Adrien's nose twitched when he saw the seven of coins that had just landed in his hand. He conspicuously sniffled to mask his blunder. Even though Val didn't act like he had noticed, Adrien had seen enough of how he played cards by that point in the evening to know that he was frighteningly good at concealing his strategies, and that he was perfectly capable of reading him without needing to lift his gaze from his cards.

Face up on the table, there were a five and a three - making eight all together, which meant that Adrien could not make a play with the seven of coins yet. In his hand, Adrien also had a king of coins and a four of cups. If he placed the four of cups on the table, he could use the seven of coins in his next turn to capture three and four - provided that Val wouldn't block him. Adrien knew that the seven of clubs had yet to appear, and there was only one more hand before the end of the round - it wasn't unlikely at all that Val was currently holding it; if that was the case, setting the table for a seven would mean that Val would get to play and keep his valuable seven of clubs, forcing Adrien to drop the seven of coins. If Adrien played the king of coins, instead, he would not help his later moves at all, but he also would not be potentially turning the table to Val's advantage. And if Val had low cards, he would then have to drop them, which might create once again a combination leading to seven. His eyes darted between his cards and Val's serene face. Which move was less likely to arise suspicion? How much had Val figured out yet?