Heim Lu Bela stared at Rudy with a penetrating glare in her eyes. It almost seemed like the screen was about to shatter, and Heim Lu Bela was going to jump out.
Rudy ignored that and kissed Maria on the lips in front of the crowd, which wasn't an ordinary kiss. He kissed her passionately using his tongue and gave her the toffee he was chewing.
After the kiss, Maria chewed onto the coffee with a dazed expression on her flushed face.
Rudy once again turned to the screen and said, "This makes everything official, right?"
[....]
"I wouldn't mind marrying her right here and now. If you can arrange a priest or a court official, that is," he said calmly.
[Rudy Ross, do you realize what you have done?] Heim Lu Bela asked with a glare in her eyes.
"Yes?"
[That toffee was mine.]
"But you said you don't like the strawberry flavor."
Rudy took out the toffee of all the flavors from his pocket and handed it to the dealer.
[Why did you give her?]
Rudy smiled slightly with a knowing look on his face and uttered, "You know better."
[....]
'I am glad I picked up some toffees from the basket changing room. I don't know who they belong to, but oh well.'
Rudy had supersense, supervision, and electrification. The moment Heim Lu Bela made her appearance on the screen, Rudy hacked into the system and found her location. She was in the room above the stage.
He used his supervision on electrification when Heim Lu Bela hadn't revealed herself. And he saw her sucking on a lollipop. Therefore, he offered her a toffee to reveal herself as he knew that she wouldn't turn him down.
[Rudy Ross, you are undoubtedly a formidable man. I look forward to our match,] she said with a slightly furious look on her face.
Rudy made a 'peace' sign with his fingers and said, "Same."
[The 69th Underworld Tournament concludes here!] Heim Lu Bela announced.
SIGH!
Rudy turned to the dealer and handed her to the mic.
"..."
After that, Rudy and Maria waited for the crowd to leave. But they walked off the stage and blended in with the crowd.
That was a perfect situation for Rudy to teleport, but he had to make sure no one else was touching him.
'I got into the crowd as no one would have noticed if I had teleported with Maria. But everyone is touching me in the crowd.'
Rudy used telekinesis to make some empty space around him and teleported instantly.
"...!"
Maria glanced around in confusion and said, "What happened?!"
"I told you, right?"
"That's your power?!" Maria exclaimed. "I thought you meant like power power…" she said while showing her fist.
"I don't blame you for thinking that. But for now, shall we get into our car? The driver must be bored as hell waiting for the tournament to end," he said jokingly.
"Yeah."
"I would have teleported us directly to Ross Estate, but I want to tell you everything in the car as I may not get a chance at your estate."
They both got into the car, and Rudy began to tell her everything. However, Maria got confused, so Rudy showed her everything by sharing his memory.
Meanwhile, the colosseum had become empty, with not a single soul around, except the dealer who was standing on the stage with a mic and toffees in her hands.
She was looking at the toffees with a curious look on her face.
"Don't eat them, Kim," a voice said as he got louder with the sound of footsteps.
It was Heim Lu Bela.
"I don't plan to anger you, Heim Lu Bela." Kim handed the toffees to Heim Lu Bela and asked, "Why did Rudy Ross give them to me?"
"I wonder why…." Heim Lu Bela took the toffees and muttered, "He couldn't have known, right?"
"I don't know. He seemed mysterious to me. It was as though he was hiding so many things even after revealing most of the secrets," Kim uttered.
"That's what a person with planning does. He knew everything. It can't be a coincidence that all these things happened at once. He had everything planned and knew what he had to do and say."
"Do you think he also knew that you would make your appearance?" Kim asked curiously.
"I have no idea." Heim Lu Bela sighed and muttered, "You know I hate overthinking."
"So him giving me the toffees was a coincidence?"
"It might have been. Perhaps he didn't know who else to give it to, or maybe because you were standing close to him. However, I think he knows who you are." Heim Lu Bela took out a lollipop from her pocket and said, "What do you think, Kim?"
Kim knelt down before Heim Lu Bela and said, "Perhaps… Master."
"Oh, come on. Don't call me that. You are the only one allowed to call me Bella, and I like when you call me that," Bella groaned.
"I cannot dare to call you that, Master."
Bella squinted her eyes and said, "Alright then. I will ignore you unless and until you call me Bella."
"But—"
Bella shut Kim up by stuffing the lollipop in her mouth. Then, she looked at the toffees and raised her brows.
"Kim… these are my toffees…"
"Yes," Kim nodded. "Rudy Ross gave them to you."
"No. They are mine. I forgot my toffee box somewhere, and these are the toffees." Bella frowned her face and said, "Rudy Ross…. you played me. I seriously can't wait for our match."
"..."
After unwrapping them, Bella ate all the toffees at once and said, "I will show you what it means to be the top gambler of the underworld."
On the other side, Rudy had finished showing everything to Maria.
"I… don't know what to say…" she muttered.
"You don't have to say anything. I just showed you everything so you can learn more about me." He kissed Maria on the lips and continued, "I look forward to knowing more about you."
