167 – Don’t bet if you’re not sure!
In the peaceful lady’s room today.
“One… Two… Three.”
Sitting at the table after a long time, the lady and I were counting the reward received from Malik for our work at the academy, basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, focusing.
As the empty purse filled up, her lips curled up.
“hehehehe…!”
“Miss, your laughter is like a noble tax evasion.”
“It’s money we don’t have to pay taxes on…!”
“Your recent statement was quite villainous.”
“It’s okay to be a villain.”
The lady counted the money diligently, wearing a pleased smile.
“hehehe… 100 pieces of chocolate.”
Seeing the lady chuckling and fiddling with the platinum coins, I corrected her misconception.
“Miss.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t ignore the platinum coins.”
“Why?”
“Just for a mere 100 pieces of chocolate?”
Chuckling at the mention of 100 chocolates, I picked up one of the platinum coins on the table. Like a past life ASMR YouTuber, I confidently displayed the coin in front of the lady, palm open, and declared boldly.
“A little exaggeration, and you can buy a thousand.”
“eeek!”
At the mention of a thousand, the lady dropped the coin in her hand to the ground. As the coin clinked and rolled, her eyes followed.
“A thousand?!”
“Even if not a thousand, you can buy over a hundred.”
With the value skyrocketing from a hundred to a thousand, the lady’s eyes began to tremble even more.
She exclaimed loudly, “Wow…”
“If I attach a thousand bear doll eyes, can I earn one of these?”
“No.”
“Ten thousand?”
“Well… that might not work either?”
Realizing the unattainable amount through side jobs, the lady stared at the platinum coin with a fierce determination.
“Wow…”
Engaged in a staring contest with the emperor drawn on the coin, the lady blew air through her nose, challenging.
“Wow…”
Indeed, money seemed to be a good thing.
The lady was in a staring contest, questioning if this was the qualification for a thousand chocolates. She bit into the stubborn platinum coin, nodding with a satisfying smile.
No.
Should I say, a sinister smile?
With a sly grin that thieves might wear, she began to observe me closely.
“Ricardo…”
“Yes.”
“You see…”
Drawing out her words and diverting her gaze, the lady subtly moved her finger towards the platinum coin at the edge of the table. I smiled, watching her mischievous actions.
‘This is too obvious.’
The lady who scorned the beggar-born without an ounce of sympathy. I observed her misdeeds closely with a satisfied smile.
– Stealthily.
The lady glanced at me and spoke again.
“How many coins does it take for them to turn white?”
“A hundred.”
“Oh…”
“If you collect a hundred, they turn white?”
My salary, like blood, heading towards the lady’s treasure purse. I gently smiled as I replied to the lady, who didn’t even pay her salary, attempting something akin to Lupin.
“Yes. If you work very hard and gather a hundred, you can exchange them for white coins.”
“I’ve only used white before, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Truly a villainous perspective.”
“But, Miss.”
“Hmm?”
“Do I appear like a seaweed head to you?”
“Octopus legs?”
“No.”
I chuckled and took hold of the lady’s wrist. Startled, she shivered and jerked her shoulder.
Wary of leaving marks on her delicate wrist, I held it gently, not forgetting to gaze into her trembling eyes as I placed her wrist on the table.
Though I grazed the treasure purse slightly in the process, I pretended not to notice, safeguarding the lady’s dignity. It wasn’t out of shame that I feigned ignorance.
Looking at her hand clenched on the table, the lady said, “Ah… no!”
“I haven’t said anything yet, though?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“That… that!”
Observing the lady’s charming act of pretending not to know while looking out the window, I became certain. Even if my words were like those of an actor who enjoyed provocative games in a past life, what could I do?
He lost an arm, and I have no intention of losing mine.
Clearing the table, I smirked cruelly.
“The lady must have put a white bottle cap in her purse.”
I smiled at the foreign object that clinked against her hand as she rummaged through her purse.
Clunk. The object I casually placed on the table rolled and smoothly landed in front of the lady.
A white bottle cap.
Her eyes began to tremble noticeably.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Don’t write a novel! Ricardo must have seen it wrong!”
“hehehe… Wouldn’t you need to open your hand to find out, Miss?”
“eeek!”
The lady couldn’t lie.
Lies were evident in looking out the window.
In the quivering of her eyebrows.
As a butler who had served her for 13 years, the idea of not knowing was preposterous.
With certainty in my voice, I spoke to the lady whose face clearly read, ‘I am lying.’
“I will wager all the money on the table and a 130-gold bath potion against the platinum coin in the lady’s hand.”
“Profit…”
The lady glared at me with a tightly clenched fist. I couldn’t help but smile involuntarily at the flustered look in the lady’s trembling eyes, but…
“In that case, I’ll bet a week’s worth of chocolates!”
