Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Chapter 24 If all else fails, just kill Ivina.

Lilith interjected, voicing her confusion:

"Wait a minute, is there a problem with Ivina?"

She initially thought it was just a hostage rescue request, but it seems it wasn't.

"Miss Lilith doesn't know?" Felicity looked at Lilith with her amber eyes.

"Hmm." Lilith nodded slightly.

"Hmm..." Felicity paused for a moment, "Since I have to introduce it anyway, as the only one here who knows the information, I'll try to say as much as possible."

"First of all, the influencing factor in this operation was Miss Ivina's mental state."

In short, Miss Ivina's mental state is quite abnormal. She basically goes crazy as soon as she gets close to the border of the Duke's mansion, let alone leaving it.

It is said that... she was once kidnapped by criminals, but after only thirty minutes, she went into shock and was half-dead, which scared the criminals so much that they abandoned her.

Moreover, even in normal times, she would stay quietly alone in the back courtyard, not allowing anyone to approach.

In other words, there must be a doctor to help her muster the courage to return to normal and then step out of that cage.

This character, of course, is Rhodes. After all… no one knows better than him how to get close to girls.

Felicity glanced at Rhodes as she said this.

Rod simply picked up his coffee, took a sip pretending to be nonchalant, and ignored her gaze.

Felicity looked at Rhodes's defenses but said nothing, only continuing:

"Therefore, Rhodes must gain the young lady's trust and make her willing to leave the Duke's mansion with us..."

Rhodes interrupted, "Actually, there's another way. We can just knock Ivina unconscious and then use a mind-controlling method to make her sleep for half a month. That way, I won't need to bring her to the academy."

"Wow..." Felicity covered her mouth. "Lo, that's so cruel."

"...It's a last resort; if we really can't do anything else, this is the only option."

"I understand. But anyway, this is our mission: to prevent the witch from entering while having Rhodes try to make contact with this lady. Do you understand, Miss Lilith?" Felicity continued to look at Lilith and smiled.

Lilith did not speak.

She lowered her eyes, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

She had no idea such a thing existed.

She had a strong desire to control Rhodes, and she was absolutely unwilling to let him get involved with a crazy woman or anything like that.

The problem is, she doesn't have the authority to restrict Rhodes' actions right now.

It's awful.

The words she couldn't say in her previous life are now even harder to say. Opportunities that were once easy to seize are now right in front of her, but she couldn't bring herself to speak them... And now, everything is even more difficult.

A wave of regret washed over her, and she really wanted to reach out and grab Rod, saying:

"Don't do that. I don't want you to get involved with other girls."

but……

She can't do that, because she's lost the right to be willful...

I was unwilling, but there was nothing I could do.

All I can do is try my best to make up for what I couldn't do in the past.

Tonight, tomorrow night, she'll have plenty of opportunities. Even if she's tongue-tied, she'll always find a way...

In any case, having mastered a lifetime of information, she would never allow a crazy woman to cause any change in her relationship with Rod.

Even though her and Rhodes' start was a little unusual, she still had that basic confidence.

She absolutely had to make Rod fall in love with her again;

"I..." Lilith's lips moved, and after a long while she said, "I understand, Mr. Rhodes, please be careful."

"Hmm, good to know. But... Miss Lilith, there's no need to add 'Mr.', it feels a little strange." Rhodes looked away from the window and said.

The proud Lilith would never use a respectful "sir" title on someone, but she kept calling him that, which made him quite uncomfortable.

He wasn't feeling well last night, but he only brought it up now.

But Lilith didn't think so.

Objectively speaking, if someone lets others call them by their first name, it usually means they have a relatively close relationship, right?

Eh?

So, her relationship with Rhodes is now a little more familiar than it was yesterday?

Lilith's blue ahoge radar jumped up instantly, her heart fluttering with a mix of shy joy.

But because Felicity was still in front of her, she controlled her expression and nodded slightly:

"Alright, then you don't need to use honorifics either, Rhodes."

"Okay, Lilith."

what.

Upon hearing this long-unheard name, Lilith's heart trembled as if it had been squeezed, and her breathing became slightly erratic.

After a long time, that familiar voice was calling her name...

The pent-up emotions within her were released intensely at this moment, and she looked at Rhodes with longing, blinking her shimmering eyes:

"Could you say it again?"

"Huh?" Rod asked, puzzled, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"It's just calling my name," Lilith added.

Your name?

Dark Guang... Pshaw!

What is Lilith trying to do?

"Lilith?"

"Okay, that's settled, thank you." Lilith nodded contentedly, her feet dangling unconsciously swinging a couple of times, her mood light and cheerful.

