Atropa Belladonna

~~~一~~~

It was rare that she had a chance to bask in pure moonlight completely by herself since she was either out on jobs or surrounded by distractions at her home.

Unfortunately, she was also interrupted in this instance as she felt an unfamiliar presence come up from behind her.

"Can I help you?" the woman questioned as she opened her eyes and sat up straight before turning around to face the stranger.

It was a man who stood about half a foot taller than her at most with a boyish face and black hair tied back into a messy pony tail as his brown eyes just screamed mischief.

He wore thick clothes made of dyed wool that were frayed at the ends, giving off the impression that he was a traveller and probably not originating in the empire.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright, it is quite dangerous for a woman to be roaming the streets alone after dark," he explained with a small smile as he stopped a few feet away from her.

The ravenette let out an amused huff before she looked up at the stranger with a raised brow to ask, "Who told you that I'm a woman?"

"Ey, that little snicker just proves that you are," the man chirped, his smile growing as she just nodded in response, raising her sleeves up to cover her own grin.

"So why are you out here?" he pressed while lowering himself to sit next to the female at the edge of the pier, "by how well you're dressed, I doubt you would be out here for nothing."

"I was feeling a bit bored back at the inn so I decided that I would go out for a walk," she replied with a shrug as she looked back out at the rippling water, "the sea air really is good for clearing your mind, you know?"

"Well, if you're still bored, you can come to the gambling house with me and play a few rounds," the male suggested, earning a look as the woman looked at him from out of the corners of her eyes, "You seem like the kind of person who would enjoy it."

"Usually, one would give their name before they invite someone to gamble with them, but I'll go with you as long as you swear not to lead me into some back alley and murder me," she replied in a joking manner.

Straightening out his back, the stranger held up his right and and said, "I swear that I will not take you into a back alleyway and murder you!"

"Or murder you in general," he continued with a wink, pulling a chuckle from the rsvenette as he held his hand out, "I'm Wūyā by the way."

"Wūyā... As in the bird 'wūyā'?" the female queried with a raised brow, her smile only growing larger as she earned a sigh from the traveller.

"Liaten, it's not my fault my parents named me this way," the male groaned as he lowered his hand to cross his arms over his chest.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," the woman in black chuckled as she waved her sleeve dismissively before raising her hands to give a salute like how she would in formal events.

"My name is Bai Diān Qié," she properly introduced with a small bow, deeming him harmless to herself, "It's nice to meet you."

"Wow, you must really be a noble lady if you're bowing like that, but get up," Wūyā said as he stood and gently pulled her up by the elbows, "We know each other now, and I promised that I wouldn't kill you, so let's have some fun!"

The gambling house in Dulaman was large and full of intimidating figures but that meant nothing for the two as they were drawn to a full table to play the western card game known as Black Jack.

The game was simple, get the value of one's hand to equal more than the value of the dealer without going over the twenty-one; if a player got exactly twenty-one, then they win the round.

One by one, players started losing their money and leaving the table, but Wūyā and Diān Qié continued to play as their winning piles only grew larger and larger with the passage of time.

After about ten rounds, the woman let out a sigh and looked out the window before saying, "I should call it for the night. It's getting pretty late and I need to wake up early tomorrow in order to accompany my friend somewhere."

"Ah, ah, ah," the noiret hummed as he stood up and blocked the female from leaving, "How about we play one more round? Just you and me."

The female just deadpanned at the male held up the two extra bags of silver she had just won and said, "I already have too much money to carry back, I don't think I want to take anymore."

"Then we won't gamble with money," he spoke before pulling out a silver chain from under his tunic that had two, lavender-toned, crystals dangling from it and looked at the shorter being with a small smile, "If you win, then I'll add one of these to your pendant."

Reaching up to the metal crest that hung over her clothes, she raised a brow before asking, "And what would you be getting from me if you win?"

"Hm, I don't really know," the taller person replied as he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, "We'll just say that you owe me a favor."

"Alright, then," the ravenette sighed, taking her seat once more as she gestured for the dealer to reshuffle, "One more round."

It was silent as the two players were given their initial cards and after taking a look the male looked up at the dealer and shook his head, the female doing the same.

With both players staying with their original hands, the dealer finally looked down at his own cards before adding one more to his hand, the value being a three.

On his count up to three, all participants flipped over their cards and the definite winner of the game was revealed.

On the dealer's side was the five of hearts, the nine of clubs and the six of diamonds which totaled to a value of twenty.

To his right, Wūyā had the ten of hearts and the ten of diamonds laying face up in front of him which added up to twenty.

Finally, laying before Diān Qié's smirking form was the king of spades and the ace of spades which equated to an even twenty-one and ended up being the most powerful combination of cards in the entire game.

"Alright, I admit my defeat," the male sighed with a large grin on his face as he stood up before facing each the woman and hold out his hand to her.

"I can have the jade added by tomorrow morning if you let me have your pendant tonight," he continued while she stood up with her bags of silver.

"Thanks for the offer, but you don't need to," the female sighed, "I mean you no offence, but I just met you tonight and this pendant is extremely important to me."

"Diān Qié," the noiret started with a straight face as she looked up to meet his gaze, "I swear that I have no intention of stealing your pendant and that I'll come find you in the morning to give it back."

Finding no trace of a lie in his body language, the nineteen-year-old reluctantly removed her necklace before handing it over to the male.

"Thank you for trusting me, I promise that I won't betray you!" the man cheered as he gave a bright smile and a nod towards the ravenette.

"I would hope you don't, otherwise I'd have to hurt my new friend," she replied, earning a chuckle from the male.

"Well, I can walk you back to where you're staying if you'd like," he continued after stowing away the piece of jewelry, "It is quite late now."

"No need, I'll be fine on my own," Diān Qié declined with a smirk as she tied the bags of silver together and slung them over her right shoulder, "Thanks for the fun night and I'll see you in the morning."

~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~