Itrapped stepped through the doors of Chance’s casino and slowed without meaning to.

The place glowed.

Light spilled from chandeliers that looked expensive enough to blind someone if they stared too long. The carpet softened every step he took. Machines blinked in lazy colors. Cards slid across felt tables while chips clicked together in neat little towers. Someone laughed too loudly near the roulette wheel. Glass tapped wood somewhere behind him.

His eyes wandered across the room, lingering on the ceiling patterns, the polished rails, the gold accents lining the balconies.

"Господи…"

The word surfaced quietly in his head.

"Красиво."

Beautiful. Too beautiful for a boy like Chance to be running.

Itrapped kept walking, slow enough that nobody would think twice about him looking around. His gaze drifted upward again.

"Он правда всем этим управляет?" Does he really run all this? Chance.

The name alone almost made him smile. Itrapped’s eyes moved across the room again.

No tension in the guards. No paranoia in the layout. Cameras, yes. Security, yes. But the atmosphere was soft. Comfortable.

The kind of place built by someone who still believed the world wasn’t trying to take advantage of him.

"Наивный." Naive.

Itrapped watched a dealer push chips toward a player who had just won. The player’s face lit up like a child.

The casino had that effect on people. Hope. Adrenaline. Chance must have loved that feeling.

Itrapped’s hand brushed the edge of a poker table as he passed, fingers gliding over the fabric.

"Он ведь даже не понимает…"

He probably doesn’t even realize.

That thought lingered longer than the others.

Chance had grown up around power. Around money. Around whatever influence his parents held over the Banlands. And yet everything about this place felt… open. Welcoming.

Itrapped tilted his head slightly, studying the balcony above the main floor.

"Если бы он знал, сколько людей пришли бы сюда не играть…"

If he knew how many people would come here not to gamble.

"А за ключом."

But for the key. The Banlands. The biggest bank system left standing. And the key to it sitting comfortably within Chance’s family.

Itrapped exhaled slowly through his nose.

"Но ты даже не подозреваешь об этом, да?" But you don’t suspect any of that, do you?

His gaze drifted toward the deeper halls of the casino.

Somewhere in this place, Chance was probably walking around like he owned the world. Smiling at guests. Talking to people he had just met.

Itrapped felt the corner of his mouth lift slightly.

"Хорошо." Good.

That kind of personality made things easier. People like Chance didn’t expect knives behind handshakes.

Itrapped adjusted his sleeves slightly as he continued deeper into the casino.

"Я просто поговорю с тобой." I’ll just talk to you.

"Посмеюсь с тобой." Laugh with you.

"Стану другом." Pretend to be a friend.

His eyes flicked briefly toward the staff moving around the room. Itrapped’s gaze settled calmly ahead as he kept walking through the warm light of the casino, walking over to the area where Chance lies giggling. With one purpose in mind.