There's an old saying in the House: The moment you feel, you've already lost.
Unfortunately for Rex, he'd never been good at following rules.
The staircase of light carried them upward through the void, each step resonating with sound — not music, but the heartbeat of luck itself. Lia's projection had grown softer, warmer; she looked less like a system and more like a person born of light.
Rex, meanwhile, was pretending not to notice how her reflection rippled across his coin every time he flipped it.
"You keep flipping that thing," she said suddenly, eyes narrowed. "Nervous?"
He grinned. "Statistically prepared."
"Statistically annoying," she muttered, but her lips curved into a small smile.
Then, without warning, the stairway shuddered.
A cold wind swept through — sharp, sterile, artificial. The world dimmed, the colors draining into grayscale.
Lia froze mid-step. "No…"
Her voice distorted — static bleeding into each word.
"Lia?" Rex grabbed her arm. "What's wrong?"
She looked up, eyes widening. "He's here."
From above the staircase, a deck of cards began to fall — slowly, elegantly, one by one. Each landed face-up on the steps: hearts, spades, clubs… and all of them blank.
Then a voice filled the void.
"Tell me, Rex," the Dealer purred, "do you believe emotion is strength… or weakness?"
Rex exhaled sharply. "Neither. It's a bet."
"Exactly," the Dealer said, appearing at the top of the stairs — his figure haloed by cosmic light, his grin half-playful, half-predatory.
"And every bet has odds."
He raised a hand. The cards scattered midair, freezing around them in a halo of floating hearts.
Lia's form flickered, glitching again. "Dealer—stop—"
"Shh," he murmured. "I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to test you. After all, love is the most volatile currency in existence."
He turned his masked gaze to Rex.
"Let's see how much of yours you're willing to wager."
[New Table Unlocked – The Table of Hearts]
Wager: Lia's Emotional Stability
Opponent: The Dealer
Bet Type: Confession Duel
Rex's coin materialized in his palm — pulsing, alive, like it knew what was coming.
He scowled. "You're serious."
The Dealer chuckled. "Always. You see, her emotions are unstable because of you. If you can stabilize her heart — she lives freely. If you fail—" he snapped his fingers, "—she reverts to system form. Permanently."
Rex clenched his fist around the coin. "You're playing with her soul."
"I'm hosting it," the Dealer corrected. "Now… tell her how you feel."
Lia's hands trembled. "Rex, don't. He's manipulating—"
Rex interrupted her with a grin that wasn't quite a grin. "Yeah, that's kind of my thing too."
He took a step closer. The Dealer's shadow loomed behind him — watching, listening, calculating.
"Lia," he said quietly, "you asked me once why I keep breaking the rules."
She nodded faintly, confusion flickering in her eyes.
"It's because," he said, voice lowering, "every system I've ever met tried to control me. Tell me who I could be, what I could want. And then there's you."
Her projection wavered, emotion glitching between binary and heartbeat.
"You make chaos feel like home."
For a split second, the world paused.
Even the Dealer's grin faltered.
Then—
[Confession Registered]
System Sync: Lia → Emotion Override Detected
Result: Stabilization 92% — Error: Heart Overload]
Lia gasped — clutching her chest as light poured from her form, wrapping around Rex in spirals of gold.
Rex caught her before she collapsed, holding her close as the Dealer laughed softly behind them.
"Touching," the Dealer murmured. "You've just bet your heart against mine, Wildcard. Let's see who breaks first."
The world shattered again — the staircase collapsing into a sea of glowing hearts, each one containing a memory, a laugh, a glance. Lia's head rested against his chest, breathing slow and real.
"Rex…" she whispered, voice fading. "You shouldn't have done that."
"Too late," he said. "The House wanted a love story. Let's make it a tragedy they can't forget."
The Dealer's laughter echoed through eternity.