"No....I lost again!!"
Astra slammed her forehead on the table with a thud, groaning, "How did you win 18 times against me?!"
Seirou casually leaned in, making the final move with a calm, almost lazy grace.
"Correction… it's 20. Including this one. And I didn't win against you.…..you lost against me. Checkmate."
Astra blinked and slowly sat back up, rubbing her forehead, eyes still locked on the board, "Isn't that the same thing?" she asked. "You defeated me. You won. Same thing, right?"
"Not really." Seirou leaned back in his chair, lazily twirling a strand of his braided hair around his finger. "You let me defeat you."
Astra's brows scrunched. "Huh?"
"I knew each of your next moves," he said, his tone quiet but certain. "And you did exactly what I expected." She stared harder at the board. "You always say that. It's like you can read my mind. But today, I tried. I really did tried to hide my moves."
"That," he said, slowly getting to his feet, "was your first mistake."
He pushed his chair in with his knee, fingers tracing along the edge of the chessboard.
"You tried to defeat me… not to win."
He stepped closer and pointed at the board, voice taking on a different tone sharp, focused.
"Astra….. you were too focused on defeating me, not on winning and that's exactly why you lost. I did the opposite… and that's exactly why I won."
"You opened with the queen's pawn like always. Why? Because you wanted a safe setup you're cautious when you're frustrated. Your knight moved too early, again because you wanted control, not patience. And then…" He tapped a single pawn. "This poor thing moved two steps forward, alone. Sacrificed for a fake plan. That's emotion. You thought I'd go after it. But I already knew it was bait, because you're the one who left it."
He moved behind her, his voice now softer, closer.
"You think I know everything? I don't. I just watch. I observe. People… pieces… they all follow patterns. Your heartbeat changes when you hesitate. You chew your lip when you're unsure. Your hands tremble not because you're scared, but because you care too much about proving something."
"You think I'm reading your mind. But I'm reading your habits."
"Every time you're about to move your bishop, you hold your breath. When you're unsure, your hand hovers for exactly three seconds. When you're proud of a move, you smirk just slightly, only on the left side. People don't realize how loudly they speak when they say nothing."
Then, he turned his attention back to the board, reaching out to a knight of his own.
"I don't make moves just to play. I calculate not in numbers, but in stories."
He moved the knight one square, carefully.
"This piece? It's not just a knight. It's the key to your queen's flank. I placed it here ten moves ago, knowing exactly when you'd panic." He pointed to a pawn three rows back. "That one? It hasn't moved yet. Why? Because it's not meant to move. It's pressure….silent pressure. It sits there doing nothing, but it controls everything. You thought it was weak. But every strong move begins in silence."
Seirou turned to Astra once more.
"This game isn't about defeating your opponent, it's about making the opponent choose to lose leaving no chance to win." Then, leaning in close, he added with a half-smile,
"And you, Astra… You played against me. But I played through you."
Astra sighed, her head dropping, "I didn't understand a single thing you just said," she mumbled. "Winning, defeating, whatever….blah blah blah. You always turn a board game into a philosophy class."
She slumped back in her chair hands raised In air. " Are you secretly writing a book called 'Life Lessons Through board games' or something?"
Seirou smirked, "Chapter Three: How to gracefully lose twenty times in a row." Astra groaned louder. "I'm never playing with you again."
"You said that after your eighth loss," Seirou reminded, not even looking up as he adjusted the board.
"I meant it on my ninth!" Astra snapped back.
Seirou smirked. "At this rate, are you just going to keep saying that until you hit a hundred?"
Before she could answer, both of them turned as footsteps approached from behind and saw Seiya walking toward them, his usual composed expression in place. Their eyes glanced at his hands. In his hands was a rolled-up scroll, which he casually tossed at Seirou.
Seirou caught it mid-air without even glancing.
"Accept it, You can't make Seirou lose to you. This genius already knows your every move."Astra rolled her eyes and turned away while Seirou added with a small smirk.
"Is Seiya complimenting me?" Seiya blinked, clearly confused. "Who said anything about complimenting you?"
"You did."
