[ That laughter gets a wide grin from him since Claude would be lying to himself if that wasn't half of his point - the other half being that this is a valid challenge after all and not just from birthday wishes alone. ]

No, I think you should genuinely fear losing all of your clothes at a much faster rate than I will. [ He might be playing up the smugness there purely for effect, especially considering he knows Sylvain isn't likely to go easy on him. Just as much as the reverse is also true considering they're both a little too competitive for that.

Which is why after Sylvain brings his backup piece in, Claude immediately sweeps one of his other pieces lying in wait over to claim it and hold it up between two fingers to waggle it triumphantly. ]

Look, I'll even be nice and say you can pick the first thing to lose this time around.