Chapter 91: When Did I Become a Bad Person
"Well... ah... I think I am the winner here..."
Albert said it in a tone he tried desperately to lace with confidence, while narrowing his dragon-like eyes, whose brilliance had gradually dimmed. He had barely finished this provocative declaration when a collective, mocking, and derisive scoff burst from the mouths of the three children sitting behind the table, tearing through the heavy silence of the room.
Albert didn’t care about their mockery. Instead, he continued with a desperate, childish argument
"Since Cathy carelessly threw her cards in a fit of rage, and one card fell on the wooden table while the other plummeted to the floor... this legally means, according to the rules of the game, that she only played one card. In other words, I win!"
Brandon was watching this futile dispute with a face contorted in annoyance. He was the only one trying to pull them out of the swamp of their delusions and ridiculous arguments, directing their attention toward the real crisis they had caused. Brandon sighed and said in a blaming tone, "Guys, enough fooling around! We need to go immediately and apologize to Cathy. She is outside crying her eyes out because of us!"
But Scott, instead of listening to Brandon’s voice of reason, was overcome by a strange streak of stubbornness. He turned to Albert, his eyes gleaming with blind defiance: "I see that I am the true and sole winner of this round! After all, Cathy’s card falling on the floor doesn’t mean it is completely out of bounds. Cards can fall by mistake, but that doesn’t negate their presence in the game. I am the winner, Albert, so don’t try to twist the rules in your favor."
Amelia stood watching the scene in utter bewilderment and shock. No one present could believe that these two children had turned into such utter cruelty and mutual coldness just because of a single round of cards! Their features had changed; they had become completely foreign people, truly bad people, as if they were mature men with noble, great goals in life, who had suddenly abandoned all their principles and lofty ideas just to satisfy a sick desire to prove who among them was better and smarter.
It was no longer just an innocent game for fun and entertainment; it had turned into a bone-crushing battlefield, after pride completely blinded their minds and selfishness flooded their hearts.
Scott was no ordinary child...
He was the son of an ancient family of military advisors who were once at the top of the political pyramid. However, due to the dark and tyrannical rule imposed by the disciples of the former Empress of the Starry Empire, his family was stripped of their positions. All their properties and wealth were confiscated, turning them overnight into mere commoners. Scott, who grew up as a son of luxury and prestige, suddenly found himself just a common child stripped of his ancient glory. He found no solace or safe haven except in these friends, who loved and embraced him because he possessed a brilliant mind capable of solving complex problems far beyond the age of a seven-year-old.
Scott wouldn’t admit it to himself, but Albert’s poisoned words touched the naked truth: he was indeed selfish! Deep down, he knew there were a thousand and one ways to achieve victory for the team without putting pressure on Cathy. Yet, he deliberately chose complex paths that would ultimately paint him as the "saving hero" and the mastermind, just to convince himself that he still deserved that appreciation and reverence he loved to see in his friends’ eyes.
Specifically, when he found a real opponent like Albert before him today—someone who matched his intelligence and even surpassed it at times—his latent instinct ignited, and he wanted to crush him at all costs to prove to his friends that he was the undisputed best.
But now, amidst this bleak silence, Scott looked at his trembling hands. A chill ran through his veins as he realized he had turned into a strange, monstrous person for the sake of a ridiculous card game... For a worthless game, he had made Cathy, who was the kindest and gentlest of his friends, leave the place weeping tears of oppression.
At that moment, Scott felt a heavy weight in his chest like a criminal, realizing that he had truly been a bad person and that his pride had almost ruined everything.
On the other side, Albert turned with eager looks toward Amelia, waiting for her to support him and praise his intelligence and desperate attempt to secure victory for them. But when his eyes met hers, he didn’t find the support he expected; instead, he found a gaze overflowing with fierce anger and profound disappointment.
Amelia said in a sharp voice, trembling with resentment, "Why are you doing all this, Albert?! You are doing this to make me win, aren’t you? But I don’t care about this damn victory! I wanted you to enjoy playing and have a good time, not to cause an innocent child to cry and break her heart... I am truly disappointed in you. I thought you were a kind, peaceful, and completely harmless child!"
Albert felt as if a dagger had pierced his chest. Something precious shattered deep inside his heart as he saw the look of revulsion in the eyes of the only person he cared about. He said in a broken, pleading tone, "No, Miss... please, it really is my fault... I just wanted to see you happy with the thrill of victory, so I played with all the strength I could muster..."
But Amelia didn’t even bother to look at him or listen to his excuses. She turned sharply and walked toward the door with hurried steps to catch up with Cathy. Before she could open the door, while Albert was stepping up behind her, his eyes welling with tears as he tried to follow and implore her, Amelia suddenly turned to him. She spoke in a low voice, sharp as a blade:
"You are a dragon descendant, aren’t you? Legendary dragon blood runs through your veins... and you cheat in games using your magical eyes. I had my suspicions from the start... but seeing this extraordinary intelligence you display, you must possess an uncanny cunning, even for dragon whelps themselves!"
