He looked just like a kid that had just found a new playmate after being left alone in his bedroom without any company for far too long. Unfortunately, I was that playmate that he found.
“Gomoku...?” I repeated that alien sounding na in a murmur as I stared at the board he had placed on the table between us.
“Never heard of it before?” the prince guessed quite correctly.
“Never,” I replied in short.
“Good. You’ll at least learn sothing new tonight. I’ll teach you,” the prince offered excitedly.
I stared at the board before I directed my gaze and started staring at the prince’s handso face. When he brought to his living quarters and then to his bedroom, I honestly didn’t think that he was seriously going to be playing a ga with in the most literal sense of the word.
“These black and white colored round pieces are called ‘Go’. The objective of this ga is actually quite simple. We will take turns placing one Go piece each. Whoever manages to place five of their Go pieces in an unbroken line first wins the ga. Simple, isn’t it?” he asked after his explanation.
I had to admit that it sounded much simpler than the rules of chess. There weren’t multiple rules and moves associated with the pieces unlike those in the ga of chess. All Go pieces were the sa and all I had to do was place it on the board.
“I guess it does sound simple enough,” I replied softly.
“Then, shall we play?” the prince asked enthusiastically.
What does he really want?
No matter how many tis I asked myself that while the prince continued recapping the rules and objectives of the ga to , I couldn’t find an answer that was satisfying. Even if the prince wanted sothing from , it wasn’t like there was much that I could offer.
“Are you ready? If you keep on spacing out like that, you’re not going to win. I’m not that easy...” he said teasingly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m ready when you are,” I replied as I blinked away my useless thoughts.
“You don’t sound so excited. This is a fun ga, trust . The rules are simple but it’ll really get you thinking on how you can counter your opponent’s moves. Going on both the offensive and defensive at the sa ti is key...” Prince Desmond explained.
I could feel his excitent for the ga, but I couldn’t quite share his sentints. While I wanted to focus on the ga and the prince, I couldn’t stop wondering how the party was going and what Diana was doing. She must have found out by now that I wouldn’t be returning to her side or going ho with her.
“I guess I’ll find out how it really works when we start playing,” I replied.
“Should I make it more fun for us?” the prince suggested before grinning at .
It felt like alarm bells went off all at once inside my mind at his mischievous grin. As if my life wasn’t already littered with enough problems, the prince was about to lay on another problem on top of it all and I wasn’t in a position to say no.
“What do you have in mind?” I asked while wondering if I could sohow use this to my benefit.
My eting with the prince wasn’t at all usual but I wasn’t sure if anything could be gained from playing just a few gas of Gomoku with the prince. I told myself not to get my hopes up and that it would be good enough if I could return ho while avoiding rumors of our late night rendezvous leaking out.
“Let’s set so conditions to make it more exciting for us. You’ll focus better if you have so incentive or reward waiting for you, right?” the prince said knowingly.
“Sure. I’ll play along,” I replied as I t his gaze straight on.
“I like that. Your directness, I really like it. Then, how about you can only go ho if you manage to beat at this ga of Go once?” the prince suggested.
“My reward is that I get to go ho?” I asked as I raised a brow at him.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but going ho didn’t sound at all like a reward. The prince had already promised to get soone to escort ho safely and I couldn’t imagine myself living in the palace until I managed to win a ga against him either.
“Well, I guess you’re right that it’s not enticing enough. What would you like as a reward if you manage to win, Dahlia?” he asked as he leaned slightly over the table and stared at my face.
“There’s nothing that I want,” I replied without needing to think.
“There’s nothing that you want? What about clothes, bags, jewelry, or even cars?” he asked with a confused look on his face.
“I don’t want any of those things. My family’s financial situation isn’t the best but since my parents have decided to marry my sister off, we are benefiting from money from the Vulkan family. That ans we can pretty much buy all that we want,” I said as with a shrug of my shoulders before gesturing to the expensive necklace and dress that I had on.
“You really don’t mince your words. I get your point perfectly. Then, is there anything that money can’t buy that I can offer to you instead?” the prince asked without backing down.
Why is he being so persistent?
“I can’t think of anything right now,” I replied.
Strangely, despite my initial thought of wanting to take advantage of the situation that I was in, when the prince gave the opportunity I didn’t know what I wanted from him. The prince was silent for a mont as we both got absorbed in our own thoughts.
“What about becoming my Queen?” he suggested abruptly.
What...did he just say?
“I refuse,” I replied very bluntly before I could filter the words of my response.
“Well, that was a very quick and straightforward rejection,” the prince said before blinking his eyes rapidly a few tis.
–To be continued in the next Chapter...
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