Once the credits hit tomorrow, he could finally request leave.
That afternoon, Luke also received a notice.
Professor Mors had an emergency and most likely wouldn't be coming to school tomorrow.
Today's homework load was already practically a weekend's worth, and now, with the news that Mors wouldn't show up tomorrow, Luke couldn't help but get a brand-new idea.
Homework? Forget it.
Mors wouldn't be there tomorrow, the day after was the weekend, and by Monday, the whole homework thing would be old news.
At the exact same time, Miss Crownguard was thinking the very same thing.
The two of them looked at each other—and couldn't help smiling.
After school, Luke walked down the street, browsing through shop after shop.
Lately, the ingredients at home had been disappearing a little too fast, so it was time to restock.
And he also needed to prepare for a new drink tonight, which meant picking up a few medicinal herbs.
Along the way, if he saw something he wanted, Luke just bought it.
He wasn't short on money these days. Even though he'd sunk a lot into the printing press, he'd also made plenty back selling ice cream to ordinary folks.
Once he'd picked out almost everything, Luke and Yurna Doer carried the bags back home together.
When they returned, it was only around six in the evening. In the heart of summer, night came late, and the sky was still a clean, bright blue.
The moment Luke stepped through the gate, he saw Lux sprawled out on a rocking chair, lazily enjoying the breeze. A bowl of ice cream sat on the small table beside her, and she looked utterly at home.
When she noticed Luke, she only cracked one eye, gave him a quick glance, then closed it again.
For a second, Luke honestly couldn't tell if this was his house or hers.
Then he heard noise coming from the backyard.
He went to take a look—and found Fiora swinging her blade, striking a training dummy over and over.
He couldn't help asking, "You dragged that thing over here?"
Fiora stopped and answered, "Yeah."
"Yeah my ass—this is my backyard."
Luke went quiet for a beat, genuinely speechless.
He was starting to realize it: these two were getting way too practiced at walking into his home like they owned it.
He left the backyard and saw Lux still lounging there.
In silence, Luke headed for the kitchen. After bustling around for a while, he suddenly froze.
He stared at his hands mid-wash—and finally noticed what was wrong.
He'd almost been dragged off-course by how natural they were acting.
I'm a damn prince.
So why do I look like the house servant now?
No. This can't go on. The atmosphere needs correcting. He had to figure out a way to punish both of them.
So he cooked while thinking.
After a while—
Lux watched Luke take out four tightly wrapped bundles, then grab a shovel and start digging a pit in the yard.
Lying on the rocking chair, she got curious.
"What are you doing?"
"Making dinner."
Lux blinked. "So you're planning to feed us dirt tonight?"
Luke shot her a look, deadpan. "If you really want to eat it, be my guest."
Lux didn't answer. She just watched Luke pile earth over the four bundles until they were completely hidden—four little lumps like chunks of mud.
Then he lit a fire in the yard and tossed those four lumps right into the coals.
After that, Luke told Yurna Doer, "Watch it. Don't let the fire die."
"Yes," Yurna Doer replied, standing guard by the fire.
Luke wiped his sweat, pulled over a chair, and sat at the table beside the rocking chair.
Lux asked again, "How long does that take?"
"Two hours."
"Oh."
Lux closed her eyes again, ready to nap.
But not long after, she heard scraping sounds beside her.
She turned her head—and found Luke holding a wooden board, carving lines into it with a small knife.
Her curiosity flared again. "What are you doing now?"
Luke replied casually, "Making a game board."
"What kind of game board? War Chess?"
Now Lux was interested. She got up from the rocking chair and leaned in to look.
War Chess was a popular Demacian board game, kind of like chess.
After a few seconds, Lux realized it didn't look like War Chess at all. The grid was tighter, the lines packed close together, and there were so many intersections you could barely count them.
Luke finished carving and set it on the table with a grin. "Five-in-a-row."
"Five-in-a-row?"
