Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

"But actually my attitude is very clear and unambiguous."

“You can be more confident and, like Ivina, rebel and point out my mistakes, and directly punish me for not showing enough care to everyone.”

“I will not treat any of you unfairly, so things like engagements, confessions, and being together are not questions you should be asking me, but questions I should be asking you.”

"Are you really willing to come with me?"

The voice fell softly, like a feather, yet it was Rhodes's deep contemplation.

Here, he emphasized "together".

Yes, not by one person, not by possessing alone, but together.

This was his biggest problem with the girls, so he didn't try to hide it, but openly accepted the trial.

He continued, adding:

"After all, I presumptuously assumed that you liked me, presumptuously wanted to erase the lifelong regret caused by the first time around, and believed that you all needed me."

"But clearly, I still don't really understand what your current views are."

"Whether you followed me because Lilith has lost her position and you want to replace her, or because you want to live with everyone... I didn't ask you one by one about these things."

"So, now that we're talking about this, I'll just ask the question frankly."

“Of course, Ivina doesn’t need to answer.” Rhodes turned his head and glanced at Ivina.

While it may be described as altruism—wanting to give all beautiful girls a home—this approach doesn't quite capture Rod's essence.

Because everyone in the team except Ivina has a karmic entanglement from a past life.

He made up his mind to switch from playing a single-target role in the game to protecting everyone because he knew how regretful they were after losing him.

But this is also the problem. He assumed that they would be very sad without him, and that they could get along well and liked him. This was just an assumption, and he did not get their response.

It is undeniable.

Rod was under a lot of pressure.

Even if one of the girls were to express a desire to possess him exclusively, the situation would begin to fracture and could lead to a complete breakdown.

However, after being called out, Ivina's petite body trembled slightly, and a hint of resentment flashed in her crimson eyes:

"Hey, what do you mean? Are you looking down on me? Am I just forced to live with everyone else?"

With a change in tone, her voice became calmer:

"However, my attitude was indeed very clear. When I was willing to walk out of the Duke's mansion that day, I had already made my attitude clear."

"So, you guys tell us your own opinions."

After Ivina finished speaking, the scene fell silent once again.

It wasn't that they were unwilling to answer, but rather that the question was already crystal clear to them—

Or rather, it can't even be called a problem.

Because if Lilith doesn't know how to back down, she doesn't even have the right to sit here.

If Natalie didn't want to live with them, she should have had a serious argument with Felicity instead of walking away without any problems.

And isn't Felicity's thought exactly the same as Natalie's?

If she had been prepared to selfishly possess Rhodes for herself, she wouldn't have mustered the courage to pull Natalie aside and explain things to her.

Everything was very clear... so when Rhodes asked the question, they thought he was being rather silly.

Because they understood Rhodes' mindset and knew what he was worried about.

What's most frightening about people isn't their bad traits, but rather the fact that they have no weaknesses.

Once Rhodes laid out his concerns, they could clearly sense his current thoughts and true inner feelings.

Yes.

It wasn't those roundabout words, nor was it like a jerk who'd touch you and run away; it was a sincere invitation extended to them—

In essence, what he's doing now is apologizing, and also letting them condemn him at will...

All the girls understand.

What's the most important thing?

Most importantly, Rhodes had already made his point very clear;

He maintains the same attitude towards all girls in the end, so there is no such thing as a "main wife" or someone who is treated with a biased attitude.

Even if they secretly argue and fight amongst themselves later, it will just be minor conflicts among family members.

Of course, the team still has many problems, whether it's Lilith's identity, Cecilia, or even Shirley and others who haven't appeared yet... This balance may not be able to be maintained in the future.

But at least for now, it's enough to maintain a stable situation.

Felicity simply covered her mouth, her laughter as clear and bright as the moon:

"What a silly question."

Rhodes paused, then sighed: "I'm asking seriously, okay?"

Natalie nodded:

"Everyone understands your thinking: you want to treat everyone equally, and then you despicably take advantage of each and every one of us."

