With that, he sat down and dined with them. After taking a bite of the delicacy, he boomed enthusiastically; "Delicious! Absolutely mesmerizing. I haven't had lizard skewers this delicious in quite a while. Compliments to the chef!"
The three girls were extremely nervous. A few days ago, if anyone had told them that they would dine with the Grand Prince, they would not have believed. And yet, here they were, sitting at the same table with two of the most powerful men in the country. The delicious lizard skewers suddenly lost its taste in their mouths. All they could think of was just how afraid they were of the majesty of the royal family.
Meanwhile, in Lucas' case, it was the exact opposite. He was so calm and relaxed in the presence of royalty that he acted as though the Grand Prince was an ordinary passerby.
"So tell me," Leoneol was speaking to Lucas now, "How is it that you are not interested in becoming a professional chess player? You obviously have a real knack for it."
"Honestly, chess is kind of fun. But I would lose my mind if I had to do it for the rest of my life. There's just so much I would rather do. A whole bunch of interesting stuff, just not chess."
Leoneol laughed at his reply. Not in a condesceding way, but in a manner that suggested he was picking a keen interest in Lucas. "Now that is an answer you don't come by everyday!!!"
Jack stepped in to enlighten Lucas a little bit; "You see, the Grand Prince here once said something similar. But there's something a lot of people do not know about him, Leoneol is by far the greatest chess player of all time. He's not one of the best, HE IS THE BEST."
Jack continued with his obseqious adulation of the Grand Prince; "His talent is unparalled. And that fact has been cemented by the fact that he has never lost a single match. Despite the fact that he has never actually won a championship, he is the true uncrowned king in the hearts of all the professional players in the world."
Jack concluded. "In chess, I am Leoneol's apprentice."
Lucas drank in all this information. Clearly this prince was a pretty big deal in the chess world and in the country at large. So, was it a coincidence that he just happened to drop by at this point? He knew that it was very unlikely. So he directed to address the elephant in the room;
"Leoneol, might I be so bold as to inquire on the true nature of your visit here at this time?"
The Grand Prince made no attempt to conceal his true intentions. "You are the reason I am here. I want you to come join the league of the best minds in the country as one of my think tanks."
The three girls were paralyzed with shock. First it had been Jack, and now, the Grand Prince himself was overtly gifting Lucas the opportunity to serve the royal family. It was the highest honor in the land. Perhaps, this was why Lucas had refused Jack's deal beforehand. The three girls began to think that, maybe it was becasue he had set his sights on a more ambitious...
"No." Once again, Lucas had managed to shatter the otherwise calm atmosphere with his outright refusal. "It's nothing personal, but I simply don't have time to serve others when I have more important things to do myself."
Jack almost choked on his drink as Lucas' words tore through the room. Asides from the fact that this was a juicy offer, was impossible to think that anyone would turn down Leoneol!
The crown prince was a well rounded individual. He was well versed in both knowledge and magic. He also loved the commoners, and was respected by all classes. Therefore, people were drawn to him, and thus were eager to serve him at any given opportunity.
But he was also very selective of his men's talents. He recruited only the best of the best. So, 'no' was a word he had never heard before.
But Leoneol was not about to give up just yet. He pivoted and decided to raise the stakes even higher;
"I aware that you currently in desperate need of some money. So, I have a propostion for you. Let's play a match. In the event that you do lose to me, you will take the job and come work for me."
"And if I win?"
"Then I would give you a hundred thousand gold coins." He dropped the words as though they were nothing. Like he could just conjure them out of thin air.
The talk of so much money made the girls' minds explode. Figures like this only existed in their fantasy. It was out of their reach. Even if they worked for ten lifetimes, they probably still would not make that. Yet, before their very eyes, their master was being offered a chance to have their dream.
The talk of all this figures did not make Jack flinch even one bit. He knew and trusted completely in Leoneol's skill. The Grand Prince had competed against the top ten players at the same time, and won them easily! As far as Jack was concerned, Lucas' fate had already been sealed. It was his destiny to work for Leoneol!
Lucas read Jack's demeanor and immediately discerned that Leoneol might in fact have some skill after all. The placid, confident look on his face, as well as his general body language, all these signs pointed towards the fact that Jack already felt super confident that Leoneol's victory was assured.
For in this day and age, there was virtually no human that could hope to stand against Leoneol when it came to chess. To everyone in the chess world, Leoneol was a chess god.
Unfortunately, to the collective detriment of Leoneol and his apprentice, Lucas had an ace up his sleeve- his Heaven A.I system was the true god of chess. There was no human intelligence that could hope to match its skill. So, with this backing, all Lucas really had to do was smile and say;
"We have a deal. Let the game begin."
With the battle line drawn, the small group exited the dining area and headed towards the area where the muc anticipated showdown would occur. Both Lucas and Leoneol headed towards the study to play while Jack and the three girls watched from the sidelines.
Jack already ruled out Lucas as the winner, but the girls were on the fence. To the trio, it seemed Lucas would benefit even if the game went either way. He had nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Ever the magnanimous host, Leonoel decided to give up the intiative;
"How about you have the first play my friend. Go on now."
It was a power move. Basically, Leoneol was trying to say 'it did not make any difference if he played with black or white, he was going to win.' Lucas calmly refused.
"No my dear sir. Please go ahead. I don't want any excuse when I finally beat you."
Everyone thought the Grand Prince would be annoyed, but Leoneol threw his head back and laughed real hard till slight tears formed at the corner of his eyes.
The Grand Prince had a twinkle in his eye. It had been a while since he had been truly challenged. IN contrast to the scores of vassals who worshipped him, the cocky confident stranger before him was a refreshing change of pace.
Gracefully, Leoneol leaned across the table and stretched forth his hand to make the first move. It had begun.
Both players observed each other carefully. In chess, it was common knowledge that the way a person played revealed the kind of person they were. Both players (especially Leoneol) were eager to see just what kind of person the other player was. With such a high stake prize, Lucas did not attempt to do this by himself. He leaned fully into the counsel of the Heaven A.I system.
He made no mistakes. There was not a single wrong move played. Everything was intentional.
As the game progressed towards the midpoint, Lucas looked at the stats and was surprised by the data. Whenever he played against other humans, their win rate was usually below thirty percent. This was the standard he was used to, up till now at least. Much to Lucas' surprise, he saw that his win rate so far was only fifty five percent, making Leoneol's win rate a stunning forty five percent!