Just as Wednesday gathered her focus, preparing a precise counter-measure and calculating how to corner Vic's last advancing plane into a dead end—
Vic suddenly looked up. Those peach-blossom eyes were no longer focused on the board. Instead, they were brimming with an affection deep enough to drown in, staring straight at Wednesday.
Using the voice Venom once described as "genetically engineered to deceive young girls," he spoke low and tenderly:
"Wednesday, do you know? Every time I see you thinking seriously, you look like the brightest star in the deepest night sky. I can't look away."
!!!
The fingertips holding Wednesday's game piece trembled violently. Her train of thought, which had been flowing smoothly, was instantly disrupted as if a boulder had been thrown into it.
She forced herself to stay calm, trying to ignore this sudden interference, but the tips of her ears turned red uncontrollably.
He wasn't finished!
Having landed a hit, Vic immediately shifted his target to the "weaker link."
He turned to the nervous Enid, his smile turning sunny yet laced with a bad-boy temptation:
"And my little Enid~ The way you blink your big eyes trying to keep up with the rhythm is cuter than the fullest moon. It makes me want to hold you in my arms and just squeeze you~"
"Ugh..."
Enid's defenses crumbled instantly.
A layer of mist covered her blue eyes, and her heart pounded like a drum—thump, thump.
Her mind went blank. Tactics? Cooperation? Everything was washed away to Cloud Nine by Vic's sugary, cloying words.
Dizzy with affection, she almost threw the dice off the board.
Wednesday looked at her "teammate," who had clearly lost all combat capability, and then at Vic, who was grinning like a fox that just raided the hen house and was still launching "sugar-coated cannonballs."
For the first time in a board game, she felt a deep sense of powerlessness... and a trace of excitement from being pushed to the edge by a worthy opponent?
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her chaotic mind, and her eyes sharpened again.
"Vic!" Her voice was colder than usual, as if trying to freeze the ambiguous particles in the air. "Focus on the game."
But anyone could hear the suppressed battle spirit surging beneath the ice.
Vic chuckled, knowing when to quit while he was ahead. He returned his attention to the board, but the glint in his eyes clearly said:
The strategy has only just begun.
This Ludo war, escalated by the "stakes," had entered its white-hot final stage, woven with strategy and "honey traps"!
Make a Sound in the East, Strike in the West! Secretly March to Chencang! Chain Stratagems! One move after another, endless and relentless!
He was no longer just playing chess; he was a commander orchestrating a grand war on a tiny board.
That focused, sharp gaze;
That smile curling at the corner of his mouth, a mix of madness and wisdom;
That powerful aura radiating from his every move, so different from his usual playfulness, left Enid dumbfounded, her heart skipping several beats.
Even the always-composed Wednesday couldn't hide the shock in her eyes.
For the first time, she clearly felt the astonishing wisdom and control her seemingly chaotic, unreliable boyfriend could unleash under specific stimulation.
The scales of the game began to tilt at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Game over."
Vic gently placed his piece down. His voice was calm, yet carried the power of a finishing blow.
Vic's last piece entered the home base.
The room fell silent.
Enid's mouth hung open. She looked at the board, then at Vic, and finally at Wednesday, whose face had gone slightly pale. Her mind was blank.
Wednesday stared blankly at the board. Her fingers tightened unconsciously, knuckles turning white.
An unprecedented emotion—a mix of defeat, shock, and a trace of... indescribable thrill—spread through her cold chest.
She lost.
She lost to the boyfriend she thought only knew how to fool around. She lost to his completely unreasonable yet terrifyingly effective "Thirty-Six Stratagems."
Vic slowly looked up, his gaze sweeping over the shocked Enid and the silent Wednesday.
The sharp expression of a battlefield commander faded, replaced by that familiar smile—wicked and infinitely smug.
He licked his lips, his eyes burning like a beast spotting prey. He spoke slowly, his voice carrying the laziness and unquestionable authority of a victor:
"So, as agreed... my dear losers, are you ready to... fulfill your 'wager'?"
