Episode 41
“You’re really going to go through with this…?”
Max, Marius’s chief aide, murmured with a face as if his soul had left his body.
For some reason, every time I saw Uncle Max, the dark circles under his eyes seemed to get lower.
Last time I saw him, they stopped at his cheekbones, but now they reached down to the bridge of his nose.
Next time we meet, they might be down to his chin.
“You know the rules of land grabbing, right?”
Marius, dressed comfortably, approached me.
“Umm, not really.”
“Whaaat. You’ve never played? You haven’t even tried this fun game?”
“I’m a kid! Maybe I haven’t played it yet.”
“Well, since you’re still a little squirt, I guess it’s possible you don’t know. Right?”
Stomp. I stepped hard on Marius’s foot.
I hoped he would retract the ‘little squirt’ comment, but Marius just shrugged with a smug look like it didn’t hurt at all.
“That was like getting hit with a sponge. Didn’t hurt one bit.”
“It, it didn’t hurt? Really?”
“Oh no. We’ll have to feed our youngest sister-in-law more. With punches like those, how will she ever become a hero?”
“That can’t be right… How about this?”
I tensed my whole body to put more force into my foot.
My head was getting hot from the effort, but Marius just laughed.
Disappointed, I plopped down on the ground.
“Ugh. Let’s just start the game already.”
“Up we go.”
Marius lifted me up with ease and pointed to the open space in front of us with his other hand.
I struggled, telling him not to hold me since he’d been mean to Edgar.
But Marius didn’t care and held me tightly.
“This whole place is the game field.”
Only Marius would use an empty spot in the Imperial Palace as a land-grabbing game field.
He drew two circles on the ground, placed me in one, and stood in the other himself.
“That’s the little squirt’s house, and this is mine. If you win rock-paper-scissors, you draw a new circle and expand your territory.”
“Sounds boring. You’re just expanding land.”
“No way. You can draw circles to steal the opponent’s land too. If you take all of my land, I’ll grant you a wish.”
“If you take my land, then i have to grant tou wish too, right?”
“Right! If I win, the little squirt has to admit that her future brother-in-law is handsome and chant, ‘My future brother-in-law is handsome!’ three times.”
“What kind of wish is that!”
I snapped, but Marius ignored me and shouted,
“Rock-paper-scissors, if you don’t throw, you lose!”
“Paper!”
Phew. I almost lost by not throwing anything.
I said “paper” but actually threw rock, so I beat Marius who threw scissors.
From my house, I stretched my arm out as far as I could and drew a line on the ground with a twig.
Not sure if I was doing it right, I glanced back—Marius was grinning.
The servant uncles looked pale, as if they had seen something horrifying.
‘Huh?’
One of the servant uncles rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked again at me and Marius.
What kind of life has he been living to react like that?
“You really said you’d grant a wish? Don’t regret it later.”
“Pfft. I’m the Emperor, so I’m not scared of a little squirt’s wish.”
So annoying. He never loses once.
“If you don’t grant my wish, I’ll bite you! Rock-paper-scissors!”
I won again.
I stepped over to the land I claimed earlier and drew another line.
“Rock! Paper! Scissors! Won again!”
I threw scissors and made a V sign, wiggling my fingers.
Marius puffed out his cheeks in frustration.
Acting sulky won’t work. Only Antonio gets away with that.
Marius continued to lose five times in a row after that.
He still hadn’t escaped his small circle, while I had to run all the way back to the starting point for each game.
“Why are you so good at this? I never heard you were good at rock-paper-scissors from Alice.”
“I practice rock-paper-scissors instead of eating!”
There’s no way a retired emperor who left childhood long ago can beat someone who plays ten times a day with Edgar.
Heeheehee. I grinned wickedly and shouted,
“Rock-paper-scissors! Oh no, I lost!”
“Woohoo! Yes!”
Marius shouted in joy, pumping his fist in the air after his first win.
Uncle Max turned away in shock, as if he had witnessed a relative kissing someone.
The servant uncles gasped aloud.
Marius, holding the twig, said confidently,
“Phew. Little squirt, get ready.”
“Huh? Get ready? …What is this!”
Marius used his much longer arms to draw a line and claimed in one go the land that would normally take three victories to secure.
And it was land around my house!
“Hmph. Don’t I seem impressive now?”
“You seem sneaky…”
“Pfft!”
The one who laughed was Uncle Max.
