CH 164

He’s the one that Firth said had the greatest talent after Lorenzo-sama?

Perhaps because of the dream she saw earlier, in addition to the turmoil of reality, Sophie slightly absentmindedly stared at Remiel’s face.

It was like a sculpture that was constructed precisely. It felt like he was exuding invisible light, giving off the impression he belonged to a different world.

If he moved a little, the smooth, silky hair would produce a soft sound. Even though his purple eyes were colorful, they felt like the bottom of a deep sea.

That handsomeness was comparable to the moon shining quietly and gave off a mysterious feeling, which made one feel their skin tingling if they stared at him for a long time.

The man known as Remiel Karlfeldt had an amazing presence that, just by standing still, would silently swallow other people’s hearts.

In contrast to Sophie, who was entranced by the illusion of the eerie beauty to the point of her not breathing, Remiel seemed used to it as he opened his mouth without minding the unscrupulous gaze.

“By the way, Sophie Linier. I want you to play against me.”

“…………Hah?”

Due to the sudden request, Sophie ended up responding in Tasuku’s tone.

Sophie hurriedly coughed to recover and asked with a well-organized tone of a lady,

“Why do I have to play with you?”

“If you win, I’ll give you what you want. If I win, I’ll take what I want from you.”

What’s with that game…?

Sophie had nothing she wanted from this man.

She certainly requested him to forget about her sleep-talking before, but if she actually spoke of it, then she would be digging her own grave, so Sophie didn’t feel like asking for confirmation.

“Why should I agree with such a risky game?”

“I don’t mind you refusing.”

Despite the sudden request, he backed off quite easily. Just as Sophie felt relieved ――

“I’ll just follow you around until you agree.”

“?!”

As the man casually said such an outrageous statement, Sophie felt her mouth twitching.

…I thought he was a weird man like a ghost when we first met, but he was actually a weird man.

“That’s just a step away from being a stalker.”

As Sophie involuntarily held her head and muttered, Remiel’s beautiful purple eyes seemed to be puzzled and he tilted his head in wonder.

“What does ‘stalker’ mean?”

Sophie let slip a word that didn’t exist in this world, but Sophie didn’t feel like explaining it in detail, but instead refused him with a strong tone.

“Stop that because it’s annoying.”

“I see. So ‘stalker’ means annoying?”

“…Well, that’s right.”

“Where did such words come from? It’s my first time hearing such words.”

The man known as Remiel Karlfeldt was like a child who wanted to ask about everything. Certainly, such a desire for knowledge made him fit to be a silver star.

While Sophie was wondering what she should do about it, Remiel slowly put something on the table.

They were boards and pieces.

It’s a richu’s board…

Richu was a board game similar to chess and shogi in her previous life.

It was originally something that upper-class men loved to play, but Sophie had been taught it by Ferio and Al, so it was quite a familiar game for Sophie.

So when he said play, he meant a board game.

In that case, I have the confidence to win.

In her previous life, Tasuku played chess with Tenma’s father when Tasuku was still a student, and after he got a job, he was often invited for a match of go or shogi with his business partner, so Tasuku was quite well learned regarding the board game and was quite proficient about it.

With the knowledge of the board games from her previous life, she could apply some of them depending on how richu moved their pieces.

Because of that, Sophie wasn’t weak and she managed to win against Ferio and Al who taught her the game after some matches.

However, why did this man think it was obvious for a lovely lady like herself to know how to play richu?

Richu had a strong impression as a war strategy game. It would be normal for a daughter of a baron family to have no interest in that. If one were to invite another woman for the match of richu, said woman would normally belong to a high pedigree.

“I don’t think this is particularly difficult.”

But despite that, Remiel started to arrange the pieces as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

“I think the difficulty level is relative for each person.”

“I’ll let you make the first move.”

“You really are not a person who listens to others, are you?”

“So you prefer I make my move first?”

No good. We can’t communicate.

Considering he had prepared the board beforehand, it seemed he had no intention of listening to her objection to begin with.

Geez, all I need to do is to win! I just need to win!

Perhaps due to the dream, her consciousness as Tasuku was still dragging her over.

Sophie forgot about the graceful behavior of a lady and became a little stubborn.

All without noticing that would lead to the worst consequence.

About an hour later, Sophie was stunned as she saw the state of the board with her piece in hand.

Looking at the pieces lined up in a beautiful straight line, there was no doubt about who won and who lost.

Indeed, it was totally her defeat.

No way…

She was certainly in the lead at the beginning of the game.

But just before she managed to win, the situation suddenly reversed.

Until that moment, Sophie believed none of her movements were bad. As a matter of fact, Sophie made no mistake in making her moves.

But the fact this man still came out on top, it meant he was more skillful than Sophie.

It’s my… complete defeat.

Such a clear defeat was something Sophie never experienced so far.

Such was the case whether it be her previous life or her current life. Although there were times when she chose to lose on purpose, there was never a case where she actually lost when she was aiming for victory.

While Sophie couldn’t get out of her shock, Remiel said without intonation,

“It’s my victory.”

Even though he completely won the match, the man that didn’t show any happiness over his victory at all still stated things plainly.

“…May I know what you wish for?”

When Sophie asked timidly, Remiel opened his mouth without breaking his facial expression.

“…………Hah?”

Upon hearing Remiel’s wish, Sophie once again made a voice that lacked the elegance of a lady, but she had no leisure to deceive it this time.

That was how unexpected Remiel’s wish was to her, and Sophie had no idea what his intention in making such a wish was.

There was only one thing she knew.

――――Is this man stupid?

Sophie thought so from the bottom of her heart.