Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

Because Rhodes actually questioned her because of a bad guy, a wild man who came from who-knows-where?

how so……?

Shirley's tone turned indignant as she shook Rod's body.

"Shirley, Shirley would never lie to her superiors! How dare you question me because of a cat cheating on her!"

As she spoke, tears welled up in Xia Limo's dark eyes, and mist rose above them. "Sir, I... never mind... I'm sorry."

She released Rod, took two steps back, and looked like a wronged little girl, clutching her skirt and biting her lip.

"I won't bother you any longer."

Rhodes fell into a daze.

He turned his head and looked at Lilith.

Lilith hesitated and shook her head.

"I don't know." Then, after a moment's hesitation, she said, "My name is Lilith."

"You really don't recognize me?"

“I don’t know her.” Shirley turned her head away, as if she didn’t want to talk to Lilith at all.

"And what about Felicity?"

"Knowledge is the essence of an emperor."

"No, I meant her relationship with Rod."

“Relationship? What relationship?” Xia Li frowned slightly. “I don’t know why you’re talking about her, but I feel she’s a good person. Don’t drag her into this.”

broken.

The moment those words came to mind, Rhodes instantly realized that a real problem had arisen—

That's right.

Shirley...her memories are all messed up.

This is very likely.

Shirley herself was a chaotic soul, and the reason her soul was able to be organized and clear was because of the guidance of [Rhodes].

He could easily guess what Xia Li would become after his death in his previous life, and he could also guess what Xia Li, reborn in a state of chaos, would be like...

In other words, what they are facing now is Shirley with confused memories from her first timeline.

"Shirley, you have amnesia."

Rhodes' eyes were calm. He got out of bed completely, stood up, and grabbed Shirley's wrist.

"Huh?" Shirley paused, her eyes blank.

Then she shook her head. "Shirley doesn't have amnesia, sir. Shirley's just a little confused."

“Look, I just brought a friend with me, her name is Elenora. She wanted to spar with you, but it’s too late, and she heard you were just injured, so she said she’ll come to visit you tomorrow morning.”

Rhodes was instantly speechless, and he rested his other hand on his forehead, letting out a long breath—

"Shirley".

"What's wrong, sir?"

"Elenora is our enemy."

"what?"

"She is not a friend, but an enemy who is hostile to us."

"ha--!"

Shirley covered her mouth, her eyes wide. "How...how could this be?"

"In your memory, how did we defeat the Dragon God?"

"Of course, I protected the commander, and then the commander bravely killed the Dragon God."

"..."

Rhodes remained silent.

In my first playthrough, I was a support character, Shirley.

“You really have a memory problem.” Rhodes shook his head. “Calm down and then have a proper talk.”

……

...

Half an hour later.

The three of them lit lamps and sat around the table under the candlesticks, looking at each other and talking.

“I understand.” Shirley nodded. “Thinking about it carefully, it seems like there is such a thing.”

"No wonder I was so unhappy when I saw you, it turns out it's because you're Xia Li's rival in love."

"Lilith, it's been a long time."

Although she had no memory of the [Lilith] in front of her, she understood the truth of the matter through Rhodes' explanation.

Lilith was also Rhodes' lover in his previous life; in other words, she was like a sister to him.

She was well aware that her memory was somewhat confused, so it was only natural that it would malfunction.

Anyway, as long as there are no problems with Rhodes's memories, that's fine.

As for Lilith in front of us—

She was still unhappy.

Who would willingly share their lover?

Devotion is what defines a relationship.

In a relationship, one must be devoted to one another.

Shirley is devoted to Rhodes, so Rhodes should be devoted to himself.

Therefore, keeping a mistress is unacceptable; the wife must expel the mistress.

She could never allow Lilith to exist.

We will definitely deal with this erroneous guy.

"Shirley, actually you were the one who came later."

Rhodes caught his breath a little, then took a sip of hot water and added, "So, let's get along well."

Shirley paused.

Ok.

Having a mistress isn't necessarily unacceptable.

Rather, it's not about who came first or who came later in a relationship. As long as there's love, that's all that matters.

Anyway, Shirley isn't stingy; all Shirley wants is for Rhodes to keep watching over her.

Of course, if Rhode kept staring at Lilith, he would definitely get angry and kill her.

Shirley's generosity is based on her being happy; when Shirley is unhappy, she becomes even more stingy.

She thought to herself as she reached out and shook hands with Lilith.

Strangely, Lilith unexpectedly felt that Shirley with amnesia was easier to handle than Shirley without amnesia...

After all, did she really accept it so quickly?

If it were Shirley from her previous life, she would definitely imitate Felicity and be determined to get rid of her.

Moreover, Shirley is truly capable of acting without any thought, taking direct action.

"Hello, Shirley."

"Hello, sister." After learning that she was a newcomer, Xia Li greeted her respectfully as "sister."

Of course, everyone knows in their hearts whether they were truly sincere in their shouts.

Even if Shirley herself knew that she was in the wrong, she would never actually back down.

Jealousy, driving away, and pretense were all ways she tried to get the most love from Rhodes.

"..." Lilith got goosebumps and felt a little guilty after hearing this way of addressing her.

Strictly speaking, Shirley doesn't even have the right to call her "sister"... After all, in her past life, Rhodes was only with herself.

Not right either.

She didn't even manage to be with Rhodes herself.

"I'm sorry, Lilith, I have a slight memory problem."

"fine."

Lilith pulled her hand away with slight unease.

Although she is no longer afraid of Shirley now that she has regained her power, her inner thoughts still unconsciously lead her to avoid conflict.

"Shirley, anyway, it's good that you're back. As for the rest, let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Since everyone is gathered together, it will allow them to see your current situation and then tell you what needs to be done next."

Shirley swayed twice. "Shirley doesn't need to know what the officer is going to do. Shirley just needs to stand in front of the officer and protect him from harm."

"And then, who are 'them'?"

Rod was silent for a long time before saying, "My old friends."

"I see."

trouble.

Rod suddenly realized that Shirley's current state was very troublesome.

If we explain it this way, then Felicity and the others in her past life were essentially just "good friends" like her.