"Rules are simple. We each use a different color piece. One move at a time. Pieces can only go on the intersections. Horizontal, vertical, or diagonal—whoever connects five in a row wins."
He explained it in broad strokes.
The rules were so straightforward you didn't even need to think to understand them.
Lux basically got it instantly. She stared at the board, thinking it didn't seem difficult at all.
Then Luke pulled out the black and white game pieces he'd picked out earlier when they'd gone shopping.
Lux's eyes widened with realization. "So that's why you bought those that day?"
"What, you thought I was just wasting money?"
Luke separated the two colors, then asked, "Well? Want to play a couple rounds?"
Lux smiled with confidence. "Sure. But this looks way too easy."
"In that case," Luke said, smiling too, "how about we add a punishment?"
Lux wasn't afraid in the slightest. She nodded immediately. "What punishment?"
Luke produced a pen. "One game, one stroke. Draw whatever you want."
The moment she saw the pen, Lux remembered the little turtle from last time and felt her courage wobble. After a second's thought, she said, "Let me play one practice round first."
"Fine." Luke waved it off. "You go first."
Lux picked up a white piece and dropped it right in the center.
Five-in-a-row really was simple: it looked like nothing but racing to connect a line first.
In the first game, the two of them traded moves back and forth, chasing each other closely.
In the end, Lux made one careless mistake—and Luke connected five.
Even though she lost, Miss Crownguard's confidence surged instead of sinking.
"I think we can start with punishments now!"
She lifted her chin proudly, her bright eyes already imagining what she'd draw on Luke's face.
So the second game began.
This time, Lux's speed jumped dramatically. She barely hesitated—Luke placed a piece, and she responded instantly.
Then, after only a dozen-something moves, her raised hand froze in midair.
Lux stared blankly at the board. On Luke's side, the black pieces had formed threats in two directions at once.
She suddenly realized… she might have already lost.
Luke chuckled at her expression. "Want me to keep going?"
"I got careless. Fair's fair—you win. Draw."
Lux closed her eyes and leaned her face forward.
Luke didn't waste a second. He uncapped the pen and drew a bold mark right across her forehead.
Not knowing what had appeared on her face, Lux was instantly furious. "Again!"
A while later, Fiora came to the front yard to take a short break.
The moment she arrived, she saw Luke and Lux sitting in the yard with a table between them, locked in what looked like a tense standoff.
Her curiosity rose. She walked closer—and when Lux lifted her head, Fiora actually startled.
Lux's usually cute face had been thoroughly vandalized: a turtle on the left cheek, another turtle on the right, "KING" scrawled across her forehead, and whisker-like lines on both sides of her mouth. Ridiculous—yet somehow funny.
"What are you two doing?" Fiora asked as she approached.
Luke lounged casually, a black piece in hand, not even in a hurry to place it. "Playing five-in-a-row."
Across from him, Lux didn't have time to answer. She was staring down at the board, disbelief written all over her face—like she couldn't accept she was about to lose again.
"How is that connected too? When did that happen?"
Her earlier confidence was long gone.
After several games in a row, her pride had taken a beating.
Fiora looked over the board. Black and white pieces were scattered everywhere. Lux seemed to be playing white.
"Like this," Luke explained, "connect five and you win."
As he spoke, he placed the final piece and ended the round.
Hearing the rules, Fiora's first thought was: That's it? It's almost too simple.
Luke picked up the pen, looked at Lux's face, and for a moment couldn't decide where to add the next stroke.
After thinking, he tapped the pen to Lux's nose and shaded it in until it looked like a raccoon's nose.
When he pulled back, Lux rubbed her nose unhappily, still refusing to believe it. "Again!"
Fiora sat down nearby, eyes gleaming with interest, and watched.
Two more games flew by.
"Miss Crownguard," Luke asked unhurriedly, watching Lux sink deeper into confusion, "still want to go?"
