While Austin was trying his hardest to win over a capture target, within the depths of the Ezraeil palace, there were a few girls grouped sitting surrounding a table.
If Austin were here, then he would identify all of them. Among them, on one side sat Olivia, and behind her stood three girls, and one of them was Nora.
On the other side sat a girl of 10 years old wearing a dark black and blue gown. Her dark black hair fell to her back, her black eyes seemed like the void with no end, and her beauty was comparable to the moon.
If Olivia was a shining sun that attracted others to follow her, then this girl was the moon shining up in the sky, causing others to come under her light.
"Looks like your party is going well, I presume?" It was the girl who spoke first.
"Yeah, it's going well, but dealing with all those nobles is just so boring."
Unlike how she was acting in the banquet, Olivia right now was relaxed and carefree. After all, she didn't need to act so high in front of her friends.
Yup...friends.
The person in front of her was the princess of the Twilight Empire, Carmel Twilight. Just like Nora, she had also inherited her founding Emperor's bloodline.
What's happening right now was just the meeting between different friends, where each of the gathered girls' statuses could shake the world.
The Carmel in front of her was just a projection. After all, this was an organization formed by all the girls of the Sylvia realm.
Yup...girls.
Being of the high standing they are, the friends they could openly talk with are limited. So all of them came together to talk and spend time as friends.
"I don't understand why you all have to go through all this for a bet. Why don't all of you fight it out?" A girly voice was then heard from one of the screens-like projections in the room. Oh...right, there were a few "screens" being projected on the room. These were just magical communication tools used to chat with each other. Using magic was possible, but the cost was high, but it was nothing to the girls gathered here.
"Well, this is important. We must decide the next leader amongst us today."
For their organization, the position of leader was always for 2 years, and it was always passed among each other. Right now, they are here to decide the leader amongst both the princesses of the Empire, so they come together to decide it through a game of...chess. The rules were simple: both the princesses would bring their subordinates who would play a match, and the best of the three would win.
"So, Olivia, I hope you are ready to lose."
"Hump, you have no idea what I can do." Olivia snorted at Carmel's words.
Thus, both sides brought out their players. From Olivia's side came a 10-year-old red-haired and red-eyed girl. She looked cute and gave off a feeling of an intellectual. From Carmel's side came an 11-year-old girl with blob-like orange hair and mesmerizing brown eyes which seemed to contain some spark in them.
Both of them moved forward and began their game. Pieces started moving and falling. Finally, after 10 minutes, the orange-haired girl declared, "Checkmate," her voice breaking the solemn atmosphere within the room. The red-haired girl had a disbelieving face. She couldn't understand how she lost; it was as if she was playing for her opponent to win.
Nora had a frown on her face. She could see that the orange-haired girl had some ability that let her win, but she couldn't complain as it was just part of her power.
"Calculations," the orange-haired girl spoke, her eyes shining. "I can predict and move before my opponents make one," her words answered the doubts of the people gathered there.
'That's an ability to cheat in a chess game,' Nora thought. She couldn't help in any way right now. Suddenly, she thought of a certain silver-haired boy.
'Maybe Austin can...?'
While Nora was thinking, the second person moved to play, who also lost much earlier than the first one, bringing a heavy atmosphere to the room.
"Looks like this is what you all have," the orange-haired girl smiled with a smug face, her arrogance slipping out of her. The words she spoke brought a frown to both Olivia and Carmel before they could speak; someone else made a move.
"Don't be so arrogant. You won't be able to win against the person I will bring."
Nora's voice echoed in the room, bringing all the attention to her.
"Oh? Then I would like to see this person you speak of," the orange-haired girl spoke.
"Your Highness, give me a chance. I will bring you a champion." Olivia looked into Nora's eyes for a few minutes before nodding.
15 minutes later...
Austin was now looking at the surroundings in which he was brought.
'Wait, what happened? Why am I here? What kind of heaven is this?'
A few moments ago, he was spending time with Emily, racking up a lot of affection, playing, and teasing her, bringing in a lot of points. Though not love, he had at least got her to have a crush on him and was sure that it could later develop into love. So before leaving her, he had given her a communication tool connecting to him.
Just as he was happily humming and going back, he was caught by his sister Nora, who had pulled him without any words and brought him to this room... no correction, heaven.
Currently, he was seated in front of an orange-haired girl, and surrounding him were different girls, all of them being captured targets.
'Holy moly, did I win a lottery today?'
At first, he looked towards the black-haired girl.
[
Name: Carmel Twilight
Sex: Female
Age: 10
Species: Human
Talent: 10/10
Power: Origin level 0 - Tier 2
Title: Princess Twilight, The foodie
Love: 0%
Description: Currently hoping to win the seat of the leader She loves sweets Difficulty: SS (try your best)
]
'Yup, just as I thought, another major capture target.'
Another one that comes under the top 5 in the capture target list. Conquering her too is difficult.
After that, he looked towards the girl in front of him.
[
Name: Ella Croftmen
Sex: Female
Age: 10
Species: Human
Talent: 8/10
Power: origin level 0- Tier 1
Title: The intellectual, smartass
Love: 0%
Description: due to her high intelligence she looks down on others
>wants to win this match no matter what
Difficulty: AA ]
'Sigh...another one.'
Who would have thought that there was such a place in the game? If the players knew, they would have done everything to get in here.
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.
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GOT IT