Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Although Piltover's climate had always been pleasant, now that the season had reached this point, a slight chill had begun to appear in the air.
But there was no denying it. It was once again a perfect season for a big simmering fondue-style meal.
So two days ago, Luke had already started having people make a special set of utensils for that kind of meal, and he had not been idle either. He had begun mixing sauces, dips, and soup bases.
At this moment, he was leisurely leaning back in a chair inside the shop. The rocking chair swayed back and forth as he occasionally took a sip of a low-alcohol cocktail. His whole person gave off a sense of having no worldly concerns, as if the noise elsewhere in the shop had nothing to do with him.
At a nearby table, an intense three-versus-three Monopoly competition was underway.
The players on each side were, on the blue team: Lux, Caitlyn, and Annie.
On the red team: Jinx, Poppy, and Orianna.
The referees were Quinn and Navis together.
The losing side would have to accept three different punishments at the same time.
The punishment this time was that the person in last place had to drink a cup of special "beverage." It had all kinds of strange ingredients added to it, guaranteed to send someone straight to heaven with a single sip.
The second punishment was that every member of the winning side got to flick them on the forehead once.
The third punishment was to eat an entire lemon without changing expression.
In short, with these three punishments lined up, no one wanted to lose. Everyone racked their brains, desperately trying to win.
As time passed, the contest also reached its critical moment.
Right now, Lux was about to throw the sacred roll. As the richest tycoon in the entire game, as long as she rolled three or below, she could win the game.
However, her opponents were not weak either. If she rolled above three, the three on the other side would immediately have room for a comeback.
So when Lux picked up the die, all six people at the table could not help growing nervous at that moment.
The shop also went quiet. No one knew who swallowed with a gulp.
Lux suddenly closed her eyes devoutly and held the die in her palm. "Come on, lucky dice, don't fail me now. It has to be three or below!"
"Above three, above three, above three..."
Jinx stared at her hand, muttering nonstop as if possessed.
The tension instantly rose. The next second, Lux placed her hand over the Monopoly board and tossed the die forward.
The die immediately left her hand and rolled under the gaze of many pairs of eyes.
Finally, as the die slowly came to a stop, the number on top settled at "2."
"We won!"
"No!"
At the same time, a cheer and a wail rang out.
One person was so happy she nearly jumped, while the other held her head in disbelief.
Likewise, Caitlyn and Annie also excitedly clapped hands.
But as Jinx's teammates, Poppy and Orianna both looked utterly miserable.
At this moment, the difference between human joys and sorrows was displayed to the fullest.
"Damn it."
Jinx glanced at the colorful drink already mixed on the table and instantly shuddered.
She stood up. "I just remembered I still have something to do, so I'll be going first."
As soon as she finished speaking, she prepared to slip away while the three on the opposite side were still immersed in the joy of victory.
Lux noticed her instantly. "She's trying to cheat! Stop her!"
The moment those words fell, Jinx turned and ran.
"Annie, you take the left! Caitlyn, you take the right!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Mm-hmm!"
As the three of them chased in an orderly manner, they immediately blocked Jinx, who had been preparing to flee, from three directions, staring at her with unfriendly gazes.
Seeing that she was surrounded, Jinx immediately chose the direction of Annie, who looked the easiest to bully, and shot forward with a sudden burst of speed.
Then she leapt high, bouncing right through the shop and jumping over Annie's head.
If she drank that secret concoction, she would definitely die!
With cola as the base, she had watched with her own eyes as Lux added soy sauce, salt, cocktail, squid ink, wasabi... and all kinds of other complicated ingredients.
At this moment, Jinx's will to survive had already reached its peak.
She would rather die than drink that thing!
"Don't even think about running!"
Lux raised her hand, and a staff suddenly appeared in it. As she waved the staff, light burst out in all directions and swept toward Jinx at an extremely fast speed, landing on her in an instant.
The next second, a barrier of light trapped her entirely inside.
Jinx slammed headfirst into the barrier, then angrily knocked on it. "Using magic is way too dirty!"
