Lith counted in his mind from 3 to 1 to get ready and touch the card on the discard pile and say ‘NUO!’. He had prepared himself well in the past few seconds. Even Emilia’s smile wasn’t bothering him. Lith was now in his zone, very well prepared. He had started the countdown in his mind.
‘3…’
Lith felt an adrenaline rush as he chanted 3 in his mind.
‘…2…’
Lith’s body went full *flight or fight mode.
‘…1…’
Now was the time!
“Moo…”
BAM!
Lith hit the table hard and fell down on it. Dennis too was the same. Ralph had almost left his chair and was gonna fall onto the table like the two but somehow stabilized himself in the end.
Emilia let out a small chuckle as she saw the scene in front of her. She looked at the cow in the corner of the room, yawning and going back to sleep. It really managed to mess up the flow of the game.
Lith got up from the table and so did Dennis. Dennis rubbed his face, trying to ease the pain and Lith on the other hand looked at his card. The card hadn’t touched the discard pile, thankfully. He was saved. He then turned to look at the cow and saw it sleeping peacefully.
‘What great timing you have.’ Lith made a sarcastic remark as he saw the cow. He then turned to look at the other three and said, “well… the card didn’t touch the discard pile yet, my turn isn’t over.”
The three nodded their heads and agreed with his words.
Lith placed the card closer to the discard pile and once again did a countdown in his mind.
‘3…’
‘…2…’
BAM!
“NUO!’
Lith slammed the card on the discard pile mid count and yelled. He pulled back and reclined on the sofa and looked at the faces of the three.
Emilia still had the same gentle smile on her face. He ignored her. Ralph and Dennis were looking at Lith with confusion visible on their faces. Lith made a smug expression and thought to himself,
‘To confuse the enemy, you must confuse yourself first.’
“Tsk. We’ll get you next time, Your Highness.” Dennis clicked his tongue and said.
Ralph nodded his head in agreement and Emilia, like before, didn’t reply.
The card Lith put was a red skip on the discard pile. Emilia’s turn was skipped.
Dennis looked at his cards and then at Lith and then at Emilia. ‘Teacher, please do something. Don’t let him win.’ He then placed a card on the discard pile.
Red Reverse!
Lith raised his eyebrow in surprise as he saw the card on the discard pile. Lith turned his gaze towards Dennis and glared at him. ‘Seriously Dennis? You’re gonna play it like that?’ Lith said internally.
Dennis could tell what Lith was trying to say, just by looking at him glaring like that. He made a smug smile and nodded his head. ‘You deserved it, Your Highness.’ He said internally.
Ralph and Emilia were unbothered by this and were looking at their decks. Emilia took a card out from her hand and placed it on the table.
Draw +4!
Lith looked at Emilia and furrowed his brows. “Just how many draw +4s are there in the game today?” He thought out loud.
Emilia let out a small chuckle and said, “many, it seems.”
Lith shook his head and sighed. He then asked Emilia, “teacher, did you really not have any other red card?”
Emilia said with the same gentle smile on her face, “why don’t you challenge me and find it out?”
Lith shook his head and said, “no thanks. I am not gonna take the risk.”
Emilia chuckled softly once again.
Lith drew four cards from the deck and he now had five cards on him.
The round ended with Lith being left with 5 cards and Emilia too was in the same position. Dennis had 3 cards on him and Ralph was currently in the lead with just 2 cards remaining.
It was now Lith’s turn again. He looked at Emilia and said, “what color, teacher?”
“Green.” Emilia said with a smile.
Lith put out a Green 1 on the discard pile and now it was Ralph’s turn.
Ralph only had two cards on him and the atmosphere once again became tense. He did the same thing as Lith and placed the card right above the discard pile.
He did a countdown in his mind and as it reached the end, he slammed the card down on the glass table. “NU–”
“Caught.” Emilia said softly but it was audible to the three and Ralph was interrupted mid way.
Ralph sighed and drew four cards from the deck. He was now with five cards.
The game continued for a few more rounds and ended. The victor was without a doubt Emilia. Next it was Lith, followed by Ralph and finally Dennis.
Emilia was an Emperor Rank, even in a game that was based on luck, it was difficult to beat someone like that. Her reaction and response time couldn’t even be compared with the two. It was only natural that she won.
Lith looked at Emilia and asked, “teacher, are you going to take us on a tour?”
“Hmm? But didn’t I win?” Emilia said calmly.
“Well, you did. But you can still take us on a tour right?” Lith said with a smile.
Emilia put on a pondering expression as Lith said that.
Lith hurriedly added, “please take us to tour, teacher. We have nothing to do and if we go tour, we’re gonna get new experiences and learn a lot of new things.”
Emilia stopped thinking and nodded her head. She said, “okay, I’ll take you three for a tour. But, it will only be for 3 days, okay?”
“Wooohooo!”
“Yay!”
Dennis and Lith let out happy cheers and Ralph simply clapped to show his response.
“So when are we going?” Lith asked.
“I’ll notify you on the day we’re leaving. I have a bit of work, when that’s done, I’ll take you three, okay?” Emilia said with a smile.
The three nodded their heads with happiness. Finally, they would get to see something other than students in academy uniforms!
It was evening by the time the game ended and it was now time for tea. Lith made tea for all and Emilia ordered cakes as snacks to have with tea. She knew one of her student liked sweets a lot and she ordered it without hesitation.
The four people chatted happily together while having tea and cakes. They then went to their respective floors and did their own stuff. The day ended on a happy note for the four.
…..
A/N:
*Flight or fight is the instinctive physiological response to a threatening situation, which readies one either to resist forcibly or to run away.
Or the time when your mom told you to get the chicken out of the freezer or to do the dishes but you didn’t and now she’s just 2 minutes away from coming back home, so you quickly leave everything and go do those things to avoid getting your ass whooped into mondays.
That’s the gist of it. Hope it helps <3
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