EXTRA CHAPTER 1 - II -

 

And with that, the very first game of Uno in the world of Chersea began.

 

“…”

 

Since I’m the one who taught them the game, I presented myself to be the dealer.  Maddie, as she was excited to begin, sat on my left.  Eris went to my right.  I think she’s still traumatized earlier when Maddie slapped her with a ‘draw two’ card.

 

“Hello, Maddie!” Lily was full of smiles, “Let’s have a good, relaxing, nice game of Uno!”

 

“Yes.  I agree.” the Saint reached out her hand, which the head maid took for a shake.

 

Somehow, though they’re both smiling, Eris and I could feel a brooding atmosphere between them.  So much for a ‘good, relaxing, nice game of Uno’…

 

Anyway, after giving them their respective cards, our game began.

 

“…”

 

Maddie put down a red ‘1’.  Which Lily followed with a red ‘4’.

 

Ah…they’re playing it nicely.  Let’s see how Eris is doing…

 

“Muu!” the irritation was written all over her face, as she was forced to pull a card on the ‘Draw Pile’.  Looks like she’s got no matching card yet…

 

When my turn came, I quickly put down a red ‘Draw Two’ card.  That irritated Maddie.

 

“You’re playing unfair!” she cried out to me.

 

“Haha!  Game rules!” Lily teased her.

 

“Oh yeah?” Maddie then pulled two cards, and had to suck up to her complaints for a while, “We’ll see about that later!”

 

Lily only stuck a tongue out to her before putting down a green ‘Draw Two’ card.

 

“WHAT?!” Eris couldn’t keep herself from screaming, “I just pulled from the ‘Draw Pile’!”

 

“Rules are rules!” Lily was laughing, so the little maid had no other choice like the Saint.

 

Alright, my turn!  I put down a green ‘Draw Two’ card, much to Maddie’s frustration.  And Lily kept on teasing her.

 

“Prepare yourself later, Kuro!” Maddie threatened me, “I’ll make you suffer.”

 

“Hahaha…”

 

Lily quickly shut down Eris by playing another ‘Draw Two’ card, a red one this time.  The little maid’s face was red in fury as she reluctantly pulled another pair of cards.  Somehow, it felt like Lily and I were the lucky ones this time, for pulling those ‘Draw Twos’.

 

But we’ll see in a bit…for I have no ‘Draw Two’ left in my hand.  Fortunately, I have a red ‘9’ card and put it down.  Let’s hope the others would not take notice that I’m winning this round…

 

“Ahah!  Now here I come!” Maddie was finally freed from the ‘Draw Two’ curse and immediately played a ‘Wild Draw 4’ card.  Now it was Lily’s turn to get pissed.

 

“I’ll get back to you Maddie!” she cried out as she counted the cards she pulled from the draw pile.

 

Likewise, Eris was relieved that she could now take a turn.  Maddie stated that the ‘Wild Draw 4’ card she played was a blue one, so Eris quickly slapped the ‘Reverse’ card she had on her hand.  We have no choice but to reverse the turns, and Lily was utterly frustrated that she had to draw another card from the Draw pile since she had no matching card.

 

“Oh…now things are heating up!” Maddie quipped and put down a blue ‘3’

 

I quickly countered her with a blue ‘6’.  By now, I only got three cards left.

 

“Haha!”  Buoyed by her success in reversing the turns, Eris played a blue ‘4’.

 

“You thought I’m going to lose?  Think again!” Lily put down a blue ‘7’.

 

“Hah!” Maddie was turning up her rivalry against her head maid, “So you really think you can win against me, a semi-divine being?!”

 

“No reading of minds, Maddie.” I reminded her.

 

“I wasn’t!”

 

Yeah, but I can tell you wanted to.

 

“Muu!”  Almost caught red-handed, Maddie had to back down and play her yellow ‘7’, “Anyway, to make things even more interesting, how about the first one to reach ‘Uno’ would get to spend the whole day with Kuro and he can’t refuse the winner’s request?”

 

“Ha?” I blurted out, “I wasn’t consulted here!”

 

“Why not?!” Lily’s aura turned even more competitive, “Bring it on, Rubinforth!”

 

“Come on Kuro!” Maddie had a nasty smirk on her face, “Won’t you give in to our little request this time?  Pretty please?”

 

Well, it’s not like I have anything to do anyway, so it’s fine with me.  But I’m concerned about the condition ‘I can’t refuse the winner’s request’.  In any case, it’s my cute ladies who requested it, so I guess it’s not that bad…

 

“Hey Lily, Kuro finally consented.” Maddie aired my thoughts.

 

“Yay!”

 

“No peeking of minds!” I quickly reminded her again.

 

Maddie only smiled sweetly at me, and we resumed our game.  It’s my turn anyway, and with that, only two cards would remain in my hands.  One more cycle and I’m the winner.

 

I played red ‘7’ that I have.

 

Eris never made a clear expression once I put down my card.  She stared at her own deck, looked at the ‘Discard Pile’, and then back on her cards.  And then…

 

“!!!”

 

Eris played the ‘Swap Hands’ card.  We could only stare at her as she silently put her cards before Lily to switch with mine.

 

“Sorry, my Lord Kuro, looks like I’m going to win this time.”

 

 

I guess I didn’t have to tell you who won that game.  It’s pretty obvious, anyway.

 

Maddie and Lily demanded a rematch with Eris, however, three games, several embarrassing moments, and hundreds of heartaches later, it became clear to those two that the little maid was more than a match to them.

 

“Ah…spending time with my lord in peace is the best.”

 

“You sure trounced Maddie and Lily back there, huh?”

 

“Well…” Eris closed the book she was reading and turned to me, whose lap she was using as a pillow, “…I’m an expert traitor, so I’m quick to know how to play games like ‘Uno’.”

 

“Haha…”

 

“But seriously, it’s just that, Her Holiness and Big Sis just don’t know how to play.  They’re too sincere to let their expressions betray them, and I read them all.” the little maid winked at me, “That’s why I won.”

 

Eris is indeed a formidable Uno player…