Chapter 494 – A Wonderful Upset

The games are long. I could've lost to Cornelius like five times by now. Then there's the speed at which the announcers work through the boards. They never stop talking, constantly having some great idea or conveying a terrible problem with some board.

It's all a bit dramatic for me, and Eliyen. We agree about them being quite loud, but she can actually explain why they're wrong about their assessments. I just like complaining about them trying to make me care about more than just Cornelius's board. I'm also trying to juggle what Leena is telling me, what Eliyen is saying, and what the announcers are saying. Leena's and Eliyen's conversations are a lot more interesting.

I should just ignore the announcers and listen to Eliyen talk about Cornelius's game. I think it's too much to keep switching my attention between Leena, Eliyen, and the announcers. Thankfully, the men are nice enough to attach themselves to either Eliyen's or Leena's conversation, so I don't have four of them going on at the same time.

Leena is the most important out of all of them, and even in the short time since I've last seen her, she's been up to a lot. She's started practicing the basics of sword fighting, Eliyen has begun teaching her some of the basics of mana, even though Leena has a while before getting hers, and Irlo has infected her with a desire to run around the manor more. Eliyen has slightly different thoughts on the extra trouble that causes, but she smiles through the stories of all the hidden wonders Leena is finding, so it can't be too bad.

The announcers are starting to have some pauses in their thoughts now that a few games have finished, mostly through someone giving up. That part is crazy to me. That they both know the positions so well that they can tell when they're beat with no hope of a comeback.

Cornelius is still playing, and Leena is finally interested in the game. I don't think she's going to be following her mother's legacy in playing Hunting Grounds.

"He has a way to win," Eliyen says. "There's a small opening since she hasn't placed her traps as she should've. He's stuck for just one turn, but then he'll know he can walk freely, and he knows the assassin from earlier was an illusion due to his own assassin also being in view. As long as she doesn't realize all the information Cornelius has, he can sneak in a knife kill. But it'll take near-perfect play."

"How have they managed to keep so many pieces?" I ask. "Almost every other board is down to two pieces left for each player, yet they have three each."

"Cornelius has taken inspiration from you," Eliyen says. "He played a lot more defensively than we normally see. That has reduced the amount of combat despite how aggressive she was in the opening. This will be the biggest upset the tournament has seen in what must be a century if he pulls this one off. Oh, the Priestesses are going to be so mad that their petty shit didn't work this time. Sorry for my language, Empress Alzi. I just get so annoyed at how the men are used to give wins to women past their prime at the big tournaments. Most don't have a husband playing alongside them, so they don't care. And, admittedly, recent things have made me care more about it."

"Oh, don't worry," I chuckle. "I'm sure you know about Victoria. I've heard worse words when she tries to describe what she likes about me."

"Ah, yes, I forgot about her," Eliyen says. "Everyone was hoping she would fix her language issue. She's powerful and a workhorse. For that, we could forgive the mishaps with her etiquette. Still, the language is just too much for the lower houses to risk, and the higher house just didn't feel the need to take on a risk like her when they already have a range of powerful women who know how to behave around nobles."

"Kou is doing her best to correct her words, but I think it will be easier to convince everyone that her words are normal," I say. "Was that the right move? He's moving his princess closer to the assassin. Shouldn't he know it's there?"

"That is the right move," Eliyen says. "For the illusion before he knows the area the assassin is in. Right now, he'll be just on the edge of the assassin's range. One more move, and he'll see it and prepare to counter the assassination attempt, winning the game."

"Oh, I see," I say. "He's separating the assassin from everyone, giving him a chance for an extra piece at the end."

"Yes, either she attacks, losing the piece directly, or the assassins will be trapped, and that is enough at this point to end the game," Eliyen says. "She has to retreat the assassin in the next two turns or go for a full attack. If she plays slow, trying to circle Cornelius, then she's done."

"Haha, a man winning on the big stage," William chuckles. "About time they let one slip through. Only three have won so far outside. One is like you, Empress Alzi, a herm. It's hard to count them, but we need all the points we can get, and they have enough of our problems to include them. You know that well, Empress."

"Yes," I say. Things are easier for me when I wear a dress. But whenever I wear a suit, I just have a terrible time.

The women announcing the games are too busy calling out the constant forfeits to say a thing about Cornelius's game, probably looking for any reason not to give a man praise right now. I'm beginning to think the announcers are War's Priestesses.

"I hope he wins," Leena says. "Mommy has been forcing him to play a lot of games recently. It would be nice for all his work to pay off."

"Yes, that would be great for Cornelius," I say. "I'm sure he'd have some strong feelings if all that practice could only be used for a single game."

"So I shouldn't practice mana or swords?" Leena says.

"No, you should practice them both," I say. "It helps you build a stronger body and a better mind. I'm confident that you'll get a class, so you'll have plenty of mana to work with, and you should know how it works. I'm still terrible at feeling it when others are using mana. I wish I were better at using and understanding mana, and I want you to be better than I am at using mana and be able to use a sword for at least some self-defense. I have a limited number of Skills that I can use for defense, so it'll make me feel better when you run off."

