“Princess, shall we take a break? Your teacher will teach you how to play cards.”
‘If I fool her like this, the Princess will lose herself in entertainment. Eventually, she’ll neglect her studies, wasting her powerful talent without ever learning how to use it.’
‘Won’t the position of Dragon King eventually fall into my hands?’
‘But that raises a problem. What if Zhu Xiaxia finds out?’
‘She didn’t hire me to play with the Princess; she hired me to teach her.’
‘That’s easy. I’ll just push all the responsibility onto the Princess. She looks a bit slow and dim-witted anyway. Her Majesty the Queen won’t be able to tell if she’s telling the truth or lying.’
‘To avoid any suspicion, I’ll just pretend to be teaching whenever the Queen shows up.’
‘I really am a genius!’
A smug, triumphant smile curled on Ilanka’s lips.
“Play cards? Yes, yes! I love playing cards! Besides, I’m actually quite good at it.”
Hearing about a game, Zhu Qiu grew excited.
Back when she was a member of the Human Race, card games were her forte.
Even her father, who had originally taught her, could no longer beat her.
This way, she could not only relax but also avoid learning magic that was useless to her.
This teacher was truly a good person.
“Alright, wait for me here. I’ll go to my room to grab some things.”
Ilanka went to her room and pulled a deck of poker cards from her luggage.
She also grabbed a table and a few small stools from the first floor and brought them to the back door of the Imperial Palace.
Setting everything up, she asked, “Princess, what would you like to play?”
“Let’s play Fight the Landlord. I’m best at that.”
“But Fight the Landlord requires three people. There are only two of us; we’re missing one.”
‘Uh… I’ve got it!’
“Teacher Ilanka, wait for me here. I know where to find someone else.”
With that, Zhu Qiu returned to the Imperial Palace.
Xiaguang was currently holding a broom, slacking off in a corner of the first floor.
There was their third person!
“Xiaguang, stop sweeping. Come with me.”
Zhu Qiu grabbed Xiaguang’s hand and pulled her toward the back.
‘???’
‘Isn’t the Princess supposed to be studying with Ilanka? Why did she come looking for me?’
“Princess, where are you taking me?”
Xiaguang asked, bewildered.
“Oh, you’ll see in a moment! You’ve been cleaning for so long, you must be tired. It’s time to relax.”
Finally, the three gathered outside the back door.
Ilanka specifically closed the door to prevent Zhu Xiaxia from seeing them.
The three sat on the stools.
Ilanka shuffled the cards, flipped one over to serve as the indicator, and set three cards aside.
“Since we’re playing, there has to be a stake,” Ilanka said, her arms crossed over her chest with a look of absolute confidence.
“A stake? I didn’t expect a teacher like Ilanka to be such a veteran,” Xiaguang teased from the side.
“So, what kind of stake do you want?”
Zhu Qiu asked.
“What does the Princess like most?”
“Candy!”
Zhu Qiu answered without a hint of hesitation.
“Then let’s set a rule. If the Princess wins, Xiaguang and I will buy a whole room full of candy for you.”
“Ilanka, if you want to buy it, do it yourself. Don’t involve me.”
“Uh… fine, I’ll buy it.”
“Deal! I agree!”
Zhu Qiu jumped up in excitement as she answered.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. But if the Princess loses… then she has to go and provoke Her Majesty the Queen.”
Ilanka’s plan was to sabotage the relationship between mother and daughter to solidify her own path to becoming the Dragon King.
‘Huh? Provoke Zhu Xiaxia? What kind of stake is that?’
“I thought it would be something serious. Let’s go!”
Seeing that the Princess had fallen for it, Ilanka let out a smug laugh.
“Let’s begin! Whoever draws the face-up card is the Landlord and gets the extra three cards.”
Zhu Qiu was equally full of confidence. In this field, she was an expert.
Both sides were already refusing to back down during the drawing phase.
For this round, Ilanka was the Landlord, while Zhu Qiu and Xiaguang were the Peasants.
Zhu Qiu looked at the cards in her hand, unable to stop herself from grinning.
She had a pair of Kings, four twos, four Aces, and a long straight.
“It was an unbeatable hand!”
The Little Princess was certain of her victory this round!
“Ilanka, hurry up and play!”
“Plane.”
Ilanka laid her cards out on the table all at once.
A twenty-card plane sequence met their eyes.
‘What!’
‘This—this is impossible!’
Zhu Qiu stared at the scene before her, her face filled with disbelief.
“I want to check the deck! Ilanka, you must have cheated! No one could possibly draw a hand like that!”
“Is having good luck considered cheating?”
Ilanka arched an eyebrow, as if telling Zhu Qiu that she was the winner.
Zhu Qiu was fuming. How could she lose with such a good hand?
” I don’t care! This round doesn’t count. Let’s go again.”
“Alright, then I shall accompany the Princess for a while longer.”
And so, the three of them stayed hidden outside the Imperial Palace, playing cards all afternoon.
On the second floor of the Dragon Race Imperial Palace, Zhu Xiaxia sat at her desk.
She had finally finished processing the documents sent from the various districts of the Dragon Kingdom and stretched her back.
“Mm, I’m so tired. It must be getting late. I should tell Xiaguang to prepare dinner. While I’m at it, I’ll check on how my darling daughter’s studies are going.”
Zhu Xiaxia walked downstairs and circled the first floor, but she couldn’t find anyone.
“That’s strange. Where did they go today?”
Just as she approached the back door of the palace, Zhu Qiu’s voice drifted in from outside.
“So, Zhu Qiu was here.”
“Darling daughter, you must be tired from studying. It’s dinner time.”
As she spoke, Zhu Xiaxia pushed open the back door.
At that exact moment, several poker cards came flying toward her.
“This round still doesn’t count! I don’t care! Again, again, again!”
After playing all afternoon, Zhu Qiu hadn’t won a single round.
In a fit of rage, she threw all the cards in her hand.
With the help of the wind, they all soared toward Zhu Xiaxia at the door.
‘It’s over!’
Zhu Xiaxia reacted quickly, releasing magic to intercept the poker cards.
Her expression darkened instantly.
“Zhu Qiu, what are you doing here!”
“And Xiaguang! Instead of properly preparing dinner, you’re actually out here playing cards with them?”
Xiaguang was terrified.
She immediately rushed to the Queen’s side to explain.
“I am terribly sorry, Your Majesty. The Princess insisted that I stay and play with her. She wouldn’t let me leave. I will go and prepare dinner right now; I won’t delay the meal.”
With just one scolding from Zhu Xiaxia, Xiaguang made a clean getaway.
“And what about you, Ilanka?”
Zhu Xiaxia walked over to Ilanka’s side.
“Didn’t I tell you to teach the Princess well? What kind of ‘learning’ is this?”
“Your Majesty, the Princess was the one who asked me to play cards with her. I know that as a teacher, I shouldn’t have done this, but I am even more afraid of the Princess.”
“Is that how it is? I believe you. Ilanka, you may head back for now. I need to have a private talk with Zhu Qiu.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Ilanka also made a clean getaway.
“Hey! You two can’t just sell me out like this!”
Zhu Qiu scrambled to run away, but she was caught.
A smile returned to Zhu Xiaxia’s face as she gathered all the scattered cards.
“Daughter, didn’t you say you like playing cards? Your Mother will have a good game with you right now.”