Chapter 526 You Kneel Too
At Warren’s gleefulness, Sophie was visibly disaffected. “Master Reynolds, don’t you think this completely disobeys the true essence of chess? She’s obviously insulting her opponent! How distasteful!”
Nevertheless, Warren disregarded her words and grabbed Richard, excitedly questioning, “Where’s the person, the person who broke through the tactic? I must see them for myself!”
“I’m here.” A clear, treble timbre traveled from within the crowd behind him.
Warren turned around and saw Elise steadily standing beside Kenneth. “So Sophie’s your student, huh, Old Reynolds?”
When Warren turned around and saw Elise, he almost forgot to breathe.
Seeing her so complacent, Sophie rushed forward and rebuked, “Show some respect, Elise Sinclair! ‘Old Reynolds’? Who do you think you are to call my master that? You better kneel down and apologize, and we might look past this! Or else…”
Thump!
Before she could finish, Warren was already kneeling on the ground.
“Master, wha—” Sophie was dazed and turned to the direction he was kneeling toward, only to see Elise in the way. He’s kneeling to Elise?
“You kneel too!” Warren even raised his head to scold her.
However, Sophie simply wouldn’t kneel. She stared at Warren in stupefaction, thinking her master must have gone insane.
“No way. I’d naturally kneel before my parents and master, but for a dumb game of Scrabble? Not a chance!”
Richard attempted to pull Warren up. “Master Reynolds, even I think kneeling is a bit much. Even though they have their personal bet, kneeling is still fatal to her pride. Miss Sinclair is just being difficult and overly competitive, and Sophie doesn’t deserve this.”
Sophie was immensely grateful to Richard’s words. Since Richard’s words carried more weight in Warren’s ears than those of hers, she assumed that Warren would spare her her pride.
Little did she expect, Warren was much more persistent. With vexation written all over his face, he infuriatingly grasped his walking stick and struck the floor. “If you still take me as your teacher, kneel down this instance!”
Sophie instantly froze, as if she was being strangled. “What gives, Master Reynolds?!” She felt absolutely betrayed, especially when she expected that Warren wouldn’t turn his back against her.
Surprisingly, her old master quickly revealed an irrefutable reason. “What gives? I’ll tell you what gives! The fact that she’s my master is what gives! You said you’d naturally kneel before your master. Does your master’s master not count?”
Master’s master—two words that ferociously blew Sophie’s mind. Shocked stiff, she responded in dismay. “Th-That’s impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible. I’ve grown so old. Sure, my body has grown weak, but my mind never deteriorated. Do you think I’ll mistake someone else for my master, who invented the Malta Tactic?”
The crowd was left speechless. They knew that Warren had lost to an anonymous player when he was overseas, and he willingly became the player’s student. Nonetheless, one thing they did not anticipate was that the anonymous player was the young woman before them!
In the meantime, Kenneth also peered at Elise in astonishment. He had encountered so many surprises from her back when he was Alexander, but each surprise never ceased to astound him even more. And she was his fianceé, who stood taller than everyone and never showed a speck of flaw.
Feeling the strain on his knees, Warren sternly reprimanded, “What are you waiting for, Sophie? What’s wrong with paying respect to your master’s master? You’re the one being difficult right now!”
Perturbed, Sophie grasped the hem of her dress. As she was exerting too much force on her hand, the reddening on her palm was visible. All these years she had lived, she had never undergone such a melodramatic twist. Scorn and resentment stormed in her heart. Now that she had discovered that Elise was her master’s master, how was she supposed to live the rest of her life?
Meanwhile, Elise was still gazing at the unresponsive Sophie.
As their eyes met, Sophie angrily gritted her teeth as she felt the piercing glares on her back. She already noticed the people badmouthing her and saying how she knew nothing about manners. If their gossiping were to continue, her reputation in the organization would shatter. After moments of struggle, she clenched her fists and took a deep breath, hopelessly bent her knees, and kneeled before Elise. However, before she fully kneeled, a pair of hands reached over and grabbed her arms, pulling her up. Surprised, she swiftly opened her eyes, only to see Elise herself.
In that instant, Elise’s eyes curved into crescents, though there was not a trace of friendliness in them. Feeling a chill up her spine, Sophie stuttered, “W-What are you doing?”
“How could I let you kneel to me?” Elise interjected and emotionlessly said, “Your body alone is dearer than the entire universe. There’s no way I can accept your kneel. If you were to hurt your knees while doing so, how am I supposed to pay for it?”
Sophie scowled. If she failed to kneel down, Warren would certainly give her a hard time later. Forcing a smile, she gratifyingly answered, “That won’t happen, Master Sinclair! I’m not that weak. And showing you and Master Reynolds respect is only my obligation. How can I forget such a simple rule?”
“I see…” Elise scoffed. “It seems you have changed your mind and you’re finally willing to kneel. But sadly, I no longer accept it.”
At once, Sophie gasped as she hastily turned to Warren, signaling for help.
However, Warren’s eyes were fixed on Elise. And those eyes resembled those of a religious follower who finally met their God, unable to shift away.
