The two girls huddled together and studied it for ages, but still couldn't make heads or tails of it. In the end, they decided they'd dig into it properly after they got back.
As for right now—there was something else to do!
"Let's play a game!" Lux suddenly said with bright enthusiasm.
Kahina immediately nodded. "Sure! What about you, Your Highness?"
Two pairs of eyes instantly turned to Luke.
"I'm fine with it. What are we playing?" Luke nodded. There really wasn't anything else to do at the moment.
"This!"
Lux looked like she'd been prepared for that question. She slipped a hand into her pocket and actually pulled out a deck of playing cards.
Cards had started getting popular pretty early on, and people had come up with all sorts of ways to play.
She opened the box and took out the deck. Lux blinked and asked, "Ever played Turtle Duck Rabbit Race?"
Luke shook his head.
"It's like this: you take a deck, remove the two Jokers and four random cards, then deal it into three hands—sixteen cards each. A is just below 2. Other than that, high cards beat low cards. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first loses."
Lux explained the rules.
Luke understood. It sounded like a variant of those "run fast" style card games—pairs, straights, bombs, three-of-a-kind, and straight flushes and the like.
Even the name gave it away: Turtle Duck Rabbit Race. Whoever runs the fastest wins.
Except in this game, there would only be one loser.
"Anyway, if you don't know how to play, you'll get it after one round."
Lux started pulling cards out while she talked. She first picked out the two Jokers, then randomly removed four more cards.
Then she shuffled and dealt.
The three of them played a quick practice round while she explained the details as they went. Unsurprisingly, Luke lost the first round.
"Got it now?" Lux asked.
"Got it." Luke nodded.
Lux said, "Then now we're playing for real."
Kahina thought for a moment and said, "Should we… set a punishment for the loser?"
"We can. Actually—there has to be one!" Lux agreed instantly, then looked at Luke. "What do you think?"
"I'm fine with it." Luke nodded again.
"So what punishment?" Lux asked.
All three of them fell into thought.
Luke pondered for a second, then, as if by accident, glanced at the red marks on the two girls' foreheads. After thinking it over, he tested the waters. "How about… a flick to the forehead?"
Lux: "?"
Kahina: "?"
Two giant question marks slapped Luke right in the face.
Flick your—are you serious?!
"I'm kidding." Luke was just about to take it back.
"No!" Lux abruptly lifted one hand to stop him. With a cold snort, she said, "Since you suggested it, that's the punishment!"
"I agree too!" Kahina added right away.
They both agreed.
"Let me be completely honest—at this game, I'm known as the undefeated king." Lux preened confidently, giving Luke a mocking look. "Just hope you don't regret it later."
"That good, huh?" Luke rubbed his chin, looking at her confident little face.
Something was off.
Nine times out of ten, something was very off.
Have these two always been this bold?
Lux turned the cards over, casually picked four to remove, then gave the deck a quick shuffle. Without drawing attention to it, she shot Kahina a look and said, "Alright, I'm dealing."
Kahina returned the look.
Today, they were going to make this annoying guy learn what it meant to ask for trouble.
They came prepared.
The two of them had formed an alliance long before they came to Luke's house—two against one. No matter how you looked at it, the advantage was theirs!
The revenge match was today!
You like flicking foreheads, do you?
The two girls sneaked a glance at Luke. On the surface, though, one kept dealing calmly, while the other started sorting her hand as if nothing was going on.
"Yurna, go bring down the fruit from upstairs," Luke said as he picked up his cards, giving an order at the same time.
"Yes, Your Highness," Yurna replied immediately, and went.
Very soon, Lux finished dealing.
All three picked up their hands and started pulling out any pairs from their cards.
"Who has the Three of Hearts?" Luke asked while organizing his hand.
"I do." Lux already had her hand sorted. She revealed the Three of Hearts and secured the first lead.
"I'll start with this."
The first play had to include the Three of Hearts, so she tossed it onto the table.
Then it was Luke's turn.
He looked at his cards and followed with one.
Kahina chose to pass.
Just then, Yurna came back down the stairs and said, "Your Highness, it seems the fruit has already been eaten."
"Eaten already? Alright then." Luke answered casually.
Neither girl paid any attention to it, and they kept playing.
