“I, I… surrender, I’m afraid…”
Liyakade helplessly held her forehead, then weakly raised her hand to indicate surrender.
When it came to arguing, she really couldn’t win against them.
With her low attack and low defense, even if she talked back, it would only make them more excited.
“Hmph hmph, Liyakade’s skills with words aren’t very good either.”
“I already surrendered, stop teasing me!”
Liyakade puffed her cheeks angrily.
“Weren’t you going to explain the rules to Alice? Hurry up and do it!”
“That’s true.”
At this, Field finally let up and stopped teasing Liyakade.
She looked at Alice and patiently began to explain.
“21-Point, simply put, is about getting your hand as close to 21 as possible. The side closest to 21 wins, but you can’t go over 21. If you do, you lose automatically.”
“I see.”
“And then?”
Field waved her hand, signaling Alice to calm down, and continued explaining.
“Cards from 2 to 10 are counted at face value. J, Q, and K are all worth 10 points. A can be counted as 1 or 11, so you can adjust it flexibly as needed.”
“The Dealer deals two face-up cards to each Player, then gives themselves one face-up and one face-down card. If the Player is dissatisfied, they can continue to ask for cards until they reach the desired number of points—but be careful not to go over 21, or you’ll lose.”
“The Dealer’s face-down card is revealed at the end. If their total is less than 16, they must keep taking cards; if more than 17, they can’t take more. In the end, whoever is closest to 21 wins.”
“I understand.”
Alice nodded, showing she understood.
The rules didn’t sound complicated.
“It sounds kind of fun.”
“Right?”
Field paused, a subtle curve forming at the corner of her lips.
She seemed to be thinking up something mischievous again.
“But, just playing 21-Point like this doesn’t seem interesting enough. How about… we add a Bet?”
“Hey! Now it’s really Gambling. We don’t have money to play with you, right, Alice?”
Liyakade quickly shook her head, dragging Alice into it as well.
Liyakade had no stable income, and Alice was just a commoner.
If it was about Gambling with money, neither could afford to play against Field.
“Who said anything about Betting money…”
Field rubbed her forehead helplessly.
“Talking about money hurts friendships. Gambling for money is the most boring, don’t you think?”
“Uh, true.”
Liyakade thought about it and realized Field had a point.
She only said to add a Bet, not that it had to be money.
Field definitely knew their financial situation.
Besides, they were good friends.
How could she encourage them to Gamble money with her?
“So what are we Betting?”
Liyakade tilted her head in confusion.
“This—”
Field smiled meaningfully.
She looked at Alice beside her, eyes seeming to say something.
Alice’s expression brightened in sudden realization, and she nodded vigorously.
“What are you two scheming in secret…”
Liyakade silently watched their subtle exchange, feeling something was off.
“Hum hum hum.”
After reaching an agreement, Field couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s use clothes as the Bet!”
“Clothes?”
Liyakade repeated blankly.
“Yes, whoever loses has to take off a piece of clothing. The Dealer has to take off two. How about it, Liyakade?”
Field gave Liyakade a mischievous look, her eyes full of amusement.
“Agreed!”
Alice immediately raised her hand in agreement, looking expectantly at Liyakade.
Liyakade’s heart skipped a beat.
This is bad, they’re targeting me!
Just as she was about to refuse, Liyakade paused.
But wait, isn’t this the perfect chance to turn the tables?
When it came to cards, Liyakade had some confidence.
Alice was a commoner who’d never played Poker, and Field, as the Second Princess, might have played before but probably wasn’t that interested in such things.
She definitely had the advantage here!
That’s right, the advantage is mine!
Taking this chance, she would defeat them all and let them taste the shame, establishing her position completely!
“Interesting… It’s time to show you the true gambling monster…”
After a long silence, Liyakade suddenly lifted her small face, arrogantly flipping her long silver hair behind her ear and raising her chin slightly.
She smiled disdainfully.
“Back then, Chen won 37 million with just 20, and today, I’ll win all your clothes too. No problem!”
“Oh?”
Seeing Liyakade’s overconfident expression, Field couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows in interest.
She’d thought Liyakade would refuse, but hadn’t expected her to be so confident.
Field unconsciously licked her lips.
Indeed, prey that resists is always more interesting.
“Looks like you’re very confident. If you end up stripped, don’t beg for mercy.”
“Miss Liyakade, let’s have a showdown!”
A showdown? Up and down?
“Then I’ll be the Dealer first.”
Field volunteered.
“Fine.”
Liyakade had no objections, crossing her legs lazily.
“Field the small fry, no matter who the Dealer is, the result will be the same.”
“Hoho, small… small fry? Such big talk?”
Field laughed at Liyakade’s words.
“Just wait, you’ll regret calling me that.”
The two continued their verbal sparring, but Field’s hands didn’t pause.
She quickly shuffled the Poker Cards, while Alice refilled their Cups of Tea, not forgetting to add some Milk for Liyakade.
“Oh, not bad luck.”
Liyakade commented as she looked at her hand.
Liyakade had a 7 and an A.
Alice had 2 and 5.
Field had a 9 and a face-down card.
With an A that could flexibly change value, Liyakade indeed had good luck.
“Card.”
With an A in hand, Liyakade naturally wanted to take another card for a higher total.
If she drew a 3 or below, she’d get closer to 21.
Even if it was above 3, she still had some leeway.
Field dealt her another card.
Liyakade turned it over.
It was a 2.
She was lucky.
“Heh, looks like the Lucky Goddess is on my side.”
Liyakade smiled slightly.
“Stand.”
Now, her hand was 7, A, 2—totaling 20.
Very close to 21.
Although with an A she could risk another card without busting, getting exactly 21 would be tough, so she chose to stand.
“Tsk, such luck.”
Field clicked her tongue.
“I’ll take a card too.”
Of course, Alice, who only had 2 and 5 (7 in total), needed another card.
No way to stop there.
The new card for Alice was a K.
Now she had 17.
That’s not a small number, but drawing another card risked busting.
Since it was her first game, Alice chose to play it safe and stood.
Next was Field.
Field bit her lower lip, looking troubled.
Her face-up card was 9.
If the hidden card was above 8, she couldn’t take another.
But then she wouldn’t beat Liyakade.
If it was below 8, she could take another, but beating Liyakade’s 20 would still be unlikely.
Finally, Field flipped her hidden card.
It was a Q.
Total: 19.
“Damn… just one point short.”
“Hmph, even though it’s only one point, in reality it’s a huge gap.”
Liyakade smugly waggled her finger.
She had a point.
Even with the hidden card, Field could only reach 19.
To beat Liyakade, she would’ve needed a hidden card below 8 and then take another card—a big difference.
This round ended with Liyakade victorious.
Liyakade beat Field, and Field beat Alice, so both Field and Alice had to remove a piece of clothing.
Exactly as Liyakade hoped.
“Strip!”
Liyakade stood up arrogantly, waving her hand for them to undress.
“Tch, it’s just one piece, who’s afraid of who!”
Field grumbled as she untied her school uniform Necktie and tossed it on the sofa.
Alice followed suit, taking off her Necktie as well.
“Ah? The Necktie counts too?”
“Why wouldn’t it? Isn’t it something you wear on your body? When you lose, just take off your Necktie too.”
Field retorted to Liyakade’s question.
“Good point. But… I won’t lose a single round, so I don’t need to take off anything. Hmph, get ready to beg for mercy!”