Chapter 114: The Chess Game is Like a Battlefield

Su Mian immediately stood up and walked over.

She saw Felix squatting beside a cluster of ferns, pointing at the ground.

On the soft, muddy soil by the stream, a string of footprints was vaguely visible.

"Hmm... about size 38, I'd say."

Felix guessed while rubbing his chin, but Su Mian's eyes looked not far away.

Near the footprints, there were some circular indentations, about thirty centimeters in diameter, deeply embedded in the mud, much deeper than the human footprints beside them, with the edges of each circular mark clear.

"This is..." Su Mian squatted closer, using her fingers to virtually measure the size and depth of the circular marks.

This didn't look like animal tracks, nor did it look like ordinary wheel marks.

A regular circle of thirty centimeters, capable of causing such deep indentations...

It looked like the base of something. Su Mian's eyes lit up, and she immediately thought of the painting Fuerdi had drawn; the huge King chess piece seemed to have a base about that size.

According to Pip's description, the King chess piece he saw was moving, which meant it all matched up.

"The King chess piece, perhaps the King's soul, is giving us hints wherever it passes."

After figuring this out, Su Mian planned to go out and investigate in person at twelve o'clock tonight.

Pip was scared by the chess piece, so he didn't pursue it further, but the direction the King went should be some kind of guidance.

The two soon returned to the castle and gathered the players.

"So... whose feet are size 38?"

Felix had everyone stick out their feet, comparing them one by one with his own.

"My feet are size 40, about a bit smaller, hmm..."

He brought his feet close to several players and pointed them out.

"Pip, Willow, and Luna, your feet are all size 38."

"This means you are likely the owner of the red dancing shoes. Combined with being short in stature, we can lock it down to... Willow and Luna."

"Me? No, no, no, it can't be me, I didn't draw a card like that..."

Willow was panicked after being pointed out, waving her hands repeatedly.

Su Mian, however, frowned suddenly and slowly lowered her head.

An extremely dangerous thought arose in her mind.

From the first day she arrived at the game, she felt her shoes were very ill-fitting, but after wearing them for two days, she had almost adapted to them.

Is there a possibility... that her feet are also size 38?

But she didn't speak; the atmosphere at the scene was heavy, the suspects had been identified, and today's atmosphere was no longer as harmonious as yesterday's.

Pip sat with his arms folded, silent; Tian Nuan remained as cold and aloof as ever, occasionally taking out a small knife to file her nails.

One hour before the party, Su Mian ran back to her bedroom in a hurry, took off her shoes, measured them with a tape measure, and her heart gradually sank.

The shoes were size 36, but her feet were size 38.

That is to say, she could also be the owner of the red dancing shoes.

But how could her analysis be wrong? If she were the owner of the red dancing shoes, why go to such lengths to get them again?

Perhaps they were snatched away by someone; after all, so many people wanted these shoes. No, no, that's wrong... the logic doesn't hold.

She had no reason to appear in the Twilight Forest. Su Mian shook her head to clear it, then drew another card about Elizabeth.

【Drawing clue card...】

【Actually, you have long known that your father likes you, and you deliberately act ugly just to make him think you are disfigured, reducing the number of times you have contact.】

Su Mian's brain went blank with a "buzz."

Murder motive.

Would Elizabeth kill her father because of his disgusting and base actions?

"Knock, knock—"

"Your Highness, the ball is about to start."

Su Mian hurriedly organized her thoughts, closed her eyes for a moment, and arrived at the banquet hall after a while.

Today, Maoshi looked very tired, speaking listlessly. The players were terrified for a long time before realizing there were no scary games today.

Everyone was dancing casually. During this time, several princes found Su Mian and wanted to invite her to dance, but were all repelled by a cold glare.

"This Black Pig Prince is playing chess with himself again, isn't he bored?"

"Hey, look at him, does he look bored? These chess pieces are much more interesting to him than princesses."

"But he is really black; he's almost the same color as the black chess pieces."

"Who's to say otherwise."

"Hahahaha..."

Several wealthy young ladies laughed together. Su Mian held her wine glass and walked straight over.

He was too deeply immersed in his own world, and only raised his head abruptly when Su Mian's shadow fell on the chessboard.

"Elizabeth... Your Highness?" He tilted his head, his pig nose twitching, "Interested... in international chess?"

"I know a little." Su Mian's voice was calm and waveless. She sat down in the empty chair opposite the Black Pig Prince and placed her wine glass aside.

"Don't you feel bored playing chess alone?" Su Mian raised her eyes and looked at him.

The Black Pig Prince chuckled twice, his voice rough: "The opponent... is in the heart. The real chess game is never on the chessboard, Your Highness."

He gave Su Mian a meaningful look, his eyes turbid but sharp; he looked silly on the outside but was very shrewd. "Would you... like to play a game? Finish this game for my 'opponent'."

"I'd be happy to." Su Mian didn't hesitate.

The chess game restarted.

The Black Pig Prince played black and moved first, continuing the aggressive style he had imagined before. A black bishop slashed out diagonally, pointing straight at the white side's seemingly weak kingside.

Su Mian played white. She didn't immediately respond to this aggressive offensive, but instead moved a seemingly insignificant queenside pawn, consolidating her own formation.

"Defending?" The Black Pig Prince snorted a breath from his pig nose, somewhat disapproving.

"On my chessboard, retreating will only lead to death faster." He immediately mobilized the queen, forming a pincer movement with the bishop, the pressure even stronger.

Su Mian didn't move the chess piece immediately; she suddenly raised her eyes.

"Hesitating?" The Black Pig Prince keenly sensed the subtle change in her aura, a flash of cunning in his small eyes.

"The chess game is like a battlefield, Your Highness. When you can't figure out whether to attack or defend..."

He pinched that rampaging black queen and pushed it forward several squares abruptly, forcing it straight into the white side's hinterland with a barbaric momentum.

"The answer is, of course... attack! Tear open the defense line and checkmate the opponent's king in their own castle; that is the way of the winner!"

Su Mian rubbed the chess piece in her hand, "But what if... I am bitten back?"

Led into a ditch by her own cleverness: attacking means acting without hesitation to ferret out the real culprit; defending means hiding herself and watching the changes.

The Black Pig Prince gave Su Mian a deep look, extended two fingers, pinched that black queen, and moved this queen piece from the queenside edge where it was originally located. ===== CHAPTER 115 =====