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“Why did you turn down my offer?” a familiar female voice called out to Joshua as he was leaving the waiting room.
Joshua stopped but didn’t bother turning his head.
“I don’t want to play puppet or act on someone else’s orders anymore,” he said.
The conviction in his voice made Lilith hesitate.
“My life belongs to me. No one can get in my way, whether it’s my father, the Emperor… or you.”
Lilith boggled at him, shocked. The obvious implication was that he hated upstarts. If she had heard this from any other person, Lilith would be snorting in anger. Coming from Joshua, though, she felt something very different.
When I’d heard he left the Agnus Duchy, I thought he was kicked out… but maybe he… Lilith blinked. She was confident but not the type to show off.
“Don’t worry about the Lion King. He knows he can’t run his mouth when I’m around… and if he does, I can handle him.”
Lilith jumped like a startled rabbit.
“It’s the same as when I told you about being king. I know how to handle myself—an entire city is not a problem,” Joshua assured her. “I’ll show you—no, I’ll show them—I can do it without resorting to petty tricks.”
“You…”
“You care about them a lot. I actually feel… genuinely envious right now.”
Lilith smiled gently, and her mysterious silver eyes sparkled with an innocent light.
“Okay. I’ll tell you everything I know, including about the Pontiers and the Mercenary King. But before that, answer me this.” She stepped closer to Joshua. “Can I be your friend?”
“…Friend…?” Joshua suddenly laughed. I’m getting more and more of these “friends” in this life. How very amusing. “Well… a friend is fine, as long as it’s not a wife or soul mate.”
“Being friends is enough for me.” Lilith beamed. “I’ve never felt like this before. You hurt my pride—I’ll let you go this time, but I still seek a partnership.” Her smile turned mischievous. “We’re friends, but we’re also business partners. I need something from you. Not collateral, but… a token of our deal.”
“A token?” Joshua tilted his head.
“Yes, that’s it.” Lilith’s grin stretched from ear to ear as she leaned closer to him.
Soon enough, they were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
A temporary tent was set up on one side of the colosseum. By the time the Finals were over, there were easily more than a thousand people standing in front of that tent. That is people who bet on Joshua vs. Ulabis. The real gamblers.
The important thing to notice was that most of them looked like they’d given up on life.
“It’s all gone wrong. Damnit, damnit… I didn’t think the Prince would lose…”
“Who knew that a 15-year-old kid would win this year?”
“By the way, do you think he’s really fifteen? With how he looks and how he fights, I can’t believe it. It doesn’t even matter whose child he is, but he’s even on par with the Duke Agnus.”
“Damn, why did this happen? My wife is going to kick me out! I lost a whole year’s worth of money in this Battle!”
“That’s what you get for misreading the game. Well, I guess that’s fate.”
People complained and made noise; the ones who didn’t have enough money to make up for what they lost had to swallow their regrets and laugh.
“This is fun. How novel. Betting on the underdog is the best way to bet.”
“You look so happy, Mister.” Iceline shook her head at Akshuler’s happy face.
“People should be honest about their feelings. Why don’t you tell him how you feel about him now?”
“Don’t mock me.” Iceline turned her head, but she was so used to it that her expression didn’t change.
“Heh… By the way…” A small grin danced on Akshuler lips as he looked out the tent.
A skinny man looked up from where he was working an abacus. Behind him were piles of jewels, pouches of gold, and a variety of other valuables.
“Mr. Akshuler’s winnings are… Since you bet 12 times against the odds, your winnings are about 36,000 gold.”
“Hah—!”
The people around him looked envious, but Akshuler was nursing his regrets.
“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve dipped way deep into my emergency funds. 3,000 gold multiplied by twelve, but what a shame!”
Even when their nets were bursting with fish, people always wanted more. That didn’t make Akshuler less deserving of a smack on the head.
“Can I pay you in continental coin? If it’s too much trouble to carry, you can use a Reinhardt-guaranteed note of credit—”
Akshuler shook his head, cutting the man off. Cash was the best way to get your payout; the feeling of holding all that gold was beyond explanation.
“No problem. All in gold.”
“Oh, okay. I see.” In short order, the thin man offered Akshuler a hefty leather patch. “Continental coins are 100 gold each. This pouch contains 360 if you care to count—”
Akshuler weighed the pouch in his hand and grinned. “Exactly. Thank you.”
The skinny man’s poker face broke for a moment, but only just.
“Please come again.” His taciturn expression was back as he bowed to Akshuler.
“Your turn, Iceline.”
Akshuler realized everyone had gone silent and looked around, confused. Even Iceline was frozen.
“Iceline?”
“Excuse me.” Iceline quietly raised her finger. “What was that girl’s name?”
A tall, slender beauty was approaching, accompanied by three men. She stood out. Men were particularly drawn to the curves of her body, but all aspects of the silver-haired, silver-eyed mysterious beauty were jaw-droppingly captivating.
Lilith pushed through the silent crowd toward Akshuler and Iceline. For a moment, she seemed to have a pair of devilish horns poking out of her hair, but then she stopped and smiled familiarly at them.
“We haven’t seen each other in a long time. Ah, congratulations on taking over the whole continent, Mr. Akshuler!”
Akshuler came to his senses and scratched his head. “With such beauty…”
“What?” The silver-haired woman turned to look at him.
Akshuler looked at Iceline for a moment and then shook his head. “No, rather, what brings the best swordswoman on the continent to a place like this? I hope you’re here to gamble rather than try something stupid—”
“Well… Why wouldn’t I come to a place like this?”
“I know what Lilith Aphrodite is like, and this ain’t it.”
Iceline’s eyes twitched as the other woman’s name was revealed. Iceline had been suspicious from the moment she laid eyes on Lilith. They’d never met, being from different countries, but Lilith was too well-known not to know her name. Whatever field you put her in, she always rose to the top. Even in Avalon, they said she was as beautiful as she was powerful.
This woman… Iceline’s blue eyes gleamed under the hood of her robe. Unlike Iceline, Lilith walked with her face boldly uncovered. Iceline had seen many famous people in Reinhardt, but never a woman her age.
Their eyes met for a moment.
“Hmm…” Lilith looked at Iceline and let out an odd snort, and smiled. “Actually… Yes. I can’t say I don’t enjoy gambling, but I’m more interested in something else.”
“Something else?”
Lilith nodded. “It’s my boyfriend’s victory. Shouldn’t I be cheering for him in any way I can?”
“What?!” Iceline reeled.
“Boyfriend?” Akshuler gaped. “Boyfriend—you mean Joshua?” The big mercenary struggled to wrap his head around it.
However, it couldn’t be Prince Ulabis—he was twice as old as Joshua and already married.
It wasn’t impossible for Lilith to become Joshua’s paramour, but Akshuler just couldn’t imagine it. He knew how proud she was.
Iceline stared at her oddly.
“Yes? So what?” Lilith pirouetted, basking in the attention she was getting.
The ~~bitch~~ girl was smiling.