Lux's mind was a mess now. She muttered to herself, "It's just five pieces in a row… why can't I win?"
She clearly remembered that at the beginning, she'd been able to fight Luke move for move—so why was it getting worse the longer she played?
"Because you still haven't found what's really going on," Fiora said coolly from the side.
Luke glanced at her and saw an unusual level of confidence on Fiora's face.
Lux immediately looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Let me play two rounds. You'll see."
Fiora stood, lips curling, arrogance written all over her expression.
This kind of simple game—after watching just a little, she'd already spotted the "secret" Lux had completely missed.
"Just so you know," Luke added, "there's still punishment."
He said it purely to make sure she couldn't pretend it didn't count.
"I know."
Fiora sat in Lux's seat, picked up a white piece, and said flatly, "Come on."
And then, several rounds later—
Fiora's hand hovered over the board, uncertain where to place her piece.
Her face—usually pale, cool, and proud—now had marks on the left, marks on the right, turning her into something unintentionally comedic.
Lux couldn't help asking, "So this is the 'secret' you found?"
"I lost."
Fiora didn't even place her piece. She chose to concede outright.
Because she could already see it—no matter where she put it, she couldn't stop Luke from winning.
It was strange, too. She'd felt like she understood the game. At the start, she'd even thought she was evenly matched with Luke, already plotting how to win.
But a few games later, something shifted. Winning stopped being the goal. Stopping Luke from winning became the goal.
And whenever it reached that point, she wasn't far from losing.
"Swordmistress," Luke said with a light laugh as he raised the pen, "what animal nose do you think suits you best?"
Fiora simply closed her eyes, lifted her chin, and said coldly, "If you're going to draw, then draw."
Luke loved dealing with beauties who acted this proud.
He didn't hold back at all—he drew right on her nose too.
When he finished, Fiora opened her eyes. Defiance burned in her cool gaze. "Again!"
A few more rounds passed.
Fiora's body trembled slightly as she stared at the board, utterly unable to understand it. "How…"
The same fog of confusion Lux had felt earlier now filled Fiora's mind.
It was just five pieces in a row—so why couldn't she win?
Off to the side, Lux looked at the "artwork" Luke had left on Fiora's face and suddenly felt a lot better.
So it wasn't only her getting crushed.
She'd almost convinced herself she was just stupid. But seeing Fiora like this meant the problem wasn't her.
Which led to the obvious conclusion: this "five-in-a-row" game definitely wasn't as simple as it looked.
Luke calmly placed a piece and ended the final round.
He stared at Fiora's dazed expression—and the marks covering that proud, icy face—and couldn't help wanting to laugh.
Five-in-a-row looked simple, but the depth in it was enormous.
If it really were that simple, it wouldn't have stayed popular for so long.
And as someone who'd played more than his share of it, Luke didn't even need half his skill to handle these two beginners.
Three-tenths was plenty.
He picked up the pen and added another little flourish to Fiora's face.
Fiora clenched her jaw. "Again!"
At this point, her face was already covered in pen anyway—what were a few more lines?
What she wanted now was experience, even if it meant learning through loss.
"It's getting late," Luke said, standing up and shaking his head. "Time to get dinner ready."
He wasn't going to keep playing.
Their faces were practically full already. If he continued, he might as well just color them completely black.
Fiora stared at the board unwillingly, fists tight, thinking she'd get her revenge tomorrow no matter what.
Lux rubbed her stomach and asked, "So… what's for dinner today?"
Luke replied, "Campfire clay-baked chicken."
That caught Fiora's attention instantly—another name she'd never heard before.
She saw Luke squat by the fire, so she went over too.
Lux followed.
The three of them crouched around the flames, watching them flicker. For a while, nobody spoke.
Luke glanced at Lux's face.
Then he glanced at Fiora's.
And he couldn't hold it in.
"Pfft—"
Both women shot him a murderous glare.
Luke didn't care.
If anything, it made him feel even better.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.