After that evening, Hidelga became wary of Leon's presence. Her feelings are no doubt reciprocated even in a servant-master situation while they are with another woman who is totally obsessed with Leon.
Leon secured her.
They arrived in the city called Prime Meridian, which is 3,070 km away from the forgotten city. Leon doesn't want them to stay outside since it is not safe. So, knowing from the previous records of the empire. He strolled with the two women following behind him. They reach the illegally legal vast gambling site of the city. In the imperial records, this has been an existing site ever since, before the previous emperor founded the empire and it was a place of leisure for him. This was hypocritically raided yet intentionally preserved. It is impossible to dissolve it since high-ranking delegates invested and kept backing up this kind of business.
Who would have thought this would be useful now? They took a stop and he sat on an available seat where the previous player was dragged to be beaten. It was vain to go there with his wives yet he needs immediate money because the sun is going to set soon.
Men bigger in physique were around guarding and seemed snarling like predators hovering over their prey.
Ricka stooped closer to Leon and clung to his arm while he was seated, while Leon reached for Hidelga's cold hand. She was scared as well.
"You brought two pretty women; would you use them as a bet?" the owner asked.
"Shut your f*lthy mouth," he said.
The owner got pissed off but his expression changed, turning into a mischievous smirk. He called one of the best gamblers he had and told them to beat him until he was stripped off to poverty.
He took a golden pocket watch with diamonds embedded in the sides. It was a valuable item he owned.
The first set began. The ladies behind him were dumbfounded. He won and won again up until the next round.
"How amusing," Ricka muttered.
He was enjoying the game or rather, he was enjoying winning every game.
"YOU ARE CHEATING!!" His opponent stood up, sneering.
Leon chuckled. "You have to accept defeat; it is either you win or you lose, not you win or been cheated on," he stated logically.
"It was that lady," he pointed. Leon looks in Hidelga's direction, where the man is pointing.
"You are holding her hand all this time; she might have an eternal weapon," he claimed. "He had a sacred weapon of luck and fortune!" he announced to the crowd.
He shoved the ridiculous idea, "What the hell are you talking about?" His irritated glare was directly piercing on him. It made the man more insecure, convinced that he was cheated on, and desperate to turn around the situation.
"Don't you at least believe in lucky charm? Or are you an unfortunate, unattractive man?" he said, calmly holding back his annoyance towards the man.
"I want her. If I win, I'll take the two women with me," he said. This time he is more determined and scheming the perfect move to trick him into winning.
And he was finally ready to execute it. Leon was pissed off. He unleashed the whispering paradox and said, "I'll win."
The fate is already decided; the things in that place already know what order to follow to attain the desired outcome. The act is so desperate; that move is a fatal power of the whispering paradox. However, the outcome varies in the situation itself. He cannot say he can win if fate can never allow him to win but if the possibilities round up according to the scale bound in the morale of the heavens. It will be done.
Ricka's existence is very helpful in that situation. He did not vomit any blood.
And when the last card was released by the gambler. He let his triumphant card down the table.
"I won," he said and his opponent erupted in rage.
"You cheated," he exclaimed, pointing rudely at him and accusing him.
'Well, same as you, I cheated on a cheater.' Leon thought.
Leon stood up from the table and turned to the two women behind him. "Cover her," he instructed Ricka, wanting to protect Hidelga. Either way, the enemy won't be able to lay a finger on her but he wants her to conceal her sight so she won't see what he will do. He doesn't want her to know that he is a threader.
Ricka follows his command and he deals with them as usual with his weapon and with a sword. Is the whispering paradox's true form a sword? No, the whispering paradox is inside his body, wrapping around his heart. It was perfectly seated there, like the pacemaker and its Purkinje fibers.
They went into a small house that they could rent for the meantime, so they wouldn't have to stay on the streets.
"See, I am useful," Ricka stated as she peeked into the room while she left Hidelga in the kitchen cooking. She hovers around him. "You really have a reliable side, don't you?" she added, complimenting him while checking the room.
"What do you want?" Leon asked, hitting the main point.
"You have to admit that you need me; I am essential to you," she said. "I am the woman you need; she is the woman you want!".
"Say it! Admit it," she stated.
Meanwhile, Hidelga was lost in her thoughts: 'Leon was fighting the bad guys and all she heard was a few clangings of the sword and Leon uttering words like commands; then all of them were bodies on the ground and Ricka was never surprised or was never in doubt. Why?'
