“Episode 31”
Lucky Daphne.
“Pretty?”
Inside the unassuming hotel right next to the harbor, it was grander than it appeared. Upon entering through the tall iron gates, the interior revealed a square structure with rooms facing each other. Towering potted plants reached up to the third floor, giving the impression of being in a different country.
“Green everywhere, annoying.”
Daphne fanned herself momentarily in the more humid interior than outside. She unfolded the crumpled paper again. Not only was she picking up advertisements like this, but she was also actually walking around.
“Will I sell my organs?”
She absentmindedly patted her stomach. Clearly looking like a first-time visitor, an attractive bellboy with an audacious face approached Daphne and kindly showed her the way. She tried to offer a tip, but he politely declined and disappeared.
Arriving at the underground casino, it was refreshingly cool and noisy. Shabby billiard tables, thick cigarette smoke, and pungent smell of alcohol filled the air. The cheap slot machines scattered around the place emitted mechanical sounds.
Hair of various colors adorned the hotel, fitting for travelers. Among them were several blonde men, which Daphne liked, along with silver, auburn, and dark emerald green hair.
“Interesting, huh?”
It felt completely different from the aristocratic casinos where etiquette and decorum were strictly adhered to. Daphne’s eyes widened involuntarily.
Interest sparked quickly. And with it came the confidence that she might get what she wanted!
“Come on, the game with the boarding pass is over here!”
“Let’s go!”
Daphne shook her wallet filled with gold. The clinking sound was delightful.
—
The audacious bellboy, Colin, personally escorted Daphne to the casino and swiftly climbed up to the fourth floor.
-Red hair, golden eyes.
-Yes.
-I don’t need other newspapers. If you see an article about ‘Daphne Viewcater,’ will you sell it to me?
That’s what Celestian, the ‘house’ in the suite room, asked. People coming to this hotel had unclear statuses. From minor criminals to illegal residents, or those who had fallen out of high society, including nobles or royals… So regardless of gender, everyone was addressed as ‘house.’
After taking a deep breath, he pressed the bell long. The sound of glass bells ringing from inside indicated that they would come out soon. It meant they would leave. Colin put his hand on his chest to calm his pounding heart.
The man who appeared when the door opened was still handsome. The only difference was that his sparkling golden hair had dulled.
“Colin, what’s going on?”
He always addressed Colin respectfully. He was a great guy who would give Colin all the money he earned from a single visit to the casino!
“A lady with ruby-like hair and golden eyes, so Ms. Viewcater? Came to see you.”
“Lies.”
The ‘house’s’ words were very heavy.
Colin closed his mouth. The faint smile that always appeared on his face vanished completely. Colin froze, thinking he had done something wrong.
“Where is she? Did she come to me?”
“Oh, um, she, uh, went to the casino…”
Celestian paused. Then he covered his lips and started to smile slowly. Colin also awkwardly chuckled.
For a while, Celestian laughed beautifully. Even after the laughter subsided, a look of joy lingered on his face for a while.
“See you later.”
And the wooden door closed abruptly.
—
Daphne is lucky.
As evidence, wasn’t she born as the daughter of a loan shark? She had been injured several times but always got up from the hospital bed, succeeded in every plan she made, and anyway, she had been walking steadily so far.
There was no chip exchange desk here. Instead of money in the wallet, even the jewelry she had brought was put up as a bet.
Even if royal knights and soldiers guarded the way from third class to first class, Daphne knew the hidden paths well after looking at the ‘Page-Rene’ blueprints for years.
“I just need a ticket.”
The game was Indian Poker. The rules were easier than other gambling games. Risking all her luck for this month, Daphne elegantly flipped over the two cards in front of her.
“Oh, crazy.”
Daphne looked flustered at her own cards. Three hearts and eight spades. It was a complete failure with no matching numbers or pictures.
“This lady’s a loser again. The rest of her luck must be trash.”
“Should I kill her?”
Daphne, unaware of the eerie gaze directed at her, watched as the man, named Mark, enthusiastically flipped the cards. Next to him, a handsome man with dirty blonde hair laughed heartily as he revealed his hand.
“Pair.”
And he scooped up the two boarding passes that had been wagered. Daphne could only watch helplessly as the gloved hand of the man swept away the bet and tickets.
For the first time in her life, or rather the second, Daphne thought she wanted to bury the blonde man.
“Oh, no, this can’t be happening…”
Already, Daphne had lost half of her bet.
The allure of the hotel business lay in the profits from the casino. However, Daphne didn’t quite understand the rules within. She had enough wealth to not aim for a single gamble in her life.
—If you continue like this, you’ll definitely regret it!
As she spoke, sitting at the blackjack table to tease Psyche, Daphne luckily won twice. But after quickly accumulating chips, she lost everything from the third round onwards and ended up losing three townhouses that day.
Fortunately, she didn’t completely misunderstand the rules. However, today’s luck seemed to be particularly bad. Moreover, she felt a constant headache creeping up on her.
“Do you want to get on that ship so badly?”
The dirty blonde asked.
“Are you boarding?”
Daphne asked anxiously.
“Chadwick, you have to keep betting to make it fun.”
The dealer suggested with a friendly smile.
‘Chadwick?’
Daphne looked at the man’s confident face again. She had heard the name somewhere, but it was her first time seeing him. There seemed to be such a name among the royal family, but she had no connection to it.
“I’ll cooperate. I get seasick easily. And third class? I don’t want to rub shoulders with the commoners. How about you, miss?”
