#12
I watched with my arms crossed until he made his decision. No matter how I looked at it, this match was my victory. I could hear the quiet sighs of the palace employees beside us. It seemed they no longer bothered to hide their feelings of dislike toward me.
If I won this match, it would ultimately be a 1-1 tie. I had proposed this type of duel hoping we could acknowledge each other’s strength and withdraw gracefully. No matter how much Rikin thought about it, he could never beat me as I am now.
Then Rikin’s hand touched the soldier piece at the edge of the board. Was he going to retreat again? Rikin held the soldier piece for a moment, pondering, then slowly began to move. Unlike before, he moved the soldier piece diagonally.
It was similar to how Rikin had been using his pieces up until now, yet different. The one who had only been pulling his pieces back was now advancing his soldier piece to the left, opposite to my piece that was advancing to his right.
I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking when he moved that piece. I didn’t think nine-year-old Rikin could have devised a new tactic in such a short time. He probably just let his thoughts wander until they reached that point.
As I thought this and glanced at Rikin’s expression, I had no choice but to change my evaluation of him.
Unable to hide his inner thoughts, Rikin was fidgeting his bottom and putting strength into his tightly pressed lips. He seemed to be trying his best to conceal his intentions, but I could read him completely. This childish aspect of him was quite fortunate.
It seemed Rikin had come up with a new move in this short time. No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t think of moves that were probably packed full in that small head of his. Even if his behavior was unmistakably that of a nine-year-old, he was a genius incomparable to me.
This is why he was worthy of standing beside Persis. Suddenly I felt a surge of resentment. While some people split their time studying and reading books to somehow expand their knowledge, others could master tactics just from a brief glance. The difference in talent was starkly apparent.
This wouldn’t do. I hadn’t wanted to go this far, but there was no other way.
“Are you really going to place it there?”
“Pardon?”
“No, um, are you really going to place it there?”
I pointed to the piece Rikin had just placed. Then his previously excited face slowly fell.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Um, no. If you want to, please place it there.”
After saying that, I tried to grab my piece.
“W-wait!”
Rikin cried out urgently and grabbed back the piece he had advanced. Then he returned it to its previous position and fell into thought. In the end, Rikin’s piece chose to retreat one step again. It seemed his confidence in the move he had conceived vanished in an instant.
That was exactly what I was aiming for. It was a method possible because he was young. If he had been even one year older, he might not have believed my words and pushed forward with his own intentions. Thinking it was fortunate, I tried to move my piece again.
“No, that, wait a moment!”
If only it weren’t for Rikin stopping me again.
Rikin picked up the piece he had just pulled back and continued staring at the board. I thought I had enough experience to manipulate Rikin sufficiently, but I seemed to have miscalculated. The slightly more composed Rikin was trying to view the small war unfolding on the board objectively.
“Will you place it in that spot again?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
“Yes. Please place it.”
I pointed with my finger to the exact spot where Rikin had placed his piece earlier. It was a gesture telling him to go ahead and place it wherever he wanted. Rikin looked back and forth between the piece he was holding and me, falling into thought.
People watching our confrontation probably wondered why we were taking so much time over just placing one piece on the board. However, that single move could turn the tide of the game. That’s what a genius was. So I shouldn’t have given him that opportunity in the first place.
“Place it if you want. I’m fine with it.”
“You’re fine with it?”
“Yes. I’d like you to place it there.”
Saying this, I imitated Rikin who had shown an irrepressible smile earlier. I even wiggled my bottom slightly and tucked both hands under my thighs. I must have looked like a child who couldn’t contain their joy and didn’t know what to do with themselves.
Right at that moment, Rikin immediately returned his piece to where it had been originally.
“No, no. I’ll place it here.”
“You could place it over there though.”
“No! It’s fine!”
Rikin shook his head vigorously as he spoke. I looked at the piece that had retreated one step again and pouted my lips. Not stopping there, I frowned like someone full of dissatisfaction because things had been going well but weren’t working out properly.
Then Rikin let out a sigh of relief and waited for his turn.
