Kiku didn't say anything for a little while. He just sat there, stone-faced as ever, and stared. The calculating look in his deep brown eyes snuffed out, quickly being replaced by an unreadable emotion.

Right then and there, Lovino knew his plan had worked.

He never anticipated Kiku resorting to cheating in order to win; he had been operating under the assumption that the calm and collected Queen of Hearts was just too good to even consider the possibility of losing.

But now, Lovino knew the truth. And, frankly, he was rather disappointed by it.

Now, if Kiku had found some complicated extravagant way to align the game results in his favor, Lovino would have actually been impressed.

But that wasn't what happened, huh?

Seriously. All he did was mark the cards, with a goddamn needle no less!

Meanwhile, from the corner of his eye, Lovino noticed Ludwig stiffen as well. Why, exactly, he didn't know. While the two monarchs were playing for a common goal, they weren't actually collaborating directly.

Maybe that potato bastard's reading Kiku, too.

He must know they're both screwed, now, right?

Lovino half-expected Kiku to say something—anything—to save himself. Perhaps he would admit his deceit to Feliciano, which would then deem the entire game invalid. Perhaps, next, he would offer up a different game; one with a more advanced cheating system in place that Lovino couldn't even dream of figuring out.

But Kiku did no such thing.

Instead, he kept his mouth shut and revealed the cards he claimed to be three nines, and sure enough, the claim was complete bullshit.

Maybe… he doesn't know I've got him figured out, yet. An evil smirk formed on his face, though he covered it with his hand. Damn. That makes it so much more fun for me.

Wordlessly, Kiku took the rest of the deck, which, fortunately for him, wasn't too big.

"It's your turn, Lovino," the King of Hearts said, breaking through the silence awkwardly.

"You think we're on a first-name basis now, eh?" Lovino scoffed before looking down at his cards that were now lying in his lap as a protection measure against Kiku's strategy.

And the moment he was able to get a good look at his hand, he knew that he'd have to bluff again.

Shit. No tens.

Lovino bit his lip hard, almost drawing blood. He refrained from letting his eyebrows narrow and lips twist into a frown for the fear that the other two would be able to sense his stress.

It had just been made abundantly clear that Kiku's deception could be of detriment to the both of them, however…

How am I supposed to avoid this?

If I put down something random and try to bluff again, he can just look at the markings and call me out.

A sickly feeling of dread crept up in his chest.

How am I supposed to get around this?

I mean, yeah, I could just expose the cheating and end the game, but that's just… boring!

There's got to be another way.

Frantically, Lovino's gaze jumped from card to card, hoping to come up with something.

And at the mercy of the god or gods or whatever existed up there, it worked.

An invisible lightbulb flashed above his head. His eyebrows were raised high on his face.

Ever since he'd changed into his new, befitting-of-a-noble-in-an-alternative-universe clothes, Lovino had been feeling a sharp prick in his shoulder.

And, no, it wasn't figurative.

That sharp prick was a result of the safety pin fastened on his epaulet.

He would've complained about the pain, but it didn't seem like that big of a concern compared to the issue of him literally being trapped in an unfamiliar gambling-fueled world in his doppelgänger's place.

But now… this seemingly insignificant detail could throw Kiku as well as the entire game for a loop.

I don't have a needle, but if I could use this stupid thing to emulate the markings Kiku made on all the tens… Lovino carefully bent the sharp part of the pin outwards, making sure no one else could see it in his lap. It just might work!

Now, I just have to know how many holes are priced into the tens. I don't have any, so that might be pretty hard.

Oh, well. He'd just have to find a pattern of sorts using the cards he already had.

Hey, it's actually super obvious, Lovino noted. The number of holes corresponded with the number on the card. How original.

I can add marks, but I can't take any away. So, anything below a ten…

Lovino plucked out an eight from his deck, quickly added two pinpricks to the margin, and slapped it on top of the bare table.

"One ten."

Lovino couldn't help but catch Kiku's eyes scanning the face-down card. The Queen of Hearts was probably convinced that the card Lovino's played was actually a ten, though Lovino knew that couldn't be more wrong.

It was Ludwig's turn, next. He put down a pair of cards. "Two jacks."

Lovino was aware that he could easily glance at the cards—just like how Kiku did—and confirm Ludwig's claim for himself. And he was actually about to, until another idea popped to mind.

Just let this one go, the figurative little devil on his shoulder advised. Wait for the deck to stack up, then make your move.

If there was an angel on his right shoulder too, it certainly didn't bother countering this suggestion. So, Lovino decided he would just roll with it.

Plus, Ludwig isn't who I'm up against, this time. Hazel eyes bore into brown. It's him.

Kiku slid one card out of his hand and set it down. Then another. Then another. Then another.

"Four queens."

After this was said, nothing else was heard for a little while. Ludwig's eyes widened a little, but his lips remained pressed together in a straight line.

Lovino didn't even have to look at the card's pinpricks to know it was a bluff. Because even if Kiku did have the Queen of Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds…

I have the Queen of Hearts.

Nevertheless, Lovino didn't object, still determined to follow through with his plan to the very end.

All he did was down a pair of cards.

"Two kings."

And so, the game continued on. Lovino saw right through anything and everything Ludwig and Kiku tried to pull on him, yet he remained silent about it.

See? If they get all confident that they're going to win, that'll only make the loss that much worse!

It was sort of like a mutual system they had in place: Lovino didn't call their bluffs, they didn't call Lovino's.

But the only thing is, it wasn't mutual at all. The only reason the other two didn't call Lovino's bluffs is that they didn't even know they were bluffs in the first place.

And because nobody was calling, the deck continued to grow and grow until they were left with only a few cards each.

"Two sixes," Kiku said. Those two cards were his last two; he would win right when the next person put down their card.

But Lovino Vargas was not about to let that happen.

This is it!

Lovino looked at the white border of the card Kiku had put down and counted the pinpricks.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

…

Five. That was all.

Lovino repressed a fit of evil laughter and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Now, that's…" He reached across the table and flipped the cards over. "Bullshit."

A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter was short! I'm currently working on several other fics, and it's getting a little hard to keep up with all of them.
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review/comment!

(Also, this chapter would've been titled "A Queen's Gambit," but I would rather not get copyrighted.)