It hadn’t even been a year since my mother and father divorced. No, maybe three months had passed.

“This is the person who will be your new mother, Lize.”

“…..”

My father, who returned to the mansion after a long time, brought a woman he called my new mother. The brown-haired woman was someone I already knew.

Stiana. To be precise, Stiana Katholier.

The woman I thought was a commoner turned out to be the daughter of an unnamed noble, and she was exactly twelve years older than me.

Even though it’s common in this era for there to be a large age gap between husband and wife, my father hadn’t even been divorced from my mother for a year.

‘What about Lady Bakus?’

At some point, Lady Bakus, whom my father had been so protective of, was nowhere to be seen. Not that I had wanted my father to remarry Lady Bakus, but this was a bit sudden.

It was also absurd.

“You’re very pretty, just as I heard, Lize. I want to have a good relationship with you. There’s not much of an age difference between us, so we might have similar interests. If you’d like, I’d love to brush your hair for you. So… I want to be a good mother.”

Stiana treated me as if she was seeing me for the first time. She smiled brightly and extended her hand to me.

“Does my mother know?”

Ignoring Stiana’s hand, I looked at my father.

I knew well why my father was introducing Stiana to me before signing the engagement papers. It was because it was written in the judgment to do so.

“Isabel is now a stranger. There’s no obligation to inform her of this matter.”

Literally, it was my father’s obligation to introduce Stiana to me. The fact that my mother didn’t know meant that my siblings didn’t know either. If my siblings found out about this news, they would come to the Marsen mansion right away to grab my father by the collar.

“…..”

I had a lot I wanted to say to my father, but I swallowed my words.

Seeing my father’s face, eager to finish his duty and retire to his room as soon as possible, made me even more speechless. He was frowning, seemingly displeased with the gloomy atmosphere of the mansion he had visited after a long time.

“Do as you wish, Father. I’ll go to my room now.”

My father wasn’t the type to cancel the marriage just because I opposed it. Not wanting to waste unnecessary emotional energy, I stood up. Stiana, who had been extending her hand to me, finally lowered her arm.

“Sit down. We have more to talk about.”

My father, whom I thought would want me to go to my room right away, stopped me. He was silently threatening me with a fierce look. My bottom, which had just lifted, settled back onto the sofa.

“I heard from the maid. You play chess almost every day?”

“…..”

“It’s a waste of time. I’ll send some portraits to the mansion later, so look at them carefully.”

“Portraits?”

“They’re of people who have shown interest in you. They might become your husband in the future, so it would be good to see them in advance.”

If there hadn’t been a clause about my marriage in the judgment, my father would have sold me off to someone long ago.

Although I hadn’t seen the portraits yet, I could already imagine the faces of the men. They would be at least ten years older than me, with lots of facial hair and large builds.

I could even guess their personalities. Men interested in an eleven-year-old like me couldn’t possibly be normal!

“The Count is right. It would be good to start looking now so you can marry a good man. My older sister got married at twelve. That was when she was two years older than you. She’s still living happily now.”

Stiana spoke as if to support my father’s opinion.

“One year older. I’m eleven years old.”

“…Huh? I clearly heard you were ten.”

She looked at my father with a confused face. My father didn’t seem to care whether I was ten or eleven. As I expected, he probably didn’t know about my birthday a few weeks ago. Even if he did, the result would be the same.

Now I wanted to get up from my seat.

“And I hear you’ve been going out often these days? Surely you’re not going to Pollong Street?”

“…I can only go to Pollong Street twice a week. I’m keeping that promise well.”

“Then where are you sneaking off to so often?”

“To the Bakus mansion. I always go there hoping Roger might come today.”

My father disliked how I was no longer as docile as before. Still, seeing how he closed his mouth as soon as the Bakus topic came up, it seems he still had a minimal conscience left.

Sensing the atmosphere, I felt it was okay to stand up now, so I raised my waist.

“Anyway, don’t wander around too much. It’s already noisy enough with the divorce issue, and it won’t do any good for you to be seen by the villagers.”

“…..”

‘And yet you’re marrying another woman right away.’

I just nodded slightly and went up to my room. Every day had been the worst since Yurik went to his grandfather’s mansion.

[This is the timeline separator] [Will a new champion be born today? The match of the century begins!]

Flower petals fluttered in the sky. I knew the passion for chess was intense, but I hadn’t expected it to be this extreme.

“Please make way! We need to pass!”

“The master hasn’t alighted yet!”

There was a carriage chaos in front of the imperial palace where the final game would be held.

Some nobles, tired of waiting, even got off before their carriages reached the entrance. As the road was narrow and the number of people increased, order nearly collapsed.

Accidents were incessant everywhere. The people here dealt with accidents cleverly, befitting nobles, but that was only on the surface. While nerves were fraying, the violin melody playing in the hall was full of excitement.

“Oops.”

“Ah…! Who…!”

