Craving for Golden Days

"Bewitched?" Ainsley's brows lifted as he took a look again. Amid the colorful, moving lights of the machines and the symphony of the cards were the crazed looks in the eyes of the people. They all seemed to be very obsessed with playing that they were emptying their cards and credits.

He then brought his eyes back to Sinclair. "There's magic in here?"

"In peak hours." Sinclair only chuckled. Of course, they couldn't hold onto the people for too long. The non-human races were generally unsupervised in this part of the globe due to their discipline, but that discipline was only them being so discreet.

"Oh." Ainsley then felt scared to play. Perhaps he could only play when the peak hours were over. He was only going to do it for fun, anyway. No need to waste more than he was willing to give.

He then remembered something when he noticed that Sinclair was keeping his eyes in front. A teasing smile then curled his lips. "I noticed you looking at Alice a lot. Are you interested?"

At those words, Sinclair suddenly glared at the human. "What are you talking about? I am not interested in her." He then just glanced in her direction again, seemingly watching her gait and the noticeable fullness of her bottom. "Just very confused."

"Confused? That your eyes are getting stuck on her?" Ainsley chuckled again, and Sinclair jabbed at him with force. He laughed in amusement and in pain as he consoled his side. "Alright, alright, I can tell it, too. Her figure is different from the last time. What can we do, though? Women are shapeshifters. They can flatten or inflate any part of their bodies. Some friends of mine do that."

"Really?" With a lifted brow of disbelief, Sinclair turned to him. He could barely recognize Alice from what she looked like from the last time they met. Even her scent had changed as if something had cleansed all the putrid smell left by the old men. Roth must have used his magic.

Still, he hadn't seen anyone make such drastic changes in a few days. Not that he had observed a lot of women before as well. Even his mother was not paying a lot of attention to beautifying herself in the first place. It's just that… Alice was not even female by nature. Did that make a difference? How could he tell if it was simply magic or the grand art of illusion?

Ah, humans. Just when he thought he had figured them out and they couldn't surprise him anymore, that was when they would show a side of them that he didn't know about. Dragons also had a certain degree of curiosity in them since they had to know things before calling anything pathetic, and so the strangeness of humans had always been fascinating to Full Moon Rosen.

He just couldn't live plainly as one, so he did what was the next best thing he could do. However, even if he had encased a lot of different kinds of humans in one place, he hadn't seen everything.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Ainsley nudged at the other person's back. "You don't need to have an existential crisis just because of what I said!"

"Existential crisis? I know exactly what I am made for." With a ridiculing grunt, Sinclair answered. He just shook off the strange thoughts in his mind before they all got inside the VIP Lounge 4, where the casino had served drinks and finger food for the guests.

…

On the gambling floor, the bewitched people continued to play. However, the magic grew thin as if letting them wake up from their reverie and dreams. As soon as they finished their game's round, the machines would only light up and not accept card swipes anymore. Even the tables had begun to decline players.

The frowns on the faces of the people deepened, but they were then attracted to the screens that lowered from the ceiling. The screen flashed a lot of colorful lights, and all the people looked excited all of a sudden. It was because the lights spelled 'Grand Draw'.

From a stage recorded from a different room, the attractive female host started introducing the prizes for the quarterly Grand Draw of the casino. There were minor prizes, but the five major prizes were a luxury yacht, a condominium unit in the heart of the city, and three checks worth ten million dollars. What was strange was that the big spenders wanted the physical prizes instead.

"Wow, it's like Sinclair's megayacht." Anastasia gasped as she took a look at the luxury yacht. It wasn't as big as the megayacht, but the interior design was actually more appealing to her than the megayacht. "Honey, can't we get one of those?"

"…sure, why not?" Wallace only chuckled, but it was Sinclair who took note of it.

They both knew that to make the parents out of his hair most of the time, Sinclair had to give them reasons not to bother him. Since the mother wanted to get busy with a yacht and tour the Atlantic, then he should have Stuart make arrangements. After all, a single yacht like that was nothing to him and his digital treasure hoard.

Roth and Alice sat next to each other, and he could see how much Alice eyed the condominium unit. A human that had lived through the hardships of life after losing their big businesses would always crave for their golden days. Roth actually found out that Alexander's bakery had thirteen branches within the state, but they were all closed down by some fool who envied him.

"We have more chances of getting that ten-million prize, and it's better in my opinion. You can build your own house if you won, unlike with winning a fully furnished unit," Roth whispered at her.

"…I thought you want to travel all around." Alice only answered with a soft voice. It's not like she could win something in the Grand Draw when she didn't spend a dollar in the casino. She didn't even have a spare dollar to spend as well.

"I stay in hotels every day. I'm sick of it." Roth only snorted. Was it his fault that she was wearing that kind of eyes while looking at a house?