"Who told you to try cheating?" Lux gave a little snort, put away the staff, and said with perfect confidence, "Besides, magic is one of my abilities too. Why can't I use it?"
At this moment, Luke heard the commotion, glanced over, then looked away again.
Over the past few days, these two had been causing no small amount of trouble. The only one Jinx refused to accept losing to was the little blondie, but the fights between the two of them always somehow ended with the Crownguard having her under control.
Though this did indeed count as a bad matchup. After all, Lux knew both magic and hand-to-hand combat, so she really was not easy to deal with.
"Let me out. I'll drink it!"
Seeing that she could not escape, Jinx unwillingly accepted her fate.
"No. You have to drink it in there, then I'll let you out."
Lux personally carried the "drink" over and delivered it to Jinx.
Looking at the steaming secret beverage in her hand, Jinx shuddered again. But this girl was decisive when she acted.
All of a sudden, she summoned her courage, raised the cup, tilted her head back, and downed it in one gulp.
After finishing it, her face instantly turned blue-green, and she looked like she wanted to die.
Seeing her like this, her two teammates' faces also turned a little pale.
Only after seeing her finish did Lux finally release the restraint in satisfaction. Then she raised a hand and flicked Jinx on the forehead. "Don't forget, you still have a lemon to eat."
Jinx had finished drinking, but her teammates Poppy and Orianna could not escape either.
Lux used the same recipe and mixed one cup each for the two of them.
After that came the forehead flicks and the punishment of eating lemons without changing expression.
By the time this whole process was over, all three of them lay on the sofa with blank expressions and pale faces, looking as if they had already passed on for a while. They were so weak that there was no way they would be getting up again anytime soon.
To offer the losers a small bit of comfort, Sona began playing the Etwahl, and light, graceful music flowed out.
Only then did the color in the three girls' faces ease somewhat. They went from lying flat and giving off white smoke to half-dead.
Since they had lost their ability to fight, the Monopoly competition naturally could not continue, so Lux and the other two temporarily rested as well.
For a time, the only sound in the hall was Sona's playing, bringing a brief moment of peace.
Luke's cocktail was finished, so Yurna poured him another glass.
These past few days, one batch of the wine he had brewed was already drinkable, and in a few more days, an even larger batch would be ready. It was just that Luke currently lacked a few drinking buddies. Fiora was not here.
As for the girls around him, they all seemed to prefer soda and other drinks.
However, wine was the kind of thing that felt one way when drinking alone and another way when drinking with many people. There was no need to demand too much.
Listening to Sona's performance while slowly tasting wine was indeed quite an enjoyable experience.
At this moment, by the entrance of the shop, a head quietly popped out. Listening to the music inside, she became utterly entranced for a time.
Seraphine's mood at this moment was filled with joy. Her eyes looked at Sona playing inside the shop, and she felt even her breathing quicken slightly.
"I really ran into her..."
"She really plays so beautifully."
These two thoughts flashed through her mind. Her whole body seemed to bathe in the melody, and her sense of happiness multiplied.
These days, she had gathered her courage and gone out more often, but unfortunately, she had not encountered Sona's playing again.
Just now, however, when she passed by this street, she suddenly heard that familiar feeling.
And so, Seraphine carefully and secretly clung to the doorway, listening to the music with great focus.
When the song ended, she could not help wanting to offer applause, but fortunately, she held herself back.
Inside the shop, the lively chattering started up again.
She secretly glanced at Sona, and in her heart, she had the impulse to rush over and ask for an autograph. At the very least, even just greeting her would be nice, right?
However, the moment that thought emerged, she immediately shook her head.
No, no. Wouldn't that seem too rude?
After all, Sona did not even know who she was, and there were so many people there too.
From what her parents had said, Sona came from a great noble house in Demacia, so the person over there should be Demacia's prince.
A major figure of that level made Seraphine even more timid just thinking about it.
She should leave for now... Being able to hear one performance today was already very lucky.
Maybe she could come by now and then in the future to secretly listen?
What if she was discovered?
Would she be treated as an assassin?
And what if doing this caused Sona to misunderstand and dislike her?
But it really sounded so good. When Seraphine thought about leaving and not knowing when she would next hear this kind of performance, her legs felt a little unable to move.
