Free Web NovelChapter 33: The Fastest Way to Lose Money
The Partner Challenge was a mistake.
Kael knew it.
Seraphina knew it.
The announcer definitely didn’t know it.
Which was why the competition continued.
Teams filled the square.
Some looked confident.
Some looked nervous.
One team appeared to be arguing about directions before the event had even started.
A strong start.
Seraphina stretched her arms.
Then her legs.
Then somehow her neck.
Then she stretched again.
Kael watched.
"Have you ever done this before?"
"No."
"Then why are you stretching?"
"It feels professional." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Unfortunately, that made sense.
The announcer raised his hand.
"First round!"
The crowd cheered.
A large wooden puzzle was carried onto the stage.
Teams immediately rushed forward.
Seraphina stared.
Then looked at Kael.
Then looked at the puzzle.
Then back at Kael.
"I have excellent news."
"No."
"I’ve identified our strongest member."
"It’s me."
"It’s you."
At least they agreed.
The challenge began.
Most teams immediately started working.
Pieces moved.
People shouted ideas.
Strategies formed.
Meanwhile Seraphina picked up one piece.
Turned it upside down.
Then sideways.
Then upside down again.
A child watching nearby frowned.
"I think it goes there."
The child pointed.
The child was correct.
Seraphina looked offended.
"Why are children so talented?"
Kael took the piece from her.
"Because they’re helping."
Rude.
A few minutes later their team somehow qualified for the next round.
Mostly because Kael existed.
Seraphina accepted credit anyway.
The second challenge involved carrying weighted crates through an obstacle course.
This sounded much worse.
Kael expected disaster.
The crowd expected disaster.
Seraphina expected greatness.
Only one group was correct.
The horn sounded.
Competitors rushed forward.
Kael grabbed a crate.
Lifted it.
Started running.
Then stopped.
Because Seraphina had already picked up two.
One under each arm.
And was casually jogging.
Silence followed.
Several competitors stopped.
A judge blinked.
Then blinked again.
One crate alone was supposed to be difficult.
Two definitely weren’t.
Seraphina noticed everyone staring.
"What?"
Nobody answered.
A reasonable decision.
Kael immediately stepped forward.
"She’s been training."
A lie.
A terrible lie.
A lie nobody believed.
But it was the only one available.
The obstacle course ended.
Their team qualified again.
The judges looked concerned.
Kael looked concerned.
Seraphina looked proud.
Three very different emotions.
The final challenge was announced shortly before sunset.
The prize pouch was displayed.
A beautiful pouch.
A magnificent pouch.
A life-changing pouch.
At least according to Seraphina.
Then the announcer explained the final event.
And everything changed.
"Teams will bid."
The crowd became confused.
The announcer smiled.
"Using tokens earned from previous rounds."
Oh no.
Seraphina loved bidding.
She had never done it before.
But she loved it immediately.
The announcer continued.
"Each item has hidden value."
Even worse.
Seraphina loved hidden value.
Kael felt a headache forming.
A familiar one.
The kind specifically created by Seraphina.
The event began.
Item after item appeared.
Old jewelry.
Strange artifacts.
Rare materials.
Mystery boxes.
Most competitors thought carefully.
Seraphina did not.
"Twenty!"
"That’s all our tokens."
"I know."
"You don’t know what’s inside."
"That’s the exciting part."
That was not the exciting part.
That was the dangerous part.
The box was opened.
Inside sat three decorative spoons.
Silence.
A painful silence.
Seraphina stared.
The spoons stared back.
Nobody won.
The next round began.
And somehow things became worse.
By the end of the event—
Every token was gone.
Every single one.
The competition ended.
They didn’t place.
They didn’t win.
They didn’t even come close.
They had traded potential prize money for:
- three decorative spoons,
- a cracked compass,
- a ceramic frog,
- and a hat that was somehow smaller than Seraphina’s head.
The walk back to the inn was quiet.
Not because Kael was calm.
Because he was deciding which disappointment to address first.
Seraphina carried the ceramic frog.
Defensively.
Like a mother protecting her child.
Finally Kael spoke.
"You spent all our tokens."
"It wasn’t all of them."
"It was."
"Most of them."
"It was all of them."
A fair point.
Seraphina looked down at the frog.
Then held it up.
"Counterargument."
"There is no counterargument."
"Look at him."
"It is a frog."
"A distinguished frog."
"It is ceramic."
"A distinguished ceramic frog."
Kael accelerated his walking speed.
The town lights glowed ahead.
Festival music drifted through the evening air.
The day was ending.
Unfortunately, Seraphina wasn’t.
She suddenly stopped.
Completely stopped.
In the middle of the road.
Kael turned.
"What now?"
Seraphina was staring at a clothing stall.
Not casually.
Not normally
Staring.
Like she’d seen a ghost.
Or an enemy.
Or a ghost enemy.
A dress hung near the front.
Simple.
Elegant.
Blue.
Nothing unusual.
Yet Seraphina couldn’t stop looking at it.
A strange feeling appeared.
Familiar.
Distant.
A memory.
A room.
Bright lights.
A phone screen.
Hundreds of outfit sketches.
Fashion videos.
Saved designs.
Dreams she never followed.
Another memory surfaced.
Someone asking:
«"Why don’t you study fashion?"» freewebnσvel.cѳm
Then another voice:
«"You should pick something stable."»
Technology.
Computers.
Programming.
Safer choices.
Smarter choices.
The memories vanished.
Leaving only the feeling behind.
Seraphina blinked.
Then blinked again.
Kael noticed immediately.
Something had changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough
"What happened?"
She looked at the stall.
Then at him.
Then back at the stall.
A slow smile appeared.
One Kael had never seen before.
