Chapter 170: A Game of Chess

The tiny white Mage raised its glowing staff and unleashed a pulse of light, obliterating Kaelus’s obsidian Knight into a puff of magical smoke.

"Oh, look," Seraphina chirped happily, clapping her hands. "My wizard squished your horsey. Does that mean your Emperor is trapped?"

Kaelus stared at the board.

He looked at his Emperor.

The golden king-piece was cowering in the corner on H8, completely blocked in by its own remaining pawns, staring down the barrel of Seraphina’s Rook and Queen.

It was a forced mate in two moves. There was no mathematical sequence of events that could save him.

The Archduke of the North, the man who had commanded the defense of the Glacial Abyss against a million demons, had just been checkmated in twenty-two moves by a child who couldn’t reach the top shelf of the pantry.

Kaelus slowly sat back in his leather chair. He let out a long, shuddering, ragged breath. He looked at the ceiling of the carriage.

’I am destroyed,’ Kaelus’s mind whispered, a sensation of shock washing over him. ’I have been playing chess since I was four years old. I was tutored by the Grandmasters of the Imperial Spire. And I have just been ruthlessly butchered by a girl who thought the objective was to "squish the horsey."’

But the shock did not last.

It was instantly consumed by a soaring, unhinged, roaring inferno of absolute, maniacal fatherly pride.

Kaelus’s violet eyes snapped back down to Seraphina. They were glowing with a terrifying intensity that practically illuminated the carriage.

A slow, wicked, incredibly dark and beautiful smile spread across his pale face.

"You," Kaelus breathed, his voice vibrating with awe, leaning forward to stare at her as if she were the most magnificent, terrifying creature in the universe. "You are an absolute little monster."

Seraphina blinked, puffing her cheeks out indignantly. "I am not a monster! I am a Sovereign! You said so yourself! You just played badly, Papa. You left your wizard alone in the corner."

Kaelus let out a sharp, genuine bark of laughter.

He threw his head back, laughing so hard his broad shoulders shook, the sound echoing richly in the insulated cabin.

He swept his hand across the board, resetting the pieces to their starting positions. The magic hummed, reforming the slaughtered armies back into pristine condition.

"You are right, my little Sovereign," Kaelus grinned, his competitive spirit roaring to life, fueled by the exhilarating joy of facing a worthy opponent. "I played badly. I underestimated my enemy. I allowed sentiment to cloud my tactical judgment. That will not happen again."

He leaned over the board, his aura flaring with cold, absolute focus.

"No more practice rounds, Seraphina," Kaelus declared, his voice dropping into the lethal, commanding tone of the Reaper preparing for war. "We play for blood. You have awakened the Leviathan. I will not hold back a single fraction of my intellect. Defend your Emperor."

Seraphina sat up straight. The bored, cute toddler facade vanished instantly.

Her dark eyes narrowed into competitive slits. The cynical, chess-obsessed soul within her roared to the forefront, matching his intense, bloodthirsty energy.

She had been holding back too. She had been playing gently to not completely crush his ego on the first try.

But if the warlord wanted a bloodbath?

She would give him a massacre.

"Bring it on, Papa hedgehog!" Seraphina sequeled, an excited expression that mirrored his own.

She reached out and moved her King’s pawn to E4.

The true war began.

.

.

.

For the next four hours, the interior of the carriage ceased to be a mode of transportation. It became a sensory-deprivation chamber dedicated entirely to the highest-tier execution of cognitive warfare.

The silence inside the cabin was thicker than concrete.

The only sounds were the soft, magical clicks of the pieces moving across the marble and obsidian board, the occasional, microscopic puffs of smoke from the captured pieces, and the heavy breathing of a severely stressed Archduke.

Outside the carriage, the Vanguard of the North was growing increasingly, terribly concerned.

Sir Lucas, riding alongside the carriage window, had noticed the absolute silence.

Usually, there were giggles, the sound of paper rustling, or the Duke’s deep voice offering a lecture on Imperial history.

Today, there was nothing.

Lucas guided his warhorse closer to the window, subtly pulling the velvet curtain back a fraction of an inch to peer inside.

He expected to see the Lady asleep.

Instead, he saw a scene that short-circuited his assassin-trained brain.

He saw Duke Kaelus von Nacht, sweating profusely, his cravat discarded, staring at a chessboard with an expression of such desperation that he looked like a man trying to defuse a bomb with his teeth.

And sitting across from him, sipping a cup of milk with her pinky extended, was Seraphina, looking utterly cool, collected, and a little smug.

Lucas blinked. He rubbed his scarred eyes, assuming he was hallucinating from the sun. He looked again.

Kaelus moved a piece. Seraphina immediately countered, her hand a blur of motion. Kaelus winced, physically flinching as a tiny obsidian Rook was smashed by a white Knight.

"Gallahan!" Lucas hissed, pulling his horse back, waving frantically at his pristine comrade. "Gallahan, get over here immediately!"

Sir Gallahan trotted his white destrier over, looking alarmed. "What is it, Commander? Assassins? A spatial breach?"

"Worse," Lucas whispered, his voice trembling with shock. "The Lady is currently dismantling His Grace in Imperial Chess. It’s a massacre. The Duke is actively sweating."

"Preposterous!" Gallahan gasped, his golden eyes wide. "His Grace is a recognized Grandmaster! He defeated the Imperial Spire’s chief tactician in fourteen moves last year! The Lady is only six years old! She cannot possibly possess the cognitive development necessary to—"

Gallahan pulled his horse to the window, peering through the gap in the curtains.

He watched for exactly thirty seconds. He watched Seraphina execute a flawless and complex discovered attack that simultaneously threatened Kaelus’s Queen and trapped his remaining Bishop.

Gallahan pulled his head back, his face completely pale, his pristine jaw dropping open.