Chapter 456: The Allure Of Gambling

"You really are different." She whispered.

"From the male centaurs?"

"From everyone."

Before Luca could respond, a small, indignant voice cut through the air.

"Evil Hero!"

Nella had spotted them and her face, which had been glowing with victory just moments ago, was now twisted into a formidable pout.

"Get away from here! You’re not allowed!"

"Yeah, go away!" Another little pony chimed in.

"You’re banned! BANNED!"

Small objects began pelting Luca—wadded-up paper, a stray game piece, what appeared to be a half-eaten apple. He raised his hands in surrender, backing away with a laugh.

Sigrid stared at the scene in confusion "I thought the little ones were fond of you."

"They were." Luca said ruefully. "Until I started playing the games with them."

"And?"

"And I may have...won. Consistently. Repeatedly. Without mercy." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Apparently being a grandmaster at strategy games is less impressive when your opponents are eleven-year-olds. They’ve banned me from all future tournaments."

Sigrid pressed her lips together, but a snort escaped anyway.

"Are you laughing?"

"No." She said, her shoulders shaking. "It’s just—you defeated an immortal Hero, and now you’re being chased off by children throwing apple cores."

"They’re vicious, Sigrid. You don’t understand!"

She let herself laugh, then—a real, open laugh that made several nearby centaurs do double-takes

When she finally composed herself, Luca was looking at her with an odd expression.

"What is it, Sir Luca?" She asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It’s just...you keep calling me Sir Luca all the time." He looked at her with a contemplative gaze. "At first, I understood. In your tradition, it makes sense. You’re a knight, and I’m...well, whatever I am."

He pulled her slightly closer, his arms wrapping around her more intimately.

"But we’ve become much closer, haven’t we?"

Sigrid’s face warmed and emories flashed through her mind—the nights they had spent together, the things they had done, the way he had touched her, held her, made her feel things she had never imagined possible.

"Yes." She whispered. "We have."

"So why are you still calling me Sir Luca? You’re adding ’sir’ and making it so formal almost as if I’m some superior officer. A stranger you have to respect."

He shook his head. "I don’t like it. Just call me Luca, like the rest of the villagers have started doing."

Sigrid hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers.

"What’s wrong?" Luca frowned. "Why can’t you just call me Luca?"

She looked at him with a slightly timid expression—vulnerable in a way she rarely allowed herself to be.

"Well...it’s just...I feel as if there will come a time when I’ll call you Luca. But not right now."

Luca was confused. "What time? How many years do I have to wait?"

"Oh, no, no!" She shook her head quickly. "You don’t have to wait years. It’s just...I feel like we have to get a bit closer first."

"Closer?"

"The moment I call you by your name—just your name, nothing else—it has to be at a time when we’re much closer than you can possibly imagine."

Luca stared at her.

Her shy eyes were sending him messages. Hints. Things she couldn’t say aloud.

And then he understood.

"Oh." His voice dropped to something intimate. "You mean when you finally declare just how much you love me—"

"I SHOULD GO CHECK ON THE HORSE RACING!"

Sigrid announced at full volume, already backing away.

"It isn’t right that the Commander is the only one not participating! Even Lady Poppy is playing! I should—I should join in! For morale! Yes! Morale!"

She practically galloped toward the betting podium, her face burning, Luca’s laughter trailing behind her.

But it made sense. Her whole life had been dedicated to duty. To protecting her queen. To being the strong pillar everyone relies on.

And now...

Now she’s experiencing emotions she never thought she’d fee and she didn’t know how to handle it.

—

The betting podium was chaos.

Centaurs pressed in from all sides, waving their coins and shouting over each other. At the center of it all sat Mavis, calm as the eye of a hurricane, taking bets with mechanical efficiency.

"Fifty on Juno!"

"Two hundred on Palya!"

"Three hundred on Riley!"

Mavis took each ticket, recorded each bet, handed out each receipt. She was in her element—the chaos of the gambling operation was exactly the kind of challenge she enjoyed.

Then a hesitant voice spoke up.

"Fifty golden coins on...Ellie."

Mavis answered without looking up. "Coins first, please."

The coins were placed on the counter.

Mavis took them—and then froze.

"Big sis?"

Sigrid stood in front of the pedestal, her expression caught somewhere between defiance and mortification. Luca was perched on her back like a smug gargoyle.

Mavis stared. The centaurs around her stared. Even Poppy, from her spot near the track, turned to stare.

"W-What!?" Sigrid said, her voice a touch too sharp. "Is it suddenly wrong for me to participate in a game that Sir Luca has introduced?"

"Wrong? It’s—you, Big Sis." Mavis gestured at her with the clapper. "You’re literally the strictest person in this village. You made Maya walk a lap of the training ground last year for putting a cup down on a training mat."

"And now...here you are gambling." She looked almost awed.

The centaurs nearby whispered:

"...Gods. The Commander."

"On her own, as well. She put her own coins down!"

"I think the world might end today. I feel it. I feel it in my bones!"

"Oh, shut up, you lot!" Sigrid snapped, her blush deepening. "Just give me the ticket."

Mavis’s shock melted into a grin that was altogether too similar to Luca’s.

"You know what this means, don’t you? The plan worked. The Dummy Hero and I have officially corrupted everyone. Everyone!"

"You haven’t corrupted me. I’m simply...curious. About the experience. From an academic standpoint."

"Of course, Big Sis. Fifty on Ellie, was it?"

"Just—just give me the ticket."

Mavis slid the betting slip across the podium, her smirk undiminished.

"Enjoy the game, Big Sis."