Not villainous.
Not dramatic.
Not chaotic.
Inspired.
Which was somehow more terrifying.
"I remembered something."
Kael’s survival instincts activated immediately.
"What."
"I used to have a dream."
That answer surprised him.
Because Seraphina almost never talked about dreams.
She talked about plans.
Schemes.
Ideas.
Complaints.
Not dreams.
The stall owner glanced over curiously.
Seraphina stepped closer to the clothes.
Studying every detail.
Every stitch.
Every pattern.
Then she pointed dramatically.
"Kael."
He sighed.
Not because he was tired.
Because he already knew.
A new disaster had been born.
"We’re leaving town tomorrow."
"Yes."
"We don’t have much money."
"Correct."
"We need income."
"Very correct."
Her smile widened.
"I have an idea."
Kael closed his eyes.
The last idea had resulted in decorative spoons.
This did not inspire confidence.
But when he opened his eyes again—
Seraphina was still looking at the clothing stall.
Still smiling.
Like she’d just remembered a piece of herself she’d forgotten.
The clothing stall owner was starting to get nervous.
Not because Seraphina was causing trouble.
Yet.
Just because she had been staring at the same dress for an uncomfortable amount of time.
People usually looked.
Maybe touched the fabric.
Then either bought something or left.
Seraphina had entered a fourth stage.
She was thinking.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
The stall owner had seen that expression before.
Usually right before customers tried reinventing fashion.
The results were rarely encouraging.
"Miss?"
Seraphina pointed at the dress.
"Who made this?"
The man blinked.
"My wife."
"Oh."
That was unexpected.
The stall owner pointed toward the back.
A woman sat beneath a lantern sewing another garment.
Focused.
Calm.
Completely unaware that Seraphina had just remembered an entire forgotten dream because of her existence.
The woman looked up.
Their eyes met.
The woman smiled politely.
Seraphina immediately smiled back.
Then marched over.
Kael followed.
Mostly because experience had taught him that allowing Seraphina to approach strangers alone often produced stories.
Interesting stories.
Usually expensive stories.
"Did you really make this?"
The woman nodded.
"I did."
"It’s beautiful."
The woman looked surprised.
Then pleased.
"Thank you."
"I mean it."
For once there wasn’t any exaggeration.
No joke.
No dramatic performance.
The stitching was genuinely impressive.
The woman looked down at her work.
"It’s nothing special."
Seraphina frowned.
That answer irritated her for reasons she couldn’t explain.
"No."
The woman blinked.
"No?"
"It is special."
A small silence followed.
The woman looked genuinely confused.
As if she wasn’t used to hearing that.
Seraphina suddenly remembered something.
A late night.
A sketchbook.
A phone screen glowing in darkness.
Fashion videos.
Designs.
Ideas.
Dreams.
Dreams she’d always pushed aside.
Not because she disliked them.
Because life got in the way.
Study first.
Career first.
Responsibilities first.
The dream had slowly become smaller.
Then quieter.
Then forgotten.
Until now.
The woman smiled.
"You sound very passionate."
The words escaped before Seraphina could stop them.
"I wanted to make clothes once."
Kael looked at her.
Actually looked at her.
Surprised.
Because he’d never heard that before.
Not even once.
Seraphina realized that.
Then laughed awkwardly.
"Well."
She scratched her cheek.
"I suppose I never mentioned it."
"You suppose?"
Kael asked.
"You’ve known me for years."
"Exactly."
A fair point.
The woman laughed softly.
"What happened?"
The question wasn’t invasive.
Just curious.
Seraphina thought about it.
Then shrugged.
"Life happened."
The woman nodded immediately.
Like she understood.
Maybe she did.
People gave up dreams every day.
Not because they wanted to.
Because they had to.
The conversation might have ended there.
But Seraphina noticed something.
A stack of unsold clothes.
Lots of them.
Too many.
She pointed.
"Those aren’t selling?"
The woman’s smile weakened.
"A little."
Translation:
Not really.
The stall owner suddenly found a nearby wall fascinating.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Seraphina looked closer.
The clothes weren’t bad.
Actually they were good.
The quality was obvious.
Then why weren’t people buying?
A thought appeared.
Then another.
Then several.
Kael saw the process happening.
His expression immediately became concerned.
"What."
"I have an idea."
Of course she did.
The woman looked interested.
The husband looked terrified.
Two very different reactions.
Seraphina pointed dramatically at a dark green coat hanging near the back.
"May I borrow that?"
The couple exchanged glances.
Then shrugged.
A few minutes later—
The festival gained a new problem.
Seraphina emerged from behind a screen.
Wearing the coat.
The square went strangely quiet.
Not completely.
Just enough.
People noticed.
The coat fit surprisingly well.
The design suddenly looked different.
Stylish.
Elegant.
Confident.
Several girls nearby immediately turned.
Then looked again.
Then whispered to each other.
The wife blinked.
The husband blinked.
Kael blinked.
Seraphina spun dramatically.
The coat flared behind her.
She pointed toward the sky for absolutely no reason.
"I have become fashion."
"No."
Kael said.
"Yes."
"No."
"Look."
Unfortunately, she had a point.
People were looking.
Actually looking.
Not at the coat.
At her.
Then at the coat.
Then back at her.
A dangerous cycle had begun.
A girl approached hesitantly.
"Excuse me."
Seraphina immediately turned.
The girl looked nervous.
"Where did you buy that?"
Silence.
Then Seraphina slowly smiled.
The smile of somebody discovering a business opportunity.
Kael immediately recognized it.
And immediately regretted recognizing it.
Because history had proven one thing.
Whenever Seraphina discovered a business opportunity—
Someone suffered.
Usually Kael.
