I was tempted to look away from the pompous ass sitting a few chairs away, but I forced myself to meet his stare with one of my own. The mission was to prove I wasn’t intimidated, and I planned on accomplishing that goal.

“I knew you’d come play with us,” Eli chuckled. “What kept you?”

“I got a bit held up. But I’m here now.”

“What, did you get a call from one of your hundred different girlfriends?” Eli teased.

Emil smirked and bragged, “what can I say, the ladies love me, and I love them. Soon, Cynthia will love me too~”

“Is that what you think?” I asked.

“Well, if it isn’t the boy with the serial killer eyes. I’ve been looking at you this entire time, but it’s only now that your presence has occurred to me at all. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Answer the question, bozo,” I commanded.

The arrogant blonde blew a puff of amused air from his nose and replied, “it isn’t what I think, it’s what I know. There simply isn’t a female alive that can resist my charms.”

Female? Oh boy.

“Right.” I shined a skeptical gaze upon Sylvia and asked, “is that a statement you agree with?”

“The answer is a resounding no. But don’t drag me into this childish bickering.”

Emil rolled his eyes at Sylvia’s stern statement and said, “anyway, I can’t wait to marry Cynthia. Her beauty is beyond words, wouldn’t you say? I have a lot of toys I love playing with, but she would undoubtedly be my favorite.”

“Your own body shudders in disgust when you touch it, LeClair. Cynthia isn’t a toy, and you won’t be ‘playing’ with her. Ever,” I declared.

“An ugly bastard like you has no place to speak. You ought to keep your mouth shut when the important people are speaking.”

Eli clapped his hands together twice in an effort to gain our attention. “Gentlemen, gentlemen. Why don't you settle this disagreement with a game of blackjack?”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Happily,” Emil agreed as he retrieved money from his wallet.

“Eli, give me some cash,” I requested.

“Man, you better not clean me out here.”

“You’re a prince, suck it up.”

Eli shrugged and passed me a wad of cash that I placed on the table. The dealer exchanged our money and doled out our chips.

“I’m going to show you that there is a sharp line that divides the two of us, Watanabe,” the blonde proclaimed. “The gods of fortune shine upon men like me. Your accursed appearance and the fact that I have been made your first opponent should make it clear that blessings elude you.”

“For once, we can agree on something. The gods must hate me for forcing me to interact with the likes of you.”

“This is embarrassing,” Sylvia groaned. “Enjoy your stupid, juvenile game. I’m leaving.”

Eli waved her off as Emil and I placed our bets. The dealer placed the cards on the table and the outlook was immediately grim.

“Looks like I’ve got twenty. Naturally, I’ll be staying with that,” Emil said with a cocky grin.

I looked down at my cards to find that I, once again, had the unlucky number thirteen.

Eli nudged me. “You gonna let him destroy you like that?”

“Do I look like I have control over any of this?”

“Hey, I’m just playing. But seriously, remember that you two aren’t really competing against each other. It’s all about the dealer here.”

“Make whatever excuses you want,” Emil sneered. “A loss is a loss.”

“Hit me,” I requested, ignoring his incessant taunting.

The card I was dealt was exactly what I needed, a perfect number eight.

“No way!” Eli cheered.

Emil slammed his fists on the table. “What?!”

“I’ll stay,” I said through a grin.

The dealer had eighteen, which meant, against all odds, I had emerged victorious.

Eli swiftly collected my winnings and said, “since it was my money you used to win, I’ll be taking this!”

Fine by me. I got what I wanted anyway.

“Enjoy your victory today, Watanabe. Because you won’t be winning the battle that truly matters.”

Emil stormed off to the amusement of Eli. “Not bad, Shinsuke. You’re a pretty interesting guy, you know that? There’s just one thing… you better repeat this next month, too. Or you and I will have a problem. Got it?”

“Oh, I get it. And all of you will too. One by one.”

He chuckled and I rose from the table. I had accomplished what I intended and saw no point in sticking around longer than I had to. I took the elevator down to ground level and stepped outside of a side door into an alleyway.

I was done being around people for one night, and more than ready to get back to the castle and sleep. But before I could retrieve my phone from my pocket and text Cynthia, something caught my attention from the corner of my eye.

What the hell?

I turned to find a figure standing at the end of the alley, bathed in shadows.

“…”

I remained silent as I waited for the figure to say or do anything. Slowly, the person emerged from the darkness, and my skin crawled when I caught my first glimpse of them. Their body was immersed in all black. A dark hood framed a white, smiling Oni mask.

I took a step back, unable to find words in my throat. The figure before me reached behind them and unsheathed two blades. Still without a word, the figure began to draw near.