Sigrid snatched the ticket and retreated to the fence line with as much dignity as she could muster, which was not very much at all.

Around her, centaurs cheered for their chosen racers. Even Poppy was there, perched on Thea’s back, shouting encouragement—and threats.

"If you don’t win, I’ll personally come over and poke your bottom with my horn! You better go faster!"

"I really don’t understand the appeal of this whole thing." She muttered to Luca as the next racers took their positions. "I’ve watched centaurs race hundreds of times. It’s never made me feel..."

She gestured vaguely at the shouting crowd around her.

"That’s because before, there were no stakes." Luca said, his chin propped on her shoulder. "When it’s just running for running’s sake, it’s exercise. But when you’ve got something on the line—when you might actually win something—it hits different. It hits right here." He tapped her chest, just over her heart. "You’ll see."

Sigrid huffed. "As if. I won’t be tempted by such small things."

Luca was about to argue—

"On your mark!"

Mavis’s voice cut through the air.

"Get set!"

The racers braced themselves.

"GO!"

The clapper snapped shut, and the centaurs exploded forward.

The crowd erupted.

"GO, GO, GO!"

"DON’T LET ME DOWN!"

"I BET EVERYTHING ON YOU!"

Luca encouraged Sigrid to join in. "Come on. Cheer for your racer."

But Sigrid denied him. "I won’t engage in such barbaric activities."

She stood apart, holding herself above the chaos, maintaining her dignity as a model student of the knightly code.

’Even if the entire village is swept up in this, she thought. ’.I must remain the anchor. I must keep the honor of my ancestors.’

But then she noticed something.

"Wait—Sir—Luca—look!" Her voice rose slightly. "My—my centaur—I mean, Ellie—she’s taking the lead!"

It was true. Ellie was surging ahead of the pack!

"Look!" Sigrid’s voice grew higher. "Look! She’s going forward!"

But Luca shook his head. "I don’t know about that. Rivaldi is close behind."

Sigrid felt something strange in that moment. Tension.

She had never felt this way before. Not about a race. Not about anything like this. But now...

The two racers fought for first position. Back and forth. Back and forth.

And Sigrid, unconsciously, began to whisper.

"Go, Ellie...Go. You can do it....Don’t let her win."

Her whispers grew louder.

"Go, Ellie! Go! You can do it! Bring honor to the Galloping Brigade!"

"Rivaldi is also part of the Galloping Brigade." Luca pointed out.

"I don’t care! GO, ELLIE! GO!"

Ellie and Rivaldi were neck and neck, trading the lead with every stride. The finish line was approaching. Sigrid’s voice grew louder.

"Go, Ellie! You can do it! Don’t let her—go!"

The two racers hit the final stretch. Ellie surged. Rivaldi countered. They were inches apart, then centimeters, then...

Whoosh!

....they crossed so close that no one could separate them!

In that moment, every eye swung to Mavis, who had climbed on top of a crate to see.

Mavis raised the flag.

"Winner..." She said, grinning. "...is Ellie!"

"YESSSSS!"

Sigrid’s voice cracked the air.

"YES! I DID IT! I ACTUALLY—I placed it, I placed the right—I won, I WON!"

She turned to Luca, her face alight with excitement.

"Did you see that, Sir Luca? Did you see? I actually managed to win! And it was only my first time! The others were actually struggling so much, but I actually won big the first ti—"

Something made her stop.

The noise around her had gone strange.

She looked around and was horrified to see that every centaur within thirty feet was staring at her.

Riley’s friends, with tickets in their hooves and their mouths open. Poppy, frozen on Thea’s back. Thea herself, betraying absolutely nothing. Mavis, on her crate, mid-grin.

And every single one of them looking as if they’d seen a military betrayal.

"What!? It’s—I was trying to imitate you all!" Sigrid’s voice went stiff and her color went scarlet. "I merely thought that for the sake of the game I should—it would have been inappropriate for the Commander not to—everyone was doing it, I was only disguised—"

She cleared her throat.

"Mavis, get the game going. Hand out everyone’s winnings. And everyone—stop looking at me! Commander’s orders!"

The crowd slowly returned to normal, though everyone kept glancing at her.

"Is that really the commander?"

"She’s been persuaded too?"

"Just how powerful is the Hero’s corruption?"

Sigrid, meanwhile, was frantically speaking to Luca.

"That was just an accident! I didn’t mean to do that at all!"

But Luca simply smiled.

"Go ahead and collect your winnings, Commander."

She sighed at her display and went to collect her winnings with as much dignity as she could scrape together, which by this point was a very small pile indeed.

Mavis counted out her coins which were over hundred and fifty of them and pushed the pouch across the table with a grin.

"Here you go, Big Sis! Seems like you’ve got quite a bit of luck today."

"It’s no big deal." Sigrid said stiffly.

But when she felt the weight of the pouch in her hands and she actually saw all those golden coins winking up at her, something stirred in her chest. Something that felt suspiciously like excitement.

She squashed it ruthlessly.

"I suppose..."

She said, her eyes already drifting to the board where the next racers were being assigned.

"I could place one more bet."

She glanced at the board and made a decision.

She put all her coins on a single centaur—one different from the rest.

Mavis blinked. "Is that really what you want to do, Big Sis? You have so much. You should spread it out. If you lose—"

"That’s exactly the point." Sigrid smiled. "If I lose, I can go back to my duties with a clear conscience. This is my way of ending it quickly. I’ve indulged enough."

Mavis didn’t feel like it was right but she took the coins and wrote her name.

The next race began.

And the centaur Sigrid bet on...

Won!