The first couple of rounds were calm enough. All three were trying to fight for control of the lead.
Halfway through the game, Luke began to notice something.
He realized that when he didn't have the lead, Lux and Kahina didn't interfere with each other at all.
But the moment he took control of the lead, the gunpowder smell between the two girls shot straight through the roof!
Add in their terrible acting and those "totally inconspicuous" exchanged glances—
Luke finally got it.
So he'd jumped right into a trap.
No wonder these two had been so eager to play and so eager to set a punishment.
Still, even though he saw through it, Luke had no intention of calling them out.
He continued playing along with their performance.
After all, who would win and who would lose was still up in the air.
Round after round went by. Finally, the three of them were running low on cards.
The lead was in Lux's hands—she'd just taken it from Luke.
At this moment, Luke had four cards left. Lux had seven. Kahina only had one.
By this situation, Kahina was extremely likely to lose.
But Lux glanced at her excellent hand and curled her lips into a confident smile.
A bomb of sixes, plus three eights!
If she wanted to win right now, she could play the three eights first and then finish with the bomb—instant victory.
But if she did that, Luke would get the lead afterward, which would be very bad for Kahina.
However, they hadn't seen any sevens the entire game, and since four random cards had been removed—and Luke had just passed earlier—it proved that Luke's four cards weren't a bomb!
After a split-second brainstorm, Miss Crownguard confidently played a single card. "An eight!"
That's right. She was going to win twice over.
Luke looked troubled, glanced at his hand, and sighed. "Pass."
That answer surprised both girls.
Kahina's face lit up with delight. She immediately slapped down her final card and became the first to go out.
Next came the one-on-one showdown.
And Lux, from Luke's response, launched another round of frantic calculation.
If he couldn't beat a single eight, then his hand was either a straight, two pairs, or low singles below eight.
No matter how you looked at it, he had no chance of winning anymore!
And as for her—no matter what she played, she wouldn't lose!
The sweet rush of revenge was already flooding Miss Crownguard's heart. Giddy, she decided she was going to savor this and torment Luke properly!
So—
"Another eight."
"Pass."
"Then another eight!"
Lux's little face was flushed with excitement, making her look ridiculously adorable.
For the first time—seriously, the first time in her life—she was holding Luke so effortlessly in the palm of her hand!
"You can't play, can you? Watch me—"
Just as Miss Crownguard was about to close it out with her bomb, she suddenly saw Luke smiling.
A bad feeling rose up instantly—and it grew alarmingly strong!
Then she watched as Luke slowly laid down his four remaining cards.
"Bomb."
On the table were four sevens.
That bomb blew the soul right out of Miss Crownguard. That excited look was still frozen on her face, but her bright eyes dimmed bit by bit.
"Looks like I win too." Luke said with a grin.
Lux still hadn't mentally prepared herself to accept defeat. She held up her four sixes, staring in disbelief.
She… lost?
With a god-tier hand like this, she still lost?
"Why did you pass earlier?!" Lux snapped as she finally reacted, furious as she demanded an explanation.
He obviously could've ended the game earlier, but he kept passing!
Luke only answered her with a smile.
In an instant, Lux understood.
If he had gone out earlier, how could the one losing right now possibly be her?
He did it on purpose. This hateful guy did it on purpose!
"Then can we move on to the punishment?" Luke said cheerfully, raising his hand and flexing his fingers a little.
Lux immediately put on a pitiful, helpless little rabbit expression and whispered, "Your Highness… can you be gentler?"
"Don't worry." Luke smiled at her with warm tenderness.
He pressed his middle finger and thumb together, brought them up to Lux's forehead, and flicked with force!
Dong~!
In the scorching summer heat, that sound was crisp and sweet—
like a perfectly ripe watermelon.
"My head! My head! It's splitting open!" Lux wailed, crying as she rolled around on the sofa clutching her forehead.
The proud undefeated king had fallen.
That flick almost sent her straight to the heavens.
It took a long while before the pain finally eased.
She sat back up, shooting Luke a look that was half grievance, half rage, and swore to herself:
This revenge… will be repaid!
Kahina felt sorry for her, so she only reached out and gently tapped Lux's forehead once.
