The Villainess Builds a Department Store - Chapter 11
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Villainess Establishes a Department Store
Chapter 11
“But the age difference between the two…!”
“He’s a Sword Master, so his aging stopped. My husband is quite capable.”
With my possessed acting as if two souls were inhabiting one body, not only Hippolyte but even the children who came to watch were clasping their hands together in concentration.
“What on earth is going on! Why, why are you standing next to the Duke!”
“It’s been a while, Father. You never expected the daughter you abandoned back then to return as your in-law, did you?”
I paused briefly and glanced toward where Felix was.
How’s that? It’s driving you crazy with curiosity, isn’t it?
Even though he tried to ignore it, the content was so unbearably intriguing that the children around him were already shifting their positions.
This was all thanks to never neglecting my reading habits.
“Grr…!”
Finally, Felix slammed down on the armrest of his chair with a face that looked like he was dying of frustration.
That’s an expensive chair. If it breaks, I’ll have to bill Guillaume.
Then Felix looked around and got up from his chair with a pleased expression.
“Ahem!”
He cleared his throat as if wanting everyone to hear, and in his returning hand was something with a very familiar shape.
A large wooden board in the shape of a cube with short legs, and lines drawn on it with precise accuracy without even an inch of error.
Most of all, round black and white stones contained in round jars.
…Why is that thing appearing here?
Probably in this place, no, in this entire country, there’s no one as familiar with that object as I am.
“Wow, Felix! What’s that?”
Instantly, all the children’s heads turned simultaneously. Felix explained with a pompous and solemn tone.
“Ah, this? This is called a ‘Go board’ that Father brought from the East. It’s a toy for adults that mere children playing with dolls wouldn’t even dare to attempt.”
Then he turned his arrow toward me with obvious mockery.
“How about it, Lady Adelaide? Let’s leave the kids aside and have a match between us.”
“…”
“Ah… you don’t happen to not know how to play Go, do you? Surely not. Not someone who is the young lady of the Charmeuze Viscountcy, of all people.”
“I don’t know how.”
When I admitted it so readily that it was almost deflating, Felix’s face contorted quite entertainingly.
He probably expected me to act prideful and then get thoroughly humiliated.
But what can I do when I really don’t know?
All I know about Go is that whether in reality or in Go, having a wide territory is the best.
“I don’t know how to play ‘Go.’ But…”
I paused briefly and looked around in a big circle.
You guys, do you happen to know marbles?
“The rules are simple. The first person to knock out all of their opponent’s stones wins.”
Tap, each time I placed a stone on the Go board, a clear sound rang out.
“Tch, I wondered what kind of game you’d suggest, and it’s just this childish…”
“Whatever game it is, if you don’t do your best with the intention of beating your opponent, you’ll regret it. Or is it that someone who just plays with dolls like a little kid isn’t worth that effort?”
Felix’s expression contorted again and his bulldog-like cheeks trembled.
As his expression became menacing, the children became quite frightened.
“I’ll yield the first turn to you. It’s natural for a gentleman to yield to a lady.”
“I won’t refuse. Rejecting a gentleman’s courtesy wouldn’t be ladylike behavior either.”
It didn’t take long for Felix to regret his words.
Tap!
“Wooow…!”
The stone flicked from my fingertip flew across the smooth surface.
And it precisely knocked only Felix’s white stone out while stopping in that spot itself.
‘Section Chief, are you watching? Although your Go skills never improved until the end, thanks to you, the staff and I became champions in coffee-betting marble competitions.’
Recalling the Section Chief’s head that used to shine like Go stones, I was briefly lost in memories.
“Grr!”
Next was Felix’s turn. But unlike his seemingly proper angle calculation, his stone energetically passed by my stone and ended up falling right off the Go board.
“Damn it!”
Bang, Felix couldn’t control his anger and slammed the armrest.
If the Go board had been just a little lighter, he would have flipped the entire board.
‘Good reaction. Kids are really just kids after all.’
The audience, who initially watched nervously, gauging mine and Felix’s moods, were now completely absorbed with sweaty palms.
Each time stones moved across the Go board, cheers and disappointed sighs alternately burst out.
Someone had even made a hastily constructed banner that was fluttering overhead.
Finally, the situation came down to one white stone and two black stones remaining.
Tap!
The match result was naturally my overwhelming victory.
“It was an enjoyable match. Well then, I’ll go back to playing with dolls like a child should.”
“Grr…!”
As I lightly teased while cleaning up the board, Felix ground his teeth.
Acting so badly when he hasn’t even lost all his baby teeth yet.
I thought about saying something but decided against it.
Let him suffer a bit in a place without dental technology.
* * *
Felix absolutely could not accept the result before his eyes.
I lost?
But no matter how much he glared at the Go board, the miracle of the remaining black stone turning white didn’t happen.
“Lady Adelaide! You’re amazing!”
“Where did you learn that game?”
“Please teach me too!”
The children who had been frantically trying to please him just moments ago were now chattering around Adelaide.
The moment he saw that scene, Felix could desperately understand what it meant to have your insides twisted.
“Felix, are you okay? Let’s ignore those kids and play by ourselves.”
Looking down, he saw a young child who usually followed him around holding out a toy.
The moment he saw the toy roughly carved from wood, Felix’s expression became even more menacingly contorted.
“Are you kidding me right now? How dare you shove such a cheap toy at me?”
—Thud!
I’m already annoyed to death, and you have no sense of timing!
Felix threw the toy to the ground. The toy shattered into pieces.
The loud noise drew the startled gazes of the children. Adelaide was among them.
“What do you think you’re doing right now!”
Adelaide approached with furious anger, taking large strides.
“Apologize right now!”
“Why, why should I? He made me feel bad first!”
Overwhelmed by Adelaide’s momentum, Felix flinched and stammered, then flew into a rage.
Adelaide was momentarily speechless at his shameless attitude.
“That child was trying to comfort you. What you just did was nothing more than taking out your bad mood on someone else. You’re frustrated and angry because you lost to me, so why are you taking it out on another kid who’s easy to pick on? Cowardly.”
Having been hit right on target, Felix’s face turned pale. Adelaide’s words didn’t end there.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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