An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

Crystal frowned as she met Miles's intense gaze. "Miles, you should call it quits. If you continue to gamble, it'll only lead you deeper into trouble."

Gamblers often found themselves trapped in a cycle of addiction, and they were never content with their winnings.

Their insatiable desire for more drove them to risk everything. Hence, it often led them to stray from the right path.

At that moment, he appeared to be showing signs of addiction. If left unchecked, it could lead to disaster.

"Just one more bet, Crystal. I promise. If I win this time, I'll quit for good," Miles pleaded earnestly.

"Yes, I'm with him. I've even wagered my sword. I need to win it back," Ruby chimed in.

Their hopeful eyes bore into Crystal's.

"Have you considered the consequences if you lose?" she countered.

"It won't happen, I swear. I'll be cautious this time and only bet when I'm confident. I won't lose again," Miles assured.

"Yeah, we were led astray before. If we had trusted our instincts, we'd be winning by now," Ruby added.

"Don't you get it? Gambling never ends well. If you keep going, it'll only end badly," Crystal said sternly.

"Crystal, just one more try. If we break even, we'll quit for good! I promise," Miles pleaded.

lend us some. We'll pay you back

Can't you see what's at stake

we've won before. What happened earlier was just bad luck. If you lend us some celestial

just want to get our swords back. Please, give us one

back, but I won't lend you any celestial stones

hearing that, Miles and Ruby exchanged a helpless glance. They knew Crystal's

couldn't bring themselves to give up. They still hoped to recover the celestial stones

approached the betting table and redeemed the swords they had

swords. No more gambling." She tossed the swords back to Miles

from them as they looked at their swords. It wasn't happiness they felt but rather a profound sense of melancholy

was that the celestial stones lost in their bets were

disheartened. Crystal is right. If you keep gambling, you'll only dig yourselves into a deeper hole," Dalen chimed

racked up a bunch of celestial stones. Obviously, you can afford to walk away. But we

Mr. Shade knows when to walk away. But you? You win once, and suddenly, you're hungry for more. How do you expect not to lose? Your insatiable greed is what's blinding you in the end!" Crystal

and Ruby exchanged a glance and opted to stay

scheme continued. With her enthusiastic urging, another batch of new gamblers

the cycle began

rounds. Then, she would let them savor

celestial stones, while the remaining ended up as

that luck could still be on their side. One defeat didn't