“...Well, never mind, that’s true.” Rhodes coughed slightly. “But don’t be so blunt.”

"And then you're worried that we're all actually fighting over this abstract thing." Natalie clicked her tongue twice, waving her fingers back and forth. "Of course we'd all like to live together!"

"You haven't figured out what we really want to know."

"That's the problem! The problem is—! Rhodes, when are you going to confess your feelings to us?"

"It's together."

Chapter 158 Did she really reincarnate with her memories intact?

In fact, the true meaning of Natalie's so-called "confession" is already very clear.

It wasn't about Rhodes making emotional commitments to them, but about him giving them a "true status" in terms of identity.

After all, Rhodes's genuine concern just now was enough to show his attitude towards them, so what's the point of digging deeper?

What they need is a promise of the little things they might do together in the future.

And of course, there's one more thing... they still want Rhodes to say "I like you" at least when they're alone together.

Because when we're alone together, without other girls around, we can be more relaxed and do things more freely...

Therefore, Natalie's so-called confession is undoubtedly about determining the timing of her public announcement of her status, which is similar to Felicity's "engagement".

"I don't know."

Rod honestly uttered three words.

"The situation is not clear yet. At least it is uncertain whether what the Emperor did is real or if he had a purpose."

"If we can't even figure this out, then we're even less able to clearly define a good time."

Natalie touched her cheek with her fair hand and pondered, "It seems that's indeed the case."

If this is true, then they will have to consider how to bring other girls with them when Felicity gets engaged, or they could postpone or change the Emperor's plans depending on the actual situation.

If it's fake, then they'll have to find a good time themselves.

Therefore, without at least figuring out this point, Rhodes certainly wouldn't dare to say that nodding in agreement is enough.

"Well, we need to at least discuss the situation clearly." Rhodes coughed slightly. "But anyway, I understand your attitude, and that makes me happy enough."

"No matter what..."

Natalie puffed out her cheeks:

"No matter what, there's no point in saying all this since not everyone has arrived."

"Ah, is that so?" Felicity nodded gently. "There are still people who haven't arrived."

Rhodes nodded:

"Yes, that's the problem. Cecilia's issue hasn't been resolved yet, and Shirley doesn't know the situation either."

"Most importantly, we haven't stabilized the empire yet, and we haven't guaranteed that Felicity's hatred can be successfully eliminated. So we can't selfishly and greedily think about the good things to come."

"This time, we absolutely, absolutely cannot let the Linlank Empire fall before us."

As Rod's voice faded, the girls' emotions were pulled back to their senses—

"That's true."

"Fall down... Ah." Ivina frowned slightly with her eyes closed, thought for a moment, and then successfully extracted the core information from the memories transmitted by Cecilia.

Felicity, her entire family wiped out, her empire destroyed?

Even after these thoughts were brought up, Ivina's heart was still stirred.

Although she didn't care much about Linlank and the Star God, since most of these things had nothing to do with her, when she really thought about it, she knew that once the empire fell, Phillips would also turn to ashes again, and she wouldn't be so relaxed.

She must protect the place where she spent more than ten years, and she absolutely must not turn to ashes...

Ivina raised her eyes: "I'll help."

Felicity's voice was light, yet carried a hint of suppressed emotion, and her amber eyes shimmered with a captivating light.

"Yes. Everyone, we must not let the empire collapse. No matter who it is, we need the empire to have a good ending."

"We must succeed."

Most of them are nostalgic for the past, not to mention that the people who are kind to them are the ones who will get into trouble.

The atmosphere was rather heavy, and the girl who had been standing to the side finally spoke:

"I will do my best to resolve this."

The few words fell lightly, attracting everyone's attention.

Lilith had been sewing amulets to protect Felicity and the others the whole way, and she didn't stop even when she started speaking.

However, when everyone's eyes turned to her, she panicked for a moment and almost inserted the needle into the wrong place.