Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Chapter 36 Choice

"There is still one demon seed."

Rhodes gazed at the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly, and immediately activated the skill [Life Dragon Heart LV.1].

Although the essential function of this skill is to strengthen the body and mental connection, it has an additional effect: to sense the location of enemies within 30 meters.

Bending down, fingertips touching the ground, suddenly, faint green ripples spread out from the ground—

The ground at this moment is like a clock, and Rhodes' magic is the hand, swinging wildly, searching, and pointing to the final position;

In the western corridor of the Duke's mansion, the pointer is flashing wildly.

West?

Rhodes' body stiffened slightly, and he looked up in disbelief at the west side of the Duke's mansion, where Ivina and they lived.

"How could that be?"

Why are there demons appearing here?

A witch is not perceived as a demonic being under normal circumstances.

Once there is a reaction, it will either be from those corrupted monsters or from the witch revealing her violent aura.

But what's going on here?

There are still nine days until the coming-of-age ceremony. They absolutely cannot attack Ivina at this time, nor can they allow the violent demon seed to attack Ivina.

After all, only living symbiotes have value.

But suddenly,

Even though everything within the barrier was frozen, Rhodes could sense a mysterious aura flowing around him.

The caresses, gentle and tender, like a deep, heavy love, climbed over his limbs.

From the feet, waist, and then up to the arms, torso, and cheeks—

Then, a gentle voice brushed past my ear, tickling it like cotton wool:

Long time no see, my dear.

thump.

Everything seemed to freeze, and Rhodes was slightly dazed the moment the sound entered his ears.

is her……

Without a doubt, that gentle, yet serpentine, voice was the very one that had tried to drain him dry at that moment—

Her voice... traveled directly to his ears from a great distance.

Rhodes' eyes were filled with confusion.

Before he could react, Cecilia continued:

[We have a traitor who wants to kill the symbiote, so please, dear, help her out.]

Remember, you must take action yourself.

Otherwise, darling, you won't be able to rescue Ivina according to your goal... This is your golden opportunity, your golden chance to make her embrace you, understand?

Rhodes remained silent for a long while, his mind responding:

Long time no see, Cecilia. But I don't understand what you mean.

[She won't even call me "baby" anymore? Fine, I want her to live.]

"If you weren't a demon, I could call you 'baby' hundreds of times and you wouldn't be in trouble. So, if you want her to live, why don't you just kill that demon yourself? Why make me do it?"

[That would be pointless. She wants a knight to save her, not a villain like me.]

Rhodes continued, "I don't understand."

【Then don't bother trying to understand, right? Just know that this is one of your few chances. Oh dear, time's running out. There are only about thirty seconds left before that demon gets fed up and starts attacking…】

So, darling, what will your choice be?

Fearing my words, they dared not fall into my trap.

Should we listen to me and go save her?

【This is interesting, really interesting... I feel like all of this is becoming so interesting, darling.】

Choose, choose, choose...

Countless noises clamored into Rhodes's brain, and at this moment, he was also in a mess because of Cecilia.

Cecilia actually discovered his purpose...

Moreover, they even created this bizarre puzzle for him.

What exactly is going on?

If Cecilia hadn't appeared, killing that demon would have been a simple matter of having Felicity kill it; but after she appeared, everything became strange.

Rhodes was completely confused and couldn't figure it out.

How did she realize that she was there to save Ivina instead of simply to attend the coming-of-age ceremony? She shouldn't have known that her plan had been exposed.

Why would she ask me to save Ivina? She shouldn't have let him take Ivina away.

Moreover, is the "traitor" she mentioned actually true or false?

All unknown.

Everything went wrong because of her appearance.

He is now facing a huge decision.

The first option: Go alone, as Cecilia suggested.

The second method: Take Lilith and the others and kill the demon instantly.

The third option: Do nothing and let things take their course.

These three methods represent [radical], [moderate], and [conservative], respectively.

What should he choose at this moment?

If you're afraid of Cecilia, why won't you go to help Ivina?

Or perhaps they just rushed over and saved Ivina without thinking twice?

pity.

Rhodes was never afraid of making choices, nor was he afraid of the choices Cecilia offered.

Because Cecilia has a habit, a habit she herself is unaware of.

That is to put the option most advantageous to Rhodes at the very beginning—

"Then, let me give it a try," Rhodes said softly, raising his head.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Ivina's room.

Daphne approached Ivina step by step, but did not rush to make a move.

"Good evening, Miss Ivina," Daphne said respectfully with a slight bow.

"Hello, so you forced your way into my room and barged in?" Ivina's slender figure stretched long in the moonlight as she spoke softly.

"Let's try diplomacy first, Miss Ivina."

"You must have a lot to say, so feel free to say it."

Daphne nodded slightly. "Miss Ivina is indeed too kind, so kind that I don't really want to kill you. After all, you're so pitiful."

"The story is too long, but do you know that your very existence is causing harm to this city?"

Your body will be used by the witch and turned into a weapon to destroy this town.

"Is that so?" Ivina lowered her eyes, her fingertips tracing the blanket. Her feet seemed a little cold, and she curled up in the blanket like a cat.

"But you are a demon seed too, aren't you?"

"I'm different from them. I can accept that they want to turn this town into a witch's cage. But I can't accept hanging something so dangerous in the town."

Who knows, if you're fused with the Demon God's Echo, you might go berserk and become uncontrollable?

That's absurd, that's radical.

