Midnight Chess and Lingering Whispers
The usual games don't put your life on the line.
Not unless you're playing something like Shadow Duels, blood-draining mahjong, or tightrope-walking between apartment buildings.
Even so, my Intuition triggered without fail.
When we played childish games like flipping bottle caps or egg cracking, there was no reaction at all.
It seemed the ability only kicked in for games with proper, structured rules—like chess.
‘Alright. Starting here.’
I moved the lowest-ranking piece, the pawn, one square forward.
Reina did the same with her own pawn.
White and black squares alternated across the board, but far too many of them glowed red.
Danger zones.
So I shifted my rook, shaped like a tower. Then my knight with its horse head. I moved every piece I could to squares that didn't scream danger.
Eventually, the moment came when my opponent placed a piece in a safe zone.
That was my cue.
I captured it using whichever piece could reach that square.
You can't avoid losing pieces entirely, so I traded when I had to.
“Whoa……”
Before I knew it, I had won the game.
Reina looked utterly dazed.
“How are you cheating like this? Did you study it professionally?”
Reina made no effort to hide her sulky disappointment. Her tone was casual and direct, just like always.
I couldn't exactly tell her the truth.
“Just lucky, I guess.”
“Lucky? Chess isn't a game of luck, is it?”
“I only learned the rules at home.”
They'd taught me as part of noble etiquette, but I was hardly at a professional level. Not even close.
“You're a genius.”
Reina's eyes widened like saucers. She looked genuinely shocked.
“You're exaggerating. I just moved pieces randomly and somehow won. Sure, chess involves calculation, but it's not without variables, right?”
“I mean, that's true, but still… whoa……”
She kept muttering “whoa” over and over, clearly stunned.
Looked like I'd accidentally convinced her I was some kind of chess prodigy.
“Want to play another round?”
“Sure.”
I gladly accepted her request for a rematch.
I'd come here to keep her company, so I might as well entertain her properly.
One game. Two games.
As the matches piled up, so did Reina's losses.
Her face grew flushed.
She looked like she was dying of frustration.
The people watching her bright red cheeks stiffened. A few swallowed dryly.
“Ugh…! Seriously!”
Finally, Reina couldn't hold it in any longer and exploded.
Losing over and over would make anyone mad.
Her outburst made the burly sailors' shoulders flinch and shrink.
To me, she just looked cute.
“I don't want to call you ‘Young Master’ anymore! You're too good—I can't win at all!”
“Sorry. Maybe I should've gone easy on you.”
“Exactly!”
Reina pouted, lips pushed out in a sulk.
Even when she was angry, she looked adorable. There wasn't a hint of real danger in it.
“Haa! I need to go outside and cool my head.”
Reina shot to her feet and held out her hand.
It was clearly a signal for an escort.
“Would it be alright if I joined you?”
“Please do. It's bad manners to let a lady walk alone at night, isn't it?”
“I thought you might be upset with me, so I wasn't sure.”
“That's exactly why you should come along.”
I smiled and took Reina's hand.
If that's what she wanted, then that's what I'd do.
We stepped outside under the weight of countless staring eyes.
The cold winter wind filled my lungs.
It froze my chest but brought a refreshing clarity.
The way it unclogged my stifled insides left my heart feeling lighter.
I could even smell the salty sea.
“The sea breeze is really cooling me down. Must be because it's winter?”
Reina murmured as she walked along the pier.
Her flushed cheeks seemed to cool for a moment, only to heat up again.
Probably from the cold.
“That's good to hear.”
I answered with genuine relief.
Our lightly clasped hands. The way our shoulders brushed as we walked in the same direction. It made me tense.
Especially since it was nighttime.
“Still, thank you. I love chess, but I never had anyone decent to play with.”
Reina stopped walking, gently let go of my hand, and smiled.
Thanks to that, the tension in my shoulders eased a little.
“Don't you have your friends?”
“Neither of them likes chess. I can't exactly force them to play with me.”
“Why did you think that?”
“If you keep doing something you don't enjoy, it just becomes tedious, right? One war was more than enough of that. And besides……”
Besides what?
She cut herself off mid-sentence, leaving me with a heavy, frustrated feeling in my chest—like I'd swallowed a whole sweet potato.
Just for a brief moment.
‘I think I get it.’
Things not going your way. Stress.
Put those two together and the answer became pretty obvious.
The atmosphere that treated them like monsters.
The irritation she must have felt from all those stares that seemed to prove it.
“Anyway. There's one thing I'd like to ask you.”
Reina, who had been quiet, stepped closer and smiled.
Seeing that smile, it looked like she'd completely shaken off whatever gloom had settled over her while she was silent.
That was nice to see.
“Go ahead.”
“You call Amelia by her first name, but why do you address us so formally as ‘Young Lady’?”
Sudden much?
The unexpected question caught me off guard.
“I've known Amelia for a long time.”
“That's all?”
It wasn't the whole reason, but it was certainly an important one.
The longer you spend with someone, the more affection builds up.
“For now, yes.”
“Oh, I see?”
Reina crossed her arms and pondered it.
Very seriously.
She even lowered her head like someone staring down the end of the world.
“Alright, I understand.”
