Khaled casually checked his cards, then flipped one over. After checking the additional cards dealt to him, he placed his bet.
Everyone at the game seemed reluctant to lose and followed Khaled’s bet.
“Hmm?”
“Your Highness hasn’t been here in a while. You might still be getting your bearings.”
One of the participants taunted Khaled, who responded with a derisive smile and crossed his arms. His expression remained unchanged, but their eyes moved frantically.
“Call.”
Starting with someone’s voice, everyone chimed in.
“Call.”
“Fold.”
Chips continued to stack up on the table.
A moment later, the dealer waited for their conversation to pause before dealing another card to each.
“Hmm.”
Murmurs were heard from various places.
New terms were thrown around, and chips kept piling up on the table.
Velia blinked her eyes as she watched.
When the game finally ended after several similar rounds and a large number of chips had piled up, those remaining revealed their hands.
“Two pairs.”
“Not a great hand. Straight.”
“Full house. Hahaha. Not your day, Your Highness?”
One man laughed as he grabbed the chips.
However, Khaled laid down his hand on the table.
“So it seems…I’m just not lucky today. Just a four of a kind.”
Khaled grinned and signaled the manager, then swept the chips from the table into his pile.
Velia didn’t exactly understand what was going on, but it seemed like Khaled had won. She awkwardly clapped along, and Khaled gave her a mischievous look.
“Wanna see more?”
“Yes!”
Velia had no idea about the rules or the game, but somehow it felt a bit fun.
With a somewhat excited expression, Khaled moved to another nearby table.
“What’s this?”
“This time, you’re participating.”
At his words, Velia was startled and spoke without hiding her confusion.
“I don’t know anything.”
“It’s not difficult.”
Khaled explained kindly.
“You don’t know the rules, so I’ll explain briefly. The dealer will roll three dice. You can bet on whether the sum will be greater or smaller than 11, and whether the sum will be even or odd. Easy, right?”
“Umm, so just guess the numbers and bet?”
“Exactly. You can do it.”
Khaled then announced Velia’s participation, and the game began.
Velia hesitated and bet on even and greater than 11.
The result was odd and greater than 11.
“Ah…”
A sigh of disappointment escaped Velia’s lips.
“Heh heh. Lost half, gained half. Back to square one?”
Khaled chuckled and handed more chips to Velia.
She gathered her resolve and focused again on the dice.
As the dice rolled, Velia’s eyes sparkled.
Khaled couldn’t help but let out soft chuckles at how adorable Velia looked.
Sometimes Velia gained, sometimes she lost everything. After several rounds, she had no chips left.
“….Ah?”
Velia, engrossed in the game, realized her empty hands and looked around.
Khaled was beside her, one hand on his chin, observing her.
“Did you have fun?”
Velia’s face turned bright red; she couldn’t say no. Time had flown.
‘So this is how people get addicted to gambling…’
It was embarrassing to think that she had felt this way, even for a short moment.
Despite her clear reason for being here, her focus had been completely diverted!
Suddenly sobering up like cold water had been poured on her, Velia stood up abruptly, grabbed Khaled’s hand, and left the place.
“Hahaha.”
Khaled, noticing why Velia was acting the way she was, chuckled and followed her lead.
Upon entering the rest room they had been initially guided to, Velia, her face momentarily flushed, spoke.
“What should we do now?”
Break into the secret room right away? What about the guards?
Though she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, Khaled seemed to understand everything, taking her hand and exiting the room.
“What?!”
Instead of going deeper into the casino, he led her to the opposite entrance.
“Wait a moment…!”
“I’m glad you had fun.”
What is this?!
Velia looked back in bewilderment, but Khaled tightened his grip on her hand, pulling her along.
Thus, they left the casino in a daze and climbed into a waiting carriage. Velia’s expression was tinged with disbelief.
“Is this okay?”
“Of course.”
The carriage headed unhesitatingly toward the palace.
Velia couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening.
We’re really just going back after having fun?
“Raul is in there right now! Are we just leaving him be? He will definitely be on guard against us from now on.”
She had visited after hearing Raul was in an illegal gambling hall; naturally, she thought they would arrest him.
However, Khaled chose to merely make a brief appearance at the venue, receiving everyone’s attention. Sitting in the carriage, his demeanor was calm as if he had planned this from the start.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll visit again.”
“I don’t understand.”
Why do this?
Wasn’t it enough to capture him right away?
Khaled smiled and caressed Velia’s cheek.
“If we arrest Raul now, he will surely find a way to escape. He might even accuse us of framing him.”
Taken aback by Khaled’s speculative reasoning, Velia challenged him.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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