Ella was another capture target. She might not have much when it came to strength, but her innate ability gave her high intelligence.
She was the right-hand girl of Carmel. When it came to planning, organization, and everything else, no one could beat her.
After entering the room, I was stared at by countless eyes. It was as if I were a rare specimen, and I got goosebumps on my body.
Looking in front of me, I could see the girls behind Carmel. If my guess was right, they would be using projection magic to display themselves here.
The chessboard in front of me might be using some magical connection to the chessboard in front of them. When I made a move, the move would be done on their side too.
It's just like playing chess on the computer with your friend, except this is on a higher level. While I was running the magical theories in my head, a voice was heard.
"Nora, don't you know the rules? No boys allowed."
A voice was heard from one of the screens. I couldn't see the figure, but I could guess that she was an important person.
"I know, but I am not inviting him to join, plus he is my brother."
Nora replied defiantly.
"Nora, are you sure he can help us win?"
Olivia asked her with doubt. After all, she didn't know that this cousin of hers was such a talent in chess.
"Affirmative, I am sure."
Olivia then looked towards me, who was looking around as if I had no idea what was going on. But I did get the gist of what was happening.
'Looks like this is the perfect opportunity to show off.'
"What's happening here, big sis?"
I raised my "doubt." After that, Nora explained to me what happened and what I had to do.
"So, I should defeat this big sis in chess."
I said, looking towards Ella.
"That's right."
Nora nodded. But instead of her expectation of me agreeing, I did something else.
"But why should I help?"
My question brought about a silence in the room. The previously uninterested girls started paying attention. After all, this was the first time they heard someone say no to them.
"Umm? So you are saying you won't help me?"
Olivia asked, intrigued instead of angry.
"Well... I can help, but is, you know what you might have to give me."
Hearing my words, my sister went silent. But then she spoke.
"One week's worth."
"Two weeks' worth, then we are done."
I directly stated my price, causing her to flinch. But after thinking about it a bit, she finally agreed.
"Fine, you can have my two weeks' worth of sweets."
Hearing that, I gave a pose of success and moved to play the game. But then Olivia spoke.
"So you are saying that you won't do what I want for free?"
"Why should I?"
Hearing the same answer should have made Olivia angry. But somehow, instead, she was feeling happy.
'It is a different experience to be rejected.'
+35 affection.
'Humph... girl, I know you inside out.'
Instead of focusing more on Nora, I moved to Ella, sitting in front of me, whose expression had turned for the worse.
"Kid, do you think that you can beat me?"
I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a smile.
"Who knows?"
After that, we sat to play the game. She made the first move. Like this, we continued to move our pieces. Several of the girls had their concentration on the game.
It continued for 15 minutes before I placed the final piece.
"Checkmate."
Silence...
Everybody had a disbelieving face on them, especially Ella. She couldn't understand where she went wrong.
"Ho-how?"
"You're too perfect."
My reply caught her off guard, and everyone looked towards me, waiting for me to continue.
"Each of your moves is strict or rule-following as if it's predetermined. There's no uniqueness within it, hence they create cracks in your plan."
"Because you're too perfect, there is no flexibility, hence you lose."
It was silent for a moment before a clapping sound came. Everyone turned towards Carmel, who was clapping with a smile on her face.
"Amazing, it was an amazing game."
"Nora, I lost this one."
After she said that, others also started clapping and marveling at my performance. My sister came to me and ruffled my hair.
"I knew you would win. My sweets are not wasted after all."
"That was amazing, Austin. I owe you one."
Olivia interjected.
At that moment, Ella stood up and came to me. She was just a projection and couldn't do anything to me. She came in front of me and pointed her finger.
"Your name is Austin, right? I will remember you. The next time we have a match, I will win for sure."
After that, she disappeared.
"Don't take her word to heart. She's just competitive."
Carmel spoke up.
"I am really surprised that there is such a chess genius here. I hope to meet you personally in the future."
After that, she went into the room to speak with the others while I was quickly thrown out of the room. Shaking my head, I walked back to my assigned room.
'Fight Ella in chess the next time? I'd probably lose.'
The only reason I won against her this time was because of my information from the game. It was one of the prerequisites to win her affection. There was personally a flaw in her gaming style, which the players must use to win against her. I had just used that, though it will only work once.
Tired, I entered my room and fell asleep.
The next day after the party, I and my family set out to return to our home. I received a gift from both the Emperor and Olivia.
Currently, we were standing near our ship, getting ready to leave. The Emperor and Empress had come to see us off.
"Have a safe trip. If you have any problems, just inform me, okay?"
"Sure. You don't have to worry about me."
I stood there, looking at them, and I directly looked into the Empress's eyes. I felt my body go cold for a moment. Saying my goodbye, we boarded the ship. I didn't even want to stay close to that woman at all.
The Empress felt like a storm that was only calm for now. Why, you ask...?
I had found over five recording devices in my room, hidden in different angles. Normally, a child who hadn't awakened wouldn't be able to feel it, but I could.
Looking through it, I could feel mana similar to the Empress. I would be an idiot if I couldn't understand it till now. As much as I want to deal with her, currently, I can't.
Well, the thought of cucking an Emperor does sound exciting, but I must live after all that. So, I couldn't move against her until I awakened my bloodline.
So like a nice boy, I kept it all back, as if nothing had been changed. Taking a deep breath and confirming my goals, I entered the ship, knowing not what the future held for me.