The Glorious Evolution

Before leaving, Levi returned to Rusk and shared a private selection from his stock.

The Viscount was still pleased about Crowglass’s dinner invitation, though he hadn’t forgotten the scale... fortunately, a Pelican-Loop Glass Throat caught his interest.

Its intact channels suited a piece of equipment he needed for his research, and after a brief inspection, they agreed on a trade.

It wouldn’t solve the problem with his formula, but Rusk left the table with a useful treasure and access to Crowglass’s private gathering.

He exchanged contacts with Levi, who promised to send him the records first if another suitable scale entered his collection.

With their business settled, Levi and Jasmine returned to the gathering.

Crowglass’s invitation attracted people who had previously passed his table without stopping, while the trade with Drayven gave collectors another reason to approach him.

Levi welcomed the attention.

He traded a Weeping Agate Stopper to a noble whose workshops needed its pressure-release channels, arranged a future inspection of preserved beast materials, and declined another inquiry about purchasing company shares.

Whenever a conversation showed promise, he exchanged contacts and offered invitations.

Jasmine helped him keep track of the guests, quietly sending him names when someone returned with a relative or introduced him to another group.

By the time the attendants began closing the examination tables, almost everyone at the gathering knew Dark Sun, his company, Wonderland’s mysterious upcoming grand opening, and the quality of his collection.

Levi couldn’t know how many would attend his events... but they kept the tickets and saved the date.

For one evening’s work, he was more than satisfied.

An attendant found them near the garden entrance and guided them upstairs. Crowglass’s dinner would begin in two hours, leaving them time to rest in a guest room.

One guest room.

The attendant explained how to request refreshments and withdrew, leaving them beside a broad bed and a low table near the window.

Levi locked the door after her, then became a little too aware of the silence.

Jasmine solved the awkwardness by removing her veil and sitting on a floor cushion.

She loosened the ornament in her hair, placed it on the table, and sent him an invitation through the dimensional network.

A card game.

-Are you going to stand there for two hours?- she signed.

Levi removed his coat and fox mask and settled opposite her... neither was worried about their identities being exposed, since the contract they had signed for the gathering ensured their privacy was protected under Nocturn’s authority.

As for the card game’s rules? They were simple... each drew five cards from the shuffled virtual deck, and the higher total won the round.

There was little room for skill... which should have been the first warning not to accept the game.

Jasmine won the first round comfortably.

Levi dismissed it as a poor opening hand and started another. His next cards were worse, while hers improved enough to make him inspect the rules again.

They were still the same.

By the fifth defeat, he stopped checking his company messages... by the eighth, he sat forward with both elbows on the table, giving this meaningless little game the attention of a life-or-death battle.

His manhood was on the line; he couldn’t keep losing... especially not to Jasmine, who kept giggling silently with each victory.

Jasmine rested her chin on her hands and waited for him to finish studying the deck’s perfectly identical backs.

’Take your time.’

’You sound very confident for someone who hasn’t drawn yet.’

She drew her cards.

Levi lost again.

’Hooooow!!!’

Jasmine’s shoulders shook with silent laughter as she watched him crash out in silence... when he caught the movement through his Harmonic Spine, he pointed an accusing finger across the table, which only made her laugh harder.

His luck was shitty enough when something important depended on it... Apparently, it couldn’t spare him even one harmless victory in a guest room!

Then...

He demanded they switch seats... like a kid insisting on the other controller after getting his ass kicked one too many times.

Jasmine inspected the cushion under her, then obediently traded it for his.

She even patted his new seat before returning to the game, as though she were handing over some priceless treasure.

Levi accepted the mockery with what little dignity he had left.

Alas... the cushion didn’t help.

Neither did letting Jasmine choose which face-down cards went to him.

Somehow, the hand she selected for herself still beat the one she gave him... by a single point this time, which felt far more insulting than the earlier defeats.

’This can’t be real...’

He fell backward onto the carpet with a deadpan expression, feeling like some divine entity might have genuinely cursed him.

Jasmine leaned over him, her loosened hair falling beside her face as she checked on the defeated Baron. ℯℯ𝑙.

’Still alive?’

’Sadly...’

She reached for his hand and pulled him back up, then pushed his cushion into place with her foot... another round opened before he finished sitting.

The little menace wasn’t even pretending to offer mercy anymore.

Levi threatened to quit twice and requested a rematch both times... he tried drawing quickly, drawing slowly, and choosing the cards he disliked most on the assumption that his first choice would inevitably be wrong.

His luck accepted every method and produced the same result... LOSE!

-I give up...-

Levi signed with a defeated expression, but Jasmine glanced at the score before sending him a message.

’Should I put ”retired” beside your zero?’

Levi sat upright.

’Deal again.’

Lose.

’Nah... you must be manipulating reality! Thirty to zero?! I should have won by accident at least once! This is beyond illogical and defies universal laws of mathima...’

’I’m just better... accept it, Levi.’

Jasmine cut off his rant with a proud grin, then added:

’You’re doing very well at coming second, though.’

’There are only two of us...’

Levi opened his mouth, then closed it... he tried to look offended, but a laugh ruined it.

Seeing Jasmine so pleased with herself, openly teasing him without worrying about how she appeared, made another defeat feel almost worthwhile.

Almost.

She was already getting far too comfortable with that zero.

For a little while, they let themselves be childish... neither had enjoyed many carefree moments growing up, and adulthood had brought heavier burdens, people depending on them, and homes they needed to save.

Now, she was too busy teasing him over her undefeated streak, and he was too busy accusing her of cheating.

For once, they could lie on a guest room carpet and argue over a stupid card game as though they had nothing else to worry about.

’You should have brought Drayven. Maybe he could protect you from this.’

’You got jokes, huh?’

That cost her a cushion thrown at her face.

She caught it against her chest and threw it back at him... then used one hand to draw the winning cards for the next round.

By the time the attendant knocked, Levi hadn’t won once.

Jasmine took a selfie with the score on display... she flashed a victory sign while Levi lay defeated on the carpet beside her.

Before he could suggest deleting the evidence, a copy appeared on his screen.

’Already in my favorites.’

-Really?- he signed with a deep sigh.

She nodded, looking far too pleased with herself.

Levi retrieved his coat and mask while she fixed her hair and put her veil back on.

Neither rushed to answer the second, gentler knock... he still needed to inform her that their friendship was under serious review after this humiliation.

She offered him her arm anyway.

He took it, still laughing as they approached the door.

Only when his hand reached the handle did Jasmine’s smile fade. The girl who had spent two hours teasing him became an indifferent ice princess, while Levi’s laughter settled into the polite, serene smile he offered strangers.

They already wore masks... yet before stepping outside, they put on two more.

The first pair concealed their identities.

The second protected the little happiness they could still find together from a universe that had already taken too much from them...