"Good evening, Young master Damien," the man bowed his head. His blonde hair that had been resting on his forehead moved away from his forehead as he bent his head to stick back when he raised his head to meet Damien's eyes. 

"Evening, Robarte," Damien greeted back. Penny who had been close to the stranger named Robarte moved closer to Damien instead. 

"Is this your rumored slave?" asked the man, "You shouldn't let the slave out in the open, especially with no collar around the neck. It will make one think she's freely available for people," Penny tried to comprehend what the man said, and as she did, she felt it be disgusting. Though she tried to keep her thoughtful expressions to herself, the sourness on the meaning of his words was enough for the man to catch. 

"I would have but there is no need for her to have a collar in my own home. People should know it better than go taking an interest in things that don't belong to them. Only a shameless man or a woman could do that," Damien gave out a charming smile to the man who smiled back with a calm one. 

Damien knew Robarte. He had met and spoken to the man during several other past occasions, knowing the man to be someone who was gentle and polite. His words holding nothing less to the weight of the feather but that was all for the public to see. How many people had he come across until now who was something in the front where they wore the mask to deceive people? Plenty, enough that he could write the names in a single parchment.

His words weren't just for Robarte but also to the others who were eavesdropping on their conversation. 

"I am sure you have heard how much I spent on this one," Penny wondered why Damien was boasting the number of gold coins he actually didn't spend. 

"You buy an expensive item but don't decorate it?" Robarte tilted his head, his eyes taking a look at Penny who stood almost behind Damien after inching closer to him with every two seconds. 

"Why do you concern yourself with something that is not yours to worry and keep?" asked Damien without holding back his words. Penny didn't know why but she didn't like this man who was with them right now.

And it made her happy that Damien was wading the man off. By talking about people being shameless he had indirectly called the man here to be low enough to look at her when she was of no concern to him. 

Robarte brought his hand up which had the gla.s.s of wine it. Bringing the front of his wrist close to his wrist where he said, "I apologize but don't take me wrong. I was only wondering why you bought something expensive but didn't bother to present it well. What is the point of buying something if you can't present it? Don't you think what I say is right?" asked the blonde man, his red eyes staring at Damien who looked back at him with the same intensity. 

"Things that are brought for higher value don't need to be decorated. This girl is beautiful enough where she doesn't need expensive clothes to be bought and worn, adorning her as dumb doll-like others have," answered Damien cooly, the smile still on his lips, a grin raising up higher on his face, "I like my investment to be once than waste my money over and over again. Don't you agree?" he asked him back.

Hearing the words coming out from Damien's lips, Penny could feel the heat of embarra.s.sment that crept up from her neck to her cheeks. What was this stupid master of hers doing stating how she looked and comparing her with the other slaves.

He and she both knew that technically she wasn't a slave right now as like the others she didn't bear the mark of the establishment on her skin. If it weren't for the handover papers he had from the slave establishment which he had received after buying her. The parchment paper stated his owners.h.i.+p over her and if it weren't for that she would have been free to walk away. Or run away in her case but she didn't know where the paper was. When he had left her alone in the room, Penny had searched his room going through the things to find out where she could find it so that she could throw it in the fireplace of the room. 

But it wasn't Penny who had caught on to Damien's words about her as she stood behind him but also the other guests who were listening to him speaking to Robarte. 

The society they lived in was such were rumors and words spread out like wildfire in the forest. Most of them already knew about Damien not taking a liking to the slaves. 

Another thing was that a lot of vampires and humans knew the way Damien dealt when it came to the matter of money. For a pureblooded vampire who was thrifty, to spend money on a slave for five thousand gold coins was quite baffling to them. But it wasn't just that, but he had called his slave to be beautiful while putting the other slave owners down telling how they were trying to beautify their slaves as they weren't pretty enough.