How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game

Chapter 627: A night of surprise.

After his meeting with Aera, Riley immediately returned to his dorm, his thoughts heavier than usual.

The air around him was still cold from that conversation, her words echoing faintly in his mind.

Seo’s emotions, huh…

He muttered to himself, leaning against the door as he shut it behind him.

That orb — the one Aera had shown him — wasn’t something unfamiliar.

He remembered it well. In the game, it was a special item found only in Seo’s route.

A tool that held her emotions… her real feelings, locked and sealed away.

An item that could completely alter who she was.

In the game’s story, if the player used it, Seo would change — her detached, emotionless self would transform into someone full of life, warmth, and affection.

It was the so-called “true ending” path, the one where she finally became “complete.”

But that was just the game.

The real Seo — the one he’d come to know, laugh with, and hold close — wasn’t broken. She wasn’t emotionless, not in the slightest.

Sure, she was quiet, distant, and often difficult to read.

But to Riley, every small smile, every awkward expression, every time her eyes softened when she looked at him — that was proof of her emotions.

Proof that she felt.

She didn’t need to change.

She was perfect in her own way.

“Yeah… that’s just how she is,” Riley murmured under his breath, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he sank into the edge of his bed.

’Clumsy, honest, a little slow at times… but she’s her. That’s what I fell for.’

He wasn’t about to let anyone — not even her own stepmother — tamper with that.

His hand brushed against his cloth, feeling the faint pulse of mana still lingering from the earlier confrontation and cut it immediately.

He could almost imagine Aera’s hidden smirk, the arrogance in her voice when she presented the orb.

It wasn’t an act of confidence.

It was desperation.

The fact that Aera had shown him such a delicate, important artifact directly — something she would never hand over lightly — told him everything he needed to know.

She was losing control.

And in her eyes, Riley had become the root cause of that loss.

He chuckled softly to himself, though there was no humor in it.

“I must really be a sore spot for her…”

He had no intention of provoking Aera further, but if she crossed the line again…

If she even tried to use Seo as a pawn for her own schemes — then that would be it.

Riley exhaled deeply, his gaze firming.

She’s had her warning….

If she doesn’t take it… I’ll cut those roots myself before they spread any further.

The night wind drifted in through the window, brushing lightly against his hair as his eyes softened again, the earlier coldness fading just a bit.

…

Arriving back at his dorm room, Riley let out a long, quiet sigh standing in front of his door.

He was tired—not so much physically, but mentally.

The day had been long, filled with laughter and comfort.

Spending time with Snow had been something he genuinely enjoyed — the rare, quiet kind of happiness that reminded him why he fought so hard to begin with.

Their date had gone smoother than he expected, and seeing her smile so freely again made everything worth it.

But beneath that contentment, there was a heaviness that refused to leave him.

The talk with the Goddess of Light, Eris… even after hours had passed, her words still lingered in his mind.

Whatever she had shown him — or told him — it had left a mark deeper than he cared to admit.

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair as he sat on the edge of his bed.

“Man… what a day…”

Tomorrow was supposed to be a day off.

The academy was still in the middle of its grand festival, and for once, he was free from the usual classes, responsibilities, and chaos.

A chance to rest, at least in theory.

But knowing his situation, rest was probably the last thing he’d get.

He leaned back, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Yeah… they’re definitely not gonna let me off easy.”

After spending the entire day alone with Snow, it didn’t take a genius to know the others wouldn’t be too thrilled about it.

Sure, they all got along on the surface — the harmony between them was surprisingly stable given the circumstances — but deep down, every one of them still had that spark of possessiveness, that tiny thread of jealousy that came with loving someone like him.

He could already picture it: Rose pouting while pretending not to care, Alice teasing him with that sly grin, Seo silently glaring with that cold, unreadable face of hers, and Snow smiling innocently, completely oblivious to the storm brewing behind her.

Riley sighed again, though this time a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Honestly, he didn’t hate it.

He couldn’t.

Spending time with them — with all of them — was something that made his heart feel lighter, no matter how chaotic things got.

