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Episode 23: Someone Is Back (I)
Cesare looked at Kiana in silence. Ragnac blinked, and also fixed his gaze on her.
The petite woman casually sat at the blackjack table and bet her chips.
She even looked more childish than usual, perhaps because she had a yellow lark with a checkered ribbon on her lap. However, it was quite impressive to see her proceeding with the game without hesitation.
Cesare’s eyes narrowed as well, not knowing Kiana would come here.
“…What is that game about?”
Ragnac, who knew nothing about card games, whispered.
Cesare explained the bare minimum.
“If the combined score of the card numbers is closer to 21 points, it’s a gamble to win.”
“How do you get the cards?”
“The dealer will give it to you at random until that deck is gone.”
It was then.
Kiana had been playing the game normally, including betting normally. But suddenly, she shoved a colossal amount of chips onto the table. Then she spoke in a clear and loud voice,
“I’ll bet everything on this.”
For a moment, everyone’s eyes focused on the blackjack table. It was such a great amount. Maybe the equivalent of the money going around this whole clubhouse.
Even if she was a princess of Prelai, that was no different than betting her entire fortune.
Even Cesare and Ragnac, who were about to face a big problem, held their breath.
“Now… Doesn’t Princess Kiana not know what card she gets?”
“Yes.”
“Gosh…”
Usually, one would bet before the dealer revealed the last card. So it was really a gamble.
To bet that much money on a game where you didn’t even know your cards…
Everyone was looking at Kiana like she was crazy.
In that serious atmosphere, Kiana opened the cards given by the dealer.
─➽⊰
The spy maid behind me looked like she was about to cry.
It was understandable. Before I came, I had scraped together my budget. And all that money was changed to chips at an illegal gambling house.
She almost fainted when after that, I sat down at the table casually.
I instructed Peep earlier, ‘I don’t want any noise, so pretend to be a doll’. Then, Peep didn’t even move.
In the meantime, she even gave advice to the spy maid.
<Don’t be too scared, this doesn’t mean anything else but turning into a gambler? Actually, that’s what it is.>
Anyway, I played game after game, betting a small amount of money each time. Still, I was watching closely as the dealer dealt cards from the deck.
And…
‘It’s now.’
When I was sure, I easily pushed all my chips onto the table.
“I’ll bet everything on this.”
I could feel the attention being drawn to me. Of course, since the amount of money I bet was really great.
While everyone was murmuring, I just laughed quietly.
“Well, then… We will open.”
After all the betting was over, the dealer opened the cards.
In an instant, the table was noisy.
“No, what is this?”
“Is, is it possible?”
“What kind of nonsense…”
Everyone who saw the results was amazed. I was the only one who remained calm.
The sum of my card numbers was 20.
It was closer to 21 than any other person’s cards at the table.
There was nothing unusual.
I got up from my seat with my usual expression, not agitated at all.
“Okay, I’ll end here. Spy, bring all the chips over.”
It was a truly enormous amount because others had to match my bet.
And although the spy maid was dumbfounded, she was diligently sweeping up the chips.
“One moment.”
One of the people at the table jumped up and got angry.
“This, isn’t there something?”
He seemed quite agitated for he accidentally spit as he rambled on.
“Does it make sense for a girl I’ve never seen before to come and play and then suddenly sweep it all away like this?”
I looked at my opponent, completely relaxed.
That’s right, someone like this should come out by now.
It couldn’t be described how good it felt when everything worked as expected.
So I answered with sincerity.
“This would have happened because it made sense, right?”
I shrugged at the middle-aged man.
Anyone could tell with a glance that he was drunk. Clearly, he was an alcoholic gambler. Still, I was polite as I was a courteous princess.
“Is there any reason why it doesn’t make sense? Why are you arguing about something that has already happened?”
“This, this is a trick! It’s a trick!”
Hmm.
Apparently, the middle-aged man seemed very comfortable with me. Then I should speak comfortably as well.
“Looks like you’re quite a gambler, to the extent that you even call me, who is wearing a mask, a ‘girl I’ve never seen before’…”
I scanned the man from head to toe.
He was big, and his hands were full of calluses; he probably held a sword for quite a bit. However, he must have lived dissolutely for a long time for his body was not taken care of at all.
‘He’s just an ordinary gambling addict.’
Thus, I advised with a sincere and warm heart.
“Saying it’s a trick when you’re not good at grasping cards? If it’s like that, I think you’d better just stop gambling here. Life will be folded.”
(TL/N: ‘folded’ as in ‘giving up’ or ‘lost’ ^^ Our Dr. Kiana is making betting puns now! Just what can she not do?)
“What, where? The blood on your head hasn’t even dried yet!”
[TL/N: a Korean idiom to say a person is too young and inexperienced to be doing something or acting a certain (usually rude/arrogant) way. The English equivalent will probably be ‘you’re still wet behind your ears’.]
“What and where, we’re at the gambling house. And no one should ever have blood on their head. Why are losers so talkative?”
“Hey! Do you know who I am, huh? Do you know where I used to be from!”
“How will I know, loser who is wearing a mask? I’m a current high-ranking noble, and I’m not interested in other people’s past? Why are you talking about gambling when you’ve lost? I don’t think the loser should do that.”
“You, I am…!”
“What? I can’t hear the voice of the loser well as the chips are rattling?”
“Really…!”
He jumped up and grabbed my wrist, which was holding the cards.
“You must have done something to the cards!”
With that momentum, the people at the other tables also began to murmur.
“Isn’t that a bit strange?”
“Yes. Suddenly, betting a lot of money…”
“Do you think it’s her first time here?”
‘Good, good. Keep thinking. The more controversy there is, the better.’
I calmly waited without retorting even as the middle-aged man squeezed my wrist.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere gradually became more and more ugly and violent. Finally, the person I was waiting for appeared.
“Ah, just a moment… Please calm down.”
The person who slipped over was a man with a smooth voice.
“Dear guest, violence is troublesome.”
The man removed the middle-aged man’s hand from my wrist and pulled him away from me. And he spoke in a soft voice akin to the flowing water.
“I am the owner of this place.”
A moment of silence passed.
The middle-aged man also hesitated.
“If there is a problem, of course our clubhouse should check it out.”
All eyes were on the owner of the clubhouse.
Absolutely. As no one else, but the owner himself appeared.
A man whose identity was shrouded in a veil, who appeared only when a really big problem arose.
Every night, the clubhouse was flooded with dark money.
Originally, the person who made the most money in a gambling house was not a gambler. It was the owner of the house. It was clear that he was amassing an enormous fortune here.
“Hmm, but…”
I quietly observed the owner.
The colorful mask he was wearing had a large designer logo engraved on it. It looked like it was personally commissioned and specially made.
Even the clothes were full of logos of famous luxury goods. And well-maintained, fine-grained blond hair was long and flowing.
“From our observation, it doesn’t seem like this lady is cheating. In fact, it’s obvious that she’s not good at cards.”
In the dreamy atmosphere, the owner spoke softly.
“It looks like she is new to the clubhouse, but it seems she has had beginner’s luck. Isn’t that the magic of gambling?”
The owner with a sturdy physique easily overpowered the middle-aged man and put him back in his seat. Then he turned his face towards me and said respectfully.
“Our house did lose a lot of money because of the lady. But we will accept it neatly.”