How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 208: End of a Semester Interlude



[Heavenly hall]

[Student council office]

"So, what will you do now that the sester's coming to a close?"

"For the most part, I'll have to head back ho. My family's waiting,"

"Hmm..."

Three days had passed in a blur since the grand festival, and now the academy was preparing for the winter break.

Snow's office, usually buzzing with activity, was eerily quiet.

The sester winding down ant the council mbers had already been dismissed earlier than usual.

No doubt Snow had sent them off after making sure every last bit of work was ticulously handled by her.

"Aren't you pushing yourself a little too hard?"

As soone who had served on the student council before, I knew firsthand just how exhausting the workload could be.

Even reading through a single stack of reports could feel like an uphill battle so days.

Snow paused, lifting her head to et my eyes.

Her pure white hair frad her face perfectly as she tilted her head, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Oh my, does it seem that way? The other council mbers had the sa concern as well. Fufu-" she chuckled softly, brushing off the worry as if it were a trivial matter.

With a graceful motion, she set the papers aside and leaned back in her chair, her smile still in place.

"I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to worry. Although the work can be a bit taxing, compared to the tasks my dear father gave back in the empire, this is nothing." "I see..."

Snow's responsibilities here, though heavy by academy standards, probably paled in comparison to managing affairs in the empire.

Managing academy student council affairs, with all its rules and politics, was likely child's play for soone like her.

"So, what did you call here for?"

I asked, leaning back slightly in the chair, still feeling the strain of my recent defeat against Rose.

I had been training my mana sense in my private room, trying to enhance my reaction speed, particularly against fast-paced attacks.

But just when I was deep in focus, Yui had inford that Snow requested my presence, so here I was.

Snow, however, seed unbothered by my question as she continued to work, her eyes scanning over the papers before her.

It was clear that she was purposefully delaying the reason she called here.

I didn't press her, though the silence hung awkwardly between us.

Finally, she looked up, her lips curling into a teasing smile.

"I just wanted to see you. Is that not enough of a reason?" she said playfully.

"Fufu~ I'm kidding. You don't have to react so seriously," she added, waving off my silence with a soft chuckle. "I actually have two reasons for calling you here."

With that, Snow gracefully stood up from her desk, moving toward the chair across from .

She summoned her wand, and I watched as pale bluish mana gathered at its tip, swirling in the air with an ethereal glow.

[Low-grade ice magic]

[Ice Formation]

Crackle-!

The cold air around us shifted, and in a matter of monts, ice began to manifest, taking shape in front of .

It started small, a simple crystalline structure, but soon enough, a small-scale figure of a human ford from the icy mist.

Though the figure was mostly icy white with bluish pigntation due to the mana lingering around it, I could still make out the details-a young woman covered in baggy robes.

'Flam, huh...'

"Did you et anyone with a similar figure and appearance to this, Riley?"

"Yes...."

So, she really was aware of Flam's situation.

That realization brought so relief.

If anything were to go wrong,

Snow would likely handle the situation behind the scenes.

"Sigh... that girl...."

Snow sighed softly, her hand moving to her chin as she pondered sothing.

Tilting her head slightly, she looked at with curious eyes.

"She didn't do anything... weird, did she?"

"No, nothing at all. Aside from randomly calling out, she didn't really do anything. She has a unique vibe, though. A bit mysterious"

"Well... I guess that's fine," Snow said, though her gaze remained sharp. "But if you et her again, please avoid engaging in conversation with her as much as possible. And inform imdiately if she tries to contact you."

"Who is she, exactly?"

I asked, feigning ignorance.

Despite already knowing about Flam due to my knowledge of the ga, I had to play it safe.

Acting too familiar with her would definitely raise suspicions.

"So, she didn't introduce herself?" Snow seed relieved by this. "That's good.... Well, let's just say she's soone of great importance to the empire. I can't tell you the full details right now, but you'll learn about her soon enough. For now, her identity and presence need to

remain under wraps, so..."

"It's alright, I understand."

Snow smiled, her relief evident.

"Thank you. It's a delicate situation, and we can't afford any unnecessary complications."

Crackle-!

Snow shattered the ice figure she had just created with a simple flick of her fingers.

The crackling sound echoed through the room as the shards scattered across the table.

She then turned her attention back to , her gaze playful yet sharp, and smiled. "Now, for the second reason I called you here... I wanted to talk about us."

Her tone shifted slightly, carrying a weight I wasn't expecting. I blinked, caught off guard. "Excuse ?" I asked, unsure of where this was going.

"Fufu- There you go again, trying to deny the obvious," she teased, her voice carrying a soft lilt. Rising from her chair, she moved gracefully toward , her movents deliberate. Rather than sitting on the other side of the couch where there was plenty of space, she chose

to sit close-very close.

The proximity between us too close for casual comfort.

