Lyamie nervously picked up the dice on the table.
After wrapping them in her hands and giving them a vigorous shake, she tossed the dice onto the tabletop.
As the dice spun slower and slower, Lyamie grew increasingly anxious.
At last, the dice came to a slow stop, and the topmost number was a six.
Seeing this, Lyamie couldn’t help but cheer, “Yes! I won again!”
At Lyamie’s triumphant shout, the person on the other side of the table collapsed weakly onto the sofa.
“Why? Why is it always you? Why are you so lucky, Lyamie!!!”
Lavinea’s wail of grief did nothing to earn Lyamie’s sympathy.
On the contrary, Lyamie wore a mocking grin and laughed, “Haha, that’s because I’m not a small fry like you~ Don’t you agree? Small fry~ Small fry~”
Faced with Lyamie’s relentless taunts, Lavinea showed no reaction.
If this had happened an hour earlier, she might have responded passionately, but now, after losing several rounds in a row, she had grown completely used to it.
No matter how much Lyamie mocked her, Lavinea figured she wouldn’t react anymore.
Seeing Lavinea’s dispirited look, Lyamie decided not to continue with her ridicule.
She slowly stretched, letting her stiff body regain some vitality.
“Thank goodness this game has a two-player mode, otherwise we’d have to find at least one more person just to play.”
At this, Lavinea remained motionless and replied, “Even if we found someone else to play, the result wouldn’t change. You’d still win anyway.”
“Well, can’t help it—what can I say? I’m just that good~”
Hearing this, Lavinea’s eye twitched slightly, as if she didn’t quite agree with Lyamie’s words, but she didn’t argue.
After all, she knew that no amount of arguing would change the fact that Lyamie kept winning.
“Sigh, I really want to know why you always have such good luck. Don’t tell me you really have some secret technique?”
At Lavinea’s curious question, Lyamie feigned mystery, smiling deeply.
She cleared her throat, ready to reveal her absolutely secret, never-to-be-shared trick.
Just then, someone walked in.
“So here you are. Isn’t today a rest day? Why don’t you go out and have some fun?”
Colin and Eleanor came in, each holding the gifts they’d picked out earlier.
At the sight, Lyamie immediately shut her mouth.
The earlier excitement on her face vanished without a trace, and she pretended nothing had happened, turning her attention to the rulebook on the table.
This left Lavinea, who had been hoping to hear Lyamie’s winning secret, rather disappointed.
But she quickly regained her composure, for she had noticed what Colin was holding.
It was obviously a gift, and the wrapping was identical to the seeds Lyamie had given her.
This made Lavinea wonder—had Lyamie really followed Colin and the others around the streets?
Lyamie also realized this and, before Lavinea could question her, quickly blocked her with a freshly thought-up explanation: “Don’t overthink it, it’s just… a coincidence!”
Although Lavinea didn’t quite believe it, judging from Lyamie’s expression, she knew this wasn’t the right time to ask.
Colin, on the other hand, was curious. “What coincidence? Did something happen while I was gone?”
Faced with Colin’s curiosity, Lavinea and Lyamie exchanged a glance, seeing the strong warning in each other’s eyes.
So Lavinea could only shrug to indicate it really was nothing, just some game-related matter.
Colin wasn’t entirely convinced at first, but when he saw “The Grand Adventurer” board game on the table, he nodded seriously, accepting Lavinea’s explanation.
But not everyone was convinced.
Eleanor, who had stood silently by Colin since entering the room, said nothing to Lavinea’s explanation.
She merely narrowed her eyes and glanced over at Lyamie.
That alone made Lyamie feel as if Eleanor had already figured out the truth.
Even if not, she probably had a good guess.
“Haha, alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Why are you two back so early? And what do you have in your hands… are those gifts? Are they for me~?”
As the atmosphere started to grow odd, Lavinea spoke up in time, drawing everyone’s attention.
At her words, Colin suddenly remembered the gifts in his hands.
He handed one directly to Lavinea and smiled, “I hope you like it.”
Lavinea was stunned for a moment.
But that wasn’t the end—a moment later, Eleanor also took out a gift from her clothes and handed it to her, making Lavinea even more bewildered.
Wait, I was just joking around—are these really for me? What’s going on today? Why is everyone giving me gifts? Is today my birthday?!
Lavinea began to doubt if she’d remembered her birthday wrong.
Fortunately, Colin explained in time.
“This is to thank you for your help back in the labyrinth. Don’t worry about it, just accept them.”
At this, Lavinea finally prepared to accept both gifts.
But just as she was about to take them, her hand paused.
“Wait, why only give me gifts? I wasn’t the only one who helped in the labyrinth. Didn’t everyone pitch in? Shouldn’t everyone get something?”
Lavinea asked, her outstretched hand frozen mid-air.
If Colin couldn’t give a good explanation, she might not take the gifts.
Seeing this, Colin smiled and explained, “Of course everyone’s getting something. We already gave Eleanor hers, and Sifney’s gift will be sent to her later. As for Lyamie…”
At that, Colin turned to look at Lyamie, who sat on the sofa pretending not to care about any of this.
But soon he looked back at Lavinea.
“Lyamie’s gift… I haven’t picked one yet. Once I have, I’ll give it to her.”
Hearing this, Lavinea understood, and with no more worries, she accepted the gifts.
But Lavinea didn’t open them right away.
She just set them aside.
Colin, a little curious, asked, “You’re not going to open them now?”
Lavinea shook her head, glancing over at the bag of seeds in the corner of the table.
“No, I’ll open them after I go back to my room. I’m afraid the surprise will be… a little too surprising.”
Colin looked puzzled, but then he noticed the seeds in the corner of the table and exclaimed in surprise, “So that rumor was true! Elves really do like planting things? Then maybe next time I should give you some more seeds…”
At those words, Lavinea’s eyes shot wide open and she quickly reached out to stop Colin from continuing.
“No, no. This bag of seeds is more than enough for me to plant for a long time! No need to give me any more, really! I’m not actually that into that sort of thing!”
Colin was puzzled by Lavinea’s strong reaction, but since she said she didn’t want any more, he simply let the idea go.