It was truly remarkable that Leoneol as a human could fare so well against the advanced intelligence of the Heaven A.I. Lucas saw clearly now that Jack had not been exaggerating at all. Leoneol was really the exception, Lucas acknowledged him as a worthy adversary.
Gradually, the game entered the stage where they could not put off killing each other anymore. The gloves came off, and they went hard at swiping each other's pieces off the board. It was an intense match. If it were real, it would have been a serious bloodbath.
Both Leoneol and Lucas were not the only ones who were on edge. Despite the cool evening breeze wafting through the open windows, Jack found himself sweating like a pig that was about to be sacrificed. His eyes never left the board for once. He calculated and re-evaluated every move made, as well as its consequences on the long run.
It was a very exciting game and there was never a boring moment. He himself was an astute chess player, so he knew he would have lost a long time ago if he had been playing any of the two. Their forward thinking, and ruthless sacrifices made it all very high end.
He could actually calculate the rough probability of who might emerge as the winner. But he chose not to for the fear that he might not like the results of his own analysis.
Having been around and served powerful men for a large portion of their lives, the three girls were vaguely familiar with the rules of chess. But they were far from being proficient at it. So, they could barely keep up with the battle. Therefore the only thing left for them to do was to simply gawk at the board and count how many pieces each side had left. From their point of view, bothsides were evenly matched.
After a pretty decent stretch of time, the game arrived at the point where the winner would be inevitably decided. At this point, Lucas saw that Leoneol had a forty percent chance of winning. Although chances were Leoneol would probably lose, still, it did not change the fact that he had done well for himself as a human.
The next move was Leoneol's. His tufted brows furrowed together in deep thought as he pondered his next play. He more than anyone understood that the next move was key. It could either make him or break him. His mind went over the various possibilites until finally, he arrived at an optimal decision and moved his knight into a very precarious postion with the hope of unnerving Lucas.
But the plan backfired almost immediately. Much to Leoneol's chagrin, his opponent wasted no time at all and made his move. The speed with which Lucas dove into action disturbed him greatly. He could not help but feel like he had just done what exactly Lucas had baited him into doing. In chess, this was every player's nightmare for it meant they were being played.
Psychologically, the Grand Prince was shaken.
Unfortunately, Leoneol never fully recovered. From there, it seemed to go downhill for him. He seemed to spend too much time thinking before he made a move. Partly because he was now at a disadvantage, and partly because he was now playing for a stalemate (a draw) instead of a checkmate (a win). It was now the best he could hope for.
Eventually, he made a mistake. Lucas promptly observed that his chance of wining had risen to a whooping ninety percent, indicating that Leoneol had comitted a blunder but was not yet aware of it.
Lucas said nothing and went along with the flow. A few moves later, Leoneol's face turned pale white when he realized he was definitely going to lose. Instead of tightening the noose around his opponent, Lucas intentionally made a wrong move. Inadvertently, he ended up changing the trajectory of the game towards a stalemate.
He was not a money crazed fellow who only saw the money. He was well aware of the consequences that came along with beating the Grand Prince. Lucas needed no one to tell him that royals were in fact very fickle, egocentric creatures. Even if he won, he would still lose.
But Leoneol did not fall for the trap. Instead of going in for a stalemate, he reclined back in his chair and announced in a clear voice;
"This game has long been over. I concede."
"What do you mean? This is clearly heading towards a draw. Neither of us have many moves left." Lucas said, pretending not to know what was happeing.
Leoneol chuckled softly. "I have been in a lot of matches, I think I can recognize when someone is deliberately trying to sabotage his own win."
The Grand Prince was right. It was glaring to everyone present. It was a poorly disguised attempt to direct the game towards a draw and even the three girls saw right through it, not to mention Jack who laughed in embarassment.
Lolita and her gang did not dare to either confirm or deny it. They simply remained silent.
Lucas knew right away that he had greatly misjudged Leoneol. He had banked on the fact that the royal would take the easy way out and salvage his ego and reputation as the unbeatable Leoneol. Never had he expected this high level royal to act so generous and openhanded.
He bowed his head a little; "Please pardon me for declining your invitation, but I really don't want to stay in the same place for a long time."
"Afraid of getting too attached huh?" Lucas opened his mouth to say something but Leoneol continued; "It's okay really. But I genuinely want us to be friends even if we can't work together. What do you say?"
Lucas did not refuse. "I say it would be a real priviledge and honor to be called your friend."
"Splendid! That being said, as your friend, I would like to give you the hundred thousand gold coin as a gift. But on a condition that you get a house first! Because where else could you hope to store so much gold?"
Lucas saw that this one the one trait that was common between Jack and his master. Even when they lose, they still manage to find a way to get around the loss and get what they want.
Leoneol was evidently trying to keep him around, and Lucas sensed that he was not going to stop trying. He could not refuse. The Grand Prince was not doing this out of malice and Lucas knew that. The best option for him now was to manage his relationship with the royal family. He was going to keep them at arm's length, but close enough for them not to feel snobbed.
"Sure thing my prince. It would be a real delight to own a home in your territory."
"There, there. No need to sound so official. Outside of any formal setting, I insist you address me as Leoneol. After all, we are friends aren't we?"
Both parties shook hands. It was the perfect ending to any ideal chess match. Both players had learned a great deal about each other, and each man left the match with mutual respect for the other man.
"My deepest regrets gentlemen, but I really must take my leave right now. The streets aren't exactly safe at night for alowly stranger with an entourage."
He bowed ever so slightly in deference to the two entities, and took his leave. With Lolita and the other two following closely, they all exited the study, leaving Jack and his patron behind them.
Jack's eyes trailed the group until the last girl's shadow disappeared behind the door frame. They both waited in silence until their receding footsteps faded into the distance. Neither of them being talkative chatterboxes, they both sat in silence (that would have been judged as uncomfortable by any stranger that might have been present).
But they were both comfortable and mentally secure enough to simply sit and saturate their individual consciousness with the millions of thoughts running riot in their minds. As they were both mentor and mentee, this was common place with them. And given the past sequence of events that had gone down within the past few minutes, this was to be expected.