/
Radis took the chessboard and said in a weak tone.
“Yes, ask me however much you want. Isn’t that the prize of the winner?”
“Prize?”
“The loser can’t say anything back.”
A faint smile dawned upon Robert’s lips.
The one and only commander of the subjugation, Robert was like a carved golem.
But whenever he smiled like this, Radis would be reminded that he was actually a very handsome man.
‘What are you thinking right now?’
But soon, Radis’ eyes widened, and she turned her head away.
She was not Radis right now.
She was David Tilrod, the vice captain of the imperial subjugation squad.
As the unit leader of the expedition force, the only time for leisure that she used was whenever she helped relieve the captain’s tension for a little while.
Radis willed her voice to be lower before she spoke.
“Then ask me anything, Captain.”
Truth or dare.
It was the frequent bet, just as frequent of a bet meal duty and night duty was within the subjugation force.
Usually, most of the questions they’d ask each other were childish. ‘Were you the one who stole my canteen’s cork and chucked it at the mandragora plant?’ ‘Was it you who put your foot in my mouth last night?’ ‘Did you kiss Jane at the bar last night?’
At the precarious position of having to lie all the time, Radis never chose to answer the truth—she’d always go for the dare.
However, she had no choice since this was what she had bet in her game of chess with Robert.
She couldn’t possibly give her dinner duty or night duty to the captain.
“
Never mind.”
Fortunately, Robert never asked her a question.
Every time he did that, he just looked at Radis with gray eyes, resembling a rainy sky full of clouds.
As if he already knew, without having to hear the answer from her.
* * *
Radis declared.
“Checkmate.”
And, Yves, tearing his bangs out:
“You tricked me!”
“Marquis
 I didn’t know you’d be so bad at this.”
Radis commented, looking at a distant mountain out the window.
“Still though, I went easy on you.”
“Went easy?! Radis, how could you do this to me? You played me like a fool, you took all my pieces, tied me up and left me with no moves, cornered me, and then defeated me so disastrously!”
“Hm
 Hm, hm. The path to victory is often cold.”
Yves huffed angrily, then he went under his blanket and curled up in fetal position.
“Oh, what a cruel Lady. I surrender. Yes, I admit my defeat. Ask me anything. What are you curious about? The greatest secret of the marquisate that’s been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years? A hidden diamond mine? Loire’s hidden assets underground?”
Radis almost burst into laughter.
She placed one hand on Yves’ shoulder as he was all wrapped up in his blanket. Then, she asked.
“Why do you like the color black so much?”
Yves’ mouth gaped open.
It seemed like he wasn’t expecting this question at all.
“That
 You’re curious about that?”
Radis shrugged, pointedly looking at the black silk sheets, black curtains, and black tapestries on the walls.
“Wouldn’t it be weirder if I’m not curious?”
“Really? So you wanted to know
”
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”
“No, it’s not that I don’t want to.”
Yves scratched his head.
“I was just a little surprised because it’s the first time someone asked me about it. But, yeah, you must’ve been curious about it
 Alright, I’ll tell you.”
Yves took in a deep breath before he spoke again.
“It’s
 a beautiful story regarding my long-standing beloved.”
When Yves quickly started getting all sappy like that, Radis stood up in disgust.
“Uh-huh. Never mind. I’ve heard enough.”
“Wow, Radis! How could you? You’re the one who asked!”
Yves reacted with such a crestfallen expression that made it seem as though the sky had collapsed, and so Radis was forced to sit back down again.
Then, Yves went on to spout some more nonsense that was making her itch to jump right out of her seat.
“She’s
 an angel from heaven.”
“

”
“Hey, I’m not waxing poetic here, it’s the truth. I got lost in the woods, and with black wings, she descended from the heavens in front of me.”
“

”
“Can you stop making that face? I’m only here in front of you now because she saved me from dying at that time. I was just a kid back then. Don’t you know how scary it was for me? I had to experience such horrific things, enough to make you crazy. I can hardly remember what happened then. Anyway, the dark angel protected me.”
Yves had a pretty serious expression right now.
So it didn’t seem like he was pulling her leg.
Radis was forced to nod.