Chapter 53

* * *

Do you know the genius gambler who lives in a remote village in southern Zenon?

The god of poker!

The master of psychological warfare!

His name is...

‘Uncle Joe!’

I, Lilith Rubinstein, am his protégé, having learned various card games, including poker, from him.

Finally, the time has come to show off my skills that even Uncle Joe was amazed by!

I quickly taught my father the rules of poker and devised a plan before entering the casino.

The casino was filled with smoke from the cigarettes the people at each table were puffing.

Of course, I could only see a bit blurry due to the magic my father cast on me.

“Do you know what that man looks like?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen his portrait.”

My father, who was carrying me, said, “He’s over there,” and strode forward.

I could see five men in the middle of a poker game.

“Excuse me.”

When my father tapped the table, all the men looked at us.

“Are you Baron Joseph Ruttman?”

As I asked, the other men’s gazes all turned to one person.

It was Joseph.

‘Oh, he really does look like a loser.’

Dark circles under his eyes.

Hollow, lifeless eyes.

Sunken cheeks.

Yet, he exuded a strangely sharp aura, making his presence more than just an extra.

“Yeah, I’m Joseph Ruttman. What do you want?”

“Can you spare some time? I want to talk to you.”

Joseph chuckled. He took the cigarette from his mouth, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and gestured to the others.

“Put out your cigarettes.”

His gloomy gaze swept over me for a moment.

I knew he had put out his cigarette because of me.

“Who sent you?”

“Let’s move to another spot.”

“There’s no need. I’ve been brought here by nobles before.”

“...”

“Even if you’re doing this for money, you should choose your time and place. Bringing a child here is just ridiculous.”

Joseph waved his hand.

“Don’t waste your time. I’m not leaving here.”

“I want to talk to you.”

When my father insisted, Joseph glared at him.

The atmosphere was tense.

Joseph and my father stared at each other.

As if reading my father’s unusual gaze, Joseph leaned back with a smile.

“If you insist, wait. I’ll talk to you after the game is over and I leave the casino.”

“When will it end?”

“That’s a question only someone who’s never been here would ask.”

Joseph pulled out a heavy bundle from under his chair and placed it on the table.

“You only stop playing when you’ve lost all your money.”

The other men chuckled.

A pro like Joseph wouldn’t lose that much money easily. It meant he had no intention of talking.

‘Yeah, I thought of all this.’

I poked my father’s shoulder.

He pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Then I’ll play a game with you.”

* * *

Joseph glanced at the child with a gloomy look.

The child, who looked about five or six, was smiling happily in his father’s arms.

‘Ella...’

The name of his daughter, whom he hadn’t called for a long time, lingered on his lips.

His daughter, Ella, was around the same age as this child.

If she were alive, she would be eight now.

“I’ve memorized everything.”

The naive man, who introduced himself as James, said he was a beginner at card games.

After learning the rules from the dealer for 20 minutes, he finally received his cards with a nervous expression.

‘What an idiot.’

Another greedy noble must have hired him to bring Joseph here with a few coins.

‘They must have brought the child to play on my sympathy, knowing my reputation.’

Joseph, who had lost his wife and daughter, thought they wanted to soften his heart by showing him a child.

If so, wasn’t it even more despicable?

“Cough, cough.”

The child kept coughing, irritated by the cigarette smoke.

“Raise. 50,000 more.”

Joseph irritably called out and increased the bet.

He needed to quickly take all the man’s money and get the child out of this harmful place.

“Fold.”

“...Fold.”

“Call?”

“Fold!”

As the game progressed, Joseph’s forehead began to twitch.

Indeed, a beginner is a beginner.

He didn’t know how to bet at all.

He either gave up the game timidly or bet a small amount.

‘Damn. At this rate, we’ll be here all night.’

Joseph kept glancing at the child, who was coughing, with a worried look.

“Hey, call?”

At that moment, James’s eyes lit up as he looked at Joseph’s cards.

‘Gotcha.’

Finally, the opportunity came.

