Under Maria's "kind invitation", Aigron followed her to the prestigious Frascadi Casino.
As soon as he entered, he felt the heat wave hitting his face.
On the one hand, this "heat" comes from physiology. After all, there are so many people gathered in the casino, and even if the ventilation facilities are good, the temperature will inevitably be higher than outside; but on the other hand, it mostly comes from
spiritual.
In the bustling casino, everyone's faces seemed to be dyed with the color of gold, and everyone's eyes also had a crazy light. Either they wanted to win after winning money, or they wanted to win after losing money.
Ben, the desire for money and victory has made gamblers crazy about it, as if the gambling table is the entire meaning of their lives at this moment.
Every casino tries to spare no effort to decorate itself. Firstly, it shows its strength as a banker so that gamblers can come and gamble with confidence. Secondly, it creates a sense of illusion that is beyond the real world and makes gamblers subconsciously aware of it.
to give up one's own self-control.
After all, all the extravagant decorations are ultimately paid for by the gamblers themselves, so why should they care about the cost?
As the largest and most famous casino in Paris, Casino Frascadi has naturally achieved the ultimate in this aspect.
As far as the eye can see, Aiglon is a wide hall. The interior decoration of the casino is a solemn and deliberately luxurious imitation Baroque style. Marble floors, crystal chandeliers, embroidered fabrics, exquisite paintings are all available, and even the walls are surrounded by Greek paintings.
The various stone pillars and complicated stone carving decorations, this kind of intoxicating luxury, even the palace has never had.
This kind of fiery passion is like an invisible mudslide, swallowing everyone's soul. Even Aigron couldn't help but feel a little dizzy when he just faced this kind of scene.
Aigron asked himself that he had seen a lot of great things in the world in just a few years, but he still found a long-lost "novelty" here.
No wonder Maria is so fascinated by this place.
Before Egron could express any emotion, he was led by Maria to the gaming table and the crowd.
On the way here, the pedestrians passing by did not pay attention to Aigron's face. It was impossible for them to believe that they had just met His Majesty the King of Rome; and after arriving at the casino, no one cared about him anymore. The gamblers
All their attention has been focused on themselves or others' "fighting". Who would care about the young men and women passing by them? Even if someone told them the true identities of these two people at this time, they would probably not care at all.
The closer he got to the crowd, the more Aigron felt the collective excitement.
The turbid air was mixed with the smell of incense, tobacco and sweat. The smell was not pleasant, but Aigron could only frown and endure it, and then looked at Maria in his arms.
Maria's eyes were wandering around the gambling tables at the moment. She stared at the gray-faced gamblers with shining eyes.
At this moment, a sharp scream came from one of the gaming tables, followed by the cheers of the onlookers.
It looked like a gambler lost after a heavy bet. Seeing the dealer mercilessly taking away the chips he regarded as his life, he let out a desperate cry.
"Look! He must have lost everything, right? Look at how desperate his expression is!" There was no pity in Maria's eyes, but rather as if she was watching some interesting drama.
It is true that Aigron has no sympathy for gamblers. He knows that once a person has this depraved hobby, it will be a matter of time before he loses his fortune and it is entirely his own fault. However, he does not have the hobby of taking pleasure in the misery of others.
He did kill people and set fires, and he was always ready to continue doing so, but for him this was only something he did "when necessary". The crime itself did not bring him any pleasure, it was just to achieve his goal.
Just the tools used.
At the moment, these gamblers have no grievances against him and are unlikely to block his way. Of course, he has no interest in taking their plight for fun.
"I don't think this is something to be happy about, ma'am." So Aigron commented.
"Do you think I only like to see other people being unlucky and then take pleasure in cruel encounters?" From Aigron's expression, Maria noticed his thoughts, so she glared at him, and then defended herself, "Admittedly, I do
I'm very interested in this, but when a gambler comes home with a huge profit at the gambling table, I will also applaud him and cheer him! Ultimately, I like to see people in their truest form, whether they are the happiest or the most desperate.
Everything is fine.”
In fact, he was just empty and looking for excitement...Aigron complained in his heart.
However, for a member of the fringe royal family who has been living in seclusion in the palace all year round, she has no worries about food and clothing and does not have to worry about her livelihood. She is not taken seriously and does not have any real power. Therefore, her self-esteem is not upheld, and she often develops weird personalities.
and behavior.
Such examples abound in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. In comparison, what Maria did was not too outrageous.
"Then let's continue to have fun today?" Aigron didn't hesitate anymore, but asked the other party.
"Now that you're here, wouldn't it be a pity to just be a bystander?" Maria raised her eyebrows, and then directly made her conclusion.
Then, she looked around, and then brought Aigron to a roulette table.
When she came to the roulette wheel, there were already several people at the gambling table. These gamblers had already placed their bets and were just waiting for the roulette machine to start and give out a fateful verdict.
It can be seen that Maria must have played this kind of gambling many times recently, and she is very familiar with everything here. She took out a 1,000 franc note from her wallet, and then threw it into the betting area without looking at it.
"Black" area.
There are a total of 37 numbers from 0 to 36 on the roulette wheel. Except for 0 which is green, the remaining 36 numbers are arranged in wrong order on the roulette wheel and are then marked with two colors: red and black.
She bet on the black area, which means that if the final result of the roulette wheel is a black number (a total of 18), then she will be successful, and the odds are 1 to 2.
In this era, 1,000 francs was enough to be equivalent to a year's salary of an ordinary worker. Seeing a young woman spending so generously as soon as she came up, the gamblers nearby looked at her with suspicion.
