The day of the match finally arrived.

I arrived at the gambling den in Pagrassium. But I didn’t know how to gamble. So, I had prepared something special. I arrived before Ulysses and signaled to Raphael.

“Is everything ready?”

“Of course, but… it’s quite a peculiar game. It seems rather barbaric…”

“What are you talking about? It’s so much fun when you play it while drinking.”

That’s assuming you have friends.

I had cut ties with all the people I used to call friends after they took advantage of me for money, so I was quite excited today. Ulysses wasn’t a friend, but I could play this game again after a long time.

Raphael asked worriedly.

“But are you sure about this? You might get hurt.”

“I won’t get hurt. I have it all planned.”

“…”

Raphael was four years older than me. Unsurprisingly, his expression soured.

We made small talk while waiting for Ulysses.

After some time, Ulysses finally arrived. I sharply pointed out his tardiness as he came in, sweating.

“Ten minutes late, still as lacking in manners as ever.”

“…There were circumstances.”

“Bullshit.”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Feigning innocence, I offered Ulysses a seat across from me. He asked, clearly displeased.

“So what game will settle this? If I win, you’ll hand over Dahlia’s Radiance without any fuss?”

“Of course. I won’t even take any money for it. But as I mentioned in the letter, there’s a condition. You have to stop bothering me no matter what I do from now on.”

“That’s easy.”

Ulysses scoffed confidently, and I couldn’t help but bark a sarcastic laugh with my arms crossed.

“Easy? I’ve told you many times to leave me alone. But did you?”

Ulysses seemed taken aback by my words.

Surely he should acknowledge that. I’ve told him countless times I had no interest in him, and he didn’t listen, which led to this mess.

Seeing my sharp expression, Ulysses clamped his mouth shut.

At least he remembered his actions. I sighed and got to the point.

“Alright, let’s sign the contract before we start the game.”

Ulysses glanced over the contract Raphael handed him. Seeing it was as I had stated, he signed it without issue.

I put one copy of the contract aside and brought out a box of cards.

“The first game is this.”

“Trump cards?”

Yes, but not ordinary cards. I opened the box, and Ulysses asked curiously.

“…Fruit pictures?”

These were not the typical visuals you’d find in a gambling den. I shamelessly shuffled the cards and placed a bell in the center.

“When you collect five matching fruits, ring the bell.”

Ever heard of Halli Galli?

Of course, I couldn’t use the name as is, so I gave it a new one.

Hand-slapping game, shortened to “hand game.”

Don’t criticize the name. I did my best.

Ding—

I rang the bell.

“Let’s start the game.”

<b>* * *</b>

Ding!

“Ouch!”

Ding!

“Ouch!”

I kept trying to ring the bell, but Ulysses always snatched the cards first. How could I possibly match his reflexes?

There was a reason I chose this as the first game.

‘To legally slap the Crown Prince’s hand.’

How many times had his nasty habit nearly gotten me beheaded? I prepared this game to hit his hand as much as I could.

So, those screams weren’t mine but Ulysses’.

Eventually, Ulysses exploded.

“Lady! Have you gone mad!? Why do you keep hitting my hand?”

“Oh, sorry? My reflexes are a bit slow, so I keep missing the bell?”

My face clearly showed no remorse.

Ulysses’ fury was written all over his face, and Raphael had to cover his mouth and bow his head to stifle his laughter.

Finally, I ran out of cards, and all the fruits matched.

Ding!

“Oh, too bad…”

“What’s too bad?”

“Losing the game.”

Without any major twists, Ulysses won. But judging by the swollen state of his hand, I had won in another way. My hand was unscathed, whereas Ulysses’ was severely swollen.

“…Did you lose on purpose?”

“I did my best.”

All my best efforts went into hitting Ulysses’ hand. Understanding my true intent, Raphael was on the verge of collapsing with laughter, but I moved on to the next game.

I took out the next board game tool Raphael had prepared.

“This is a game called ‘Kitty Ice Breaker.’”

Noticing the toy hammers before I could fully explain the rules, Ulysses recoiled, probably fearing more hand abuse.

“…Can’t we just play a normal card game?”

“I’m bad at card games.”

But I’m good at board games.

Ignoring the dumbfounded Ulysses, I explained the rules.

“You just break the ice blocks of the color indicated by the roulette. The person who makes the cat fall loses. Simple, right?”

This game required fine control, which is why I chose it.

“Since you won the last game, you start first.”

I smiled sweetly and offered Ulysses the first turn.

Spin. The first spin landed on blue.

“I just need to break the blue ice?”

“Yes, but if the cat falls…”

<i>Wham!</i> The cat shattered into pieces on the first strike. Ulysses looked at me sheepishly and asked.

“…Can we have a practice round?”

“No way.”

Thinking of our cat Geumhee made me even more annoyed with Ulysses.

