n

nWhile teacher Marcus, the one who fought and lost against Orpheus, was trapped in a new ruin, the winterkill ruin, outside life continued, another passed, and it was finally time for their meeting.

nOrpheus, disguised as Stefan, went to the meeting place.

nThe two met in a private booth, and Nia brought a special box to the empress.

nAfter they exchanged greetings, the empress who had received the box from the Nia thanked her. She then put it on a table and showed it to Orpheus.

n“Stefan, have you played chess before?”

n“I have.” He nodded with a smile.

n“Then, do you want to play a game with me?” She asked, and Orpheus nodded.

nAnd for the next few minutes, only the sound of both of them moving the chess pieces could be heard.

nNeither the empress nor Orpheus spoke. They simply looked at the chessboard while calmly moving their pieces.

nHe must admit, though, that the empress was not a bad chess player. He didn’t have so much in a while; only Emea could compete against him. The empress was not really bad; she could be considered as a great chess player.

nEven after almost thirty turns, there did not seem to be a clear winner. Each one of us had eight remaining pieces on the board. I had the king, a rook, a knight, and a bishop plus four pawns. The empress, on the other hand, has her king, two rooks, and a bishop plus four pawns.

nThe two were making their moves very quickly. To be more exact, they used exactly one second for each move.

n“You are pretty good, Stefan.” the empress praised while moving a pawn a step forward.

n“Not many people are as proficient in chess as you. Especially considering your profession, to think you’ll have time for chess.”

n“You are not bad, either.” Orpheus praised her back.

n“Just a little worse than me.” He added to tease her, not that what he said was necessarily false.

nThe empress’s smile stiffened. She did not know how to reply to that. She stayed silent for a moment before replying.

n“How funny.”

nShe twitched her lips and shook her head while Orpheus made his next move.

nThe empress grabbed another of her chess pieces, a rook, and moved it to eat a pawn. Orpheus clicked his tongue before moving his bishop.

n“You see, Stefan, I think life is like chess.”

n“Oh? Is it so? I’m listening.”

n“Of course.” The empress nodded softly while making her next movement.

n“I think a good chess player just needs to keep his pieces and the enemy pieces in mind; then he must move his pieces accordingly, predicting the enemy’s movements and slowly cornering him.”

n“A good analogy.” Orpheus nodded, not refusing this claim.

n“Unfortunately, the real world is not so simple. Sometimes, your pieces are not enough to defeat the enemy.” He added to correct her.

n“Ah, so you also think like that ?” She looked into his eyes.

n“I, on the other hand, think that even a well-used pawn can destroy a fortress.” Just at that moment, one of her pawns ate Orpheus’s rook.

nOrpheus sighed exaggeratedly. “Amazing, I did not see that coming.”

nHe then moved his bishop to eat her pawn.

nJust as the empress wanted to continue, he stopped her and declared.

n”Let’s stop beating around the bush and directly get the point.”

n”Oh? Impatient are we?” The empress chuckled while moving her pawn; however, the game soon ended in three moves; he had checkmated her.

nAlthough, frustrated, the empress didn’t let it show on her face.

n”You are right; let’s cut right to the chase.”

n”I know you must have investigated me, so tell me what you want.” He declared with his legs crossed while calmly sipping his glass of whisky. The empress didn’t immediately answer; she first took a sip of her glass of wine and enjoyed it.

n”Indeed, you’re right. I did investigate you, and I’m happy with what I’ve learned. I want to you for your connection, especially your connection with the Zeroth Organization, there is someone I want to eliminate, and there was something I wished to do. I’ll use your connection; simply put, I’ll be using you.” The empress didn’t hide anything and directly told him that she wished to use him.

nOrpheus, disguising as Stefan, smiled and finished his cup.

n”I like your mindset. You want to use me, and I also want to use you. My first goal, the most important one, is to sleep with you. It’s the type of man I am. I can give you almost everything but the premise that you’re not ungrateful. As you said, life is like a game of chess, but life is also about giving and taking; I’m a merchant, after all. My 1st goal is to taste you and my second goal is to snatch you from your husband. To have you completely under me. What do you think? Will you play the game called the one that falls first win?”

nHe asked with a provocative smile. He didn’t forget to add.

n”Of course, I’ll be the one to win.”

nThe way he smiled, saying those words irked the empress, she understood he was deliberately provoking her, but she was not the one to back down facing a challenge no matter how tough it would be; if she were a coward, she wouldn’t have what she had together. Before coming to this meeting, she had decided on many things; most of what was happening right was within expectations.

nIf this man thought he could win, then he would be greatly mistaken; nothing could win her heart anymore, as it was dead since the emperor began to ignore her; the only warmth that kept her heart beating was her son; she would do anything for him, for his happiness.

n”Fufufu! We shall see.” The empress declared, taking the bait. The two smiled before leaving that place. They moved toward a mansion somewhere in the capital.

nThe mansion stood there as if the surrounding nature had embraced it, that the flora flowed within it as much as around it. For the architect had loved the trees so much that there was a mighty oak in the center, centuries old, and a great house had been built around it.

n”Let’s go.” The empress declared after taking a deep breath; she headed toward one of the rooms on the upper floor of the mansion, and naturally, Orpheus followed with his arms behind his back. It was going to be fun indeed.

nThere was no one inside the mansion except for the two; they arrived before one of the biggest rooms on the upper floor. The empress pushed the door open and walked; he followed her inside, checking the room. The room on the second floor was very luxurious. The room’s roof was a giant mirror that showed everything below with a golden chandelier filled with aromatic candles that lit up the room.

nBut the first thing one would notice when you entered the room was not the roof nor the chandelier. Instead, it was the giant double bed occupying half of the room.

nIt was so big and luxurious.

nHowever, Lillia could not pay attention to any of that. When they entered the room, Orpheus moved and sealed her lips and supported her body with his two hands.

nOne of his palms clasped her breasts, making Lillia moan softly. Meanwhile, his other hand slowly moved down, touching her hips, then her plump ass, and slowly scratching her tailbone.

nLillia took a deep breath. Although she was decided what to do even before coming here , in some part of her mind, she knew that this was wrong.

nIn fact, several times, she was close to pushing Orpheus away and running from the room.

nHowever, her logical side was suppressed by the pain and rage she was feeling. At the same time, the feeling of someone other than her husband caressing her body was like poison to her.

nThe feeling of revenge was too great. It was like a powerful drug that made her mind hazy.

nCoupled with the desire to help her son and have a powerful man under her control was like a powerful drug she couldn’t resist even when she knew it was dangerous.

nInside the empress’s mind, it could only be dangerous to those that don’t know how to control themselves. To her, who had lived in schemes and deceit since the day she was born, coupled with her experience, there was no way she would lose this game.

nThis man was nothing more than her chess piece; she would let him have the illusion of being in control while completely turning him into a puppet of her liking. A fly couldn’t escape a spider queen’s net. He would eventually fall prey to her to feed her son.

nShe would be the winner of the game called the one that falls first win. She had already won.

nIt is time to show him who was in control.

n