Their laughter, their bickering, even their small arguments were reminders that he wasn’t alone.

That despite everything he’d done, or everything he still had to do, he had people to come back to.

And that warmth… that was something even gods couldn’t give him.

Still, a small part of him knew — tomorrow would probably drain him more than any battle could.

“I’ll probably have to give more than a hundred percent just to survive,” he muttered, chuckling softly to himself as he fell back onto the bed.

His eyes drifted closed for a moment, his mind slowly fading into quiet.

If he was lucky, maybe tonight he’d get at least some rest before the next round of chaos began.

With those thoughts in mind, Riley quietly opened the door to his dorm room.

The faint creak of the hinges echoed through the dimly lit space as he stepped inside, expecting the usual warmth — laughter, teasing, maybe even a surprise welcome-back celebration for Snow’s return.

After all, knowing them, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find balloons, snacks, and Alice leading some over-the-top “romantic reunion” event.

But what greeted him instead wasn’t cheer.

It was silence.

And a pair of gleaming golden eyes staring right at him from the shadows.

Cold. Unmoving. Divine.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.

The air itself felt heavy, almost suffocating, as that gaze locked onto him.

“Rose…?” Riley called out cautiously, his voice breaking the silence.

The girl standing in front of him — his ever-smiling, confident, sometimes overbearing lover — now looked like something else entirely.

Her eyes, once soft and warm, glowed faintly with celestial light, cold and sharp as blades.

She didn’t answer.

She just stared at him.

Did something happen? he thought, confusion flickering across his face.

He took a hesitant step forward, thinking maybe she was in one of her teasing moods again — but then—

Click—!

Before he could even react, glowing red circles spread beneath his feet, forming complex sigils that pulsed with divine energy.

Chains — ethereal and burning with radiant red light — shot up from the floor, coiling around his arms and torso like serpents.

The bindings tightened in an instant, freezing him in place.

“Wha—?! Rose, what are you doing!?”

Riley struggled, trying to move, but the chains didn’t budge.

His magic, for some reason, refused to respond — no, it wasn’t just suppressed.

The very space around him had frozen solid, locked by celestial authority.

“R-Rose—”

“Shhh.”

Her finger pressed to her lips. The sound was soft, but it carried the weight of a warning.

And then — everything blurred.

Riley blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was no longer standing.

He was sitting — his wrists bound tightly against the arms of a chair, the red sigils still glowing faintly beneath him.

He blinked rapidly, trying to process what had just happened.

In front of him, sitting in eerie silence, were the four women he knew best — Snow, Rose, Alice, and Seo.

Each one looked different.

Snow’s expression was calm, but the faint pout on her lips and the downcast look in her eyes spoke volumes.

Alice had her arms crossed, her usual playful grin gone — replaced with a slow, knowing smirk that made him uneasy.

Seo’s sharp gaze was focused directly on him, emotionless, but the faint twitch in her brow betrayed something — irritation, perhaps jealousy.

And Rose… Rose still stood in front, her golden eyes dimming slightly as she leaned closer.

“Girls…” Riley said slowly, forcing a small, awkward smile, “what’s going on here?”

Silence.

Not a single one answered.

Only the sound of his restrained breathing and the faint hum of divine chains filled the air.

Riley looked at the girls quietly, his eyes moving from one to the other as he tried to make sense of the tense atmosphere.

Each of them was staring at him — coldly, silently, like judges waiting for a confession.

Well… maybe not all of them.

Seo, as usual, had that same apathetic expression plastered on her face.

Honestly, Riley wasn’t even sure if she was actually upset or just watching things unfold like some sort of quiet spectator.

Her unreadable gaze gave away nothing — the same calm neutrality she always carried, though he swore he could feel a faint, barely-there judgment radiating from her direction.

Rose on the other hand looked like she was trying her best not to break the chair he was tied to.

Her arms were crossed, her divine aura faintly flickering around her shoulders as her golden eyes stared daggers through him.

Then there was Alice.

She was the odd one out — she kept fidgeting, refusing to meet his eyes.

