Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Chapter 56 Subtle Movements

"Oh dear," Felicity exclaimed softly, with a touch of cuteness, "Why did Miss Lilith leave?"

"Finished eating?" Rhodes replied casually. "There's still some time before the banquet's ceremonial dance begins. Let's go back to the mansion and rest for a bit before coming out again."

"Mmm." Felicity nodded, then looked at Ivina. "Miss Ivina, are you really not going to give it a try?"

Upon hearing this, Ivina's small hand froze.

Normally, Felicity wouldn't have had any thoughts about dancing with Rod if he hadn't asked her to.

But now, my feelings are different...

She knew she couldn't do it, but sometimes, if you don't push yourself, even just a little bit, you're letting Rhodes down...

She was torn internally, biting her lip.

But suddenly, Rhodes spoke:

"It's okay. I think you'll be able to do it by the time you have your coming-of-age ceremony. Don't rush, we'll take it slow."

Rhodes reached out his palm and gently rubbed Ivina's cheek again;

"Hmm..." Ivina nodded. "Yes."

Suddenly, Felicity felt uneasy.

"You two are being too intimate. Friends don't touch each other's faces casually, you know?" She looked at Ivina with a smile.

At that moment, Ivina's ears turned slightly red, and she quickly dodged Rhodes's hand.

"Yes, yes, Felicity is right, friends wouldn't touch your face like that." She stammered, her cheeks flushed red.

"I'm going back. I'm watching their banquet from the window!"

She initially intended to run away, but after taking a couple of steps, she realized something...

To return to the mansion from the flower garden, one must pass through the central garden, which is where the nobles hold banquets...

"Rhodes... take my hand and lead me back..." She took small, hesitant steps and returned, looking utterly foolish.

……

...

It was pitch black, the perfect time to do bad things.

Of course, it's not that Se Se did anything bad; it's that truly evil people did evil deeds.

It's still the same original stronghold.

But now, Cang Wen's face was filled with extreme fear, and because of the tight-fitting clothes, her muscles were trembling even more.

"Cangwen... I think I told you that you absolutely cannot act without authorization, right?"

Cecilia still had her legs crossed, her thighs piled up, and the crimson and gold in her eyes reflected in the moonlight as she smiled.

"Little, little Leah, of course I know... Ahaha, how could I possibly..."

puff--

Before she could finish speaking, she felt her face being grabbed by a hand, and a terrifying force suddenly lifted her up tightly!

A tearing pain in her head made her scream, her legs thrashing wildly, but to no avail—

For an instant.

Cecilia's arm, carrying her head, slammed her skull into the ground!

With a loud bang, the ground shook, and a horrifying crater was created.

Then, Cecilia picked up the Plague like a doll—

"The difference is even more obvious among the four upgrades." A cold glint flashed in her eyes. "I told you, there are special circumstances that need to be reported, but not only did you not report them, you even wanted to go and eat people yourself."

"This is a lesson learned. If you continue down this path, you're courting death."

With a flick of her arm, she tossed Cang Wen, whose face was bruised and swollen from being hit, aside.

"Kolech".

"Yes, Lady Cecilia!" Kleish, the little witch, quickly saluted and responded nervously.

"Don't follow her in doing something stupid. If she still insists on acting on her own, then let her die."

Cecilia said coldly.

This is the case.

If Cangwen still refuses to follow her orders after being warned, then she might as well just die and replace her with someone else.

The Duke's mansion now has at least two members who have been promoted four times, as well as a large number of guards, not to mention that Rhodes has definitely kept safe measures in place.

At least as long as she doesn't take action, the Plague Demoness going there is just suicide.

Even if Cang Wen really wanted to die, she couldn't stop him.

She understood this, so she didn't care. She walked down the stairs from the top of the platform and disappeared from the sight of Coraci and the Plague Witch.

The scene instantly fell into dead silence.

Kleish was terrified, because she didn't know how to comfort Lord Cangwen...

"Lord Cang, Lord Cangwen, are you alright...?"

"roll--"

Cang Wen crawled up from the ground, squeezing blood from his nose with his fingers, his eyes were bloodshot as if torn apart, and his once jet-black hair was still covered in dust.

"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it..."

She mumbled frantically, her pupils darting around like a monster dozens of times in a single second, before finally snapping her head back with a loud crack.

His figure swayed incessantly, but the rage in his eyes grew ever more intense—

"Kill... Klexi, come with me, let's kill Rhodes." She uttered a sentence that made Klexi feel like everything was over.

"Wait, please calm down... Lady Cecilia already knows our whereabouts, so there's definitely no way we can mobilize the entire branch..."

"I never said we'd follow the original plan," the Plague Witch said, her face dark. "All I need to do is kill Rhodes!"

"You, me, and two more upgraded to level three, go kill him, then leave!"

"Hey, hey, hey..." Klein waved her hands frantically, "No, that'll cause trouble!"

"We're in big danger. Not only is Duke Sanders back, but the Duke's mansion itself has a considerable number of guards. And yesterday, Mr. Rhodes killed someone who had been promoted three times..."

"Kill him quickly and leave. Don't waste any more words."

"Otherwise, you'll die by my hand first." Cang Wen's terrifying gaze suddenly fixed on Kelexi, instantly silencing her.

really……

Kleich cursed inwardly; in the end, things still turned out this way.

That's why I said my boss is an idiot, it's absolutely awful!

I should have gone with Lady Cecilia earlier, so I wouldn't be suffering here...

"Okay, I understand." Kleish took a deep breath. "So, we need to find a strong person who has been promoted three times, right?"

"Nonsense, just kill him after the ball."

"All right……"

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.

Lilith stood at the window of the corridor, watching the nobles dancing in the garden, her fingertips gripping the windowsill tightly.

At this moment, amidst the glowing lights and the violin music played by the musicians, Rhodes, hand in hand with Felicity, was dancing among the nobles.

"Felicity is just a child who doesn't understand anything," she murmured. "There's no need to let her affect my mood."

"But, Ivina..."

Lilith had regretted letting Rhodes come into contact with Ivina from the very beginning, and now her regret was even more severe.

She had to achieve her goal while Rhodes and Ivina were still just friends; otherwise, once she actually fell for Rhodes, everything would be in trouble…

"What else can I do, or rather, what am I capable of doing?"

Lilith asked herself this question.

"Tonight, I need to have some time alone with Rhodes..."