While Seraphine was lost in all kinds of wild thoughts, she had no idea that the people inside the shop had already discovered her.
When she blinked, she saw a blue-haired head pop out, grinning. "Hello there."
"Ah!"
Seraphine was startled on the spot and took a frightened step back, speaking incoherently. "I-I-I'm sorry, I, I, I went to the wrong place..."
Feeling extremely guilty, she turned around and tried to flee the scene, but it was already too late.
Without the slightest effort, Jinx dragged Seraphine into the shop.
Everyone gathered around and sized her up.
The girl before them had long, beautiful pink hair. On her standard oval face, her features were especially delicate. She had no makeup on, but she was already very pretty.
Her large eyes were quite bright, shining with a clear blue luster. It was just that her gaze seemed somewhat timid, and she lowered her head, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.
At this moment, faced with a pink-haired girl who had appeared suspiciously at the entrance of Luke's shop and had even been peeking inside, Jinx immediately began judging her with a serious expression.
"Talk! Who sent you? What are they after?"
Looking at Jinx, who was staring at her with a stern face, and the pairs of eyes around her...
At this moment, Seraphine was like a frightened deer. She sat uneasily on the chair, her gaze with nowhere to rest, darting left and right. She was so nervous she could barely speak.
"I, I..."
She felt as though she were some unforgivable criminal right now.
At this moment, Luke walked over and showed a gentle smile. He placed a glass of cola on the table beside her. "Don't be nervous. Have a drink first and then talk. We're not bad people."
Seraphine knew that the other party was a prince, so she did not dare refuse at all. She reached out with a small, slightly trembling hand, picked up the cola on the table, and took a tiny sip.
As the dense bubbles hit her mouth, accompanied by a sweet-and-sour taste, she unexpectedly found that it was quite tasty.
Luke smiled even more gently. "One hundred gold per glass. Thank you for your patronage."
In an instant, Seraphine nearly sprayed the cola in her mouth out. She forced herself to swallow it, then felt through her pockets and pitifully took out a few silver pieces. "I-I don't have that much money on me..."
Jinx laughed coldly twice and looked her up and down. "No money... Then use something on you to repay it."
Seraphine's heart instantly leapt into her throat, and her face turned several shades paler.
As expected, she had wandered into a place she should never have come to.
Sob. The outside world was too scary.
She wanted to go home.
"That's enough, you two. Stop scaring her."
Lux could not keep watching. She stepped forward and offered a friendly smile. "Don't be afraid. We really aren't bad people. Don't be nervous either. For now, we won't cut out your organs and sell them."
As soon as those words fell, Seraphine fell straight into despair.
She had finally seen a girl who looked very gentle step forward, but the words she said were even scarier.
What did "for now" mean?
Were they really going to cut out her organs?
Seraphine felt like her organs had already changed owners.
"I, I..."
In an instant, tears could not help welling in her weak eyes. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Her pitiful little face, paired with crystalline tears, looked so fragile that it made one's heart ache.
Seeing that she was about to cry from panic, Lux truly stopped teasing her this time and handed over a handkerchief. "Sorry. Don't take what we said seriously. My name is Lux. What's yours?"
Seraphine took the handkerchief and said through her tears, "Seraphine."
"That's a very pretty name. Are you from Piltover?"
"Mm..."
"What were you doing outside just now? Why didn't you come in?"
"I..."
At this moment, Seraphine had still not recovered. After all, according to her parents, the people in front of her were all major figures she could not afford to offend.
Naturally, she felt afraid right now.
After preparing her emotions for a moment, she lowered her head, still not daring to look at everyone, and spoke softly. "I was drawn here by Miss Sona's music. A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to attend that concert and hear Miss Sona's performance."
Lux understood. "So that's how it is. Then it isn't strange. Sona's performance is world-class."
"That's right! Miss Sona's music can be called the best in the world!"
When praising Sona's performance, Seraphine suddenly raised her head, looking excited as if she had found her energy.
Only after getting a little excited did she quickly lower her head again, even her sitting posture cautious and careful.
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