Chapter 188: One Pass

Elias’s gaze landed on the pass between Liora’s fingers.

The corner of his mouth lifted.

From where Giselle stood, she could not see his face clearly, so Elias did not bother hiding the smile. It showed openly in front of Liora, bright and shameless, the kind of smile that rewarded bad behavior and invited worse.

He understood at once what Liora was doing.

She could not possibly be unaware that he and Giselle had been almost inseparable lately. She had still brought only one pass.

Not very friendly toward Giselle.

Perfect.

Elias could not tell which layer Liora was playing on. Maybe she only wanted to irritate Giselle. Maybe she had thought it through and realized that one pass would help him push Giselle harder. Either way, the result worked in his favor, and when the result was good, he did not mind giving Liora a tiny reward.

He reached for the pass.

Before his fingers touched it, an arm moved in front of him and blocked his hand.

Giselle stepped forward, placing herself between Elias and Liora.

She did not look at Liora. She only turned slightly and said to Elias, "One pass."

One pass.

Two people.

Liora’s intention was obvious.

Elias seemed to realize it only then. He pulled his hand back at once and bit his lower lip, shooting Liora a look that, from Giselle’s angle, probably looked angry.

Only Liora, standing directly across from him, saw what it really was.

That look was not angry at all. His eyes moved over her with open, liquid charm, his lashes low, his mouth caught between grievance and invitation. It was the kind of look that made a woman feel as if she had been scratched lightly under the skin.

Heat slipped through Liora’s chest.

Her smile did not change. She turned her attention to Giselle as if nothing had happened.

"What’s wrong?" Liora asked. "I’ve heard people saying that Miss Frost finally changed her mind and started following Victoria Frost around to learn how to be a proper heir. Looking at you now, I’m not sure your personality has changed that much."

On the surface, she was mocking Giselle for being too sharp and not steady enough. Beneath that, the insult ran deeper. Liora knew Giselle had only returned to Victoria’s side after Serena had humiliated her badly enough to crack that unreachable pride.

Giselle understood the hidden edge.

Her expression did not move. During this recent stretch with Victoria, her temper had been filed down at the edges. She was still cold, but she no longer threw every blade the moment she touched it.

"Looks like she was right," Giselle said evenly. "Serena really does enjoy cheap little tricks."

The "she" did not need a name.

Victoria Frost.

That was Giselle’s answer.

Liora’s gaze sharpened.

Giselle’s words sounded like they were aimed at Serena, but they also struck Liora. After all, if the trick was cheap, it still came from Serena, the true Blackwood heir. Liora was only the sister sent to carry it out. Giselle had folded both Serena and Liora into one neat insult, and there was a trace of contempt in it.

Liora looked down at Giselle from her slight height advantage. Her flirtatious eyes narrowed, their natural upward tilt making her amusement look almost lazy.

"Miss Frost does have standards," she said softly. "Of course you’d look down on one little pass. So tell me." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Her red lips curved.

"Where are yours?"

The two women traded barbs with polished smiles and cold eyes, every sentence pointed under the surface.

Elias watched with shining eyes.

His heart practically lifted.

This was good. This was exactly the kind of scene that made the job worth clocking in for.

Still, it lacked something.

Why were they not fighting already?

[System Theta: If they really fought, who would you help?]

Elias blinked innocently in his head. "Help? I’m only a weak man with no strength to tie up a chicken. If someone shoved me lightly, I’d fall over. How could I possibly help anyone?"

[System Theta: Understood. You would help no one and watch.]

"Baby, you really are getting smarter."

[System Theta: Mm...]

Who could survive him talking like that?

Unfortunately, neither woman seemed likely to start an actual fight. Elias lost interest in letting the argument drag on. He lowered his head and spoke before the next blade could land.

"Stop."

Liora and Giselle turned toward him at the same time.

Elias kept his head slightly bowed, and his voice fell with it.

"Please don’t fight anymore."

It was a small, fragile sentence, barely spoken.

Somehow, it worked.

Both women went quiet.

Liora held the pass out to him again. Her voice gentled, carrying that graceful, possessive warmth that made her sound as if she were doing him a favor instead of setting a trap.

"Do you want to go in?" she asked. "My sister misses you."

Giselle’s gaze snapped toward Liora, cold enough to cut.

Before she could speak, Elias lifted his eyes to Liora.

"She and I are over."

His voice was unusually firm.

Giselle’s expression eased by a fraction. The answer pleased her.

Liora said nothing. She simply kept the pass extended.

Elias’s face filled with hesitation.

He stood there for a long moment, caught between pride, pain, and some lingering thing he was pretending not to name. At last, he slowly raised his hand and took the pass from Liora’s fingers.

For one breath, Liora went still.

Something brushed her palm.

Light, soft, and precise, like a feather drawn over the center of her hand.

The boy who had done it was biting his lower lip so hard that the pointed tips of his canine teeth showed faintly between the seam of his mouth. His brows were pulled together, his whole expression full of conflict, as if he had not just scratched her palm with his fingertip in front of another woman.

Liora’s smile deepened by the smallest degree.

So this was her reward.

[Liora Voss’s favorability has increased. Current value: 83%.]

Liora was pleased.

Giselle was not.

Elias taking the pass could not fully be called returning to old feelings, but it was close enough to make Giselle’s earlier defense of him feel ridiculous. She had argued with Liora for him. She had stood in front of him. She had believed him.

And now the pass was in his hand.

Giselle drew a slow breath and pushed the anger down.

"If you want to go in," she said coldly, "then go. I hope you don’t regret it."

Elias clicked his tongue in his head.

Listen to that tone.

If he did not know Giselle’s personality, he might have thought she was one second away from crying.

Elias understood the importance of fairness. He had looked after Liora’s mood, so he could not forget Giselle’s. He could not favor one side too much.

More importantly, he could not let Liora believe she had a different status from Giselle.

At his place, everything was equal.

As long as they were obedient, they were all good dogs.

Elias put on a helpless expression and looked at Giselle.

"You’re not coming in?"

His brows drew together, his face full of hurt, as if Giselle were the one breaking a promise to him.

Giselle’s voice stayed flat. "One pass. Two people. Only one of us can go in."

Elias laughed softly in his mind.

That was why innocence was still innocence. She did not even dare think of anything more creative.

He shook his head at Giselle, hard enough that his eyes reddened again.

"One pass means one seat," he said. "It doesn’t mean only one person can go inside."

Giselle frowned faintly.

Elias looked up at her, then quickly lowered his eyes. A faint flush rose across his cheeks, and his voice dropped until it was almost too soft to hear.

"We can sit together."