Then she lifted her head and spoke.
The way she went from dead serious to smiling in an instant was strangely chilling.
Did she have bipolar disorder or something?
“Young Lady. Are you feeling unwell by any chance? Or is there somewhere uncomfortable?”
“Huh? Not at all. Why are you asking so suddenly?”
“Ah… I just had a feeling. Looks like I was mistaken.”
I apologized politely and changed the subject.
Judging by Reina's reaction, it didn't seem like her heart was hurting.
Then that was fine.
Reina tilted her head, then held out her hand again.
“Um… yeah. Anyway, maybe it's because I feel so refreshed now? It's cold.”
Cold?
The person who turned the height of summer into the North Pole in a romance fantasy world?
No way.
But it felt awkward to press her on it, and there was no real reason to.
I didn't want to make her dislike me for no reason.
“Then let's head back to the shop.”
“Could you walk me there? As you know, it'll still be a few more hours before we close.”
“Of course.”
I took Reina's hand again, just like when we'd left, and we returned to the shop.
The hand I held trembled faintly.
It was rough yet firm, exactly like Amelia's—a hand that belonged to a hero.
“Ah. I forgot.”
Reina, who had been walking beside me with our hands linked, let out a small gasp.
What now?
“What is it?”
“My hand. It must be uncomfortable to hold, right? You're such a unique person that I didn't even think of something so obvious.”
“Not at all. It's a wonderful hand, just like Amelia's.”
Even Reina didn't have particularly feminine hands.
They were rougher than most men's, so she must have felt embarrassed.
Charlotte was probably the same.
“…As expected.”
Reina murmured under her breath.
I couldn't tell what she meant by it, but her smiling face put my mind at ease.
There was no ill intent.
So I kept my mouth shut and we returned to the shop.
The mood was nice.
Late that night.
After her shift, Reina called her two friends into her room.
Before going to sleep, the three of them gathered to review the day's events. It had become their nightly ritual.
Thanks to that, they could carefully track what each of them was going through and how they were feeling.
‘Why on earth…?’
After the report, Amelia felt her heart pounding violently, as if thorns were sprouting inside her chest.
It was painfully clear.
It was a good thing for her friend to get along with someone.
She truly welcomed it from the bottom of her heart.
Even so, her breath caught in her throat and her insides burned with frustration.
She couldn't figure out why.
“Amelia? Are you okay? Tired?”
Reina asked carefully.
A shadow had suddenly fallen over Amelia's face, so it was only natural to worry.
“Huh? Ah… I'm fine. I just felt sleepy for a second.”
Amelia snapped back to attention and smiled.
She shoved the inexplicable frustration deep into the corner of her memories.
So she could forget it.
“But he's really thorough, isn't he? Is he spying on us?”
Charlotte asked, looking at Reina.
Since he'd shown up at the shop out of nowhere, it was reasonable to assume it was some kind of surprise inspection.
“No? It felt more like he came to check if we were doing well. It seemed like consideration rather than surveillance.”
Reina shook her head lightly.
The man's hand, which had held hers without hesitation, still seemed to linger in her palm.
It had been that vivid. That enjoyable.
She'd held men's hands in all sorts of places and in every possible way, but none had made her heart flutter like today.
That's why she couldn't stop smiling.
‘She must really like him.’
Charlotte watched her friend's face and let out a small chuckle.
Seeing both of them living happily here put her mind at ease.
She herself felt happy too.
The idea that her hobby could help others. And the fact that she could now enjoy that hobby to her heart's content.
“He hasn't come to see me yet, though.”
“He'll probably stop by soon. He seems to be paying attention to all of us. It'd be weird if he skipped you.”
That was true.
Charlotte nodded at Reina's words.
Amelia sat quietly, listening with her ears perked.
For some reason, her heart felt uneasy.
Was it because Yohan's name kept coming up between her friends? Or because she could hear the goodwill in their voices?
No.
If it were only that much, she wouldn't have even invited them here in the first place.
She would have unconsciously rejected the idea.
‘Then why…?’
A single question quietly rose in Amelia's mind.
It looked like she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.
“Amelia.”
Reina turned her gaze toward her.
Knowing that Amelia had a quiet and passive side made her pay even closer attention.
Especially when her expression looked this dark.
“Yes? What?”
“Is something wrong? You don't look well.”
“Me…?”
“Yeah.”
Only after meeting Reina's eyes did Amelia come back to her senses.
Eyes full of worry. A voice full of concern.
The affection from someone who felt more like family than her real family melted her heart.
“Thank you for worrying about me. But really, nothing happened.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It's a bit bitter to say it myself, but who would dare mess with a monster so easily?”
For a moment, Reina's throat tightened.
The joke had gone too far.
Still, that over-the-top joke helped her relax.
Because Amelia's expression had brightened.
“True. There's no one here who'd dare. Everyone's so kind.”
Reina chuckled and nodded.
In this place that now felt more comfortable than home, there was nothing left to cause them stress.
If anything, it would be the past.
While Reina reached that conclusion, Charlotte calmly studied Amelia's face and pondered.
And she came to one conclusion.
Yohan.
The source of the problem was none other than the benefactor who had given them comfort.