“It’s my money.”
“Proooofit! Lend it to me!”
“Alright.”
Seeing the lady respond boldly, a slight tremor ran through me.
“Did I bet too much…?”
No.
I could look at the lady’s face and be certain. Although I momentarily lost focus on the shaking pouch of treasures, I couldn’t back down from just that level of a wager.
And I couldn’t give up on considering the lady’s well-being.
“A week is too short.”
“Not short!”
“Let’s make it this week.”
“No!”
“Are you scared?”
“Proooofit! No!”
At the single word that riled up everyone in the world, the lady clenched her fist tightly and agreed to the bet.
Now, with the condition set to see the lady’s agile face, I began to unfold my fist along with her trembling gaze.
“Thumpity thump. Thumpity thump.”
Humming a tune, I started to pry open the lady’s tightly clenched fist from her pinky finger.
“Shall we see it once?”
I smiled as I looked at the coin the lady was clutching tightly. Just as always, the moment when I was filled with confidence in my victory and about to tease her.
“Oh? A gold coin?”
An unexpected surprise greeted me.
The lady looked at me with a bright smile. As dopamine overflowed, lighting up her eyes, I looked at the same place as the lady with a lost expression.
“No… this shouldn’t be here, right?”
The lady said with a smile.
Just like a protagonist in a movie, she coolly and haughtily took out a chocolate from the treasure pouch.
“Fool. Ricardo, you fool.”
Watching the lady chew the chocolate, I thought to myself.
“When did she take it…?”
I must have seen her take it.
Surely…!
“I couldn’t possibly deceive the eyes of a swordsman with the sword master right in front of me,” I thought. At that moment, as I recalled the one point where I momentarily lost focus.
“Proooofit! Stop it!”
“Was it then.”
Was it when my gaze was drawn to the swaying treasure pouch? It was undoubtedly a view that couldn’t be ignored as a man. I had no choice but to admit my mistake.
Almost affirming my words, a glint of white coin appeared between the lady’s treasure pouch as she swept the platinum coins piled on the table.
‘As expected.’
Is a villain always a villain?
I acknowledged my defeat, nodded my head, and at the same time, I held the lady’s hand, smiling.
“There are still things to confirm.”
“Eek…!”
“The treasure pouch.”
“I… I won!”
Seeing the lady stop in surprise, I smiled wryly and said, “Indeed?”
“Yay! Gomtang!”
-Gom!
“Ask!”
-Gom…
The lady, looking at the sleeping bear, shouted, “You silly bear!”
“It’s not a bear, it’s a gom.”
“But Ricardo called it a bear last time!”
“It’s grown too big to be called a bear.”
“Yay!”
Under the tickling touch, a silver coin fell from the lady’s treasure pouch, and she awkwardly smiled, saying, “Would you trade it for a chocolate?”
“I’ll limit it to three a day.”
“Yay! I won!”
“Isn’t that a despicable way?”
“No!”
It was a day filled with laughter.
Of course.
“Take it!”
Due to the lady insisting on putting a silver coin in the treasure pouch, there was an unexpected expense.
Still.
“Uh… I lost.”
It was a fun day.
*
After ending the fierce bet, evening arrived.
Under the moonlight, Olivia began to rummage through the treasure pouch.
“Hmm.”
Chocolate came out.
Gold coins came out.
Among the candies she had saved, something caught Olivia’s fingertips, making her smile brightly as she pulled out a white silver coin under the moonlight.
“Wow…!”
Almost a thousand pieces of chocolate.
The feeling of seeing the platinum coins that she used to spend lightly in the past was new. It had been a while since she touched them, and they were her own property.
“hehehe…”
Olivia cherished this money.
Not because she could buy a thousand chocolates, but because it was hard-earned money by Ricardo. Although it was Ricardo’s money, Olivia held the coins preciously, thinking that if she saved them up, she might be able to reduce the overdue salary a little in the future.
“With this, it’s one thousand one hundred and twenty gold…!”
What should she do with this money?
As much as she loved snacks, she didn’t want to be like a pig eating only chocolate, so she wanted to give a gift to the butler who was always by her side.
Since she had earned a lot of money.
One gift should be fine…?
“Since Ricardo is weak, should I buy him some medicine?”
Now that there was nothing to hide, she even considered hiding in the closet, wondering if it would be okay and whether Ricardo would get tired of it since they had done it once before.
-Wheeeing~
At the eerie sound of wind that seemed like a ghost might appear, Olivia covered herself with the blanket up to her head and closed her eyes.
“Eek!”
It seemed like tonight, she would have to sleep with Ricardo.
“Ricardoooo!”
And.
-Ding.
Darkness fell upon her once again.