Since Rikin could think of new moves again, I had to finish quickly. I thought of the fastest way to end this and picked up my piece.
Just as I was about to topple the minister blocking the path in front of the king, the door burst open. There was only one person who could roam around the palace so freely without prior notice.
“Ana!”
Persis, who had just finished his lesson, ran over to me and hugged me from behind as I sat.
“Have you finished your lesson?”
“Yeah! I’m done!”
Smiling brightly, Persis rubbed his head against the nape of my neck. I wished he would move away a bit since it was ticklish.
Rikin, who had been absorbed in the game, was flustered by Persis’s sudden appearance and stiffened his face. He probably remembered Persis’s earlier shout of “I hate you.”
“You’re playing without me?”
Should this be called playing? But I couldn’t exactly say outright that we had decided to have various competitions over Persis.
“You could say that.”
“No! I don’t like it! Ana, play with me!”
“Your Highness, that’s—”
“I don’t like it!!”
Persis suddenly seemed irritated and grabbed the board that Rikin and I had been playing on with his small hands. I reached out to stop Persis, saying it wasn’t allowed. But Persis flipping the board was faster than me stopping him.
No. This can’t be happening. If not now, there would be no timing for me to beat Rikin. I had no idea what moves Rikin, who had learned the rules of the game, would come up with, so what was the meaning of this?
“Your Highness!”
“Ana, play with me. Okay?”
Saying this, Persis clung to my side. What could I say when he leaned his head against me with such a pitiful face? I didn’t have the authority to defy the prince in the first place.
Unlike me, who was staring at the ruined game in a daze, Rikin had the same expression he wore when he had thought of a new move and moved his piece on the board earlier.
It was the face of someone who was ecstatic that the game had come to nothing but was trying not to show it. This was really ruined, completely ruined.
* * *
The Duke’s household was turned upside down.
News of what happened at the palace spread in an instant. The story that spread through people’s mouths became more exaggerated and distorted than what actually happened.
To put it simply, it was said that the young master of the Crusay Duke family had been miserably defeated by the son of a count family. Even though it wasn’t a complete defeat yet. However, while the duel that had many witnesses spread on wings of rumor, the game where I had mercilessly crushed Rikin didn’t spread properly. It couldn’t be helped. After all, we hadn’t determined a winner in that game.
The confrontation that could have ended in a draw because of Persis bursting in suddenly had become a complete mess. In the end, Rikin and I had no choice but to postpone our match. This meant Rikin now had time to become familiar with this game.
To think I had to prepare once again for a battle with a genius of tactics and swordsmanship. I felt like I could clearly see a future that hadn’t even arrived yet.
But I couldn’t give up yet. I still couldn’t entrust Persis to the palace employees and Rikin. The timing wasn’t right, and it was difficult to trust the people around Persis. Not that I was perfect, but I felt like the people beside Persis were indulging him too much.
“You made a wrong move.”
Kara flicked one of the pieces on the board with her finger, making it fall, and spoke coldly.
Look at the people around me. Even though I had so easily suppressed Rikin, wasn’t Kara reviewing the game as soon as the next day arrived, saying there were too many poor moves? When even a young master lived like this, I couldn’t let a prince who had to take responsibility for a country constantly act spoiled.
“You should have properly cut off your opponent’s waist here.”
“What if they attack from the side?”
“To prevent that, you should have positioned the rook in front here.”
Kara placed another piece in the middle section of the board and reprimanded me. Her tone suggested she found it hard to believe I had made such a move. I wasn’t unaware of the affection contained in each of Kara’s harsh words, but listening to her made me feel naturally intimidated.
“Do you understand?”
“Ah, yes. I get it.”
“This time you had the advantage because Young Master Parten was encountering this game for the first time, but next time it won’t be so easy.”
I wasn’t foolish enough not to know that fact. Kara probably didn’t say it thinking I wouldn’t know either. She probably wanted to convey that I needed to work that much harder.
But could I beat Rikin even if I worked hard? He was a genius. When we postponed the match, you could say the outcome had already been decided.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
