Of course, she was itching to join in—but with the Crown Prince and his guards right there, surely she’d behave.
Or so it seemed.
The moment she spotted an opening, Hwayeong darted forward without a second thought, slipping neatly through the crowd.
Sinyeong, watching her out of the corner of his eye, quietly followed.
“There’s a marble under one of these cups! Each of you gets one guess! Pick the right one, and the pot is yours! But if no one does... I take the lot! Now shuffle, shuffle, shuffle!”
The man moved with dazzling speed, flipping five cups over and blurring them in a whirlwind of motion. The crowd leaned in, eyes locked on his hands.
Sinyeong stood just behind the seated onlookers, silently observing—until Hwayeong stepped up right beside him.
“Now then, where is it? Place your bets, quickly!”
One person chose the middle, another placed a coin on the far right, and the last put his money on the second cup from the left.