When Marius turned his head, Uncle Max quickly wiped the smile off his face and acted innocent.
To help poor Uncle Max maintain his composure, I quickly shouted,
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
“Yes! I won again!”
Marius cheered.
***
Me, Lilliana Berchio.
At six years old, I’ve realized the truth of the world.
The world is unfair!
What’s the point in winning overwhelmingly?
Marius took all the land I struggled to win with his long limbs in one go.
Nothing is eternal. My land could be taken by Marius at any moment.
“Ugh…”
I had won twenty-four times and lost six, yet all my land had been devoured by Marius.
I had planned to avenge Edgar with my wins.
Looking at my exposed territory, I wanted to cry loudly but held it in.
“Uncle Leo…”
Just then, Leopold came looking for Marius with documents in hand.
When I called out to him desperately, he took in the situation and frowned.
“Long time no see, Leopold.”
“Do you really want to crush a kid that badly?”
“The world of competition must be ruthless.”
“No… I’m a child, remember? You want to be ruthless to a kid?”
As I faced the thirty-first round of rock-paper-scissors, I began to question whether I should keep playing this game.
If this goes on, I’ll either win and gain nothing but emotional wounds or lose and have to chant three times that Marius is handsome.
“My arms are short!”
“How disgraceful.”
“Exactly! That was disgraceful!”
“And ugly too.”
“Ugly!”
I quickly backed up Leopold’s accusations.
I ran over to Leopold and clung to his leg.
He’s the only one I can trust.
Startled, Leopold gently patted my head.
“We’re best friends, right?”
“Yeah. We’re best friends.”
“See? So now I’m appointing Uncle Leo as my representative. From now on, he’ll draw the lines for me.”
“Good idea, Liliana. I’ll take all of Marius’s land for you. My arms are longer than his.”
“Alright!”
Marius’s approval didn’t matter.
If he refused to accept my representative, he’d be a complete scoundrel.
“What happened to our long-standing friendship? You jerk.”
“If you weren’t His Majesty the Emperor, I’d have punched you already.”
Leopold’s eyes sparkled as he clenched his teeth.
Thus, the game resumed with Leopold and me as a team.
“Wow! He can reach that far in one go!”
Leopold really did have long arms.
Seeing the line stretch far and wide, my chest felt like it had opened up.
“Woooow! Uncle Leo, you’re the best!”
Following Leopold’s suggestion, we targeted Marius’s territory.
In no time, we reclaimed all the land.
“Kyaaa! Uncle Leo is my favorite person in the world!”
How could we take all of Marius’s land in just ten rounds and end the game?
We even gained a bunch of new territory.
I bounced up and hugged Leopold tightly, and he awkwardly hugged me back.
Marius watched us and pouted like he was sulking.
“I was the one playing with you, but you like Leo more?”
“Are you a kid? Why are you jealous again?”
Tsk tsk tsk. I clicked my tongue and heard a familiar “Kuhf!” sound from above.
It was the noise Marius always made when trying to hold back uncontrollable laughter.
Even though he’s the Emperor and acts properly while working, he turns childish whenever he sees me.
Really, I can’t understand him.
“You admit I won, right?”
“Pfft. Yeah, I admit it.”
“Great. Then I’ll say my wish now.”
“What is it? Is there something you want? A dollhouse? Or maybe you want to raise a puppy?”
A dollhouse…! A puppy…!
Just imagining it made me smile. That sounded like such a good idea…
But I quickly covered my mouth.
Otherwise, I might get too excited and make a random wish.
“Maybe a secret hideout in a tree?”
“Gaaaah… That sounds so nice…”
“Really? Then let’s make that your—”
“No! No way, not that!”
Get a grip, get a grip!
I slapped my cheeks with both hands to regain focus.
Leopold gently grabbed my hands to stop me from hitting myself.
“Looks like you have a real wish.”
“Y-yeah… You know. You’ll really grant it, right?”
“Hmm? What is it? I’m the Emperor. I can do anything.”
If I use my wish on this, will Marius get mad?
I’d never made such a request before, so my heart pounded nervously.
Tap. Tap. I tapped the ground with my toe.
Marius quietly waited for my wish.
With the same heart I had when I spilled paint on the floor and waited for my sisters to come, I whispered my wish to him.
“Then please don’t restrict my oldest sister’s abilities anymore.”
I shut my eyes tightly, and my heartbeat felt louder than ever.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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