Against The Eternity Chapter 107: [106] Chapter - 63: Auction House—Trapura City (Part - 2/2)

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[106] Chapter - 63: Auction House—Trapura City (Part - 2/2) A note from Phoenixfly_steller Breaking news: the Patreon launch has been delayed by 10 days and will now arrive fashionably late on April 10th. Please direct all complaints to my arch-nemesis: my own laziness. She stepped into the private room, the door closing softly behind her. The space was neatly arranged and quietly refined. At the centre stood a three-seater sofa, while to its side rested a slender single-legged table holding plates of fruits and dry fruits. They were carefully arranged and were untouched. Directly in front of the sofa was another low table. On it was an elegant vessel that supported a glass orb that reflected the soft ambient light in faint, shifting glimmers. As she moved further inside, the attendant bowed respectfully and withdrew, closing the door behind her. Anshvi took her seat on the sofa, leaning back slightly as her gaze drifted upward toward the ceiling, her expression calm yet distant as the silence of the room settled around her. The silence of the room gradually transformed into memory. Images began to form in her mind. The bracelet, which was now shining with that familiar aura. Then another memory began to form. A woman, dressed in flowing blue and gold attire, with her hands moving steadily and gently to fasten it on the wrist of a small child who was no more than ten years old. It was her mother. She was not putting it on to decorate herself, but to protect herself and keep it with her all the time. The memory caused something inside of Anshvi’s heart to tighten. It reminded her of how she lost it... Somewhere in the Pranahara Forest. She recalled that desperate run through the forest. The shadows of beasts, fear, chaos, and the constant feeling of being pursued. She survived that. She was saved... by Eklavya and the Rudra clan. But she lost the bracelet. She left it behind, or says she lost it forever. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she did not let them fall. She took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears. After that, she took another breath and exhaled slowly and steadily, calming herself. After calming down and coming into a perfect posture as before, as if nothing had ever happened to her. A knock on the door interrupted the silence. Anshvi stood up and walked towards the door. She opened the door and found Ishant, Aashi, and Ashish standing outside. Aashi looked at her with a gentle smile and asked, “Oh? Are you also participating in this auction?” Anshvi nodded slightly in return, but no words followed. Her throat felt constricted, with a faint ache residing deep inside, making it difficult to speak. It was not something that could be seen—no tears were on her face—but the ache was there, the kind of ache that followed a cry that never really happened. The kind of ache that stayed inside, quiet and heavy, leaving behind only the dull pain of it all, making it harder to speak than it should have been. For a second, she did not speak, gathering herself. But Aashi did not push the matter. Her eyes stayed on Anshvi, calm and understanding. There was something different in her expression, something that only a mother would recognise. Not the kind of thing that would make her cry or make her composure crumble—but there was just something not quite right. “If you don’t mind me asking you,” Aashi said softly, her tone warm rather than inquisitive, “what are you looking for? Maybe we can help you with that?” Anshvi hesitated. She wavered for a second, on what to reveal and what to hold back. Anshvi hesitated for a moment, her thoughts wavering—but then she steadied herself. For the past four years, they had treated her like their own. There was no reason to hide it from them. “It’s… a Spirit Rudraksha bracelet,” she said quietly. Aashi’s gaze softened further. She could hear it—the slight strain in Anshvi’s voice, the faint crack beneath the calm surface. It was the kind of voice one carried when trying to keep somethin