Rhodes looked at him strangely, wondering what had gotten into this guy this time...

Never mind, instead of worrying about this, it's better to learn more information.

For example—when will Ivina be captured?

Although he didn't quite remember the specifics, he vaguely recalled that Ivina was abducted during a banquet.

He could guess why Ivina was captured on the day of the banquet. It was simply because there were many people at the banquet, which not only made it easier for the witches to grab some food, but also made it easier to put pressure on [Merrick] and force him to accept the challenge of the envelope.

Rod pondered for a moment, then spoke:

"Hiti, what other information do you know? Tell me."

When asked, Felicity's eyebrows twitched slightly, and after a moment of thought, she said:

"Yes, the Duke's mansion is actually quite lively right now."

Because Miss Ivina's coming-of-age ceremony is only about ten days away, and the Duke's mansion is currently in the preparation stage for the ceremony.

Rod tilted his head, lost in thought.

ha?

Rod wondered if he had misheard.

The duke is hosting a banquet for hundreds of families even though his daughter has mental health issues? That doesn't make sense.

Rod looked bewildered, wondering if Ivina's mental illness was due to that classic problem again—her family of origin?

Rod frowned. "Isn't she someone who can't be seen by anyone?"

"That's right, but even so, Duke Sanders still wants to hold a coming-of-age ceremony for his daughter, even if she can't attend."

He simply wanted everyone to know that no matter how abnormal his daughter was, he still loved and cared for her.

"..." Rhodes remained silent.

He is narrow-minded.

"Sometimes things are just like that, aren't they? The Duke didn't do anything wrong. You could say that Miss Ivina's mental abnormality is all because of her own self-blame. It's her self-blame for having a blood thirst disease that's just as bad as that of a demon god, even though she's a star god."

She is withdrawn and isolated... Any love that falls on her becomes a bottomless pit and disappears.

That's why I said it... Luo, have you really thought this mission through?

This is no easy task. A child who cannot be saved by his father, a child who cannot be saved by his family—do you think you can change him?

"I...I'm fine. Anyway, there's always a last resort, isn't there?" Rhodes replied after a moment of thought.

No matter what, Ivina has to be tied up and taken away. And, what Rhodes hasn't actually said yet is—

This is actually a poor choice.

The worst possible solution would be to kill Ivina directly and shred her body, so that she wouldn't be used as a vessel to fill the [Demon Echoes].

He shows no pity for a stranger; fundamentally, he is also a self-interested individual.

Anyway, he'd tried his best, and if the result was still "unredeemable," then he might as well kill her beforehand.

He has always been good at killing young girls.

Because witches are basically all in the form of young girls.

After all, very few men can maintain their rationality after falling into the Demon God race.

Most men, due to their greater muscular strength, become several times more powerful than women after falling into the demon race. Consequently, they find it increasingly difficult to control their violent power. Therefore, those who can maintain their rationality are either sages or... sickly young boys.

In short, since all the demons were witches, Rhodes had killed at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, witches along the way, by cutting them in half or dismembering them.

But let's talk about that later...

When was her coming-of-age ceremony?

"It's December 25th. But Miss Ivina's birthday is actually the 28th."

"That means we have ten days left. We need to bring her back to the academy within ten days."

"Hmm?" Felicity, though aware of the truth, still feigned ignorance and asked, "Why? Shouldn't this coming-of-age ceremony be used to open her heart?"

"I can't wait any longer. The witch is most likely to make her move when there are a lot of people around."

"……oh oh."

Rhodes didn't respond, but he felt a little uneasy.

December 28th.

Ivina and Cecilia share the same birthday!

This day was truly unforgettable for him.

After all, once it gets to this point, Cecilia will definitely come looking for him... wanting him to celebrate her birthday with her.

What a coincidence... There are plenty of coincidences in the world, it's just a birthday, Rod thought to himself.

Then, his eyes glanced into the distance—

At this moment, the city buildings of Phillips were passing by in his eyes.

Many people dressed in formal attire pulled their hats tighter and hurried to complete their tasks for the day.

But... every now and then, one can see the remains of the huge clock tower that was destroyed due to the mutation of the demonic seed.

A palpable sense of panic and discontent permeated the crowd.

This is the current Linlank Empire.

Even under control, there are at least three to five cases a day on average of [Star God Seed] falling into [Demon Seed].

Therefore, the figures of military knights can be easily spotted in towns, always on high alert.

but--

Thump, thump, thump—

The train roared out with the power of magical steam, but soon fell silent.

Following this was a magical notification sound.

[North of the city, arrival; North of the city, arrival—]