Her usual grin was gone, replaced by a tight, nervous smile.

And every time her gaze accidentally met his for even a fraction of a second, she’d flinch and look away with that forced “te-he~ sorry darling!” kind of expression that only made everything more confusing.

Riley’s brow twitched. “…”

He was completely lost.

He wanted to speak up — to ask what on earth was going on — but before he could, Snow finally broke the silence.

“Did you know?”

Her tone was calm — too calm — the kind of calm that sent an instinctive chill down his spine.

“Know about what?” he asked cautiously, trying to read her face.

Snow didn’t answer right away.

She simply stared at him with her crystalline blue eyes, the corners of her lips tightening slightly as if she were holding something back.

Then, with a low voice that carried both restraint and accusation, she continued.

“…Then when did you do it?”

Riley blinked, utterly confused. “Do what exactly?”

Her tone softened, but her words were sharper now — cutting through the confusion like a blade.

“When did you two decide?”

“Snow, I really don’t get what you’re talking about—”

She didn’t let him finish.

Snow moved forward slowly, her steps quiet but heavy with tension.

Her silver hair swayed slightly as she stopped just inches from him, leaning down until her face was dangerously close to his.

He could feel her breath against his skin — calm, steady, but cold.

Her gaze locked onto his.

“The child that’s nourishing inside our sister’s stomach right now…” she whispered, her words deliberate, almost trembling with disbelief, “when did you make it?”

“…”

For a full two seconds, Riley’s brain completely froze

His mind blanked, thoughts crashed, and all coherent reasoning simply ceased to function.

Then —

“…HUH!?”

Child inside their sister?

The words echoed in Riley’s mind like a slow echo that refused to make sense.

Their sister…?

Since all of them had started considering one another as sisters after becoming his fiancées, Riley’s mind immediately scrambled for context — which sister were they even talking about? Seo? Snow herself? Surely not Rose—

Then his gaze fell on Alice.

She wasn’t glaring at him like the others. Instead, she looked… nervous.

Her expression was a mixture of guilt and tenderness, her lips curving in a small, apologetic smile while her fingers fidgeted at the edge of her dress.

That bittersweet, affectionate look made something click in Riley’s mind.

His eyes widened.

“…Alice—are you?”

“H-Hehe… uhm… yes…” she murmured shyly, her voice so small it was almost a whisper. “I-I’m sorry for not telling you all this time, Riley. I just… wasn’t sure when to say it, and—uhm—also, sister Snow, you don’t have to press Riley like that. He really didn’t know.”

Riley blinked. His brain completely froze somewhere between yes and what do you mean yes.

Snow sighed, folding her arms, her expression softening a little but her tone still carrying that quiet frustration.

“Yes, we know…” she said, her icy blue eyes narrowing slightly.

“Th-Then—” Alice started, but Rose interrupted her with her calm yet firm voice.

“But it doesn’t change the fact that it was unfair.”

Snow nodded in agreement. “We decided that we’d share everything equally — our status, our moments with you… even things like that.”

“And that,” Rose added, her eyes gleaming with mischief, “includes child making.”

Riley’s thoughts shattered.

For a few seconds, all he could do was stare blankly, processing one word at a time. Child. Making. Equal.

By the time his brain finally caught up with the situation, he realized he wasn’t sitting on the chair anymore.

He was now suddenly on his bed, the soft sheets underneath him feeling far too warm and dangerous.

He barely had time to react when he felt their gazes.

Snow and Rose — standing close, the moonlight painting their skin in pale silver — looked down at him like two predators eyeing their cornered prey.

Slowly, deliberately, both of them let their nightdresses slide off their shoulders, soft fabric slipping down until it pooled quietly around their feet.

Their smiles deepened — sweet, yet dangerously alluring.

“We won’t let you rest tonight, babe~” Rose said, her voice low and teasing.

Snow leaned closer, her cool tone contrasting the warmth of the moment. “I’m sure His Majesty would be thrilled to hear about another addition to the imperial bloodline…”

Riley could only stare for a long second before sighing softly, a wry smile tugging at his lips.