His strength was no joke. I knew from having my wrist grabbed multiple times, but I didn’t expect the game to end in one turn.

Thanks to that, I didn’t even get to touch the hammer.

“Let’s clean up.”

Raphael, my diligent helper for the day, cleared the board quickly. Actually, he delegated it to a real servant.

In any case, the current score between me and Ulysses was 50/50. The final game would decide the winner.

I excitedly pulled out the last tool. This was another game I could no longer play after losing all my friends.

“The last game is land grabbing.”

Otherwise known as Monopoly.

“Land grabbing?”

Ulysses frowned at another unfamiliar game. I watched Raphael set up the board and explained.

“It’s a dice game.”

You had to use your brain a bit, but it was mostly a game of luck.

I could have chosen a game I was confident in, but there was a reason I chose a game of chance.

Whether I won or lost, I had nothing to lose. My goal was to drive Ulysses away, not to win the game.

Giving up Dahlia’s Radiance was a drawback, but since it was a fake, it didn’t matter.

‘Even if he realizes it’s a fake, I was scammed, too. I’ll just play dumb.’

I refused to suffer any losses. I had lived a life of losses in my past life; I wouldn’t live like that as an evil lady.

I smiled and took the dice in hand.

“Since I won the previous round, I’ll roll first.”

The dice rolled across the table.

Honestly, I thought this game would be a close one, but the result was unexpectedly…

“Ugh…”

“Act your age. The world of competition is harsh.”

I won.

By a landslide.

I couldn’t hide my joy and taunted Ulysses, who clenched his fists and trembled with anger.

“Lady, couldn’t you just sell it nicely!? Why do you keep meddling in these petty ways, claiming you don’t like me!”

“Why are you so upset? You agreed to the terms.”

I hadn’t expected Ulysses to keep his promise immediately, but this was ridiculously petty.

“…Ha.”

I hoped the backup Raphael had called would arrive soon, so I crossed my arms and laughed.

“Besides, do you think I wanted to get involved with you? And just because you have money, do I have to give up my purchase to you because you’re the Crown Prince?”

“Isn’t that excessive? Why did you have to take that gem?”

“Take it? I bought it at a premium! Why are you trying to buy what I want? Are you a stalker? Why do you always try to buy what I want?”

“Stalker?”

Someone interrupted our argument.

The backup finally arrived.

I had rented this entire gambling den for today.

Which meant it was just me, Raphael, and Ulysses.

The three of us turned to the familiar voice.

“Young Lady Hebe.”

Dahlia, her usually smiling face twisted in anger, scolded Ulysses.

“Your Highness, what’s this? Why are you being called a stalker by Lady Praviche?”

“Dahlia! How did you get here…”

“Answer my question first! Why are you meeting Lady Praviche?”

Dahlia was on the verge of tears. It wasn’t long ago that she was disappointed by the auction incident, and she couldn’t stand to be disappointed again. Ulysses, feeling wronged, protested.

“Isn’t the Marquess Celestian here, too! It’s not what you think, Dahlia!”

“Then what’s with the stalker comment? Could it be…!”

“No!”

Our childish argument quickly turned into a scene of love and war. I asked Raphael.

“Got any popcorn?”

“…I’ll get some.”

Is there no culture of watching fights while eating popcorn here?

Raphael looked at me as if I were insane but called a servant obediently.

It felt a bit off to be treated as insane by someone else in this crazy situation. Sometimes Raphael’s gaze toward me, Sundrium’s top beauty and villainess, felt a bit disrespectful.

Anyway, I soon had popcorn and watched the original couple’s fight.

“Fine, I’ll admit Your Highness’ heart isn’t elsewhere. But didn’t you say you weren’t going anywhere useless today? So why are you here? This is a gambling den!”

“T-there were circumstances!”

“Are you saying you came here to gamble over a silly gem with my name on it?”

“Gamble? No, I just…”

“Not only did you participate in an illegal auction, but now gambling, too! How can a future emperor behave like this…!”

Dahlia covered her mouth and stared at Ulysses with disgust. Realizing he might get dumped, Ulysses turned to me for help.

“It’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t gamble! Right, lady? Did we gamble just now?”

I munched on my popcorn and slowly rolled my eyes.

It really was a misunderstanding, but did I need to clear it up? After a long three-second consideration, I decided there was no need. I shrugged and mumbled.

“A bet is still gambling, isn’t it?”

“Lady!”

“See? It’s gambling!”

Dahlia’s voice rose. It was touching to see Dahlia, who usually only badmouthed me, raising her voice at Ulysses.

Raphael must have been busy while I was exchanging letters with Ulysses.

I whispered to Raphael.

“You’re amazing. You changed someone so quickly.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

Raphael and I simultaneously recalled Raphael’s arduous journey from a few days ago.