My family, my loved ones, and this familiar land are all here, so I absolutely cannot allow you, this threat, to exist. I'm sorry, Miss Ivina.

Suddenly, her figure swayed slightly, and her whole body was enveloped in a dark liquid, instantly transforming into a tight-fitting bodysuit. With a flick of her fingertips, a spear appeared.

Seeing this, Ivina turned her gaze to Daphne.

"To be honest, I find all of this quite boring."

"Is that so? That suits me perfectly. Thank you, Miss Ivina."

"Can I say a few words too?" Ivina said with dissatisfaction in her eyes. No matter what, she was going to say those complaints that she couldn't say in her previous life.

"Huh? Yes, of course."

"I was born with the ability of bloodlust from a young age. Anything that gets close to me will be devoured by me when I lose control."

So my mother died, and from the day I was born, I was the one who killed my mother.

Even so, my father was still willing to support me.

It's actually quite funny. What's the real truth?

The truth is, when I was a child, he smashed me, threw me from a great height like a toy, slashed my body wildly with a knife, and verbally abused and insulted me, using me as a tool to vent his emotions after my mother's death.

But in the end, as I grew up and learned to speak, he increasingly felt that I was also a person, and even with the ominous signs, he finally realized that it wasn't my fault.

Moreover, because his strength far surpasses mine, I could never kill him with [Bloodlust].

So, in return, he treated me well, gave me things, and made sure I was taken care of.

Because this is his deceased wife's only bloodline, isn't it?

"...I've heard about these things, Miss Ivina. I pity you just as much."

"There's no need to mention being pitiful or anything like that." Ivina shook her head and continued:

"But what difference does it make? From the very beginning, I've had no value whatsoever, so..."

At that moment, Ivina smiled;

Her smile, like flowers blooming in the moonlight, was tinged with the tenderness of cherry blossoms, so clean and pure.

But... it is also endless, an endless accumulation of pressure, and finally, a sense of relief.

"Could you give me just one more minute to recall something?"

"Of course," Daphne nodded.

Ivina looked up at the bright moon, which resembled a full moon, and understood that this time, the lonely cat should choose the third possibility.

Yes,

Why did she insist on having the Knight save her? Why did she insist on having Cecilia save her, and then become a vessel for her?

She always had one more option.

That is--

It would be better to just die.

As long as she dies directly, her death will not become a calamity, nor will it cause other people to die because of her.

Ultimately, she agreed to become Cecilia's vessel simply because she didn't care about her own life or death.

But when you think about it carefully, isn't it a bad thing at all?

After all, even though she was destined for hell, she couldn't afford to add even the slightest bit of sin to her life...

The thoughts of suicide of innocent children are always the purest.

They clearly hated their own lives and were hated by life itself, yet they still didn't want anyone to die in front of them, and they didn't want anyone to die because of them.

A simple, yet laughable idea...

tick, tick-

One second, two seconds...

As time passed, she placed her last glimmer of hope here.

She may be denying it vehemently, but isn't that the truth?

The proud and aloof girl would never admit that she wanted a knight to save her.

But what is the truth?

She gave that possibility again, a one-minute chance, and continued to wait.

can.

Time is up.

Even this time, no one came.

Even if he appeared by chance, even if he happened to be here, he still didn't come.

It's funny, she remembers, he actually lived in the next few rooms, right?

Even at such a close distance... at such a close distance, that "accident" still didn't happen.

That's true, that's true... If there's no expectation, then there's no way to exist.

Gradually, her breathing became erratic, and her nose became congested.

She gazed at the moon, and the tears in her eyes were shimmering.

cry……?

what?

I actually cried because I was so sad?

She stretched out her finger in disbelief and gently rubbed her eyes.

So, no matter what experiences you've had, if you go through it all again, you'll still be heartbroken?

Tears became increasingly uncontrollable, and she bit her tongue hard with her little tiger teeth, trying to calm herself down.

No matter how hard she tried to control it, she couldn't stop. Her face grew increasingly tearful, and her breathing became uncontrollable with each sob.

The frail girl was completely defenseless at this moment—

Even with tears in her eyes, she still forced a smile:

"I'm a little sad, Daphne."

"Time has come, Miss Ivina. You have one last thing to say."

Ivina smiled.

"Hmm... since we're going to die anyway, it's not shameful, is it?"

"Yes, go ahead and say it."

Her face fell, her expression pained, and she cried out through clenched teeth:

Actually, I've always wanted to have a friend!

I've always wanted... a friend!

Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything wrong. I was just living, just living...!

The heart-wrenching cries made Daphne's dazed fingertips freeze—

In the end, she too calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ivina, I hope you will be happy in your next life."

She raised her spear and aimed it at Ivina's head—

Although she felt conflicted and filled with pity, she also understood—

Perhaps, only by piercing Ivina with the spear can Ivina truly be freed;

Ivina is worse off dead than alive now...

Concentrating power at the tip of the spear, terrifying magic surged wildly and coalesced into a sharp storm dagger!

"Everyone understands that death brings relief."

A single sentence drifted from behind them, instantly stunning Daphne.

"Who is it—!"

She tried to turn around, but to her surprise, the figure had already slipped past her from behind and pressed close to her back.

"But I want you to live."

It was just a simple sentence, yet it severed all of this.

She was slightly dazed, and the moment her eyes saw everything clearly, she realized it was too late.

Because the seven dazzling [Magic Crystals], Felicity's greatest weapon, were now distorted and shimmering, and—

boom--! ! !