Slling the faint scent of dried fish in the air, the orange cat quickly approached, taking the fish from Livia's hand.
The woman then rubbed Auri's back and tossed a piece of cake into its tal plate.
Watching Livia gently feed Auri and recalling her earlier words, Amalia lowered her eyes, a warm feeling rising in her heart.
She hadn't specifically told Livia that she disliked fish, only ntioning once that she didn't like the taste of fried fish.
So, whenever the dish was served, she would pick out the fish and give it to Auri.
So Livia had been keeping this in mind all along...
After petting the cat for a while, Livia opened the bag she had brought up. Instantly, a faint white mist dispersed in the moonlight.
Cold air? Was there an ice attribute crystal inside?
This scene imdiately reminded Amalia of the ti Livia had taken her to eat sothing called shabu-shabu.
Back then, Livia had also brought a bunch of food ingredients, stored with special ice attribute crystals.
Amalia actually quite liked this kind of food.
"Are we having shabu-shabu again?" Amalia asked softly.
Hearing this, Livia shook her head, took out a slightly smaller bag from the larger one, and tied the opening again to prevent the cold air from escaping.
"Not shabu-shabu, but another way of eating."
"We won't do it today. You'll find out tomorrow night. You can eat less for dinner then, saving so room for a late-night snack."
After saying this, Livia handed the bag to Amalia and spoke gently.
"Amalia, I'll go wash my hands first. Take a look at this. There's a rulebook I wrote inside. If you're interested, we can play it later."
Amalia took the bag, feeling its weight, with a slight bulge near her palm.
Watching Livia leave the room, Amalia opened the package. Inside was a thick stack of parchnt, several piles of thin cards resembling library cards, a few small wooden figurines, and two oak dice.
The parchnt could be unfolded. Amalia gently spread it on her lap.
The smooth paper touched the skin of her legs not covered by the white stockings, giving the golden-haired loli a faint cool sensation.
It must have been too close to the ice attribute crystal, so it had absorbed so of the cold.
Amalia thought this as she observed the parchnt's surface. At the top, written in the common language, was "The Grand Lord," followed by a series of connected squares, so with words, so without, and so with special patterns and annotations.
Right... the rulebook...
Rembering what Livia had ntioned earlier, Amalia continued to flip through and found a thin booklet. The first page had a line of elegant handwriting: Rule Explanation.
The so-called "The Grand Lord" that Livia had created was the classic ga Monopoly from her previous life.
However, she had replaced so of the terms with elents more popular in the dieval period. The overall frawork of the ga remained the sa, but it was easier for Amalia to understand.
Each player starts with a certain amount of initial capital, moving by rolling dice... Buying land and building houses allows players who land on that square to pay a certain amount of rent...
There are various random events on the map... Passing the starting point each ti grants a portion of capital...
Reading the ga instructions carefully, Amalia furrowed her brows slightly, her blue eyes reflecting the black text on the yellow paper.
From the ga description, it seed like she and Livia would compete to see who could bankrupt the other first.
It sounded interesting.
As she pondered, Livia returned to the bedroom, saw the parchnt map spread on Amalia's lap, and smiled.
"Have you understood the ga rules?"
"Yes."
"Shall we play a couple of rounds then?"
Amalia nodded: "Alright, I want to play with sister."
After saying this, Amalia looked around. The desk had the book she had been reading in the afternoon, and next to it was the easel.
The space was too narrow for the two of them to fully spread out the parchnt.
Following Amalia's gaze, Livia also noticed this and smiled: "If it's not convenient, we can play on the bed."
There wasn't any particular rule about it, as long as the map wasn't ssed up.
Hearing this, Amalia slightly nodded, placed the Grand Lord map on the bed, and together with Livia, moved aside the quilt.
Then, she took off her shoes and sat on the bed.
Since it was Amalia's first ti playing such a ga, Livia naturally took on the role of guide.
She first answered a few questions Amalia had, then demonstrated a couple of rounds to give her a general idea.
"Sister, did you carve these little wooden figures?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
"My personal maid."
Livia had originally intended to ask Elise to handle it, but Lyra had volunteered, saying she could carve wood.
Thinking of the pink-haired maid eagerly handing her the carved wooden figures, Livia slightly raised her lips, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the wooden figure.
This was a skill she had never noticed in the books. It seed there was still much to learn about the destined female lead.
Hearing the term "personal maid" in Livia's words, a faint shadow flickered in Amalia's eyes.
Personal... to what extent...
Was it as she imagined...
Amalia's mind flashed to the figure of Princess Livia, and now there was another personal maid whose back she couldn't see.
A sense of floating in mid-air, with nothing to support her, quietly spread in her heart.
"What's wrong, Amalia?"
Noticing the girl's hands resting on the bedsheet, her pupils unfocused, Livia leaned down and spoke softly.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
She was a bit unwell, but not physically. It was her emotions, or to be more precise, the latter might have already affected the forr.
Amalia knew this possessiveness wasn't likable, but she couldn't help thinking in this direction.
Would the personal maid bathe Livia... Would she intimately help her with her hair...
Why were there always so many people around Livia? First Princess Astrid, and now a personal maid.
Though it wasn't strange for soone of her status to have a personal maid... but...
It just felt uncomfortable.
Beyond reason, this emotion stemming from sensibility seed impossible to quickly resolve, only slowly digesting over ti.
"No, sister."
Amalia snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Livia, tilting her head.
"Let's start then."
To enhance the fun and randomness of the ga, Livia added many interesting new elents on top of the original foundation.
For example, various events that could affect the players' funds, obstacles that prevented characters from taking normal actions, or changes in the weather and disasters on the land plots, ensuring that Amalia wouldn't lose interest after just a few rounds.
The oak dice spun gently and landed on a number. Amalia held the wooden figurine and moved it step by step according to the rules in the manual.
"Sister, can I buy this plot of land?"
"Yes."
"What about this spot? Do I need to draw a card?"
"Mm, rember to read the card description after drawing and follow the event requirents."
Upon hearing this, Amalia flipped out a card from the pile beside her and examined it closely. After a mont, her pink lips parted.
"Helped a caravan pass through a rugged mountain road. As a reward, if your next move ends on an unowned plot, you can acquire the land without any cost. If you choose not to purchase, the corresponding funds will be refunded..."
The random events Livia wrote were clear and straightforward, without too much convoluted text. Even a beginner would know what to do next.
This was obviously a positive effect, especially in the early stages of the ga when the plots were still blank, making it easy to trigger event bonuses.
"Amalia's luck is quite good~" Livia looked at the paper and smiled in response.
The number of positive and negative effects that could be triggered by these event cards was balanced.
Drawing such a directly usable positive buff at the start was indeed lucky for Amalia.
Picking up the dice scattered on the bed, Livia rolled a six, surpassing Amalia's event point and landing on an empty plot, spending 500 to buy it.
The funds in "The Grand Lord" were different from the copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins used in the real Valeria Empire. They were simplified into more intuitive nurical points.
Seeing Livia's figurine move ahead of hers, Amalia prayed silently not to land on the sa spot, then gently rolled the dice.
The god of luck once again favored this golden-haired girl who had never had much luck since birth.
She rolled a three, and the three squares ahead were the most expensive plots on the Grand Lord map, requiring 1000 to purchase.
Watching the figurine land, Amalia now faced two choices: either buy the plot directly or take the money and leave.
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