After hearing Neuvillette's words, Furina stuck out her tongue and laughed, looking a bit embarrassed. "Hahaha, I accidentally forgot. My apologies. How about this? I'll allow Ye to swallow one meatball directly without biting it. Is that acceptable?"
"Lady Furina, this goes against the previously established rules."
"Ah, Neuvillette, you're too rigid. Learn a bit from Ye and be more flexible. Right, Ye?"
"Yes, Lady Furina makes a good point, so I agree. However, I'm not one to cheat, so I won't swallow it directly."
Furina raised an eyebrow. "Is that really okay?"
"It's fine, Lady Furina. I have great confidence in my luck."
As Ye spoke, he gestured politely:
"Now, Lady Furina, it's your turn."
Furina looked down at the four remaining balls on the plate but didn't make a move. The risk was too high now.
To increase her chances, she had hidden two surprises among the fourteen balls, meaning there was now a 50% chance of hitting one.
Wait, if the ball she had swallowed earlier without biting was also a surprise, then the odds were now one in four... but such calculations were meaningless.
In any case, the risk was extremely high, and Furina felt she needed to lower it.
"Thinking about it, isn't it a bit unfair that I always go first? I've gone first five times already. Shouldn't you go first a couple of times now?"
Furina tentatively asked, preparing to argue or even outright refuse to continue if necessary.
At this moment, she felt the risk was too great. It wasn't worth putting herself in such danger just to mess with Ye. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future; there was no need to push it now.
—But Ye didn't argue with her.
"Alright, I'll go first then. It doesn't really matter, as my luck has always been good."
Ye picked up another ball, sniffed it, and then put it in his mouth, giving it a light bite.
—The next moment, his expression changed slightly.
Though it was only a brief change before he quickly returned to normal, Furina caught it immediately and her face lit up with excitement.
"How was it? Did you get a surprise?"
"Not at all. It seems my luck is indeed good," Ye said calmly, his tone steady. "Lady Furina, it's your turn now."
He really can endure!
Furina was both delighted and amazed. After all, the two surprise balls were carefully crafted by her. Though she hadn't tasted them herself, just imagining them made her shudder. Yet, Ye had clearly eaten one and only showed a slight change in expression. Impressive.
Thinking this, Furina became serious again, looking at the three remaining balls on the plate.
The odds had gone from one in two to one in three. Though still risky, Furina decided to press on, betting on her luck. She wanted to see if Ye could endure a second time.
Her odds were now one in three, while Ye's next pick would still be one in two. The advantage was clearly hers, and Furina had no reason to back down.
With this resolve, Furina swiftly picked another ball and took a bite.
This time, she didn't cheat by swallowing it directly but actually bit into it.
Luck was on her side.
The delicious aroma instantly put her at ease, and she felt as though she had never tasted anything so delicious—even better than dessert.
Then, with a joyful smile, she said, "Alright, Ye, your turn."
"Indeed."
Without hesitation, Ye picked one of the two remaining balls.
However, this time, he didn't eat it immediately. Instead, after picking it up, he looked at Furina and said calmly, "Lady Furina, for fairness, let's eat these last two balls together. What do you think?"
Furina narrowed her eyes but didn't object. Instead, she smiled and picked up the last ball on the plate. "Sure, let's eat them together."
She knew that if they didn't eat together, Ye would likely find an excuse not to eat his. So, for the sake of today's victory, Furina decided to go all in.
It's fine; they were just eating together, not necessarily biting at the same time.
As long as she held it in her mouth and observed Ye's reaction, she could decide what to do next. If Ye got a surprise, she could safely eat hers. If he didn't, she could just spit it out. After all, Ye had already eaten one surprise, so she wouldn't lose either way.
Hmm? What if Ye was thinking the same thing?
Well, as mentioned before, it didn't matter. If Ye was thinking the same, they could both spit it out—yes, again, Ye had already eaten one, so she wouldn't lose either way.
Thus, under each other's watchful eyes, Furina and Ye both put the balls into their mouths.
Then, unlike Furina, Ye honestly took a bite, and— "Mmm...!!"
This time, Ye couldn't hold back, his face twisting slightly.
"Heh."
Furina almost burst out laughing but remembered she still had something in her mouth. She bit down, planning to swallow before speaking. "Pfft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Furina spat out everything in her mouth and immediately jumped up. "Ah! Ah! Ah!"
After hopping around a few times, she grabbed the glass of water prepared on the table and chugged it down.
Ye, now calm again, watched this scene unfold. He calmly took out a handkerchief, raised his right hand, and spat out the ball in his mouth, wrapping it up and tossing it onto the table.
Then, looking at Furina, he couldn't help but sigh softly. "Lady Furina, your luck is truly remarkable. Even though you couldn't tell which balls had surprises, you managed to avoid them every time. Impressive."
As he spoke, Ye pulled out a sign from under the table, stood up, placed it on the table, straightened his clothes, and then turned to leave with a calm expression.
The camera followed his back for a moment before quickly returning to the table, focusing on the words written on the sign:
『Today's Result: Furina loses. Please enjoy the howls of the defeated.』
In the shot, behind the sign, Furina finally finished her water and slammed the glass on the table, shouting in frustration:
"Ye!!!!!! Just you wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"