"Promoting to queen." Cato took his pawn off the board and replaced it with one of the spare queen pieces.
"Geh..." Karen grit her teeth. This was a depressing position to look at. She had zero queens at her disposal, whereas her opponent already had two. Sis, what am I supposed to do here...?
There was no line of play that could win her the game, that was clear for a while now. But at this point, even forcing a draw looked like a pipe dream. What was a single rook supposed to do against an army led by two queens? Not to mention, Cato still had a rook and a bishop at this disposal...
Feeling the despair yet? Cato snickered as he watched Karen's pretty face contort. It was delicious~ The girl was writhing with pain and frustration. Good, good~
So, allow me to make that expression even prettier~ Cato advanced another one of his pawns. "Promoting to queen."
"H-Haha..." Karen laughed at this ridiculous scene. Three enemy queens on one board. What kind of madness was that? This sort of nonsense never happened when Cato played against Karen’s sister.
But, against Karen herself? Bullshit like this took place at least once in three matches. During games like this, she felt like a clown whose only purpose was to entertain that scumbag.
Damn, I SO freakin’ hate how he plays. Karen ranted.
Cato's playstyle was simply disgusting, no other word to describe it. The guy turtled the entire game, slowly advancing his troops along the different files.
Then, toward the endgame, he just LOVED playing with his food and taking his sweet time to corner Karen from all sides. And, whenever the opportunity struck, he always made sure to bully her further by promoting a billion queens. What a shithead.
"Not throwing the towel yet?" Cato asked.
"N-No," Karen forced the reply through gritted teeth.
"Cool," Cato smiled in delight. My, she doesn't even care that much about chess, yet she's taking it so hard. She really hates losing that badly, huh. That's one of the few traits she shares with her older sister.
The enemy wasn't broken quite yet. Therefore, Cato played with his food some more. "Promoting to queen."
"Are you building a flippin' harem here or what!?" Karen cursed. Signs of resignation were already apparent on her face. As tough as she was, even she didn't have the willpower to combat this bullshit anymore.
Mission accomplished. Cato smiled to himself. From here, delivering a mate in one move was a no-brainer. With four queens on the board, it'd be harder to not win right away.
"Checkmate."
"FINALLY." Karen sighed in relief. Damn, what a shitshow. He walked all over me. Well, not like I care about this boring game anyway... "So, you think you're hot shit? How about you first-to-ten me in Mancers, big boy?"
"My, you sound awfully confident."
"Oh, I am. It'll be a clean 10-0."
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"Nah, don't be pessimistic like that. I'm sure you can steal at least one game from me~”
"I meant 10-0 for me. I'll mop the damn floor with your smug ass!"
"Heh, I'd like to see that."
Sparks formed in the air from their interlocking glares. If they had the ability to shoot lasers out of their eyes, they’d be unleashing that power in full force right now.
They were so busy spearing each other that they failed to notice the third person in the room.
"Ahem." Fiona Landberht made her presence known.
"Ah, sis!" Karen jumped from the sofa. "Sorry, I didn't see you enter! Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"I saw you were having fun, so it felt wrong to interrupt."
"Fun??? Who with whom?" Karen threw a disgusted look at Cato. "That guy was bullying me, sis~" She ran into her sister's embrace, pretending to cry.
"There, there." Fiona patted the girl's head. "This match does appear to be in bad taste."
She understood the situation at a glance. With four queens on the board, it was easy to imagine for how long Cato was dragging the game out. "Honestly, I cannot say this is very sportsmanlike of you."
"I was just messing around a little." Cato also left the sofa to greet Fiona.
Logically, there was no reason to do that. He was the guest here and Fiona was just a girl one year younger than him. Nonetheless, something compelled him to stand up in the presence of her majesty.
"Besides," Cato continued. "It was a little revenge for how your sister pulled out a toy and-"
"A-Ah!" Karen jumped hysterically.
Good reaction~ Cato smiled impishly. This type of revenge was far more effective than bullying the barbarian girl in chess.
"Yes?" Fiona titled her head. "She pulled out a toy and...?"
"She demanded me to buy her another one like it. The nerve, am I right?"
"Oh, I see." Fiona nodded. "Karen, you can't demand presents like that, not even from your boyfriend."
"W-Who's my boyfriend!?" Karen exploded.
"Now, now." Fiona calmed down the rating tiger with a soft head pat. It was super effective.
"Prrr." Karen purred while snuggling against her sister. This brat was sure acting all sweet and innocent in front of her sister, but she wasn’t fooling anybody. There was a dormant tiger inside of her, ready to pounce at Cato at any moment.
"Sorry for making you wait," Fiona apologized.
"Don't sweat it," Cato said. "Your cute little sister entertained me enough."
"Hey!" Karen retorted. "I'm not your personal clown, you know."
"Karen, please." Fiona calmed the girl down with a gentle head rub. It was like watching a tamer subduing a tiger cub.
"Sis, please avenge me!" Karen pleaded.
"Of course." Fiona nodded with a smile. A gentle smile, yet a majestic one. It was brimming with unwavering confidence. "I'll not lose." Everything about her radiated that message.
A girl with the gentleness of a mother, but also the ruthlessness of a beast. She was pretty and elegant like a porcelain doll, but also surprisingly strong and hard-boiled like a veteran soldier.
This was Fiona Landberht, or the "Landberht Princess" as the media called her. But, Cato knew better than that. This girl was no “princess” by any stretch of the imagination.
She’s at least a queen, if not a goddess. Despite knowing Fiona for many years, Cato always felt like he was in the presence of a supreme being. It was hard to believe that Fiona was made of the same flesh and blood as him.
The word "perfection" must have been invented to describe beings such as her. Her golden long hair, her deep blue eyes, and her slim yet muscular limbs. One would not be able to find a single fault with her form, no matter where they looked. Even her height struck the perfect balance, rivaling that of boys her age but not surpassing it to the point of ridicule.
Likewise, there were no faults with the way she carried herself either. Always calm and collected, respectful and reasonable. Truly, this queen was blessed with everything.
But, as somebody who had been hanging out with Fiona from a young age, Cato knew this was all a facade, a persona she wore to live up to expectations. And today, once again, he came here to make a dent in that perfect mask. Unmasking this goddess and dragging her down to earth was perhaps his greatest wish.
Thus, he'll challenge her to a duel! And, he'll do everything in his power to trample all over her!