Cards and Wishes in the Dorm Room
-Click.
I pushed open the door and stepped inside, greeted by the familiar sight of my room.
Aria, who had been sitting at her desk, jumped to her feet and turned to me.
"O-oh, Lady Elise?"
She must have been deeply focused on something just moments ago.
Seeing her wide-eyed, harmless expression—like a startled rabbit—melted away the chaos in my mind. Yeah. Staying in the room really is the best. The outside world is full of danger and energy-draining bullshit.
"What were you up to?"
At my question, Aria flailed around, trying to tidy the mess on her desk.
"Uh, um... just previewing some magic formulas..."
Her desk was covered in a notebook filled with meticulous notes and a thick tome of magic theory that could double as a pillow, left open.
Underlines in various colors marked the pages everywhere—red, blue, green. She even had a system for the color-coding.
No wonder she's the top scholar in the magic department.
"You done?"
"Still about half left..."
"Whatever. Let's take a break."
"Y-yes?"
Aria looked up at me with wide eyes.
"Let's hang out."
"........."
She just stared at me blankly, no response.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Her eyes shook anxiously at my question, like there was an earthquake going on inside them.
"Shouldn't you be happy when I say let's hang out?"
"I-I am happy, but... you're not planning to cause trouble again, are you?"
"What the hell kind of question is that?"
"Whenever you say let's hang out, something always happens..."
"..."
"And I always have to deal with the fallout too..." Aria added in a voice laced with resentment, trailing off.
...She's not wrong.
Feeling awkward, I averted my gaze and cleared my throat.
I plopped down on the bed opposite hers and said,
"This time it's for real. Just hanging out. No big deal."
"...Just hanging out?"
"Yeah. I won't step a foot outside this room, so relax."
Aria still eyed me suspiciously.
But she must have seen the sincerity in my face, because she hesitantly closed her notebook.
"...So, how are we gonna hang out?"
She swiveled her chair to face me.
"Dunno. Just... whatever."
"Just whatever?"
"Yeah."
Aria stared at me again.
Her eyes screamed confusion, like she was trying to figure out where things had gone wrong.
I could practically hear her thinking, What's gotten into her all of a sudden?
But I had no choice.
Truth was, I had no clue how girls hung out in a dorm room either.
Racking my brain through memories of my past life didn't help much.
The extent of "hanging out in a room" had been turning on the computer, logging into games, and that's it.
Keeping voice chat open with friends, ordering chicken or pizza, and pulling all-nighters in front of the monitor—that was my only fun.
And I sure as hell couldn't do something elegant like noble ladies embroidering.
I wasn't in a position to gossip about high society either.
Options for room-bound fun were ridiculously limited.
Even playing is hard in this world.
Instead of answering, I just flopped back onto the bed.
Esilla.
The moment I lay down, that recent memory popped into my head uninvited.
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
"Eek?!"
Aria flinched in surprise at my sudden scream, but I didn't have time to care.
Don't think about it. Just rest.
Self-suggestion on the level of "don't think about elephants."
I draped my arm over my eyes and closed them.
Afternoon sunlight slanted through the window, lazily warming the room.
It was quiet.
Aria didn't say a word to me lying there.
How long had it been?
As my body grew languid and time blurred...
"Um, Lady Elise."
Aria finally broke the silence, her voice ultra-cautious.
"Yeah. What."
I replied without opening my eyes.
"You really have no plans at all?"
"Nope. Just rolling around on the bed is fun enough."
"...I guess that's true."
She mumbled ambiguously, like she half-accepted it.
From her perspective, she'd paused her rare study break for this, and me just lying there must've been boring.
Silence stretched again.
Then a faint rustling.
-Scraaape.
Chair sliding, something pulled from a drawer.
Curious, I lowered my arm and cracked my eyes open.
Aria was pulling an old leather box from the back of her desk drawer.
She carefully opened the lid, revealing a stack of stiff paper.
Cards.
"Ever played trump?"
"Trump?"
I propped myself up halfway.
"Oh, in the empire it's called card games. You play with cards marked with numbers and suits."
Aria fiddled with the cards as she explained.
Empire-style card games.
That clicked something familiar in my head.
A mini-game from the original Theodora Chronicle.
Vivid memories of save-scumming all night to scrape together chips when I was low on cash.
"Yeah, I know it. Pretty good at it too."
Aria's eyes sparkled at my confident reply.
"Really? Thank goodness. I heard nobles don't play these much, so I thought you might not know."
"Played a few times as a kid."
I bullshitted to dodge suspicion.
In reality, it'd all been mouse clicks on a screen, but the rules and hands were burned into my brain.
I sat up fully, leaning against the headboard.
Aria carefully took the cards from the box.
Well-worn edges, the stiffness softened from use. She clearly treasured them.
"Come sit here."
I patted the empty space at the foot of my bed.
Aria hesitated, then stood from her chair.
She climbed onto my bed cautiously and sat opposite me.
On the narrow single bed, facing each other, we were close—knees almost brushing.
"Alright, let's shuffle."
I split the deck she handed me and shuffled lightly.
Movements from high school days flowed naturally.
Aria's mouth fell open at the flashy riffle.
"Whoa... your hands move so smoothly."
"Basics."
I dealt the cards evenly in front of her.
"You know the rules?"
"Of course."
Aria took her seven cards with a serious face, fanning them out carefully.
The first round started smoothly.
But after a few turns, I realized.
She's really bad.
Every play, her face betrayed everything.
Good hand? Her lips twitched uncontrollably.
Nothing to play, drawing from the center? Her ears drooped like a sad puppy.
Zero poker face. Completely transparent.
I could see her entire hand.
"I win."
I tossed my last card down casually.
"Ah..."
Aria stared blankly at the five cards left in her hand.
"W-well, I got unlucky. The cards were bad."
"Luck, huh? Sure, could be. One more?"
Second round.
No change.
Didn't we both start with seven?
She was holding twenty now, struggling with the hefty stack.
"Gotcha. My win again."
"Ugh... I-I messed up that round. Again!"
Third round.
"Done."
"Ah, lost again..."
Aria dropped her cards on the bed with a deep sigh, her face full of injustice.
"You're really bad."
I chuckled, gathering the cards.
"Th-the cards were bad! For real!"
She pounded the bedsheet with her fists, cheeks puffed in frustration—not anger, but stubborn determination.
"One more. I won't lose this time."
"You'll lose anyway."
"No! This round will be different!"
Aria gathered the cards herself and shuffled clumsily.
Mid-deal, she froze.
"Um, Lady Elise."
"What? Not starting?"
She fiddled with her cards, took a small breath.
Her gaze wavered, then she spoke cautiously, resolved.
"Just playing normal is no fun."
"Huh?"
"So... for this round, wanna bet wishes?"