"Fine, Father," Leena says.

"I told you the Empress would agree with me," Eliyen says. "And don't worry. I always have more lessons prepared for you if you ever want them."

"NO!" Leena shouts.

"Then you need to be a good girl," I chuckle. "But between you and me, I also hate lessons. I've had to cheat, with Goddesses giving me a lot of help for some of the basic knowledge that nobles have. They're painful, but they are good for you as well. Just make sure you have time for fun in the day. Reading and math are important skills."

"Ok," Leena says. "I'll be good."

"Oh, it happened," Eliyen says. "She didn't think he knew where the true position of the assassin was. Oh, just four moves now. He knows this ending. It should happen. This should be a known ending. He's in his own castle. He has it!"

"Known ending?" Rilitar says. "I know I could lose this. I see at least five different ways for me to lose this game. I may even just surrender."

"He needs one turn to defend against the incoming attack. Then the next to kill the assassin, and then the last two to clean up. Yes, if you don't intercept the incoming attack, you've lost, but if you do, there is no way to lose without trying to lose at this point. There. He did it! She'll attack and fail, and then surrender. Or she'd better show him that courtesy."

"She will," I say. "I just did a rather large display of power, and they should all know why I'm here and why the tournament is on my land. She would be stupid not to show him some respect."

"The attack failed, and does she give up... YES! Oh, my man won! Cornelius!" Eliyen screams, jumping to her feet. "Haha, the temple is going to be so mad! He should have a few easy games before he gets someone who should beat him. Honestly, he may be mad that he won, because now I'll have to make sure two people are studying."

"Looks like your Mommy isn't going to forget about you easily," I whisper to Leena. "It is good to see him win. He talked like it was expected of him to lose. Does he come up here, or should we go to him?"

"He will come up here, My Empress," Kou says. "There's no need to draw all the attention to yourself right now."

"Good point," I say. "It should be on them, and it lets me keep Leena on my lap."

"Ah, yes, now would be a good time. Leena, go ahead," Eliyen says.

"Um, Father, could I spend the night at your place?" Leena asks.

"Of course," I say. "I have more kids your age who you can play with now. It won't be this body, since I can't keep up, as you can guess, but my other bodies will be able to keep up. I would love to have you. But I do have to warn you, Aurora is in charge of the kids' lessons, and I don't think she is any less strict than your mother. So you may get sucked into one of the lessons for a bit."

"That's good," Eliyen says. "Maybe we can work out a schedule for you to take Leena in for longer periods of time. Would you like that, Leena? Maybe go for a week this time? It'll let me focus on Cornelius's studies, and you can have Empress Alzi and Aurora shower you in attention."

"Could we?" Leena asks.

"Happily," I say. It looks like I have multiple things to thank Cornelius for.

"Lucky little lady," William says. "Have fun spending time with the Empress."

"Thank you," Leena whispers.

"Someone's a little shy," I say. "I'm glad that it's a lucky thing to spend time with me. It's been a great time with you all. I guess I can wait until all the games are done. Right?"

"Yes, we can wait until all the games are done, My Empress," Kou says.

"It's good for you to spend time with people besides your wives. Though I am still here behind you all," Nanoka says. "Oh, it looks like Cornelius is done with all he needs to do. I'll go grab him."

After just a few seconds, Cornelius is up in the room with us, and Eliyen is hugging him as he blushes and looks around the crowd, hoping for someone to say something.

"Well done," I say. "I struggled a bit to follow everything. I think my attention was split between too many people, so I'm sorry about that. But Eliyen got us all in on the ending. Congratulations. It has been a great first tournament for me to go to."

"Thank you, Empress Alzi," Cornelius says. "She wasn't ready for the opening. Most of her mistakes stemmed from small misplays that she spent too much time trying to correct. It was a bit lucky."

"I know about luck," I say. Was that little stinker? I'll hug her, just in case. "Well, you won, and I've had a great time. Sorry, I'm not sure how many more games I'll get to see, but I'll try to see some more. Rosemary and Kelly believe I'm getting close to my due date, and Elora and Elo won't let me dump all the work on them. Part of that is also Kou."

"I just wish for you to be the Empress in more ways than just in name, My Empress," Kou says. "You've made some improvements to the plans, so you can't be too mad about me forcing you to help them."

"I'm still going to complain about it," I say. "But sit down, you two. Try to tell me something about the rest of the games. We'll see if I can't learn a bit about the endings. Or if you're tired of the game, Cornelius, we can talk about something else that you're interested in, or we can let Leena lead the conversation?"

"I'm sure some interesting things are happening in the last few games," Cornelius says. "So I might as well put in the extra work. I know Eliyen isn't going to let me give up too easily now."

"Of course not," Eliyen says. "We still have our entire family in this tournament."