It was early evening.
Compared to the past few days, it had been getting dark earlier and earlier lately. It was only around six, and the clear sky outside had already dimmed.
Inside the house, the clack-clack of Mahjong tiles shuffling and rubbing together kept sounding off now and then.
Luke, Lux, Kahina, and Quinn—who had only just learned Mahjong—were all seated around the Mahjong table. Meanwhile, Sona and Fiora were on the other side of the room, playing five-in-a-row.
"Two Bamboo."
Luke reached out, drew a tile, then tossed one out.
It became Lux's turn to draw.
She extended her slender fingers, took her tile, and with absolute confidence, she felt along the back of her hand of tiles—then the corner of her mouth lifted.
"Self-draw!"
As soon as she said it, she flipped the tiles over with a snap, lightly patting them onto the table. Then she pushed down her standing tiles one by one. "Four Identical Sequences in One Suit, All One Suit, All Chows—fifty-two fan total!"
Luke glanced at her winning tile—Four of Characters—then looked back at his own hand.
He still hadn't even built a single sequence.
Kahina took one look and sighed. "That was way too fast."
"Heh-heh. That's skill!" Lux lifted her chin, her face full of smug satisfaction.
Quinn was still trying to memorize hand patterns. Hearing it was a fifty-two fan hand, she couldn't help but marvel. "That's amazing."
That only made Lux look even more pleased.
Luke snorted with disdain, pulled out the money, and handed it over.
After playing Mahjong all afternoon, he'd figured it out.
What skill? This was pure luck.
Just looking at her, Lux had the kind of face that screamed "ridiculously good fortune," like everything was going her way. That kind of lucky aura was rare. Clearly, something good was coming her way.
What it was, he couldn't tell yet.
But when it came to luck, Mahjong was the same.
Mahjong was entertainment that leaned heavily on fortune. Some people sat down and started with a heaven hand. Others opened with thirteen tiles and not a single connection.
Lux was definitely the first type.
With that absurd luck backing her, she could play any nonsense and still somehow assemble a high-scoring hand. And all afternoon, she'd been the one self-drawing the most.
Even Luke had bled plenty of money to her today.
Lux took the coins from his hand, absolutely delighted. Then she stared down at him from above and gave him a mocking little smile—so smug it was practically written across her face.
Like she was saying, "That all you've got?"
It made Luke seriously annoyed.
And in that moment, he finally understood what the girls had felt like before, back when they'd been playing Mahjong with him.
So this was what it felt like to have someone rub it in your face.
It was unbelievably irritating.
After paying up again, Quinn patted her now-empty pocket and drooped. "I'm out of money."
Mahjong was fun, sure.
But it was also way too expensive.
Her entire month's pay had basically turned into tuition.
Kahina hadn't won much at all today either. She sighed. "My spending money's gone too. I'm done."
Lux happily pulled out her delicate wallet and stuffed all her winnings inside. Then she patted it and said, "Don't worry. Your money's with me. It won't suffer."
At this point, her little stash was visibly bulging with gold coins.
Clearly, while Luke had been away, she'd been winning plenty too.
Watching Miss Crownguard's noticeably thicker stash, Luke wore a thoughtful expression.
Lux instantly picked up on his gaze and snapped into alertness, glaring at him. "I'm warning you—don't get any ideas."
"What are you talking about?" Luke stood up, righteous as could be. "Do I look like that kind of guy?"
"You'd better not be." Lux huffed, tucked her wallet away as if it were a priceless treasure, shot him one more glare, then turned and left with a proud little toss of her head.
Luke, on the other hand, was already thinking about how to talk Miss Crownguard out of her precious stash.
While he was thinking, he headed down into the basement.
He'd been gone for so many days that the soda and ice cream he'd stored down there had long since been wiped out.
A lot of the alcohol had been drunk too, and there were clear signs that a certain older woman had been down here.
No big deal. Before he left, he'd brewed another batch anyway. After this many days, it was ready to dig up and drink.
As for soda and ice cream, he could make those anytime.
With an afternoon's worth of time, both should be about done.
Before long, an enormous platter of colorful ice cream was carried into the living room.
The moment it hit the table, the comfortably warm room seemed to drop a few degrees, a coolness spreading out around it.
Luke had made a lot of flavors this time. He figured summer was already over, but the weather still wasn't that cold yet, so everyone could squeeze in one last round of that icy, refreshing feeling.
It wasn't like you couldn't eat ice cream in winter—it was just that eating it in winter and eating it in summer were two totally different experiences.
Quinn stared at the huge portion of ice cream in front of her, cold mist curling off it. Its surface looked like it glittered with tiny crystal beads of frost, almost dazzling.
As for the other girls, Luke didn't even need to call them over. They'd already gathered around on their own.
Lux scooped across with the serving spoon, lifting a neat round ball onto her fancy plate—one scoop that somehow caught multiple flavors at once.
