(A/N: Happy New Month ^^)

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... Albeline Manor...

Audric studied the clock on the far wall of his study, it was about time for him to get ready to leave. 7:50 pm… Ten minutes left before the auction would begin.

This time, he decided against taking Ji-hun with him, there was no reason to. Not to mention, it was much safer if he went alone.

After the first night that he met Leland Blackburn, Audric made the conscious decision of going everywhere with the Draconite on hand. The thing about getting so powerful was that meeting someone who surpassed you was an unpleasant shock.

After the previous auction where he had to turn up a large sum to win back Juni, the news spread like wildfire all over Blackmore Alley. The news of him destroying Leland's warehouse also rode on the famed news of him battling Leland over an auction prize and winning.

It made Audric pick his steps carefully. Leland Blackburn wasn't the type to play by the rules, Audric might be strong but he wasn't invincible. He decided that laying low for a while was the best course of action.

Not because he was scared because if it came down to it, he was very willing to clash with Leland. It would be a close shave but with the aces he had under his sleeve, he would come out fine.

No, the reason he wanted to stay out of the spotlight was that he wanted to remain unpredictable. It was just his luck that Juni's kidnapping had forced him into the spotlight, Audric's original plan was to silently climb up, making important connections while remaining in the shadows.

Because he had no interest in rebuilding the Wizarding Underworld if it got wrecked because of him, nor was he interested in personally running it. He just wanted the top guns reporting to him, it was as simple as that.

And currently, the only person that stood in his way was Leland Blackburn. Madame Dufort didn't look problematic, especially if it involved money, it would be really easy to make her an ally.

He had also done some remote research on Rowan Roberts and it was just as he feared but Rowan wasn't anyone special either, his connections involved money as well which made things quite easy.

At the moment, Leland had Rowan and Dufort on his side; to defeat him, Audric had to first get rid of his peaceful relations with them. Essentially bringing them to his side, he would buy them if he had to.

It was one of the major reasons why he was going for the auctions happening tonight, to cultivate a relationship with Madame Dufort. It would be an easy feat after the amount of money he blew on her auction the last time it was there.

Audric doubted that Leland Blackburn would just sit back and watch him take over his turf, it was why he was well prepared for a fight and would always be until Leland was defeated.

Juni recovered rather quickly from the unfortunate incident of her kidnapping, she only became more averse to leaving the manor house. The only time she stepped past the gates was when she went on drives with Audric.

Audric strode across the foyer of the Albeline Manor, the Portkey that would take him straight to the Carrion on hand. He was dressed in his usual ensemble of all black, his signature eyepatch in place.

Audric doubted he would be interested in purchasing anything at the auction but he would probably have to do just that. To keep up with appearances and make sure that Madame Dufort didn't lose interest in him.

Leland Blackburn was a large contributor to Madame Dufort's auctions, to grab her attention and hold it, he had to be able to do the same and more. Finding some useful dirt on her would also come in handy, back up plans were always necessary for situations like this. If things went according to plan in the auction tonight, he would have both plans within his reach.

Whispers started up when Audric stepped out of a dark corner and headed for the entrance of the Carrion. There was only a handful of minutes left before the auction would begin and a lot of people had begun to bet on if he would show up or not.

A Witch in a waitress uniform hurried to him to lead him through a separate side entrance from where he and Ji-hun had gotten their temporary card. She scurried forward, leading him to a table close to the front.

It was much different from the table he had sat on last time, the decor much more exquisite. A glass candelabra sat at the center of the table, the softly flickering candles elevating the deep red of the tablecloth.

"Sir, the Madame has requested that you share a table with her." The waitress bowed, leaving him to his antics after relaying her message.

Audric tracked the waitress as she left, looking around for Madame Dufort before taking a seat. He had initially planned to stay for the afterparty and use that opportunity to get closer but Madame Dufort had already set the stage for his plans.

Not long after he sat down at the table prepared for him, the lights dimmed and Madame Dufort took the stage under the spotlight. She was dressed in her signature shades of purple, another fur coat linked across her arms and elbows.

The table was immediately lined up with food and wine, no doubt a request of Elaina Dufort. Audric merely took a glass of wine for himself and sat to watch the proceedings of the auctions.

Elaina Dufort beamed when she saw the young head of the Albeline House seated at her special table, she hoped that he would be reasonable enough to deal with. She sat on neutral grounds as a Dark Lord, uninterested in power plays.

Elaina just wanted to get rich and now that she had managed to accomplish that, she was uninterested in losing it. She made her stance clear to Leland when he climbed up and surpassed Carleton, that she would only remain on his side for as long as it benefitted her.

Her only ally was money and if he did anything to hinder that, she would consider him an enemy. Now that there was new competition, she was ready to switch sides from Leland to young Albeline just like she did with Carleton. There were no hard feelings, she was merely looking out for her best interest. 

Naturally, if Leland squashed the young blood, she would return to his side. She was open and blunt when it came to her fickle nature, letting the people she allied with know what to expect.

So she settled down heavily on her seat and immediately picked up her fork. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you, young Albeline." She spoke in muffled tones, her mouth full of food.

Audric rested his ankle on his knee, taking a small sip of the red wine provided. "The pleasure is all mine, Elaina." He replied calmly, choosing to stare at his wineglass to avoid being a party to Dufort's crass table manners.

"I shall be blunt here…" Elaina started, taking a break to breathe and chew.

Audric watched expressionlessly as she poured down a mug full of butterbeer down her throat, did he mention that the mug was thrice as large as an average one?

"Your interest in joining the Dark Lords of Blackmore Alley isn't lost on me." She burped violently, pounding on her chest to get things moving again. "I personally pose no problem to you and will align with whoever comes out on top." 

Audric listened without speaking, it was just as he had predicted but he didn't expect Dufort to be this fickle. A most dangerous ally to have was one who would not hesitate to change parties at the slightest disposition. He could not have that.

He said nothing to contradict her though, she was currently the oldest Dark Lord on seat, even older than Carleton, and had aligned with Voldemort to keep the skin of her neck. Money and favorable conditions were the only holds one could have over her… unless… 

"I understand your conditions, Elaina." Audric tipped his glass to her, pointedly staring past her to the table behind her.

Elaina was a sharp woman, a required skill to get to where she was and stay there. "Lovely, we should have a most favorable friendship then." She beamed, turning her head to get a glance at the table behind her.

A beautiful Witch was sitting alone at the next table, pretending that she just happened to sit there by chance. Without knowing, Elaina had just dropped the key to securing her loyalty onto his lap, literally. 

Audric stared intently at the beautiful Witch sitting so close to him that she was almost falling onto him. Elaina had introduced her as Andrée, a friend that was interested in getting to know him better.