Priscilla was an extraordinary woman known as the "Bloody Bride." Any man who married her would die within a year. In modern society she would inevitably be branded as a bringer of misfortune to her husbands—though the title "Bloody Bride" itself was hardly any kinder. She, however, paid little mind to such things.
What she took pride in was not merely her impressive figure, but also her extraordinary "good fortune." Possessing the Divine Protection of the Sun, she received various enhancements to her actions during the daytime. Just as she claimed, the world would "consider her interests," avoiding outcomes unfavorable to her. At the same time, she possessed a talent for Yang-attribute magic, and when combined with her blessing, this granted her formidable combat strength—far from as fragile as her appearance suggested.
In truth, Lillian had been wondering how far her "good fortune" could extend. He knew that after her fiancé's death, Priscilla had inherited his wealth and territory. Yet within less than a month of her governance, the people of that territory had come to adore her deeply. That suggested her good fortune might influence others as well. For instance, if she wished, "My people must live happily so that I too will be happy," perhaps her luck would passively benefit them.
If that were truly the case—if she could influence an entire nation—then placing her upon the throne might not be such a bad idea. Still, Lillian felt that was too absurd. No matter how powerful her luck, it should have limits.
However, one thing was certain: the coin spinning through the air at this very moment was unquestionably influenced by her good fortune.
Priscilla did not even bother looking at the coin. With absolute confidence, she watched Lillian. Beside her, her knight Al shook his head and sighed, feeling pity for Lillian. Clearly he had once suffered under Priscilla's overwhelming luck himself, and seeing a fellow countryman experience it again stirred complicated emotions.
Bzz—
The coin spun and landed on the ground. With his sharp dynamic vision, Lillian could see that the reverse side—the one he had chosen—should have landed face up. Yet at the moment it touched the ground, the coin bounced lightly, flipping over with perfect naturalness. The side engraved with the Divine Dragon slowly rotated into view and was about to settle.
"Hmph, I have—"
Before Priscilla could finish speaking, a sudden crack rang out. A shocking scene unfolded before her eyes: several fissures abruptly appeared in the ground. The cracks encircled the coin, causing it to slide down instantly and become wedged between the broken earth at roughly a forty-five-degree angle.
The source of the cracks was beneath Lillian's feet—he had split the ground with his step.
So his guess had been correct.
The tension in Lillian's muscles finally relaxed slightly. Concentrating all his strength into his foot had required considerable effort, but more importantly, he had understood how Priscilla's "good fortune" operated.
"You…" Priscilla stared at Lillian in disbelief, astonished by his tremendous strength. The next moment her brows knit together as she asked, "Are you trying to cheat? Hmph—even so, the world still favors me. Your side was not shown. We are tied."
"No." Lillian looked at the coin lodged within the crack he had created.
"I won."
"What did you say?"
Priscilla's doubtful expression did not make him retract his claim. He continued, "Our earlier agreement was that if the front side appeared, you would win—"
"That's right! If it's heads, I win; if it's tails, you win!" Priscilla declared.
Lillian shook his head.
"No. I never said that."
His gaze was sharp as he looked at her.
"What I said was, 'How about you take the side with the Divine Dragon engraved on it—the front?' Your response was, 'Very well.' As for your statement, 'Then you take the reverse,' I never gave explicit confirmation. In other words, under these circumstances, any result other than the front counts as my victory—including the coin becoming stuck in a crack."
Priscilla froze upon hearing this, then carefully recalled their earlier exchange. It did indeed seem to have occurred exactly as he described. She turned suspiciously toward Al, who nodded.
"That is indeed what was said."
"Whose side are you on?!" Priscilla scolded him, then strode forward angrily and glared straight into Lillian's eyes.
"This doesn't count! Such wordplay cannot be accepted!"
"…."
"Damn it… why…" A puzzled light flickered in her pupils as she bit her lower lip lightly.
"Even so, it should have been…"
"It should still have been the front," Lillian finished for her.
"That's right. Even if I resorted to wordplay, someone with your 'good fortune' should have had the crack I created tilt just enough so the coin would not get stuck."
Priscilla's expression changed. "You know about my good fortune?"
Lillian nodded.
"…." She hesitated, clearly conflicted, but could not resist asking, "Then even knowing this, you still agreed to the wager… and ultimately obtained a 'cheated victory.' Do you possess some divine protection that interferes with my good fortune?"
"No," Lillian said.
"In that case—if you acknowledge that you lost, I will tell you the reason."
