Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

His eyes were cold and stern; he neither nodded nor shook his head in denial.

He knew perfectly well... he couldn't possibly kill Cecilia faster than the witch.

The witch has three powerful individuals who have ascended to the seventh level, and several who have ascended to the sixth level. If he doesn't seek support from the Imperial Capital Military and the Church, how could his strength possibly be a match for theirs?

To put it bluntly—

He could only silently accept this fact.

Even if he hadn't attended the meeting and hadn't triggered the [Divine Sacrifice], the Dragon Head would still have found the witches and commissioned them to hunt down these five people.

The fact that he was able to stand here beforehand and receive the information has ironically given his daughter the only chance to survive...

"Then, it's decided."

"That's all for today. We've only been working on this one simple thing."

"Next, I hope that all of the witch's friends can successfully fulfill their wishes, and I also hope that Victor can safely protect what he wants to protect."

"Our Dragon God Empire doesn't have many other ideas; we just want to kill a few people."

"Goodbye."

The silver-eyed girl also stood up, patted the bottom of her skirt, gathered the things on the table, and prepared to leave.

but,

Victor suddenly spoke, interrupting the silver-eyed girl's actions:

"Besides asking us to kill them, will your Dragon God Empire also hunt down the people on this list yourselves?"

"what?"

The silver-eyed girl paused, and strands of her silver hair slipped down her shoulders.

But soon, a half-smile crept across her face:

"I do not know."

After saying those four words, she held nothing back. She walked to the door, turned the handle, and disappeared from the simple wooden house into the snow outside.

The wind and snow obscured visibility, and Victor finished the last sip of tea, saying coldly, "Farewell."

……

...

The silver-eyed girl walked down the street, rubbing her shoulders and blowing warm breath on her hands.

The streets of the capital are bustling, with towering, magnificent buildings and snow-white marble sculptures standing in various locations. Blue silk threads are also stretched across the eaves, highlighting the characteristics of the [Star God].

The trees on both sides, just like the snowy day, turned snow-white.

She simply walked into a cake shop as usual.

slam-la-

"I am back."

She spoke to a strange, worn-out white teddy bear that was placed by the door.

At this moment,

The teddy bear's body twitched slightly, and then a hint of blood red appeared in its eyes:

"Xia...Li, welcome...home."

"Ah."

She took off her boots, put on ordinary cotton slippers, and walked to the wooden table next to her. She opened a drawer, took out an envelope, and hastily wrote some words on it.

"The witch learned the special truth about the Star God's death in advance."

"Dragon God, a special hunting list has been issued."

"These things are all beyond the trajectory of the previous life, as if everyone knew how things would develop."

She stared at the envelope, another finger pressed to her lips.

"Yes, Shirley, you're so smart," the doll clapped in praise.

But Shirley didn't reply to it.

After all, the doll doesn't actually have a soul; it's just her talking to herself using ventriloquism, so there's no need for her to respond.

“I can’t hold out for long. Before long, the Dragon God will discover that one of the people He sent to invade is a dead man. After all, the power of faith is questionable.”

"Using the dragon god's head as my vessel is too clever, hee hee."

"Shirley, you're smart!" the doll praised her again.

"The Dragon God dispatched three dragon heads this time, two of them besides me."

“I need to kill them all before the divine sacrifice, or rather, before they make a move against Rhodes, and then lead everyone to retreat directly from Linlank back to Melanie.”

“Melanie, it’s perfectly safe!” the doll exclaimed again.

"There's really no way... The progress of the divine sacrifice is beyond saving, even if we try to do something in secret."

"I just don't know what the current situation is with Rhodes and the others."

"So annoying, so annoying, what happened? Why is everything wrong?"

"It's so itchy. If I get any worse, my soul will burst out of this container. Ugh."

As she wrote, she started scribbling inexplicably—

Rhodes is in first place!

I am Rod's baby!

I'm number one too!

Shirley, perfect, perfect...

As if venting her inner desires and self-awareness, her handwriting became increasingly messy and distorted.

……

...

Dating.

It was a very relaxing experience for Cecilia and Ivina.

How to say?

Because of the shared senses, when someone holds one of Rhodes's hands, it's equivalent to holding both of his hands at the same time, and they can also feel the presence of his aura on both sides.

This... counts as a date with Rhodes alone, doesn't it?

Therefore, Rhodes and his companions were now just like Shirley on the street, with Rhodes holding Cecilia's hand with his left and Ivina's hand with his right, like a family of three.

After all, Ivina is too small.

However, today Ivina didn't have bandages on her head, allowing her golden eye to be exposed naturally.

So, it looks more like a family of three...

Cecilia turned to Ivina and teased, "How was your night?"

Click.

The awkward atmosphere that had just eased instantly reignited.

Ivina's fair face stiffened at first, then her fangs flashed: "I'll beat you two bastards to death! How dare you mention it!"

Rhodes awkwardly looked away: "Although I also have problems, fundamentally..."

Ivina slammed her foot on Rhodes' shoe. "Don't try to deny it!"

"Hiss." Rhodes paused. "Alright."

"But I'm really happy that you actually took me shopping today."

"I'll reluctantly forgive you for what happened last night."

Ivina let out a crisp hum, but her lips curled up slightly.

Rhodes' expression hardened for a moment, then turned into a smile:

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Ivina."

"Cake shop~"

Ivina completely ignored Rhodes' apology, and was instantly drawn to the shops on the street.

In an instant, she took a few steps closer, pressed her cheek against the window of Phillips Cake Shop, staring intently at the black and white cream and fragrant cakes inside.

“Rhodes, I remember reading in the book that you should eat some dessert or have a big meal on your birthday.”

“Ah…I see.” Rhodes nodded, his eyes turning to Ivina. “Well, since we’re out celebrating a birthday, why don’t we buy one?”

"it is good!"

She was just waiting for Rod to say that.

She never had a warm or meaningful birthday.

For her, her birthday was a hellish time in the past.

It was a time when she almost died from being thrown to her death many times as a child, a time she had no desire to recall.

But she had also read in a book that a real birthday should be a time for family to gather together and for everyone to fulfill her wishes.

Of course, she wouldn't say she was really greedy and wanted Rhodes to buy her a big house, but generally speaking, at least she could afford to eat these things, right?

Ivina hummed a little tune, took Rhodes' hand, and pulled Cecilia along with her into the cake shop.

"Welcome." An elderly woman with white hair and a hunched back, wearing a scarf, quickly put down her roll when she heard the doorbell ring.

She walked to the counter and looked at Rod and the others with a kind expression:

"Everyone... Oh? You are... "

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” Rhodes shook his head slightly. “Ivina, you pick one.”

“Me?” Ivina pointed to herself.