BXBX NOVEL Chapter 572 571: Relaxation
Chapter 572 Chapter 571: Relaxation
I couldn\'t contain my smirk as I stared at Anput, my mate glaring down at the board as she scanned over the various pieces in front of her, trying to determine what she could and couldn\'t move, weighing pros and cons as best she could, only to realize...
Well, the cons outweighed the pros by four to one, and even the pros came with two cons each.
In other words...
"Fuck! I give up! This is mate in two or three more, isn\'t it?! Damnit!"
She let out a huff and crossed her arms, before watching as I slid a few pieces around, showing her how it was actually mate in one depending on some of her moves.
That only made her frown even more, the defeat in her obsidian eyes growing as she sighed and slid to the side, freeing up space for Jahi to take her place.
I slid aside as well, gesturing for Leone to face off against Jahi and chuckling as I stared at Anput, who was pouting at me, only to let out another huff as she looked away, refusing to meet my gaze.
Reaching across the table, I grinned at her as I took her hand, stroking my thumb across the back of her hand as I said "Don\'t be so down about it, Anput~! It\'s just a game, that\'s all..."
She gave me a dry gaze and huffed again, making me chuckle as I found her current actions to be amongst the most feminine I had seen out of her, the contrast from her usual actions making this so much more amusing and adorable to witness.
We both turned to watch the other two play a round of chess, less words being spoken this time as Leone slowly began to work her way towards a victory against Jahi, who made multiple valiant attempts to turn the game around as she devised new strategies and different tactics to use throughout the game, only for Leone to counter her counter instantly.
Eventually Jahi just sighed as she reluctantly pushed a piece forwards, which Leone took and happily announced "Checkmate~!" to us all, the Vampire grinning as she proudly admired the board in front of her.
Jahi frowned and gestured for me to take Leone\'s place, starting up a new game as we continued to sit out beneath the warm rays of the sun, basking in the warmth and taking in the scents of the garden as we relaxed our bodies and minds after that long week.
Even the intense games of chess that we played out after the first few did little to tire us out, all of us finding them more fun and entertaining to do then draining, even if we lost a close game; Anput slowly came around and displayed a frightening acumen for disrupting traditional strategies by doing as she pleased, thinking multiple moves ahead whilst also prioritizing the capture of any piece she could.
It was a good mental exercise that we all were more than willing to do, especially once Jahi began to add debates on top of the games, using that as a way to try and distract her opponents as she discussed whatever popped into her horned head.
Weaponry, magic, monsters, stories, sex... she had a variety of topics on hand that she wanted to go through, and it didn\'t matter who she was playing, she tried to rope them into the debate and succeeded in doing so each time, much to our annoyance.
Either way, by the time that we finished our fourteenth game and the sun was beginning to crawl towards the horizon, we dissipated the chess set and made our way back towards our room, with Anput leaving instantly after grabbing her tools and making her way towards the forge, wanting to unwind after a narrow loss to me again, while Jahi picked up a book and plopped onto the couch, finding Lakshmi crawling over to her moments later.
Scooping her sister up, Jahi let the lavender skinned Demoness rest on her stomach as she began to read, with the baby alternating her gaze between her older sister and the book in surprise, like she was thinking \'she really can read with me here?!\'
It was amusing, though I got a similar experience as I placed a notebook in front of me, jotting down some simple formulas that I could use to practice enchanting whilst also giving myself something that would sell for a higher price in the markets, though I would need to talk with Anput about that since the enchantments would be on her works.
Either way, Alessandra waddled over to me after seeing the book I placed on the table, her blue eyes widening as she saw the symbols and realized they were similar to the things she saw when I showed her magic before, so she plopped down in my lap and intensely watched what I was doing.
Leone sat beside me and snickered when she saw that, before she did the same thing and began to work through some of her own ideas, giving Alessandra two people to alternate between for her \'fix\' of magic.
Mother had been rocking in the chair beside the window, but now that we were back she yawned and slipped back into the bedroom, going to nap while she could and locking the door behind her, making the rest of us chuckle as we watched the Marquess stand in front of the door, frozen, only to turn around and roll her eyes at us.
Time began to pass slowly as we all did something for ourselves, the room quiet except for the turning of pages and scratching of pens on paper as we worked, with the Marquess\' occasional deep exhale filling the room as she dozed in a chair.
I developed a few easy enchantments to try out on some basic weaponry, scribbling them all down on a single page and pushing the book over towards Leone, who finished what she was doing and pushed hers over to me, trading with me as we began to review each others work.
Almost like school work in a way, but better since I wasn\'t being graded nor was I... well, in school.
Also, it was magic, so even better.
Either way, it was nice to just be relaxing again, living a \'slow life\' even if it was just for a day, though I knew that I would eventually go crazy if I continued to do nothing besides flutter from place to place, carried by the whims of someone else.
I was a very action oriented person, it would seem, and this lull in life currently was something that was nice due to the novelty of it, but not something I wanted.
Which was also why I was unsurprised when Jahi suggested we put the books down and go to the Training Grounds before dinner, to \'work up an appetite\'.
That very quickly turned into something else as the Marquess woke up instantly, deciding to join us and forcing the Countess to join us as well, instantly putting both Jahi and I on edge since... well, we had never seen the Countess spar besides with Lady Lorelei, so...
Yeah, who knew what this would be like?