No Evil Lady in the World (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 174

Ariante and Swan returned from dinner at the Eurt Marquis’s estate just as twilight nearly faded and stars began to dot the sky. Around that time, in a shabby hut not far from the Duke’s manor, Becker—the escaped woodsman—had awakened, and Aint and Zelso were dragging him back like a prisoner, his feet scraping the ground.

Ariante and Swan deliberately had their carriage stop a short distance from the main gate and walked together down a path scattered with fallen leaves. Ariante, hopping precariously along the flat paving stones, spoke up.

“The card game we played last—how did you win, anyway?”

Swan, unable to take his eyes off her for fear she might trip, answered anxiously.

“Well, you win when the total of your cards adds up to exactly twenty. So I thought about which cards would let me reach twenty the fastest…”

Her small frame wobbled unsteadily on the narrow stones, her toes pointed like a dancer’s.

“Careful, Ariante!”

Startled, Swan yanked her arm sharply. She didn’t fall, but the ribbon on her sleeve got slightly ruined. Swan, looking apologetic, tried to retie it, but the more he touched it, the more tangled the knot became.

“Sorry… I was just trying to catch you.”

Swan gave up on the ribbon and spoke glumly. Ariante shrugged her shoulders quite maturely.

“It’s fine. I’ll just ask Meiana to fix it later. So you thought about which cards could make twenty quickly and collected those first?”

“Yeah, we each put down one card at a time, right? But instead of grabbing any card… I prioritized even-numbered ones. That just felt easier for me.”

“Even numbers! Got it—pairs that leave nothing left over!”

Swan nodded approvingly.

“Exactly. First gather the even cards to build your total, and then…”

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