Chapter 166: Bearable
"Your queen on the second move?" Caius asked with narrowed eyes.
Rose nodded. It was the exact play Caius had done in their last game the night before, and he had used the queen after moving the pawn out of the way in the entirety of the game and had won.
"Yes," she said.
"Hmm, I see. Then I’ll put a handicap on myself. I won’t use my queen no matter what."
Rose narrowed her eyes. This wasn’t useful to her. It was literally her second day playing chess. Yet here he was, acting like he was giving her the best deal ever.
Rose nodded when she noticed he was looking at her expectantly. "Thank you, Your Majesty," she forced herself to say, even though it felt like chewing glass.
He moved a piece, choosing a pawn. Rose’s expression faltered—something told her she already knew how this would go, and she was right. At the end of that round, she did manage to take a few of his pieces, but she lost shamelessly. He took most of her pieces before finally taking her king, almost like he was toying with her.
"Do you even remember the rules?" he asked at the end of the game. "You play like a child."
Rose heard something snap—a loud sound, almost like someone broke a branch in two. "Your Majesty seems a little too proud about ’is wins. You ’ave years of experience, and I, just two days. In some way, you can say I play like a child, and it is expected that I will make mistakes."
Rose wasn’t shocked by her words, but the crown prince was visibly taken aback. She braced herself for his retaliation to her words, but she was tired of his snarky remarks. If he thought she was too stupid to play with, he didn’t have to do this. At this point, she’d rather strip and be done than have to deal with his constant mockery.