to be discovered, it would be the worst.

He just kept thinking of a way, but the man with the red beard suddenly put his paddle on his lap and didn’t move as if he didn’t have more money.

Haejin couldn’t understand what was going on. However, the man looked back and talked to someone. Then, he stood up and left.

Haejin couldn’t see who he talked to, but the brooch was Hassena’s now. That was enough.

Haejin returned to his seat. Hassena mentioned that he was about to get more power, but he kept thinking about the red-bearded guy and the mysterious man.

After that, Hassena bought Klimt’s painting at 110 million dollars. And…

“A Buddhist scripture from China. Written with golden ink. It has a great historical value. The auction starts now.”