Speaking of Ricka, she noticed that she was not with her anymore. 'Did she go to the restroom?' she thought. The feeling of uneasiness wouldn't leave her, so she went to look for her. She found her inside the bedroom with Leon.
Both of them could sense her presence while she was eavesdropping. Ricka intentionally spouts facts. "You have to admit that you need me; she is just someone irrelevant. You can rely on me to serve you. She cannot give you anything more than bed service," Ricka stated. "I know who you are and the secrets that you've been keeping from her," she hit a small spot.
'Secrets that were hidden from me?' Hidelga thought. She strides slowly as she returns to the kitchen.
Ricka smirked, intentionally blurting words that might be misunderstood by Hidelga while Leon was watching her with her mischievous facial expression.
Leon, while seated on the bed, was releasing a dominating aura and with an authoritative voice, he rebuked her. "Shut the hell up, you st*p*d woman," he said.
Intimidated, Ricka was silenced and left the house at once.
Leon doesn't say anything to counter Ricka's words, even though he knows Hidelga is listening. He also has a hidden intent to let her know and be curious. He just doesn't want to reach the point where he will have a hard time making Hidelga understand.
He went to the kitchen to see Hidelga. She was fixing the plates. "Do you like the place?" he unusually asked. She was surprised yet continued preparing the table. "Yes, this is a beautiful place to stay for the meantime," she answered.
"I actually wonder why not an inn?" Hidelga asked, trying to create a topic and removing her mind from the main curiosity.
"Because I don't trust anyone preparing my meal aside from you," he said bluntly.
"Ah, I see," she was enlightened, and a little ease was felt on her chest. "I'm glad that I became a trusted servant," she uttered.
Leon snatched her; a few plates fell on the floor. Although her body was closely held against his frame, she was looking away.
"You were eavesdropping," he said. Hidelga was surprised. Thinking about whether she will deny it or not. "I-I'm sorry," she said.
"As I thought you would not dare lie in front of me," he said.
"You are too close," she said, pushing. "I thought you understood, I already told you," she added, reminding him of their conversation last night.
"Indeed, that's why you have to get used to it until you are ready. If I am going to wait for you without any effort of overcoming your fear, am I just waiting in vain?" he stated.
"I'm, sorr-" she was abrupt. "Stop apologizing," he said.
"You have changed a lot since we arrived here. What are you thinking?" he asked. Trying to see what is bothering her and also speculate her thoughts about him.
"I have a lot of questions and I don't know where to start," she said.
There was a pause at the moment as Leon took something out of his pocket. It was a small jewel. It was included in the things he gets out of winning the gambling earlier.
"He took a little wire and bent and swirled it until he cut it and cleaned it and put it on Hidelga's ring finger.
"You?" she muttered and turned speechless as she stared at the ring he made.
"I lived with my mother when I was a child. I often made her jewels, ornaments, and a lot of stuff," he said. "Ricka doesn't know this," he added.
Hidelga smiled. Well, do you think selling some of your craft is better than gambling?," she suggested out of a commoner's opinion. However, that can help them to have money to spend without getting into trouble. "I'll help you in selling it," she smiled.
That idea never crossed his mind ever again since he lost his mother and was transferred to the palace to be an assassin and a crown prince. He never needed to do such a task anymore; he have his palace craftsmen and eve his own threader craftsman; he also can buy anything he wanted with the palace funds. He doesn't need to please anyone by giving him his own-made gifts.
"If it's for the meantime, gambling is best for us to have sufficient money than selling things. Either way, I actually don't want anyone wearing my creation aside from my bride," he said.
He impulsively reached for her hair at the side of her face trying to see if an ornament would suit her. Hidelga chuckled. "This is the most feminine side I see in you," she stated.
Leon was quiet, his eyes were watching her reaction yet remained unfazed. "Is taking care of a woman feminine to you? Is adorning her with what I have and created, feminine to you?" he asked.
"I." Hidelga was dumbfounded; she reacted as a fool.
"Then what do you consider masculine? Giving you money and commanding you to do all the tasks like a boss then please myself with you in bed? Is that what you consider masculine?" he asked.
"Is that my wife: 's preference?" he asked. "Are you asking for it? If you do then I won't hesitate to change your mind," he said.