His gaze finally landed on Wednesday's face, filled with naked provocation and anticipation.
"Completing a task together... Now, it's my turn to make a demand."
The air seemed to ignite in that moment.
Vic's sentence—"It's my turn to make a demand"—was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples of panic and anticipation.
Enid's face turned tomato red instantly.
She subconsciously gripped Wednesday's arm tightly. Her blue eyes were filled with the panic of "Oh god, it's really happening" and a trace of... indescribable thrill sparked by curiosity.
She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was tight, and no words came out.
Wednesday's body stiffened for a second. A flash of panic, almost too fast to catch, crossed her deep eyes, but it was quickly covered by a near-stubborn calm.
Her pale fingertips pressed hard against the bedsheet, knuckles white. Her face maintained its iceberg expression, but her slightly tightened lips betrayed that she was far from calm.
She met Vic's eyes, which burned with the fire of victory and unhidden expectation. Her voice was cool, perhaps even deliberately calm, as if discussing something unrelated to her:
"Speak. Your demand."
Vic grabbed Wednesday's cool hand and Enid's warm hand, pressing them both tightly against his chest, right over his beating heart.
Those peach-blossom eyes, usually flickering with mania or mischief, were now surging with an emotion so intense and sincere it threatened to overflow—like the deepest ocean, the brightest star.
"Then, my demand is..."
His voice was low and clear, carrying an unquestionable solemnity.
Wednesday and Enid's hearts jumped into their throats.
Their fingertips could clearly feel the powerful, rapid beating of the heart inside Vic's chest.
It felt like the drumming of destiny.
They held their breath, waiting for the "demand" that might shatter the earth.
Vic looked deeply into the two pairs of eyes reflecting his image, speaking word by word, like a brand:
"Promise me, you will never leave me. Whether it's the past, the present, or the future... we will be together forever."
The various "terrible" or "stimulating" scenes they had imagined did not happen.
Instead, a massive, warm wave washed over them, instantly scattering the ambiguous, tense, and strategic atmosphere from before.
It submerged the room in a pure, almost holy tenderness.
Wednesday and Enid were stunned. Then, an indescribable emotion hit their very different hearts simultaneously.
They looked at each other. Without needing words, they leaned forward in perfect tacit understanding.
Wednesday's cool lips, light as a snowflake, landed on Vic's left cheek.
Enid's soft, warm kiss, carrying the scent of sunshine, pressed onto his right.
Two kisses—one cool as the moon, one hot as the sun—branded themselves onto Vic's face, and onto each other's lives.
"The pact is sealed."
Wednesday pulled back slightly. The ice in her eyes melted, rippling with a faint but very real tenderness as she whispered.
Those four short words, coming from her, carried more weight than any vow of eternal love.
"Idiot Vic!"
Enid threw her arms around Vic, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her voice was choked with laughter and tears, but incredibly firm.
"Even if you didn't say it, we would always, always stay with you! You guy... why did you suddenly say something so cheesy..."
Feeling the lingering touch on his cheeks and the real warmth in his arms, Vic's eyes shone as if they held the entire galaxy. He looked as smug and satisfied as a giant dog that had been petted into a purring mess.
"Really?"
His voice was cheerful. He nuzzled Enid's neck, then suddenly looked up. His eyes blinked, flickering with that familiar unreliable light as he asked tentatively:
"Then... since you guys agreed so readily... can I change my request? Honestly, I have a bunch of dirty thoughts in my head right now. That one was too serious; felt like a waste of an opportunity..."
WHACK!
THUMP!
Answering him were two soft pillows, smashed precisely into his face with the force of embarrassment and anger!
"Dream on!"
Enid glared at him, cheeks puffed and red.
"Vetoed."
Wednesday was concise. She crossed her arms again, restoring her iceberg persona, though the lingering blush on her ears betrayed her.
"Ow!"
Vic fell back onto the bed under the pillow assault, but he laughed like a kid who successfully stole candy. He clawed the pillows off his face, revealing eyes that were still sparkling.
"Okay, okay~ I'll save that request! I'll use it next time I win!"