"I didn't."
Astra narrowed her eyes, then pointed at the scroll in Seirou's hands. "what's this?" Seirou glanced at Seiya, who gave him a small, silent nod. With a sigh, Seirou untied the red ribbon and unrolled the parchment, scanning it quickly.
After a few moments, he exhaled and rolled the scroll back up. "So… they want us to perform Silver Moon instead of Ashes of Red Flames tonight."
Seiya leaned against the nearby railing, "The villagers changed their request. And they're willing to pay double the original fee to perform this play at the festival but that's the problem."
"Double?!" Astra shot up from her chair, her fingers twitching as she started counting on them. "So 15 vels… becomes 29 vels?! That's a great deal! Why is this even a debate?"
Seirou didn't answer right away, only giving her a look,Then said, "it's 30 vels but Astra… you're forgetting something important."
She paused for a moment. "…I am?"
Seiya pushed off the railing, his voice dry. "They want us to perform….. The Silver Moon Twilight Bloom today on the Moonlight festival." Astra blinked, Her mind worked for a second before it hit her.
"Oh… right."
Seirou finished the thought for her, the weight of it hanging in the air.
"Ryoma will never agree to it."
Seiya added with a grin, "Let alone Ryoma even I won't agree to this."
"But… 30 vels! Isn't that a good opportunity?" Astra protested, throwing her hands up. "These days, even my hairpin costs 2 vels! A loaf of bread is 3 ryns! We can't miss this. We still have damages to pay off too wait, let me count—"
She started ticking off her fingers, mumbling numbers under her breath. Seirou cut in flatly, "Sixteen vels. That's how much your chaos cost us this week."
Astra blinked. "Exactly! See?"
Seiya shrugged, arms folded as he leaned in, "Doesn't matter. Looks like we'll have to cancel the performance tonight." Astra tilted her head, clearly still trying to think of a way, But Seirou cut her off, his tone calm but certain.
"There's no point in thinking like that. You know we won't be able to convince him. Ryoma hates that story." Astra huffed, sleeves swishing as she turned away angrily.
"He hates everything I like. What's new? I don't like him at all!"
The air around them shifted slightly.
The twins exchanged a quick glance and instinctively stepped beside Astra, sensing the rising tension. Seirou raised a calming hand, his voice gentler now.
"It's not like that… He just doesn't like the story, that's all." But Astra didn't budge. She kept her arms crossed, refusing to look at any of them, her voice still heated.
"Exactly. Why should he hate that story the one I like?" She turned, eyes shining, her tone softening as she began to speak of it.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? The tale of the god who descended into the mortal realm on the night of the full moon…..and fell in love with a mortal, whom the god saw by the waterfall."
She smiled faintly, as if she could see the scene unfolding before her.
"They say that love was so pure, white lotuses bloomed across the land beneath the twilight… and even the stars wept, falling from the sky just to witness it."
A quiet breath escaped her lips more a sigh to herself than to anyone else.
"How could anyone not love that story?"
Seiya scratched the back of his neck and replied dryly, "No one even knows who that god was, or how the story really ends. I still don't get why people are so obsessed with a god falling for a mortal. Some even say the mortal tricked the god all along."
"Huh? That can't be true." Astra frowned. "A love so pure it made the lotus bloom across the land… how could anyone twist that into something cruel?"
She took a few steps forward, lifting her arms embracing herself started to spin around,
"If you ask me, they lived happily ever after. just the god and the mortal, together till the end."
Seirou watched her quietly, a soft chuckle escaping him. But then, his smile faded. He suddenly stilled, his body stiffening as a chill crawled up his spine. A cold sweat slid down his temple.
Noticing the shift, Seiya glanced over but the moment Seirou subtly signaled him to look behind, he turned.
And froze.
Seeing Ryoma was standing there. Silent. Expression unreadable. His gaze sharp enough to pierce stone, drilling straight through their souls.
Astra, who had just stopped spinning, opened her eyes with a carefree grin only to stumble forward. Her smile faded instantly when she spotted Ryoma she squeaked, stumbling backward this time.