Distracted by the music, I bumped into someone. It was a boy who looked about the same age as me.

He looked at me once and frowned even more. He seemed to be holding back his words, unable to guess my status from my appearance.

“Um, I’m sorry.”

When I apologized, the boy’s expression darkened. Oh, this is bad.

“Lize!”

“Ah. Yurik.”

“I was surprised when you suddenly disappeared. That’s why I told you to hold my hand tightly.”

Yurik held my hand firmly. Then he noticed the boy standing blankly in front of us and immediately became wary.

“…Did something happen, Lize?”

“I accidentally bumped into this person.”

“Hmm…”

Yurik looked at the boy I had collided with. Were they acquainted? The arrogant expression on the boy’s face hardened.

“It’s been a while, Count Longeur.”

“…Ah. You’re an acquaintance of Duke, Duke Penton. Then this lady is the Duke’s daugh… I heard he had a younger sister… Seeing you in person, you’re be, beautiful. It, it was nice to meet you. I’ll be going now…”

The boy slipped away as if fleeing. As I watched his retreating figure, Yurik’s hand blocked my view.

“Don’t look.”

“Do you know him?”

“He’s the eldest son of the Longed Marquis family. He’s a selfish guy. Just ignore him, he’s weird.”

After saying that, Yurik grabbed my hand and moved to the final game venue.

“Yurik, are you angry by any chance? I’m sorry. It’s because I moved around on my own.”

“I’m not angry at you.”

“Then?”

“Count Longeur. That guy… I’ve disliked him for a while.”

“Don’t be too angry. He didn’t do anything wrong. It was me who got distracted, right?”

At my words, Yurik stopped walking.

“…?”

“You’re not my little sister.”

Yurik pulled my hand again. Belatedly realizing his childish side, I couldn’t help but laugh. At the sound of my laughter, Yurik’s earlobes gradually turned red.

“Where have you been? You’re late.”

The lady who was already seated noticed me and Yurik. She urged us to hurry, saying the game was about to start.

As the lady said, people were seated, waiting for the players to appear.

Those who couldn’t get seats stood far back, standing on tiptoes or craning their necks. Like those seated, they discussed who would win today’s match.

Most predicted Baron Kito’s victory. A minority predicted Mont’s victory. Looking at their performance and win rates over the past year, it was understandable.

The noisy venue fell silent as soon as the referee entered. The game was about to begin.

The referees sat down and focused on the chessboard in front of them. Everyone looked at the two empty seats and the chessboard, waiting for today’s protagonists.

Then the protagonists appeared.

The atmosphere became so solemn that if someone coughed, the sound would fill the entire venue.

“…..”

“…..”

A tense game. Mont and Baron Kito shook hands briefly as a greeting and immediately started the game.

[This is the timeline separator]

Amazing moves came one after another. The hands that moved quickly at first now moved carefully.

When the game started, the sun was high in the sky, but now it was gradually setting.

The atmosphere inside intensified. The breathing of those immersed in the chess game quieted. When someone moved a piece, short exclamations burst out from among the spectators.

My gaze, which had been focused solely on the players’ hands and the chessboard for a while, turned to Baron Kito.

Despite the heated atmosphere, Baron Kito’s face was as relaxed as usual. Mont’s face, currently at a disadvantage to the Baron, was no different.

Looking at their faces alone, the players seemed like spectators, and conversely, the spectators seemed like players. How they maintained such composure while making such moves. I found Mont and the Baron amazing.

“…..”

“…..”

The clock hand moved.

A piece moved.

Currently, the Baron had the advantage, but Mont was no pushover. He had maintained the champion position for nearly twenty years. It was natural.

Even if his skills had declined recently, Mont was still Mont. The most outstanding chess champion in history poured all his strength into the challenge of the most unlucky Baron in history.

The Baron’s queen moved. The queen took a bishop. Six pieces remained on the board.

The endgame had begun.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hasn’t the game record arrived yet? Why is it so slow!”

The chess newspaper company, which had been operating for fifty years, was moving quickly.

At regular intervals, a newspaper associate among the spectators would write down the game record of Mont and Kito, and then someone would immediately deliver it to the company.

That game record was then printed in the newspaper.

“Chief! People are waiting to know when the next newspaper will be out!”

“We’re flooded with complaint letters!”

But the game record that should have arrived ten minutes ago hadn’t come.

Naturally, the man in charge of the overall management of this newspaper was so frustrated he could hardly breathe. He paced around, biting his nails. He looked out the window for no reason and took out his anger on innocent subordinates.

“Chief! Chief!”

The man, who was about to go out to the company’s main entrance out of impatience, was startled by a sudden voice.

Finally, the long-awaited game record had arrived.

The man greeted his running subordinate with a broad smile.

“Yes, I’ve been waiting! Quickly, the game record…!”

“That’s not it, Chief!”

The subordinate spoke, panting heavily.

“Huh? What, what is it?”

“…A, a new…! A new champion has been born!”