He had to make a decision between the pawn and the horse. The man in white’s face grew increasingly
solemn. The pawn that he had so painstakingly got across was about to be lost.
After several more rounds of back and forth, the man in white was. left with only a general, a cannon,
and two pawns.
“The game is set. Hahaha!” Old Malleyughed heartily.
The man in white had been winning these past few days. Finally, today, he lost. He took out a handful
of crumpled banknotes from his pocket and gave Old Malley 50 bucks.
Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
“That’s enough for today anymore. Another day perhaps!” The man in white then stood up, grabbed his
long sword, and left.
The group of old men gave Hera a thumbs-up while Old Malley was stillughing heartily. “Youngdy,
you’ve given us some relief today!”
Hera chuckled and replied, “You tter me. I’m just afraid I might have offended the old gentleman just
now. Do you have a good rtionship with him?”
Old Malley shook his head in response. “I don’t know him. Seems like he moved in recently.”
Hera smiled at that and said, “Alright then. Please continue with your game. I’m going for a walk!”
With that said, Hera turned around and walked away. Grabbing onto Helena’s hand, they then strolled
at a leisurely pace.
“I never thought you’d still be so skilled at chess after so many years,” Helena said softly under the
gentlemplight, apanied by a cool breeze.
“When I was young, Dad taught me to observe the game in three moves. With each move I made back
then, I would always think about how my opponent would respond and then n my next move. I have
to say, it was really effective during middle and high school,” Heral shared.
“When I yed against a chess masterter on, I couldn’t win no matter what, and it was then I
realized that true experts understand the importance of observing the entire situation.
“Life is like chess; one wrong move can lead to a series of mistakes, and a careless move can result in
aplete loss.”
Hera was looking ahead, her voice gentle as she spoke. These were the lessons she had recently
come to understand.
Helena smiled self-deprecatingly. “How nice it would be if I couldprehend these things too.
Were Hera’s words not a reflection of what happened to her as well?
While harming others, she ultimately harmed herself. One wrong. move led to only more mistakes while
one careless move led to the loss of everything.
Was that not her? Was that not Kai as well? Chess was always yed without regrets, just like life.
Regrets were useless. The only thing they could do was to y their next move well.
The two walked and talked. At around nine at night, Skadi called Hera.
“Hey! I thought you forgot about me!” Hera answered the call, her tone a bit displeased.
Skadi used to chat with her about everything but seemed to be preupied recently. She never replied
to her messages promptly and would only asionally send an emoji.
With so much going on with thepany, Hera did not have the chance to check if Skadi had gotten
into a rtionship.
“I’ve been apanying Bianca with her training recently and then went to Xanthalos with her to
participate in a boxing match!”
“How was it? Did she win?” Hera asked eagerly.
“Well…” Skadi sighed softly.
“She lost? Bianca is the best fighter. How could she lose?” Hera frowned.
“Of course, she won! Who said anything about losing?” Skadi giggled
“Then why did you sigh? You scared me!” Hera admonished exasperatedly.
“Bianca rarely encounters a worthy opponent. You don’t understand the loneliness of us masters!”
Skadi sighed.
“Alright, stop being so self-absorbed. When are youing to my ce?” Hera had just asked this
when she heard the sound of screeching brakes followed by Skadi’s angry cursing.
“Damn it, that old guy is asking for trouble, isn’t he?”