Her eyes sparkled. She immediately dug out a massive spoonful with her own spoon and shoved it straight into her mouth.
The icy bite hit first, then the rich sweetness bloomed and spread. After she swallowed—
She suddenly clutched her head and sucked in a breath. "Ow—ugh. That hurts…"
Luke glanced at her, amused. "Maybe don't take such a huge bite."
Thankfully, Lux's head only hurt for a moment.
She recovered quickly. This time she didn't dare scoop that much. Instead, she took a tiny spoonful and let it melt slowly on her tongue.
A flush rose in her cheeks. She closed her eyes in bliss and sighed, "It's so good."
Fiora, Kahina, and Sona clearly felt the same.
They ate at an unhurried pace, letting the ice cream melt, and no matter how many bites they took, the taste never got old.
All over the capital, plenty of places sold ice cream now.
But nowhere made it as good as Luke did.
A few bites of ice cream, then a sip of soda—somehow, it made the girls feel like they were remembering the summer that had already passed.
Quinn was quietly savoring hers too, taking small bites. She clearly loved it.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside, followed by Frey's voice.
"Your Highness, we're back."
Not long after that, Vayne and Frey walked into the living room one after the other.
Luke looked at them. "Everything taken care of?"
Frey nodded. "If nothing unexpected happens, it should all be settled within three days."
This afternoon, as long as they mentioned Luke's name, everything became a lot simpler. A lot of procedures got skipped outright.
Otherwise, it would've dragged on for a long time.
After all, Vayne's hometown was in another city, a pretty long distance from the capital. Converting the property over and moving everything into the capital wouldn't normally be easy.
But Vayne's parents had been somewhat well-known back then, and with Luke's status in play, things became far smoother.
"Good." Luke smiled. "Come try the ice cream and soda I made."
Vayne and Frey sat down on the sofa. Seeing the ice cream laid out in a big wooden container, and the dark-brown liquid beside it, both of them looked curious.
Yurna brought over two plates and two cups.
A while later, after tasting both the ice cream and the soda, the two of them offered nothing but praise.
As expected, no woman could resist the allure of sweets.
Vayne seemed to especially love cold treats. She was taking small bites, but she was already on her second serving.
A faint smile had even appeared at the corner of her mouth. She barely joined the conversation, just focused on eating.
Everyone chatted casually while they ate ice cream and drank soda, enjoying the easy calm of the evening.
No matter how good Luke made it, ice cream still had one unchanging truth.
Eat too much, and your stomach would suffer.
So everyone stopped when they felt they'd had enough.
Feeling that coolness settle in his stomach, Luke leaned back on the sofa and suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, I still have to go to the Crownguard estate for dinner later."
"Huh?" Lux looked over. "Why?"
Luke shook his head. "No idea. That old lady told me to go."
Lux paused. Looking at his face, she seemed to remember something. She averted her eyes, her voice drifting awkwardly. "Well… welcome, welcome…"
Something about her sudden guilt felt off.
Luke shot her a strange look. Something didn't feel right, but he didn't think too hard about it. He stood up and headed down to the basement.
He was planning to pour himself a little beer.
Downstairs, he held a glass under the tap and watched golden beer stream out, filling the cup.
Once it was full, he shut off the tap.
Then he drank it down in one go. The fizzy bite slid over his throat—
And he suddenly got an idea.
A minute later, Luke came back up from the basement. All the girls were still in the living room.
Miss Crownguard was sprawled comfortably on the sofa. Having just eaten a good amount of ice cream, she didn't feel like moving at all. Her face wore a satisfied smile.
Luke sat back down too.
First, he glanced at Sona.
Sona felt his gaze and looked over, tilting her head as if waiting for him to say something.
But Luke only blinked, then looked toward Lux. He cleared his throat. "Miss Crownguard."
"Yeah?" Lux opened her eyes, her innocent gaze sliding over.
Luke smiled. "Do you believe me if I say I can read minds?"
"Nope." Lux pouted immediately and closed her eyes again.
"My mind-reading isn't that strong," Luke continued. "I can only catch a little. So if you don't believe me, let's play a game. I'll close my eyes. You hold up any number you want. If I guess it, I win. If I guess right, you give me twenty gold. If I guess wrong, I pay you ten times that."
Lux opened her eyes again—then sat up straight, staring at Luke as she looked him up and down.
Where was this confidence coming from?
No matter how she thought about it, this sounded like Luke was just handing her money.
The other girls all looked over too, studying Luke with odd expressions.
Lux accepted immediately. "Fine!"
Luke's eyes flicked to Sona again.
And in that moment, Sona understood exactly what he meant. A helpless look appeared on her face.
"Then it's settled. I'm starting."
Luke closed his eyes, casually resting a hand against Sona's etwahl.
Right then, Sona's voice sounded.
"Your Highness… is it really okay to bully Lux like this?"
