“Let’s play a game~”

One line tossed the Elvenfolk’s future onto a tabletop, like a leaf set adrift on a river—childish, yet strangely fitting.

“How about it? Sis, what do you think?”

Ling said it to Alicia, her voice like a flute in mist; big things still made her uneasy, so she pushed the choice toward Alicia, who’d weathered storms before.

“Mmm…”

Alicia wavered, her brows knotting like twined reeds; the knot held for a breath, then loosened with a soft sigh.

“Fine. It’s a bit informal… well, who cares about formality. Let’s settle it with a game!”

————————————

Once they agreed, Amelia didn’t prepare a thing; she just led Alicia and Ling straight to the so‑called “game field,” like a swan cutting through morning fog.

The field was huge, a lake of open ground in a crowded forest; when they stepped in, Alicia let out a startled cry, like a sparrow flitting from a branch.

She hadn’t expected a clearing this wide in such a tight tangle of trees; counting by eye, it could fit five soccer fields, a meadow poured from sky.

But why would a “game field” need to be this vast, a plain spread like a banner?

“Are we playing soccer?”

“Soccer? No, no. We Elvenfolk don’t touch games without grace.”

Bold words, like a blade flashed in a market—say that and someone might kill you.

“Then what are we doing? If you won’t play soccer on a place this big, what else fits?”

Amelia kept her smile like hidden lantern light; she ignored Alicia’s bait and strolled on, letting curiosity stretch like a cat’s tail.

Alicia clicked her tongue, a pebble tossed in a pond, then trailed after them, her patience thinning like ice in spring.

Who knew where Amelia found the time to circle the whole clearing, a ring traced like a moon path; Alicia’s temper rose like heat on stone, until Amelia finally turned with a bright, sly smile.

—This is payback from before, Ling thought, a needle pricking under silk.

Ling silently tagged Amelia with a [petty] label in her heart, like ink tucked behind a fan; at last, they reached the destination—a round table, not large, a moon slice laid on grass.

Under Alicia’s puzzled stare, Amelia pulled back a chair with a wood‑on‑stone whisper and sat, her posture like a willow at ease; the other two chairs fit Ling and Alicia like paired shells.

“Hurry up! Big sis, you’ve wasted a mountain of time already!”

Alicia dropped into her seat with a howl, a wolf cry in noon light; at the word “big sis,” Amelia’s brow twitched like a plucked string, and veins rose on her arm like taut cords.

It flashed and vanished in a heartbeat, a ripple that only Ling caught, like wind skimming rice.

“Alright, alright~ I’ve had my fun.”

—So she really was playing me! Alicia’s thoughts hissed like steam from a kettle.

“Let’s talk about the ‘game’ now~”

The topic snapped back like a kite string; Alicia straightened from the tabletop, and her face settled into seriousness, a blade laid flat.

“We start with the prize for victory and the cost of defeat~”

“Shouldn’t we talk rules first?”

It threw Alicia off, like a stone skipping then sinking; who opens by naming stakes instead of the game?

Amelia answered with a look that said “don’t worry,” a calm pool reflecting clouds.

“Mm… you’ll understand those easily. Better to skip ahead~”

A prick of unease touched Alicia, a thorn in velvet; but they stood on “equal” ground now, like two bridges meeting, and Amelia had no cause to cheat her.

After a few heartbeats, Alicia nodded, the gesture light as a falling petal.

“Then… say it. What if we win?”

“You already know~ We join the Mystic Realm as ‘equals,’ like two streams merging without mud.”

“And if we lose?”

“Emmmm… I didn’t think that far,” Amelia said, finger tapping like rain. “How about this: if you lose, from now on your ‘everything’ belongs to ‘me.’ I’m very fond of you two~”

Alicia’s brows flew up like startled birds; anger flared, a coal bright under ash.

“Isn’t that over the line?”

Amelia didn’t back down; she drew a handkerchief from nowhere, dabbing dry eyes with mock tears, a theater mask in daylight.

“Boo‑hoo~ How cruel of you. I’m the one holding every Elven life, top to bottom, like a forest under my hand. How can I be ‘too much’?”

Alicia had no good retort; there were only two of them, two candles in wind, while Amelia wagered tens of thousands of Elvenfolk, a sea of leaves.

It was an unfair gamble no matter how she weighed it, scales tipped like a crescent moon—and unfair on Amelia’s side right now.

Thinking that through, Alicia’s protest thinned, a cloud torn by sun; but staking their “everything” on this game still scraped like grit.

She glanced at Ling, uneasy as a bird checking sky; Ling said nothing, just wrapped Alicia’s fingers with a warm grip and met her eyes with steady light.

No more words were needed; agreement flowed like tea poured smooth.

With Ling’s nod, Alicia let her small knot of doubt go, tossing it like a pebble behind her; confidence surged, a tide climbing shore.

—As long as Ling’s here, I’m invincible!

“Alright. On behalf of Ling and myself, I agree!”

As the words fell, a strip of contract light hopped up from the table, glyphs flaring like fireflies, then blinked out, night swallowing sparks.

“Good. The contract’s signed. Its binding isn’t much for you—one twist and you could tear it apart like wet paper—but I trust you’ll honor it. Right?”

“Of course. No need to say it twice. Tell us the game.”

“The ‘game’… it has a lovely name—‘Word Chain’~”