Free Web NovelChapter 34: The Fatal Question
Around the circular playing table fixed in the center of the pavilion’s salon overlooking the beach, the scene was boiling with hidden tension. Cain, Lucy disguised as Maxi, Amelia, and Roselina... the four sat facing one another, holding the magical playing cards while the atmosphere was charged with mutual glances that practically generated sparks in the air.
"I will start playing first!"
Amelia pointed to herself with feigned, childish lightness and threw her first card onto the table to open the round.
A sharp, cunning smile formed on Roselina’s lips, and she responded to Amelia’s card immediately with an offensive move. It was completely obvious that she was enjoying the ecstasy of victory and trying to display her skills, saying arrogantly,
"Try to learn from your aunt, little one, because experience always makes the difference!"
Cain was deeply resentful inside at his sister’s reckless behavior, as she was trying to bully and display her power over his little daughter in the very first turn. The paternal instinct mixed with pride ignited within him, so he decided to teach Roselina manners immediately and make her taste the bitterness of defeat. Cain plunged with all his might into this round, forcing two magical cards at once while raising the risk and the bet in the game!
Cain’s plan was clever and well-crafted. He deliberately pushed these two cards to trap Roselina in his snare, artfully luring her to think he was passing through a position of weakness before completely decimating her cards.
But it was time for Lucy, disguised as Maxie, to lay her cards upon the table. After thinking for a moment, a mischievous and mysterious smile formed on her face, and she suddenly dropped a powerful counter-card that completely annihilated Cain’s strategy and ruined his trap! freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Cain’s features tightened and his expressions worsened due to Lucy’s unexpected move, which ruined the military maneuver he had precisely planned to break his sister’s pride. But he took a deep breath since he was still at the heart of the game, holding three powerful cards after throwing two previously; his remaining cards were the King, the Queen, and a number ten card.
A brilliant tactical idea for the next move crossed his mind, and he gave it an exciting name in his head: "The Witches’ Maneuver."
This time it was Amelia’s turn. The child Empress noticed with her sharp eyes the aura of tension and light magical pressure that began to form and suffocate the table from the very first round.
Amelia sighed in her mind, thinking, ’Isn’t this exaggerated and ridiculous?’
As a young child now, she was supposed in a normal scenario to play standard games that children play in good faith, losing silently and meekly without drawing attention.
In fact, out of pure acting, she deliberately held her cards in a wrong, clumsy, and exposed manner so that anyone sitting beside her could clearly see what cards she carried! But Amelia, after seeing the scale of the challenge and the fierce psychological conflict resembling military battles happening on the table from the first throw, felt her imperial pride provoked.
She decided there was no room for fooling around and that she must play with absolute seriousness! She gripped her cards tightly, focused her consciousness, and threw two powerful cards this time to flip the calculations, while Cain threw one card cautiously and his sister Roselina responded with two.
The situation became highly complex and entangled on the table. The magical calculations of the cards now dictated that whoever possessed the number six card in their hand could settle the round and win completely!
Cain reviewed the cards in his mind; the number six card was certainly not in his hand. If Roselina had it, she would have declared her victory and screamed boastfully seconds ago, and he knew his daughter Amelia’s exposed cards and it wasn’t with her either. Therefore, by absolute elimination and certainty, this winning card could not be with anyone else at the table except... Lucy!
Lucy could truly win this round with absolute ease and crush everyone beneath her feet right now. Cain surrendered internally and abandoned "The Witches’ Maneuver" since he needed a cosmic miracle to survive, such as Lucy’s hand relaxing to throw the two worst cards in her hand instead of the towering winning number six card.
However, the unexpected occurred!
Lucy said in a calm tone, her eyes gleaming with gentleness, "Hmm... I think I will play these two cards..."
Lucy dropped her losing, weak cards onto the table! This happened amidst the utter dumbfounding of Amelia and Roselina, who caught their breath in shock, wondering how Maxi could make such a fatal mistake. Roselina threw her cards resentfully onto the table, declaring her surrender, and Amelia followed by throwing her cards as well, completely giving up.
Without uttering a word or demanding anything in return, Lucy had paved the actual path of victory for Cain, whose achievement of win depended only on dropping the King card resting in his hand!
Roselina erupted in anger and cursed her brother’s luck, saying in sheer annoyance, "Damn this legendary luck of yours, Cain! How do you always escape?"
But Cain was not listening to his sister. Instead, he was staring in bewilderment at Lucy, who smiled at him with extreme softness from beneath her Maxie disguise.
Cain did not comprehend the real reason behind her sacrificing her assured victory for his sake, and his mind was still racing to analyze the situation, wondering why she simply paved the win for him without hesitation, and if this was a subtle signal of some kind.
When his eyes met hers again, Cain did not know what to do in this situation.
He immediately made his definitive decision with absolute chivalry; he extended his hand and threw the weak Queen card instead of the King! Amelia was shocked and Roselina’s eyes widened in bewilderment at this bizarre suicide.
Cain intentionally made himself lose without any shame, saying in a calm, feigned tone,
"Oh... my apologies, I believe I threw the wrong card due to my lack of focus. Therefore, there is no longer a way out; the winner of this round is definitely Lady Maxie."
Lucy was stunned by Cain’s action, and utter wonder and bewilderment consumed her.
The crushing victory was simply before him, and he could have bragged about winning, yet he abandoned his pride and majesty before his sister for her sake! He did it to protect her from losing and grant her the victory!
This action was grand... extremely grand in her eyes! At that moment, Lucy felt a warm, beautiful sensation, filled with obsession and affection, flooding her heartbeat. Trying to conceal her overwhelming happiness through the altered voice of Maxi, Lucy said in a confused, faint tone,
"Well... I am the winner then.. that is wonderful... haha."
The perceptive Roselina and the intelligent Amelia noticed this strange exchange.
After several consecutive rounds passed, the game transformed into something resembling a repeated joke! In every single round, Lucy tried through all methods and magical twists to push Cain toward victory, but Cain would return at the last moment to make himself lose in a stupid and blatant manner, gifting the victory to "Maxi"!
This exposed collusion triggered Roselina’s intense fury, and her blood pressure rose due to the pregnancy hormones. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
She threw her cards violently onto the table after this farcical scene repeated for seven consecutive rounds without change! Were the two of them even trying to hide their feelings or respect the presence of the other players? Cain and Lucy acted as though they were playing alone in this universe, their eyes speaking a language that no one else understood.
Although the situation seemed funny and ridiculous, Roselina suddenly felt a strange tightening in her chest.
Powerful doubts and a suspicious feeling arose in her mind, stemming from the terrifying physical and spiritual harmony and affinity between her dry brother Cain and this maid or assistant called Maxi!
Roselina had not trained herself to restrain her tongue. Driven by her curiosity and hormones, she suddenly asked in a sharp, investigative tone that cut off Lucy’s faint laughs,
"If I am not being too intrusive or overly observant... are you, Lady Maxie... actually Amelia’s real mother?"
Roselina asked her question with serious features because she saw a magnificent, deep kind of family and spiritual affinity that a "maid" could never possess toward her master and his daughter under any circumstances!
However, the moment the question left Roselina’s mouth, the nature of the room changed in a fraction of a second!
Cain turned toward his sister and looked at her with a single sharp, dark glance filled with terrifying, genuine promise that injected a catastrophic horror into Roselina’s heart and made her limbs tremble! The aura of playing vanished, the air froze in their chests, and the table went completely silent in speech and movement.
Cain realized that this specific question before Lucy could open the gates of hell and trigger doubts that would annihilate everyone!
