Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

A perfect arc appeared in his eyes, the girl's skin revealing itself from her collarbone to ten centimeters above her pubic bone, and faintly revealing the shadows below, making him feel aroused.

At this moment, Ivina was like a tempting dessert, exquisitely beautiful.

"Hmm, I didn't watch much." Rhodes said sincerely, and reached out to help wrap the corset straps around Ivina's back one by one.

Tighten, wrap, tighten, wrap, starting from the top layer of skin, you always accidentally touch the skin.

When it was finally pulled to the bottom, Ivina's body twitched slightly, and she made a shameful sound.

"Well--!"

Ruined.

The moment the sound was accidentally made, the atmosphere between the two became extremely awkward.

The air seemed to be compressed to nothingness, but Rhodes still forced himself to suppress his emotions and spoke:

"All right."

“Oh…” Ivina responded with a slight breath, then turned around.

At that moment, the image of the girl in her exquisite dress completely flooded into Rhodes' mind.

Beautiful and pure white, like a porcelain doll; luxurious yet pleasing to the eye...

Yes.

Everything about the girl was so beautiful, her body so pure and lovely.

but--

What will happen at the end of the story remains to be seen.

Chapter 88 Ivina: Am I going to die too?

night.

The birds outside had fallen silent, and there was no more howling of wolves in Phillips, this coastal city.

The wind was blowing softly, and Ivina and Rod were in the room, exchanging a few words.

"You stay in my room and get some sleep. I'm going out for a bit tonight," Rhodes said softly, stroking Ivina's head reassuringly as he bent down.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to Lilith about something."

"Huh? Lilith?"

Ivina sat on the edge of the bed, feeling her hair being stroked, and a strange feeling welled up inside her.

She thought Rod was going to find Felicity.

However… in the memories Cecilia transmitted to her, there seemed to be a vague mention of Lilith… What was that?

Star God, Hunt, Hatred... It's all so chaotic, what is this?

Even though Lilith may seem unapproachable, what does she have to do with the Star God?

In her eyes, the "god" is an insurmountable mountain, an ultimate monster that surpasses the limits of nine human ascensions.

They represent [destruction], [creation], [world], and [dream].

As for the Goddess of Starlight, although she doesn't feel grateful to this deity...

But she also understood that awakening the ability of "bloodlust" was not, in essence, the fault of the gods.

Therefore, she did not hate the Star God, but only felt awe towards this representative of the world's twelve peaks.

“Lilith is very difficult to approach,” Ivina honestly stated her inner feelings.

"Rhodes, to be honest, I don't even know what your relationship with Lilith is."

“…” Rodwei paused, then spoke.

"She and I have a deep connection... but some things are too complicated to explain to you. Right now, you just need to try to overcome your panic."

"Oh."

Ivina was a little unhappy, but she still nodded.

Before long, a hint of proud arrogance appeared on her face.

"I was great just now, wasn't I? Even when strangers brushed past me, I remained calm and rational."

"Yes, very good, our Ivina is amazing."

But this level isn't enough to participate in the coming-of-age ceremony; you'll be facing hundreds of nobles then.

"Hey, if you say that, I'll start to feel scared in advance..."

“But Ivina,” Rhodes interrupted Ivina, “your emotions have remained stable ever since you absorbed my blood, and you haven’t been replaced by any other personality.”

“You can definitely do it, because even if you still don’t fully believe in me, at least you’re used to having someone by your side and you’re used to trying to communicate with strangers.”

"And if you really can't stand it..."

"Just treat everyone like potatoes and ignore their gaze."

"Just focus your attention on me."

Rhodes reached out and picked up a small, rose-colored umbrella from beside him, handing it to Ivina.

"When you first enter the venue, go in with this umbrella open, imagine the space inside the umbrella as your own, and use it to divide the world into its own space."

"Think about it, you can also look at other people upstairs through the window, right? So, you can definitely do it."

Rhodes uttered his words one by one.

While constantly reinforcing Ivina's confidence, he did not emphasize his own importance.

Because he understood that unless he did something bad to Ivina, the relationship of trust could not be improved in two days.

There's not enough time now, so we can only use some basic psychological methods to help her overcome her fear.

When fear reaches its extreme, it can indeed trigger neuronal shock.

This is a mental illness, and it requires long-term reassurance to improve. Relying on these petty tricks is really not his style... But what can be done?

“Well,” Rod gently placed the umbrella in Ivina’s hand, a smile on his face. “And this umbrella is quite beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Hmm…” Ivina took the umbrella, a slight tremor in her eyes.

"Treat the umbrella as your own space...?"

"Yes, this will definitely be much better. Although it won't allow you to leave the Duke's mansion, it will at least allow you to create your own room on this familiar ground."

“I understand.” Ivina gripped the umbrella tighter and nodded gently. “But I can’t dance while holding an umbrella…”

"So, when it's time to dance, that's the second stage. In this stage, you have to try to put the umbrellas down and see them as potatoes, and then dance with me."

“Okay.” Ivina nodded again.

Her heart was growing increasingly tense. Under Rod's careful guidance, her complex emotions about the coming-of-age ceremony were becoming more and more intense.

She didn't know if Cecilia would give her a chance to properly complete her coming-of-age ceremony before making a move... so maybe in the end there was no need to learn about these methods.

But things are always looking a little better, or rather, right now she has no other choice but to hope for a better outcome?

With this thought in mind, she leaned her head forward and then pressed it against Rhodes's chest;

My ears turned red, a little hot, or perhaps a little shy.

She's not good at expressing her emotions, and she's also a stubborn person, but anyway...

"Thank you, Rhodes." Her voice was soft. "I will do it, and I won't let you down."

“Okay,” Rhodes replied calmly. “Then, I’ll be leaving now.”

Before the warmth could linger, Ivina felt the heat on her face disappear.

It was as if she hadn't even had a chance to properly experience Rhodes's warmth before being forced to leave.

That's terrible...

From the very beginning, after Cecilia found salvation at the age of fourteen, she had many fantasies.

She thought that she could learn how to do makeup to make herself more beautiful for her lover.

Even if the knight is an ordinary person, so all she needs to do is learn to cook, clean, and be a qualified mother, she feels that this is fine.

All I need to do is support a small family, be an ordinary girl, and spend my whole life with the person I love—that's enough...

but--

Clearly, she hadn't had time to learn to cook, nor had she had time to improve her writing skills during the short time Rhodes had been here, and she hadn't even had time to gain weight and become more suitable to be a lover...

That's a bit of a shame.

She looked up, watching Rod disappear from her sight and leave the room, and felt her heart grow increasingly empty and unfillable...

"I really, really want to continue, even though I don't like Rhodes that much right now, but at least he's a good person, a very good person."

I will definitely like him more and more, because he is always so kind.

He has many ways to reassure me and is very capable; after all, he broke through and advanced three times with ease.

Even if we put it bluntly... a guy that handsome will always make me glance at him a couple of times, right?

She cupped her face in her hands, uttering each word one by one, step by step, feeling her body grow heavy.

"...If only Cecilia had never appeared..."

"Because of her, am I really going to die too? Hmm..."

Chapter 89 Lilith's Nighttime Service

Rhodes entered Lilith's room.

"You've arrived?" Lilith opened the door a crack, and after confirming that the person outside was Rhodes, she opened it completely, letting Rhodes into the room.

The same layout, the same warm space, and a cup of relaxing tea.

Drinking tea in the middle of the night... Rhodes has never been able to understand Lilith's habit.