But they were not in the mood to pay too much attention to an irrelevant beautiful woman. The charm of the gambling table was much stronger than any other woman. In an instant, the roulette wheel started, and then a small ivory ball began to roll around in the roulette wheel.
go.
It was not very fast, but it naturally became the focus of the surrounding gamblers. They first stared at it with bated breath, and then subconsciously began to shout, praying that this inconspicuous white ball would fall on the number they wanted.
At this moment, the most devout believers may not be able to compare with their desires.
Amid the shouts of the crowd, the artifact that determined their fate gradually stopped and made its fateful decision.
19, red.
After the dust settled, the onlookers shouted with excitement or grief, while Maria looked calm, not at all like a gambler who had just lost a thousand francs.
"You lost." Aigron whispered.
"Yes, I lost. It seems that my luck is not good today." Maria nodded calmly, then turned to look at Aigron with a calm smile, "Do you do the same?"
"I have never played, but I know some of the rules." Aigron answered with a smile.
However, although they were chatting and laughing on the surface, Aigron was thinking about another problem in his heart.
How much money does Maria have?
He didn't know this, and it was hard to ask, but he knew that it would never be so much that he wouldn't need to treat it as money at all.
As the princess of the kingdom, her personal living conditions are certainly not bad, but after all, she is not too close to Brother Wang, has no personal assets, and does not have the favor of the Wang family. In other words, her personal "private money" will never be too big.
many.
This means that if she keeps gambling in this unskilled way, she may soon lose all her wealth...
"Although I have no right to interfere with your personal hobbies, I advise you not to indulge yourself too much..." Because he was worried about this, Aigron couldn't help admonishing Maria, "Many people don't let themselves get too involved before they get stuck in the mud.
Everyone thinks that this is just a harmless hobby, but the actual situation is not like this. Once you become addicted to it, the gambling table will become a bottomless pit, and you can lose no matter how much money you have! And if this kind of thing spreads, it will also become a mark on your reputation.
The stain will do you no harm at all."
In fact, there are many precedents for this in history. Before the Great Revolution destroyed the old system, the princes and nobles liked to use gambling as a pastime in addition to their extravagant and extravagant lives, and they had almost no restraint. Many big nobles lost their money and became infamous because of this.
, the poor King Louis XVI who was beheaded had paid off huge gambling debts for his brothers several times.
The dissolute and unrestrained life of the princes and nobles, as well as their "bad deeds" of being in debt everywhere, naturally aroused the resentment of the people and became the catalyst for the Great Revolution.
Maria just smiled at Aigron's advice.
"You're right, I know, but what does it matter? I know moderation, and I know how much I should spend on my entertainment—"
Since Maria had already talked about this, Aigron naturally couldn't say anything more.
He believed that as Sophie's sister, Maria would not lose her mind so easily, and she would be able to control herself well.
"We are already here, don't you want to try your luck yourself, sir?" At this time, Maria pointed at the gaming table and made an invitation gesture to him.
Aigron looked at the roulette wheel that was getting ready to start the next lottery draw, and then looked at Maria.
"I don't need to use this kind of thing to verify my luck - I will create my own luck." He raised his head. "But if you want me to accompany you to have fun, of course, how do you want me to bet?
?Know that there are many ways to bet."
"Since you are so confident, how about you try betting on a number?" Maria asked.
Aiglon frowned slightly.
Roulette has odd and even or red and black betting methods (the odds are one to two), and there is also a number series betting method (the odds are one to five), which essentially means "betting on multiple numbers".
Spread the risk, and betting on a single number is the riskiest of them all - a probability of 1 in 37, with odds of 36 to 1.
With such a low probability, even those gamblers who lose red-eye usually won't try it easily because it is too easy to lose everything.
"You really have confidence in me..." Aigron couldn't help but smile bitterly, "You picked the hardest thing for me."
"Even if you lose, it won't matter to you. It just blows your mind -" Maria looked at him with a smile, "On the contrary, if you can win in this way, then I will admit what you said."
Everything is true!"
Aigron was right.
Even if his bet really fails and he loses some money, what does it matter?
"Then if I win, can you agree to a condition?" He asked with a smile.
"What conditions?" Maria was a little surprised and asked.
"I haven't thought about it yet, but if I bring it up one day and you can do it, I ask you to promise me -" Aigron spread his hands, "Use a probability of 1/37 to win
Is it not too much to ask for one of your conditions?"
Faced with Aigron's provocative eyes and confident attitude, Maria was stunned for a moment. Her eyes wandered back and forth between the young man in front of her and the wooden gaming table.
After a moment of hesitation, she made up her mind.
She has lived a confused and empty life so far, and she doesn't know where it will go or what she needs to pursue. Now, she leaves it to fate to make the decision...if you really have the ability.
"Okay -" a competitive light appeared in her eyes, and she nodded generously, "Since I brought you here and forced you to play, then I should give it to you.
Make a corresponding bid, I think your conditions are quite reasonable, so I promise you - come on!"
"Then come!" Aigron also nodded.
So, he said no more and took out his wallet from his arms.
There isn't much money in his wallet, but it doesn't matter, because this is not about money anymore. This is a dispute between two people. This is a debate about who is favored by fate, and he has the confidence to do so.
Clear your name.
He took out a gold coin with the face of Emperor Napoleon on the front and a face value of 20 francs.
He looked at the profile picture in front of him.
Please, let me win...I need to win!
There is no need to think too much, there is no point in thinking about it. This is a pure challenge to fate. The probability of 1 in 37 is that there is no skill at all. Believe in yourself and your initial feeling.
Then, without thinking, he threw the gold coin that carried destiny onto the number 25.
The roulette wheel slowly rotated again, and the ivory ball drew a trajectory of destiny on the roulette wheel, heading towards the final result...