The Legendary Pseudo-villain

This was done when he was checking the cards.

He had purposefully checked the cards in front of the two men and had accused them of cheating before because he wanted to confuse them and distract them. In the end, he succeeded as the two got angry at him and ended up being distracted enough to not realize that Hecathe was fake shuffling the cards. 

This was clearly cheating, but why should Hecathe care since he planned on winning?

If one wanted to enjoy the game, they would play fair but if a person played only to win then wasn't cheating a needed method to ensure that win? 

If the two before him were honest men then Hecathe would have thought a couple more times before deciding to cheat but since they both had the same untrustworthy brain cells, the decision to cheat wasn't hard to make for Hecathe. 

The first round was announced and the player placed their cards on the table one by one. 

The other two placed a four of spades and a six of diamonds whereas Hecathe placed a five of hearts. 

He won against one but lost against the other, however, this was all going exactly as Hecathe had planned. 

"The mistress of luck seems to be confused with this one. Hahaha..." One of the men laughed as he commented and Hecathe simply smiled as he heard this. 

"Maybe she'll make up her mind in the next round," The other man added as he laughed together with his partner. 

Hecathe was clearly being mocked by these two but he acted as if he hadn't noticed because, unlike that monkey who had gambled off a wedding ring, Hecathe was smart enough to realize that the two were trying to incite him to raise his bet. 

"You win this round," Hecathe sighed as he tried to act dejected, but on the inside, these feelings were naturally not there. 

Even if they had won the first round, the game was still going to be won by Hecathe as the first round hardly mattered. 

What truly mattered was the end result. In the end, when all the cards are calculated, the one with the lowest number would win and that person would naturally be Hecathe who owned all the aces. 

Seeing that Hecathe wasn't too keen on arguing with them, the other two shared a look and didn't bother saying anything more. 

In the second round, the two men placed a three of hearts and a seven of clubs respectively whereas Hecathe placed a two of spades this time. 

"Oh my! The mistress of luck seems to have taken a liking to you," One of the men commented with a chuckle, not sounding disappointed at all by the fact that he had lost this round. 

Hecathe pursed his lips into a thin smile as he heard this but once again, he said nothing more and was adamant about staying stingy with his words. 

In his head, he concluded that these two men were trying to use the same tactic that they had used with that other monkey. They were going to act as if this game was fair. They would let Hecathe win sometimes in order to give him confidence so that he could raise the bet. 

However, they were clearly unaware of the fact that Hecathe already knew the cards that they had. He was unsure about two or three cards but the rest, he knew because he was the one who counted before shuffling and handling. 

"You win this round, lad. Why don't you look happy?" The other asked as he suspiciously looked at Hecathe. 

"I won this round but I am yet to win the game. Why do you expect me to be happy about something so small?" Hecathe tilted his head as he asked back in turn. 

"..." The two men were left speechless as they heard this confident youth. 

They failed to make small talk once again and were forced to play the third round straight away. 

This time, it was Hecathe who placed his card first and the other two placed their own cards after having seen the man's card. 

Hecathe placed down a two of diamonds and one of the older men placed down a queen of spades while the other placed down an ace of hearts. 

He won against one but lost against the other. 

Hecathe lips curled up in a smirk as he saw this and the other two men couldn't guess the reason behind the man's smile.

"Two of diamonds," One of the men laughed as he commented with a rather naturally loud voice, "The mistress of luck seems to be serious with you, but it still refuses to let you win." 

Hecathe chuckled as he heard this and picked up the rest of the seven cards left with him before peeking at them to see that there was indeed an ace missing from there. 

"I see," Hecathe nodded his head as he muttered to himself but didn't say anything outright to the people who had clearly stolen one of his cards. 

"Young lad, you're quite lucky. Why don't you raise the bet and really make this game worth the win?" The other guy asked as he looked at Hecathe, feigning to be nothing more than curious. 

Hecathe smiled as he raised his head and looked back at the man. This time, he actually bothered to respond, "Why would I raise my bet when the ring is all I'm after?" 

"It never hurts to be ambitious," The man chuckled as he responded, "You might just need the ring but an extra little cash isn't going to hurt you, is it?" 

"An extra little cash?" Hecathe repeated and acted as if he was thinking about it seriously before he spoke, "Then you should raise the bet. After all, I would be winning your money, right?" 

"..." 

This young man was really not skilled in holding up a conversation without making the other person feel awkward and speechless. 

Hecathe chuckled as he saw the wordless response he got that had somehow managed to satisfy him and he spoke, "Let's place the next cards and see if the lady luck really prefers me over such two wise old gentlemen." 

The two men gritted their teeth as they heard this but tried their best to hide it behind a smile, however, a malicious intent was never hard to detect for Hecathe. 

This time, Hecathe let the men place their cards first and while one of them placed a six of spades, the other one placed a three of diamonds. 

Hecathe took out his ace of spades this time but once the card was placed down on the table, what was displayed was a king of clubs instead. 

The other two laughed as they saw this and happily announced, "It seems the third time is really not a charm!~ Hahaha..." 

Hecathe sighed as he nodded his head and pursed his lips before flipping all his cards in front of him at once. 

He took a good look at them only to notice that there was not a single ace left behind with him. 

"I see," Hecathe muttered to himself as he stood up from the chair, "So this was how you tricked the monkey." 

The two men looked to be shocked as they saw Hecathe's sudden action and when they heard this particular comment about them tricking the other gambler, they couldn't help but slam their hands on the table as they defensively stood up and shouted at Hecathe. 

"Young man, what are you trying to do?!" 

"Are you calling us cheaters?!" 

Hecathe chuckled as he heard this and shook his head as he took the watch that he had previously placed on the table and wore it back leisurely as if he was just allowed to do that. 

"Oi! Who said you can take it back?!" One of the men shouted as he grabbed Hecathe's hand in hopes of stopping him but Hecathe didn't seem to be bothered by it as he wrapped his hand around the man's wrist and smiled. 

"Excuse me, but do I need your permission to take back things that belong to me?" Hecathe asked as he innocently tilted his head before twisting the man's arm and forcibly making him let go of Hecathe. 

"Ah!" A loud agonizing scream was heard from the old man whose bones had certainly been broken by Hecathe. 

"What the hell are you trying to do?! You just lost! What type of a man are you if you can't even accept a loss with dignity?!" The other guy shouted accusingly and the audience that was enjoying this intense scene started murmuring among themselves. 

Hecathe sighed as he heard this ridiculous question, "You ask me what type of a man I am? Let me tell you." 

Hecathe let go of the guy whose wrist had been broken and pushed the table away easily before stepping closer to the other guy who just seemed to be a bit too eager to end up like his partner.