“I have to board. I came here for this in the first place. It’s my friend’s wedding.”
Daphne meant Psyche by ‘friend.’
“Is it the Rodriguez heir getting married on that ship?”
The old man, who was acting as the dealer, muttered abruptly as he collected the cards.
“Rodriguez heir…?”
It was the first time she had seen someone other than herself cursing her cousin. Daphne’s eyes widened with curiosity. And she casually brushed her irritating hair back again.
“Yeah. That Romeo Rodriguez. What does a barely legal know-it-all know about running a country?”
‘He’s been of legal age for four years now.’
“He’s made a big fuss in the Levian, so he must have some head to govern the country. What if he gets sick?”
‘He probably won’t die…’
Daphne glanced at the cards being gracefully shuffled by the dealer’s hands. She itched to retort.
“Are there any men here who haven’t been to war? Damn it, I still feel pain where I got shot whenever it rains during monsoon season.”
At that, without even realizing it, she raised her arm and looked down at her side.
‘I wonder if I’ll hurt only when it rains from now on?’
“If only my father were king, I would have intervened. Damn that arrogant golden blood!”
“That brat must be around the same age as this lady, right?”
Daphne simply shrugged and smiled at the faces directed towards her.
“A kid who knows nothing about the world is foolishly thinking of getting married for love. It’s been just a short while since the rebellion was suppressed, and he’s already siphoning off the capital’s troops.”
‘That’s true…’
Daphne nodded her head silently.
“I wish Terios had succeeded in the rebellion instead. A guy like him, who has rolled in the dirt, would understand the hearts of us commoners better.”
“Enough already. Look at this lady’s eye color. It reminds me of that repulsive rose green. What difference would it make if it’s royal blood?”
Suddenly waking up to their own conversation, Daphne realized. Rose green was the color of the previous queen, her aunt. Every word seemed to match, and Daphne blinked in surprise.
“Miss, is that eye color real?”
Chadwick approached Daphne, thinking she couldn’t join in the “men’s talk.”
“These are fake eyes. Want to check?”
Daphne replied, raising only the corner of her left mouth. The men chuckled at her joke, relaxing the tense atmosphere for a moment.
“Shall we check then? Look at this side.”
The man reached out towards Daphne. Her expression turned sour like she had stepped on something unpleasant. The dealer cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly, as if warning them.
“Let’s just continue the game. Check your hands. Are you going to raise or fold?”
Daphne pretended to contemplate after checking her cards.
‘The cards are clean, but I’m broke.’
She didn’t have any more money to bet with. Recently, she found herself in such predicaments frequently. The feeling of being penniless wasn’t exactly pleasant.
“Fold.”
The blonde man sitting to her left chuckled softly.
“Do you even own clothes? You might as well be naked right now.”
The dealer’s expression noticeably hardened. Though his gaze seemed to be directed elsewhere, Daphne couldn’t follow it.
‘Oh, this guy’s really crossing the line.’
After giving a small smile and responding to the joke, Daphne tapped the table a couple of times with just the corners of her mouth raised. Without changing her mind, she flipped her cards over.
“Want me to lend you some money?”
“Don’t even bother~”
Daphne replied calmly. She had intended to gently refuse with a ‘it’s okay,’ but her sincerity accidentally slipped out.
“The boarding pass you want is right here.”
Chadwick tapped his chest pocket a couple of times. Daphne looked at the man’s face again.
He could be considered handsome at a glance, but if you looked at him for a long time, you could see the typical arrogance of nobles flowing through his face.
“If you want, you can touch it.”
Chadwick extended his rather weak chest.
‘Ah, should I just smack him once and steal the ticket…?’
It seemed difficult to board the Page-René like this anyway. Daphne started to form a slight plan in her mind.
“If he’s not at least a high-ranking noble, then… maybe a royal from the royal family.”
She was the king’s niece, the prince’s cousin, and soon to be the close friend of the woman who would marry the crown prince. Not to mention, she had even appointed Amber Green, the pinnacle of wealth and power, as her mother.
“Everything can be fixed when I return, right?”
Daphne nodded slightly. Everything seemed plausible. Judging by the current atmosphere, it didn’t seem like anyone would grab her for swooning over this man.
As she prepared to execute her first plan, she rose from her seat.
“Miss.”
“Yes, yes?”
Someone called her as she tightly gripped the round part of the chair. Turning around, it was the same bellboy who had guided her here earlier. To avoid revealing her embarrassment, Daphne straightened her upper body and turned around calmly.
“Over there, it seems like someone is continually staring at you. Could they be someone you know?”
Daphne blinked as the bellboy pointed. Over there, about eighteen people with black hair were gathered, making a lot of noise as they played group poker. Of course, there wasn’t anyone particularly noticeable among them.
Daphne’s gaze met the eyes that had been staring at her all along.
Green eyes.
Her eyelids involuntarily drooped. Placing her hand in front of her lips, she raised her head. The bellboy waited for Daphne’s response with an innocent face.
“I don’t know them. Can you go and ask them to mind their own business? It’s really annoying.”
Daphne turned back coldly. The bellboy nodded politely and disappeared. She calmed her pounding heart.
“Damn lunatic.”
Even though she had only glanced briefly, the impression of his handsomeness lingered. Chadwick, who had overheard the curse, chuckled.
Daphne, to suppress her momentarily rising anger and to avoid looking at his face again, focused her eyes tightly.
“If I look back, I’ll definitely lose, Daphne Viewcater.”
Just then, a new set of cards was being dealt in front of her.