When Amelia noticed the signs of sheer shock that paralyzed his movement and widened his eyes, she became absolutely certain that her suspicions were spot on, and that the boy was hiding a colossal secret.
Amelia rushed out of the room, while Albert dashed after her down the hallway, his voice choked and panicked: "Miss! Please listen to me... I am not a monster, I swear to you I am human! Please don’t leave me... I can fix everything, I will apologize to her, I will do anything!"
But Amelia, who was following the echo of Cathy’s intermittent sobs, ignored his pleas until she reached the grand main hall of Cathy’s family mansion. There, she saw little Cathy throwing herself into the arms of the old maid, weeping bitterly, while the maid gently patted her back, trying to comfort her and dry her tears.
The maid said in a tender tone, "My young little lady, your mother hasn’t returned from work yet... aren’t your friends in the room with you to play and have fun? What has made you cry like this?"
But Cathy shook her small head left and right in absolute refusal, saying through her sobs, "No... I don’t want to play with them! I want to see my mom and dad now... I want them by my side!"
The maid sighed with sorrow and said, "Young lady, you know very well that your parents are extremely busy at the moment with those intensive, urgent meetings in the scientific ministries... They are trying night and day to decipher the complex star-exploration technology that no one has been able to solve until now..."
Cathy burst into a stormy cry again and wailed, "But I want my mom and dad... Waaaaah!"
As Amelia observed this emotional and moving situation, her intellectual curiosity was piqued. She took a step toward the maid and asked in a calm tone, "Excuse me... but what exactly is the profession of Cathy’s parents?"
The maid turned toward Amelia, studying her appearance for a moment before replying with dignity, "They work in the highest department for deciphering magical formations and ciphers in the Empire... One of the great, complex technologies left behind by the tyrannical former Empress was the ’Star Exploration’ technique. The tyrant died leaving behind only half of the technology, and the other half remained an insoluble puzzle to everyone."
A light smile formed on Amelia’s lips, carrying a lot of underlying mockery, as she said, "Isn’t it ironic? The former Empress was supposed to be a mere parasite living off the sweat of her disciple’s brow and efforts. So... how can entire scientific ministries, with all their research, fail to decipher this technology to this very day?"
The maid was stunned, her features freezing upon hearing such a bold, unconventional question from a child Amelia’s age. She said with clear embarrassment, "Well... these are complex political matters concerning the high leadership and upper administration of the Empire. Surely there are reasons and circumstances we know nothing about..."
Amelia sighed deeply, deciding not to press further with her inquiries, realizing she wouldn’t get any useful or satisfying answers from this simple maid. She turned to her and said in a decisive tone, "Can you contact Cathy’s parents immediately now?"
The maid replied helplessly, "I cannot do that, little one, for they are in a place..."
Amelia interrupted her with absolute confidence, her eyes flashing with intelligence: "Just do it without hesitation... I know a single method and sentence that will make them drop everything in their hands and come running here."
The maid did not want to waste her precious time arguing with a child, so she said in a warning tone, "The young lady Cathy is allowed to call them only once as an extreme emergency, otherwise she will face severe punishment... I spoke with her mother just two hours ago, and now we are at the hour of dawn. They are buried under mountains of hard work and will not accept having their scientific solitude interrupted for any reason. If we call without a compelling cause, Lady Cathy will suffer a harsh penalty."
Cathy looked with tearful eyes toward Amelia. When she saw Amelia nodding to her with a look of absolute confidence and safety, the young girl took courage and began pressing the maid, begging her in every possible way and crying continuously.
In the end, under the weight of Cathy’s relentless pressure, the maid relented and gave in. She brought out the circular magical crystal dedicated to long-distance communication, saying as she adjusted its magical frequencies, "Remember well... it is just half a minute, no more. Do you understand?"
Amelia nodded in agreement. At that moment, the five children (Scott, Albert, Brandon, Hein, and Cathy) had gathered in the hall, their eyes all locked onto Amelia, waiting in anticipation for what would happen.
After seconds of ringing emanating from the magic crystal, the line connected, and the crystal lit up to reveal the image of Cathy’s mother. She looked utterly exhausted and weary, with the magical laboratory behind her in complete disarray. The mother spoke in a rushed, high-pressure tone, "Cathy, my sweetheart... I am at the peak of busyness right now, and we are facing a calculations dilemma. I will call you as soon as I finish this difficult round..."
But the mother did not hear her crying daughter’s voice. Instead, a completely different voice reached her ears—a calm, cold voice that carried an air of absolute knowledge. The mother looked through the crystal in sheer bewilderment to find a strange girl she had never seen before; a girl with night-black hair and stunning purple eyes leaning toward pink, saying with utter coldness and piercing composure:
"The structural solution to the cipher... is the correct response to the moon’s rotation in the eighth month."
At that exact moment, on the other side of the connection inside the sealed Imperial laboratory, when those specific, sudden words reached the ears of the father—who was standing behind his wife reviewing the papers—he froze in his tracks. His eyes widened in utter, dumbfounded shock, as if a lightning bolt of pure inspiration had struck his mind, illuminating all the dark corners they had failed to unravel for years!