“Wow! Dad, Dad! We have two of the same numbers!”

“Yeah, yeah. Shh, shh. Princess.”

As the child cheered, James nervously glanced around.

Joseph snorted.

‘A pair. With one card left to draw, he might get a triple if he’s lucky.’

The reason the foolish beginner was excited with a mere pair was that Joseph’s hand was terrible.

The cards James could see in Joseph’s hand were 2, 10, Q.

No pair.

A completely random, bottom-tier hand.

However, the cards Joseph had hidden were all spades, forming a flush.

In reality, it was a fifth-best hand.

“All in.”

Joseph placed his entire bundle of money on the table.

James’s eyes widened.

“...Are you betting everything? With that hand?”

“So what?”

James pointed to his own hand.

Q, 7, 7.

“I already have a pair of sevens.”

“So what? My hidden card could be better than a pair.”

“Don’t lie. You’re just trying to scare me with a trash hand.”

“Even if it is, what’s the problem? That’s the charm of poker.”

Joseph shrugged.

“If you’re scared of my hidden card, you can fold. If you think it’s nothing, you can go all in too.”

James hesitated.

His face clearly showed what he was thinking.

He was truly a beginner among beginners.

‘Fold, please. If you lose all your money, you’ll have to leave here, whether you like it or not.’

Joseph only wanted James to take his young daughter and leave this place quickly.

“...I’ll do it. All in.”

James placed his entire bundle of money on the table with trembling hands.

‘Good. It’s over.’

Joseph smiled and leaned back.

The dealer started to reveal Joseph’s hidden cards one by one.

It was a flush, a fifth-best hand.

“No!”

James jumped up in shock.

“What, what is this?!”

“Calm down and sit. You know you can’t take back a bet.”

Joseph gestured, and the dealer started to reveal James’s cards.

When the last hidden card was revealed,

Surprisingly, it was a 7.

7, 7, 7.

A triple, a seventh-best hand.

Joseph’s eyes sharpened.

And in the next moment,

* * *

Dad did exactly as I told him.

Although he had already learned everything from me, he pretended to be a beginner and learned the rules from the dealer again.

Tap.

When I tapped the table with my pinky,

“Fold.”

He would give up the game.

Tap.

When I tapped with my ring finger,

“Call.”

He would call and pass the bet.

“You need to act very, very timid until you get a good hand. Don’t bet at all.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“I’ll give you a signal when the opportunity comes. Until then, just shout check, call, or fold.”

Everyone got bored with Dad’s timid play, always folding when the bet went up.

‘That timid beginner again...’

Every time I met Joseph’s gaze, I smiled brightly.

“Cough, cough.”

Even though I couldn’t smell the cigarette smoke due to the magic, I pretended to cough.

After calling a few times and losing about half of his money,

‘Here it comes.’

The opportunity arrived.

Based on Joseph’s hand, the best he could get was a fifth-best hand, a flush.

‘It’s over.’

I clenched my fist tightly.

“When I clench my fist, it means it’s your chance. No matter what Dad does, he will win!”

I told him he could go all in when I gave the signal.

“What, what is this?!”

“Calm down and sit. You know you can’t take back a bet.”

Dad acted shocked after checking Joseph’s hand.

‘Why is he going this far?’

I barely held back my laughter at Dad’s serious performance.

7, 7, 7.

And when our three matching cards were revealed,

Joseph and the others watched our hand closely.

I had expected this much.

Because I had...

“Wow! Dad, Dad! We have two of the same numbers!”

...subtly planted the trap earlier.

‘Actually, we already had four of the same numbers, but I played it as if I didn’t know.’

7, 7, 7.

When the dealer revealed Dad’s last card,

“What the—!”

Joseph jumped up at the same time.

“What, what is this?”

“Gasp.”

The others watching also gasped and held their breath.

“Hahaha!”

Dad laughed heartily and kissed my cheek, as if praising my performance.

“...Ha, you’ve taught this kid some tricks.”

Joseph burst into a hollow laugh at the sight.

The last card