Of course, Luke couldn't respond to that. He only asked, "Ready?"
Lux huffed. "Aren't you reading my mind? Guess whether I'm ready."
The next second, Sona's resigned voice sounded again.
"Seven."
"Seven," Luke said immediately.
The living room fell silent.
Quinn, Kahina, Vayne, and Fiora all stared at the seven Lux was holding up, momentarily stunned.
Even Yurna looked over.
Lux was the most confused of all.
Only Frey glanced between Sona and Luke, the corner of her mouth lifting in a knowing smile.
"Did you peek?" Lux eyed Luke suspiciously—only to see his eyes were still tightly shut.
Luke said, "With this many people watching me, if I peeked, wouldn't someone notice?"
"Luck. That's all. Again!" Lux was sure she hadn't seen him open his eyes, so she quickly changed to another number.
Sona looked at her with faint sympathy.
Miss Crownguard… how tragic.
But there was also a hint of amusement in her eyes.
Because this was kind of fun.
And the feeling that she was the only one who could help His Highness cheat… was pretty great.
"Nine."
Hearing it, Luke answered right away. "Nine."
Once again, the room went quiet for a beat.
Fiora narrowed her eyes, interest flashing in them. She'd been watching Luke the entire time and was certain he hadn't opened his eyes.
If guessing right once could be luck, what was guessing right twice?
Ridiculously good luck?
Lux stared blankly at the nine she was holding up, completely unable to understand how he'd done it.
Could he actually read minds?
She refused to accept it and turned to Kahina. "Block his ears too!"
Luke said flatly, "How would that help? It's not like I can hear your fingers."
Kahina stood up anyway and covered both of his ears with her hands, plugging them as tightly as she could.
Maybe because she'd just eaten ice cream, her hands were cool—but not painfully cold. Actually, it felt kind of nice.
But Luke was hearing thoughts, not sound. Blocking his ears was useless.
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen," Luke said.
Lux was using both hands—one fist for ten, the other hand open for five.
Her wide eyes went a little unfocused.
Three guesses in a row being right was absolutely not luck anymore.
So what was happening?
Fiora, Quinn, Vayne, and Kahina all couldn't make sense of it either.
"Again?" Luke asked casually.
"Yes!" Lux grit her teeth. This time, she hid her hands behind her back.
Then she switched numbers several times in a row before finally settling on one.
But every change she made was seen clearly by Sona behind her.
"Three… then five."
Luke spoke at the same time. "Three, then five."
Lux's eyes went wide, shock written all over her face.
He could even tell she'd changed her mind?
For some reason, she was starting to panic.
Did he really have mind reading?
"Again?" Luke asked.
"No." Lux shook her head. Now she was the one basically handing him money.
When Luke opened his eyes, she couldn't help asking, "So you really can read minds?"
Luke smiled. "No. I just said that on purpose."
Lux blinked, dazed. "Then how did you know what number I was holding up?"
Luke gave her a mysterious grin. "That's a secret."
Seeing he clearly wasn't going to explain, the girls—who were dying of curiosity—shot him resentful looks, like they wanted to bite him.
But no matter how they stared, Luke still wasn't going to say.
When the time came, they'd find out naturally.
After all, it was a secret between him and Sona.
"Pay up, pay up." Luke raised a hand, grinning at Lux across from him.
Lux, extremely unhappy, pulled out her wallet, counted out eighty gold coins, and reluctantly handed them over.
She'd worked so hard to win that money.
And in less than a few minutes, it was all gone.
It hurt.
So much.
She glared at Luke and, in her heart, spat, "Luke, you dumb pig!"
Then she immediately watched his face—only to find he didn't react at all.
That confirmed it for her: he really couldn't read minds.
Otherwise, after being insulted like that, it would be bizarre for him to have no reaction.
Besides, mind reading was ridiculous to begin with.
Even if Luke claimed he could do it, none of the girls truly believed him.
What they did believe was that Luke had used some kind of trick to learn Lux's number.
They just couldn't figure out what the trick was.
Because none of them could imagine that Luke could hear Sona's inner voice.
Luke was in an excellent mood as he counted Miss Crownguard's stash.
Eighty gold.
Eighty gold!
In terms of actual value, that amount was pocket change to him.
But in terms of what it meant, it mattered a lot.
He loved the feeling of talking Miss Crownguard out of her precious stash.
And the more annoyed her little expression became, the better he felt.
This was the correct way to use Sona's inner voice.
"Next time, I'm not helping you!" Sona huffed, her voice drifting over.
Luke looked up and chuckled at her.
On the surface, Sona still wore her gentle, warm smile as always.
After spending so long together, it became obvious—her personality really was that soft and kind.
But only Luke, who alone could hear her inner voice, got to see her more playful side.
Lux sat nearby, watching Luke count the money with an extremely resentful look.
A minute ago, that money had still been hers.
Unbelievable.
TN: I wish they were just playing chess…
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