Risky Games

A few moments later Amelia was inside the gambling house with Laif. She looked around with fascination in her expression as she watched a group of people staking their money as they played a card game.

While they were walking around Laif explained to her how the winner will sometimes win a large sum of money depending on how much they stake their money.

"Would you like to try betting your money in one of those games?" Laif suggested.

Amelia shook her head. "No. I didn't know how to."

Laif looked around and smiled when he found what he was looking for. "We'll start with something easy," he said. "I'll teach you. Come on." Laif held her arm into his and tugged her towards a crowd of people. The crowds were staking their money in a dicing game. He figured that the game was simple and easy enough to teach her. "Now, watch how they play it first."

Amelia did as she was told. She stood straight with her hand balled into a fist to control her anxiety. This was her first time and she wasn't sure of what she was doing there. Amelia tiptoed to see pass through the crowd and saw the dealer had four cubic dice in his hand.

The crowd started to chant various numbers while throwing their money into a designated box with numbers. Amelia then saw another man behind the dealer, jotting down something in his book. Once the crowd stopped betting their amount of money, the dealer threw his dices.

Then, the crowd leaned forward to look at the dices.

Four. Five. One. One.

"Eleven!" the dealer shouted.

Then the crowd started to make another noise. This time it was more of grunts. A lot of them were disappointed to lose the round.

"What number would you like to bet your money in?" Laif has to lean in to whisper because it was too noisy in the gambling house.

Amelia jolted in surprise at hearing his voice so near to her ear. "Se—seventeen." She said, picking up a random number that came into her mind.

Laif raised a brow. "Are you sure?"

"I think so," she said nervously. Then she fumbled into her sash to pull out her coin. She paused when Laif put his hand on hers.

"Your first time will be my treat," he said. Laif stepped forward, handed the dealer two pieces of coin, and said his number. Then he went back to her side, allowing the others to take turns betting their money. The crowds chanted their chosen numbers. A moment later, the dealer threw his dices again.

One. Five. Six. Five.

"Seventeen!" the dealer shouted again.

Amelia turned her head to him with her mouth gaped. "Seventeen! He said seventeen."

"You won! Hey! you're really lucky for a first-timer." Laif said before he stepped forward to get their prize. When he returned to her side, Laif showed her the winning money in his palm. "Congratulation." He threw the coins mid-air and caught it again. "Say, how about a second round? Just to see how lucky you can get."

"You think I should go for a second round?"

Laif nodded. "We'll use your winning money for this round. If you're lucky again, you'll get more money."

"Okay," Amelia agreed. She wasn't sure of what she was doing, or how to play the game. Therefore, she decided to trust him and see how it will go.

Laif smiled. "So what number do you think you choose?"

"I'm not sure," she hesitated. "Twenty-four?"

"Twenty four?" he frowned.

Amelia shrugged. "My instinct told me to go with twenty-four. I think I'm going to stick with that number."

"Okay. If you think so." He stepped towards the dealer and stake on the number. He wondered if Amelia would be lucky this time around.

Actually, Laif had never even thought that Amelia would be so lucky for the first time. The truth was, he didn't really care if she's going to win or lose. He thought that she was going to lose the first round and he wanted to show her that gambling can be a risky game. He was going to show her that gambling wasn't as fun as she thought.

Laif returned to her side and cleared his throat as he watched the dealer threw his dices. Unconsciously, he balled his hand into a fist as he watched the dices turned on the table.

Six. Six. Six. Six.

"Twenty-four!" The dealer shouted jovially.

His eyes widened. He could not believe what he saw. He closed his eyes and opened them again. "I can't believe it!"

"I won!" Amelia gasped. She reached for his hand and squeezed them excitedly.

"You did!" he laughed. He went forward to retrieve their winning money and chuckled in disbelief. Laif went back to her side and handed her the coins. "Wow! Congratulation. Here's your winning money. I should have staked in more money if I knew you're one lucky lady."

"I can't believe I won again" Amelia laughed quietly into her palm. In a second, her smile faded. Her eyes went wide went she saw a familiar face not far away from where she stood. She turned around and tightened her grip to her hoodies, praying that no one will notice her.

"Is there something wrong?" Laif asked. There was concern in his voice.

Amelia shook her head, feigning a smile to him. After a while, she peeked through her hoodies to look at the elder clearly, thinking that she had identified the wrong man. She gritted her teeth knowing that it was definitely Count Adlam, one of the nobles who were active in her administration.

At this moment, Count Adlam was seen arguing with the dealer behind the table.

"Gambling can be a really dangerous game."

Amelia looked up and saw that Laif was looking at Count Adlam's direction. She tilted her head a bit to her left and gave him a questioning look.

"It can be addicting. Some of these men won't stop gambling, hoping that they would win more money without realizing that they have lost everything. They would beg for credits from the owner, offering their lands and possession to continue their game. Sometimes their loan piles up until they can't afford to pay for anything." He motioned towards Count Adlam and the group of people with him. "Judging from their body language, I'm assuming that the old man must have lost quite a lot of money."

Her grip on the hem of her hoodies tightened as she noticed that the argument between the Count Adlam and the dealer ended. The Count said something rude to the dealer before he marched out of the gambling house.

Amelia turned around when the minster stopped abruptly just a few distances behind her.

"Anyway," Laif paused to clear his throat, hoping to catch her attention. "My intention when I took you here was to show you that gambling isn't all fun." He smiled when she kept on looking at him with a dazed expression. "Come on. We should probably head back to the palace if we wanted to make it in time."