Chapter 87: Let the Game Begin
On the other side, far away from the steaming and provocative atmosphere of [The Paradise of Pleasure]—where Cain lay paralyzed in Lucy’s clutches with his fate remaining unknown—the young princess, Amelia, was living in an entirely different world.
Amelia sat with a majestic, childlike poise, holding three playing cards in her tiny hand, while five other children clustered around the circular table. Among them was Albert, whose face beamed with delight and relief as he sat beside his friend amidst a group of new companions.
As for the other four children who had recently joined them, they were: Cathy, Hayne, Scott, and Brandon.
Thanks to her overwhelming imperial charisma—even though she wasn’t particularly social—Amelia had succeeded in convincing this tight-knit group to join what she dubbed [The Celestials Organization]. Amelia hadn’t done this in vain or out of a desire to show off; rather, her true motive stemmed from the kindness of her heart and her wish to secure her friend Albert’s future.
Amelia had thought: ’I will leave this place sooner or later and return with my father as soon as our training journey ends... If I leave him all alone, and he has to go to his school boasting that he is a member of a secret group consisting of only two people, he will inevitably face mockery and bullying from the other children, who will brand him a fool and an outcast.’
Therefore, she decided to leave him a legacy of friends before her departure.
Amelia did not know the reason behind her father Cain’s prolonged absence; over seventy minutes had passed since he had sent one of his subordinates (Marcus) to hand her a small magical bell, telling her that if she wished to leave, she only needed to ring it, and he would handle her transport to a nearby mansion designated for their stay. Although it was getting late, the fun was at its peak inside the house of Cathy—that gentle girl with pink hair and light freckles adorning her cheeks.
The six of them were currently playing Amelia’s absolute favorite game, [Magic Cards].
Brandon struck the table with his little fist, shouting in a childish protest, "Lady Amelia! This isn’t fair at all! You definitely have some magical trick that makes you win twenty consecutive times! What is your secret, huh?.. No matter, I now hold four extremely dangerous cards of the mass destruction class, all with numbers above ten! I won’t let you win this time!"
Brandon, a boy around Albert’s age with wide brown eyes and very short hair, was utterly baffled by his continuous losses. But the truth was as clear as day to any outside observer; everyone sitting around the table was an innocent child, and it was incredibly easy to read their expressions, which foolishly gave away the cards they held!
Even Cathy, who was trying to display cunning, was failing miserably. At one point, she would look at her cards, sighing affectedly, "Oh no... heavens, my cards are so terrible this round..."
Then she would immediately flash that clumsy smile that exposed her blatant lie, throwing down a highly powerful offensive card right after without any shame or strategy, discarding her winning trump before the round could even heat up!
Amelia sighed internally as she observed this childish gameplay. She truly missed those hellish, bone-crushing rounds she used to wage against her aunt, Roselina. For even though Amelia lived in the body of a child, Roselina used to play against her with absolute ferocity and ruthlessness, as if her entire life or destiny depended on that single round! Her aunt did not know the meaning of the word "blunder," and she never went easy on her.
Meanwhile, the twenty-first round ended with another resounding, sweeping victory for Amelia.
This time, however, Amelia noticed something deeply strange and suspicious that aroused her doubts. After twenty-one rounds, she realized that Albert had not thrown a single powerful combination of cards, even on the rare occasions she glimpsed elite-tier cards in his possession.
At first, she assumed it was due to his nature as a young child lacking the sufficient cunning to manage his hand, but the pattern repeated itself blatantly. Since Albert sat right next to her at the round table, she noticed that every time she happened to turn to look at him, he would move his hand in a strange way, or hold his cards at a tilted angle that made his strongest card visible directly to Amelia, while taking great care to hide it from the rest of the kids! Not only that, but whenever it was his turn to play, he would choose the worst possible placement to deliberately lose.
After all this evidence, it was no longer just clumsy childish movements. Amelia narrowed her eyes, directing a sharp glare at Albert, and called his name in a low voice: "Hey... Albert."
Albert turned to her, drawing his new cards in preparation for the twenty-second round: "What is it, Miss Amelia?"
She fixed him with her stern, imperial gaze and said, "You... are you trying to lose on purpose to pave the way for me to win?"
Albert froze in place, shock painting his features as he realized his clever plan had been completely exposed.
But as soon as the ears of the other children caught Amelia’s words, their tempers flared. Hayne shouted in deep annoyance, throwing down his cards: "Huh!.. That’s not fair! You two are definitely cooperating behind our backs so that we always lose!"
Brandon immediately backed him up, saying crossly: "Exactly! That’s the real reason behind our repeated losses to you!"
As for Scott, the quiet, soft-spoken boy who had been observing the situation with sharp, intelligent eyes the entire time, he finally decided to intervene after witnessing this manipulation. He looked at the two of them and said in a decisive tone: "Since you two are playing as a hidden team to make us lose, this game lacks fair competition. What do you guys think if the four of us ally together against Albert and Miss Amelia in the next round, and see who holds true supremacy?"
The eyes of the four children ignited with passion and enthusiasm, and they all agreed with defiant shouts, driven by their childish fury over twenty-one consecutive defeats!