"…"
Priscilla ground her teeth as she stared at Lillian. She wanted to know the answer, yet at the same time refused to admit defeat over a mere play on words. For a moment, her gaze was fierce and intimidating.
Seeing this, Lillian sighed.
"You're right—it was indeed a word game. How about this: let's call it a draw. Then I'll exchange the reason for your instruction in magic. How does that sound?"
"Hmph. Resorting only to such petty tricks—clearly I was the one who won." She folded her arms across her chest, though she still accepted the way out Lillian had offered. "Go ahead and speak. Teaching a bit of magic is no trouble."
Hearing her say this, Lillian was satisfied. His original purpose had always been to learn magic, not to win some meaningless coin-toss game. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, he naturally intended to seize it.
"In truth, part of your 'good fortune' is connected to your own self-awareness. First, you need to understand that."
"My self-awareness?"
"That's right." Lillian thought for a moment before continuing, "Take our coin toss as an example. You wanted to win, so your good fortune made you win. But what if you didn't intend to win? Would you still win one hundred percent of the time?"
When he had watched the anime before, Lillian had already formed this hypothesis. Although Priscilla had very few appearances—so few they were almost negligible—he had paid close attention to her. The reason was simple: her ability was fascinating.
In his view, an ability like overwhelming good fortune must have limits. If it did not, then all Priscilla would need to think was, "This world displeases me," and the world would be destroyed. Was that possible? Wouldn't that make her power even more terrifying than the Witch of Envy? The latter had exhausted herself merely to swallow half a continent—yet Priscilla could end the world with a single thought?
Clearly, that was impossible. To Lillian, her good fortune functioned more like an active ability. If it had any passive aspect, it would likely activate only when her life was in danger—for instance, if someone attempted to assassinate her. Even if she was not consciously aware of the threat, her good fortune would allow her to avoid it.
But in trivial matters like guessing a coin toss, perhaps her good fortune would only activate when Priscilla consciously held the thought, "I want to win."
"Because you were thinking 'I want to win,' the coin that should have landed tails-up suddenly bounced," Lillian explained. "Then, at the moment you saw the coin bounce and fall again, you saw the Divine Dragon engraved on the front. At that instant, what you thought was no longer 'I want to win,' but rather 'I've already won.' The moment that thought arose, the effect of your good fortune had already ended."
"W-Why…" Priscilla seemed somewhat dizzy from his explanation.
"Because the event had concluded. The event tied to your good fortune was 'making the coin land front side up.' But once you believed you had already won, that event was over. After that, when I used force to shatter the ground and create a crack to trap the coin, it was no longer affected by your good fortune. That previous effect would not apply to a new and independent event."
After he finished speaking, both Priscilla and Al fell silent. After a while, she looked at him thoughtfully and asked in a low voice:
"So, if at that instant I had once again thought, 'I want the front side,' my good fortune would have taken effect again?"
"Perhaps. But unfortunately, that moment was too brief—you didn't have time to react."
At the time, Lillian had deliberately exerted himself with all his strength to prevent her from responding, and the result proved successful. His hypothesis was likely correct: in trivial matters unrelated to life and death, Priscilla's good fortune did not act proactively. In fact, one could say that the event of the coin becoming stuck in the crack had nothing to do with her—it was completely separate from her.
It was like someone walking down the road while a passerby beside them suddenly got punched. The two events were entirely unrelated; naturally, her good fortune would have no reason to intervene.
"You… are far too cunning."
Priscilla no longer displayed her usual confident and proud expression. Instead, she looked at Lillian with suspicion and wariness.
"I've already told you the reason. You should fulfill your promise now."
"My promise? Oh, you mean the matter of teaching magic." Priscilla raised the red feather fan in her hand and hid her face behind it, smiling slyly. "Although I did say I would teach you, I never said when. Come back to me in ten years."
"…"
"Hmph, you've now tasted what it feels like to be toyed with through wordplay yourself, haven't you?" Seeing Lillian's expression, Priscilla's mood improved considerably. The corners of her lips lifted as she turned away.
"However, I always keep my word. Al, give him the address. He may come to my residence tomorrow."
With that, she elegantly lifted her luxurious gown and boarded her dragon carriage. The pink-haired youth driving the carriage smiled at Lillian, said "Goodbye," and urged the ground dragon forward.
After the carriage departed, Al gave Lillian a thumbs-up.
"Brother, well done. You've avenged the me of years past—haha."
"…"
"I'll give you the address. Oh, and remember to come after ten in the morning tomorrow. If you arrive too early, you'll just be waiting… certain people are quite skilled at sleeping in."
"Understood."