GAME OF THE DEVIL

CHAPTER 26

FLASHBACK [TO CH. 5]

"Checkmate."

Hindi makapaniwalang tinitigan ni Noah si Zain habang hawak nito ang dalawa nilang chess pieces na king sa pagitan ng mga daliri ng kaniyang kanang kamay.

He opened his mouth, beginning to chuckle quietly that gradually went loud by the second hanggang sa malakas na siyang tumatawa, teary eyes squinting out of delight.

"That was so coooooool~" he cried, clapping his hands in joy, "A good game! Good show! Good show!"

Zain let out a sigh before placing the chess pieces back on the empty chess board. At least he's satisfied.

"Magsimula na tayong mag-usap, Noah," utos niya rito, "I don't have the whole day."

"Oki, oki," kaagad na pagsunod nito, running back to sit on the other side of the table, in front of him. Patalon siyang umupo sa upuan at hindi na nag-aksaya pa ng oras.

"This is gonna be very simple, actually," he started, pointing his right index finger upwards like a teacher about to discuss a new lesson, "I found out the Black Jackal is related to the foreign entity that caused the tragedy twenty-two years ago. They had transactions and the information is hidden deep within the Estate. That is gonna be useful for our search for that entity."

Noah took a deep breath, clasping his hands together, "Pero sa totoo lang, kaya ko naman makuha yung impormasyon na 'yon na walang kahirap-hirap, hehe."

Walang nagbago sa ekspresyon ni Zain, "And about the game?"

"I'm just going to join the succession game of my family for fun, hehe," he giggled, "I can't wait for it. I'm sooo excited."

Zain stared at him knowingly for a second before saying, "You're gonna join the succession game you're gonna host yourself?"

"Yup, yup!"

"And you're planning on winning the game, for fun?"

"Yeaaah~"

"But you don't have any plans on being the Black Jackal's new Mafia Boss?"

"That is correct!"

Zain quietly huffed, "You're going to trick and manipulate your siblings into thinking Konstantin wanted to host a succession game to determine a single heir when the truth is, you were the one behind all of it all along... for fun?"

"Yup," Noah aggressively nodded his head, "Since I peeked a tiny wittle bit on my Father's Last Testament and Will and he stated there he didn't want to host the traditional succession game to determine a sole inheritor. He wanted to just equally divide his inheritance among all of us. That's boring. So I decided to host a game by myself. Hiwalay yun sa gusto niya. My game and his will are gonna be two different and separate things," he closed his eyes and slightly pouted. Dahan-dahan niyang itinango ang ulo habang maayos na nakaupo ngayon like a child with a prim and proper etiquette.

"And how about Konstantin himself? He's already dead, right?"

Mala-demonyo siyang ngumisi, "Yup! But my siblings think otherwise. As you already know, I have control inside the Estate. I tasked my people there to message me first if Father already kicked the bucket before my other siblings. When I received the message of confirmation last August, that's when I ordered them to reach out to my siblings that there's gonna be a succession game as per our Father's orders, wherein they were told that he's still alive but is actually dead."

"The succession game is purely gonna be for fun~! That's what I'm after: fun! And what better way to have fun but to win? But that doesn't mean I'm gonna be the new Boss. I have no such interest!"