The Marquis’ Daughter Acts As A Pawn

d out another man from his group.

“Aaaah? If you’re gonna rub it in that much then let’s go another round, oy!”

“Well, you’re both just brats, after all; you’ll probably have fun even with no stakes. Awwright, shall we go a 4th round? Hehe, I’ll be able to save up enough to visit Amalia’s store…”

After handing the cards to me, the men returned to their own table.

“What shall we do? Shall we play poker?”

“Let’s~.”

“I see, since we’re doing this, shall we bet something? …The winner gets to order the loser to do anything, was it?”

This prince, what did he think he was saying to a younger girl? For some reason, the prince’s refreshing smile looked downright sinister.

A bet, eh… It might not be a bad thing for me.

If I won and gained a free pass to order him around, just maybe, I’d be able to get the second prince to not marry me.

“Sure, sounds good~ because I definitely won’t lose!”

In this way, the high-stakes poker game between the second prince and I began.

 

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“Fufu, four-of-a-kind!”

“Too bad… Royal straight flush.
Looks like it’s my win.”

What do you think the chances of a royal straight flush are!? Unbelievable… This must be what they call beginners’ luck.
I’d let down my guard thinking he was a greenhorn.
When I snuck a glance at the prince, the same refreshing smile was still in place.

“Urrghhh… Fine, just give whatever order you want, then!”

“I still don’t have anything I want to ask of you, I think.”

“Are you trying to take pity on me—!”

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.
Isn’t ordering a girl around degenerate behavior? …Don’t you think it’s about time we leave? We still have to return the cards, too.”

As he said so, he swiftly organized the deck.
However, it did not escape my eyes: the second prince retrieving the cards hidden up his sleeves, that is!

P L A Y I N G　F O U L　D E S P I T E　B E I N G　A　P R I N C E　!

Didn’t cheating against a girl fall under the category of degeneracy?! I was truly concerned for the second prince’s concept of morality.

Even though he was hailed as a genius, the people around him must have it hard… My cousin Linus who was many years older, came to mind.
He sometimes handled the second prince’s protection, if I recalled correctly. Hmm… I should give him some sort of reward for his noble service next time we met.

“Sorry, Lia, but could I trouble you to go return the cards? I’m going to handle the payment.”

“Got it~.”

As Lia, I pretended not to have noticed the foul play.
Even though I was actually really mad!

“Mister, thanks for the cards~.”

“Are you done with it already, little lady? How did the showdown go?”

“I lost~.”

“Ahaha, you’re more of a kid than your brother, so it can’t be helped!”

“Next time I’ll win, just you wait!”

“Is that so? Well, good luck!”

“Mister as well.
Ah, mister, is it alright for me to have this piece of paper?”

“This? Sure, but…”

“Thanks! Then, see you around.”

“Take care of yourself~.”

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I received a piece of paper—a circus flyer—from the man, then headed towards the waitress.

“Miss, can I borrow a quill and ink?”

“Hm? Sure, but what are you using it for?”

“I’d like to give big bro a present!”

“I see, I see, a good kid who thinks of her brother, hm? There are writing tools by the bulletin board there, so feel free to help yourself to them.”

“Thanks~.”

I trotted over to the bulletin board. These are the ink and quill… I made a crease in the circus flyer and tore along it, reducing it to roughly the size of a ticket.
Then, on the back side, I wrote down orderly letters. Letters that would be impossible for an 11-year-old innkeeper’s daughter.

[I-O-U-coupon]

I unconsciously revealed a grin.
For cheating against a girl… Fufu, I’m never going to meet him again as Lia anyway, so I’ll be claiming the last laugh!

When I looked towards the prince, I noticed he had gotten held up by an older lady employee.
He didn’t seem to have noticed my careful act of retaliation.

“Big bro, let’s hurry up and go!”

I hugged him firmly, throwing him a lifeline.
He breathed a sigh of relief, tagging on quickly, “Mhm.
We have to get home soon, Lia.
The food was delicious; we’ll definitely come again.”

Leaving the older lady employee, who looked like she hadn’t had her fill of chatter yet, behind, we left the tavern.
This tavern was on a straight road off the main street, so there was little traffic… but, I spotted knights a ways off.
They were likely searching for the second prince.
The knights looked this way and started approaching.

Lia’s duty had come to an end, so—

“Here, have this! A present as a memento for defeating me!”

I handed him the [I-O-U-coupon] I had written before.
Upon my doing so, the prince revealed an astonished expression.
One couldn’t fault him for it, since Lia, who should have been but an innkeeper’s daughter, could write tidy letters to the standard of someone from the upper class.

As if to rub salt into the wound, I whispered, “Playtime is over, Your Highness, the Second Prince.
You’ve caused everyone quite a bit of trouble, so at least apologize to the one you’ve troubled the most, ‘kay?”

At the tone of voice that was markedly different from Lia’s, the prince looked even more confused.
For an instant, I smiled in triumph, before quickly fabricating Lia’s harmless, innocent smile.

“Well then, big bro.
Goodbye!”

I’ll probably never meet you again as Lia, I added inwardly.

After ascertaining that the knights behind us were close, I dashed for the main road in a full sprint.

Author’s note:

After this, the story ties in with chapters 1 and 5.
Additionally, it might be easier to understand if you read chapters 4 through 6~, is what I think.
Because Anna is 10 years old at this time, she might end up doing childish things like gambling on poker with the second prince thinking she could perhaps order him around, or revealing just a little of her identity out of spite.
As outstanding as she may be, she’s still just an immature 10-year-old.
Although even at 17 years of age, she still has the drive to get even with anyone who messes with her, if not returning the slight at least twofold.

On the other hand, Prince Edward was born with his demon king disposition.
It’s absolutely untreatable.
The reason he wanted to win so much that he was willing to go so far as to cheat, is because he wanted to see Lia’s defeated expression.
Incidentally, it was an unconscious desire on his part… What a scary kid!