"Second round!" Lux demanded immediately, eyes burning with vengeful resolve.
"Want me to shuffle?" Luke gathered up the cards on the table and asked with a smile.
Naturally, the two girls had no objections.
Luke shuffled seriously for a few moments, removed four cards, then started dealing.
Kahina and Lux exchanged a secret glance.
This time, they were definitely going to make him lose!
Two minutes later.
Kahina stared at the single card left in her hand, and at Luke—who held the lead—trembling slightly.
"A pair of sevens, a pair of nines, three sixes."
Luke laid down his cards, announcing the end of the game.
He was a big believer in fairness. Since he'd already flicked Miss Crownguard's forehead once…
Then Miss Buvelle couldn't be left out.
As Luke's words fell, clear despair appeared in Kahina's eyes.
"Your Highness, remember—" She tried to say something to awaken a shred of conscience in him, but she didn't even get to finish before Luke's fingers flicked out.
Dong~!
This watermelon sound was just as crisp.
Someone once told Luke: if you want to know whether a watermelon is sweet, you listen to whether it sounds loud when you tap it.
"Mhm. Nice and loud." Luke said, satisfied, pulling his hand back.
"Mmph…" Kahina instantly understood exactly what kind of pain Lux had just suffered. She let out a muffled whimper, stubbornly refusing to cry out loud.
"How about we stop?" Luke said sympathetically. "I'm worried you two won't be able to take it."
"No!" The moment the words left his mouth, both girls rejected him in perfect unison!
They'd come this far—there was no backing out now!
But their stubbornness, in the face of real strength, was utterly helpless.
After two more games.
Tears clung to the corners of Lux and Kahina's eyes. With cards in hand, they looked at Luke carefully, their pitiful little gazes practically begging for mercy.
They had gradually realized something.
Luke was strong.
And not just strong—absurdly strong.
This hateful guy had acted like he didn't know how to play at first purely to make them drop their guard!
Even when they teamed up, they hadn't won a single time!
"This hand's pretty good," Luke said as he played: a long straight starting with the Three of Hearts, then a three-of-a-kind, and finally a bomb to close.
The game had barely started before it was already over.
Meanwhile, Lux and Kahina still had a pile of cards in their hands.
The two of them went completely dumbfounded, then looked at each other.
At that moment, whatever "sisterly bond" they'd had was gone. What remained was only one truth: winner takes all.
A slaughter began.
Neither held back, both trying to kill the other on the spot.
If someone had to lose, it absolutely could not be me!
When the game ended, Lux collapsed onto the sofa, limp all over, her face full of despair.
Luke wore a devil's smile as he slowly approached.
Miss Crownguard trembled, terrified, and squeezed her eyes shut.
But this time, Luke only flicked lightly.
Because he was a little worried—if he flicked her stupid, would he have to take responsibility afterward?
After all these games, it was like her already-not-bright brain had been hit with a fresh layer of snow on top of frost.
Lux let out a breath of relief. For a brief moment, she even felt grateful that Luke had gone easy on her.
"Still want to play?" Luke asked.
The instant the two girls heard that, their bodies shuddered.
"Nope, nope, I'm done. My mom's calling me home for dinner."
"I still have to go to the Illuminators' Church this afternoon. I'm going back to rest first. Farewell, Your Highness."
They fled in a panic, their earlier confidence completely gone.
Today's revenge plan—officially failed.
They were the ones who suggested the punishment in the first place, and in the end, they were still the ones who suffered for it.
"Yurna, well done."
Luke smiled at his maid. She was sensible. He was very satisfied.
Earlier, when he told Yurna to go get fruit, there hadn't actually been any fruit in his house at all.
When Yurna went upstairs and discovered that, she understood Luke's meaning. After she came back down, she didn't stand behind him.
Instead, she stood behind the two girls.
When those two were exchanging flirty little signals and secret codes, they had no idea Yurna was also feeding their "hole cards" to Luke.
Of course, that was just insurance for the first round.
Hearing Luke's praise, Yurna stood quietly to the side without speaking, silently sympathizing in her heart.
Miss Crownguard and Miss Buvelle were so pitiful.
They didn't know that the moment His Highness gained the right to shuffle, it had already become a game where whoever he wanted to lose… would lose.
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