Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

Ivina scratched her head beside her. "Cecilia!"

Cecilia laughed even harder at Ivina's exasperated expression.

She bent down, smiling gently, and said softly, enunciating each word clearly:

"Your lover, tonight, I've borrowed my dear sister."

"Enjoy the night to the fullest!"

brush--

Cecilia's hand was grabbed.

"what?"

Yes.

Ivina wasn't one to take things lying down. Even though she knew Cecilia was joking, she just didn't want Cecilia to joke with her.

Therefore, her hand actually grabbed Cecilia.

"Little sister, do you want to be affectionate with me? We can do that when we get back..."

"Kiss you my foot!"

In an instant, she pulled Cecilia over and delivered a super headbutt.

bump!

With a thud, their foreheads collided.

Chapter 150 Her Greatest Courage

This was a serious blow to Cecilia.

Just kidding, she herself couldn't feel any pain, but the pain coming from Ivina was a different story.

It's clear that Ivina deliberately set the sharing to the maximum, causing the pain of that heavy blow to be truly etched onto Cecilia's forehead.

"Sigh~"

Both girls bent down at the same time and then reached out to cover their foreheads.

This scene is quite funny.

To injure the enemy by a hundred, you also lose a hundred of your own.

"Now you know how formidable I am, right?" Ivina winced in pain, but still forced a calm smile as she looked at Cecilia, like a victor.

"You're really sick in the head," Cecilia snapped angrily. "Can't you be a little more mature?"

“Mature? Maturity is causing trouble every day like this?” Ivina raised her head, her scarlet, jewel-like eyes looking at Cecilia, and said, “You’re just a child at heart, what’s the difference between you and me? Just a mere shadow.”

Cecilia raised her hands, looking helpless:

"Fine, fine, I give up. I won't tease you anymore, okay?"

"Hmph." Ivina looked away, walked to Rhodes' side, and took his hand. "If you cause trouble again in the future, you know the consequences."

The moment the soft hand touched her, the rise and fall of her chest was quickly smoothed out.

"Consequences? What consequences?"

Ivina's eyes returned to their usual pale color, but a hint of emotion flickered in her lower gaze.

To be honest, Cecilia understood that the so-called bad things she did were essentially her own fault.

It was because of her that this guy was created, therefore she has an absolute obligation to bear this responsibility.

Of course, she couldn't directly erase Cecilia, who had become an independent entity, but there was a very simple method—

"I just need to bleed myself, so you can experience the feeling of being paralyzed all over during a battle, then falling to the ground and losing control of your muscles."

"Don't forget, no matter how many clones you have, it's meaningless. As long as I'm alive, your weakness will remain."

This was Ivina's initial preparation—if Cecilia really messed things up, she would trade her life for the chance to end it all.

This was her duty, something she realized after being rescued by Rhodes.

Having faced death and death again, she has grown up considerably.

She was no longer that simple, wild girl who greedily indulged in fleeting pleasures.

Of course, she would also like the beautiful story to continue forever, but if it has to be this way... she has her own way of making her decision.

Cecilia's eyes flickered, and her lips curled into a smile:

"You're really sick."

“A little,” Rhodes nodded in acknowledgment.

At the same time, he reached out and lightly chopped Ivina's head twice with a hand chop.

With two sharp snaps, the tuft of silver hair sticking up on Ivina's head was pressed down, and at the same time she let out a whimper: "Ugh!"

Ivina buried her face in her hands again, a tear welling in her eye, and glared at Rhodes with a mixture of grievance and fierceness.

"What are you doing? I'm having a proper negotiation!"

"You must never have that thought again."

Rod's voice was as light as a feather. He placed the cake box he was carrying on the stone beside him, gently opened the box, and revealed the star-blue cake inside.

"No matter what the situation, I will handle it well, so don't think about winning by making sacrifices."

"I only said 'if'! I didn't say anything absolute or certain. It's just a threat, don't you understand?"

"How could I possibly sacrifice my life for such a worthless shadow?"

Ivina hummed and turned her head away.

Even so, Rhodes was not fooled by this cover-up.

After all, the girl's words were so weighty that they were clearly not just empty words, but rather words spoken after thorough preparation.

The more one's body and throat tremble in response to such threatening words, the stronger the determination to succeed.

And Ivina...

She was already trembling uncontrollably.

Rod simply took out a few candles:

"When you get back, those guys will probably make a lot of noise, which won't be good for you to make a wish."

"Perfect timing, this place is just outside the Duke's mansion, which also symbolizes a new beginning, so let's eat here."

"There wasn't much cake, so the three of us secretly divided it up, and it was just right."

Rhodes looked around. Just outside the Duke's mansion was a lush green lawn with a few trees, which could be considered a nice picnic spot.

"Huh? Aren't you going to share with Felicity and the others? It's a birthday celebration, you should at least share with everyone..."

"Do you want them to wish you a happy birthday?" Rhodes looked at Ivina.

“…It doesn’t matter to me.” Ivina said hesitantly, her fingers already fidgeting. “Anyway, we haven’t known each other for very long, so they probably won’t care.”

One second they were talking about sharing, and the next second they changed their attitude and became awkwardly negative.

It was that bit of pride in her heart that made her unwilling to appear coy.

But at the same time, there is also a sense of isolation from the team.

It's obvious that, whether it was during an argument or something else, she was always in a relatively independent position.

Although she said in her heart that she followed Rhodes only to be with him, to be honest... when a group of people get together and you are the only one who feels out of place, it already says enough.

But the root of this sense of isolation is not a problem with the team, because Natalie is very good at taking care of others, and Felicity is gentle enough.

Ultimately, it was just Ivina's own awkward thoughts.

"A person's first reaction is often their most authentic action."

Rod shook his head and put the packaging back on.

"We don't actually have much resentment or conflict. It's just that an invincible team has gone through the same old path again."

"This life, for us, is merely a way to fulfill the regrets of our past."

“But Ivina, you have no regrets, and you are not allowed to have any regrets.”

"Since you want everyone's blessings, then just have fun together."

"..." Ivina neither nodded nor shook her head, but remained quietly silent.

At that moment, Rod reached out and gently stroked her head, bringing his face closer.

"Ugh...!" Ivina felt a little awkward and wanted to resist again, but she stopped herself.

Rod spoke calmly:

"If you still have that idea, there's nothing I can do. I won't give you the chance to do such a thing, understand?"

"Okay, okay, stop talking."

……

By the time I got back to the apartment, it was already quite late.

Seemingly to accommodate Rhodes taking Ivina out for her birthday, Natalie took on the responsibility quite consciously, and nodded with satisfaction as she looked at the arrangements with her hands on her hips.

"very good!"

At this moment, Rod's apartment was decorated with lights to celebrate his birthday, and some items had been turned into birthday props, such as pillows on the sofa and food on the table.

No member under her leadership would ever have a bad birthday!

As the most caring person in the family, she's incredibly adept at this.

Of course, the main reason was the help of the two maids, Sheila and Mira.

"No need for cannon salutes or anything like that, it'd be too much trouble." Felicity glanced at the piano placed to the side, then played a few notes to test it out.

The piano's sound remains crisp and bright, possessing a distinctly classical character.

"I haven't used it for a few years, but it's still okay."