"I like you Riley"

|| ||

"I can understand your reluctance in forming a proper relationship with . But ignoring and

denying what's obvious... can be quite cruel, you know?"

Before I could react, she reached out and took my hand in hers.

The warmth of her touch was a stark contrast to the cool and composed persona she usually

displayed.

Her fingers wrapped around mine, and I could feel the slight tremble in her grip, as if she was nervous despite her confident exterior.

Her cheeks flushed a soft pink, and the color deepened into a warm, romantic red that spread

across her pale skin.

Even her ears turned a delicate shade of pink, betraying the vulnerability she was feeling at

that mont.

Her face was coming closer, and I knew exactly what she wanted.

The way she gently closed her eyes, lips slightly parted, told everything.

'Tsk.... just how shitty have I beco?'

It was in that mont that I realized just how far I had fallen-how deeply I'd buried my true

feelings beneath layers of excuses.

Liyana, my inevitable end, the happy ending I wanted-they had all beco convenient

shields.

Using them to deny the truth, to turn a blind eye to what was right in front of .

"Snow..."

I should've pushed her away.

It would've been the easiest thing to do-to reject her feelings before they could take root,

before she could invest more of herself into sothing I couldn't promise.

All I had to do was end it.

To tell her it wasn't possible, that we couldn't be.

Yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Because, deep down, I wanted it too.

As I gazed at Snow, so close, so sincere, a flood of mories rushed to the surface-mories

I had long since tried to bury.

They weren't just monts with Snow; they were fragnts of sothing much larger, much

older.

Forgotten scenes from another ti, another life.

[Note: User's soul is shaking!]

[Note: Temporal resonance will now be activated!]

[Skill: Archive (S)] → [Activated.]

My mind spiraled, trapped in a cycle of echoes from the past.

The Archive skill stirred within , tugging at forgotten threads of fate.

Scenes flashed before my eyes-both good and bad-on an endless loop.

mories of laughter, of quiet monts together, of fleeting happiness.

But no matter how sweet the mories were, they always led to the sa, inevitable

conclusion.

The end.

The mont Snow and I would be together, the world would fall apart.

The future we could have shared was a lie-our very love was a paradox that could never exist.

No matter how much I wanted it, no matter how much she deserved the truth, the Archive

showed that our story would always lead to ruin.

I had seen it, lived it, and forgotten it, only for it to resurface now, painfully vivid.

"I love you, Riley"

Her words reverberated in my mind, clashing with the images of our dood future.

My heart ached with the desire to reach out, to accept her feelings, but my mind scread at

to stop-to spare her from the inevitable pain.

And yet, my body moved on its own...

Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, my hand instinctively reached out,

pulling her closer.

It was as though so part of -the part that craved connection, warmth, and love-had taken control, overriding the doubts and warnings echoing in my mind.

Snow's eyes widened in surprise, a soft gasp escaping her lips as the suddenness of my action

caught her off guard.

"Nn?" she exhaled, her breath warm and shaky.

In that brief mont, every other thought faded away, replaced by a singular, undeniable

truth.

Our lips touched, a tentative connection that sent a shock through my entire body.

The sensation was gentle, soft, and warm-It felt familiar.... like sothing I've often used to

do.... Like it was everything I had longed for.

Her breath mingled with mine, sweet and faintly trembling, a sign of her own uncertainty, her

own emotions rising to the surface.

I could feel her warmth enveloping , the steady thrum of her heartbeat against my chest as

I held her close.

For a split second, the world seed to stop.

All the warnings, the visions, the worries-they dissolved into the background, leaving only

the two of us, locked in a mont that felt both fragile and eternal.

And as we got deeper in the mont.

Snow didn't pull away.

Whether this was a good or bad thing... I'll worry about it when the ti cos.

...

"Oh my~ Oh my~" Unbeknownst to the two whose feelings had just blossod into sothing real, a pair of mischievous eyes had been watching from the shadows, wide open in sheer shock.

A fantastical creature, hidden from sight, clutched its mouth with oversized paws, barely containing its astonishnt.

Cheshire—had just witnessed sothing far beyond his wildest expectations. His normally playful, carefree deanor was montarily replaced by a stunned silence as

his mouth stretched into a gigantic, impossibly wide grin, still trembling with disbelief. "What in the fantastical realms am I witnessing?"

Cheshire whispered to himself, his voice barely above a breath as his whiskers twitched in amazent.

His violet eyes glimred with a mixture of amusent and intrigue, while his striped tail

flicked back and forth, betraying the whirlwind of thoughts rushing through his mind.

As he hovered in the shadows, invisible to them both, Cheshire's usually playful smirk softened into sothing more contemplative.

"Oh, how absolutely precious! Such a forbidden love," he mused, his voice slipping into a

sing-song lilt. He stroked his fur with one paw, feigning nonchalance, though his eyes still glead with mischief.

"But what to do with this little tidbit of information? Hmmm... Oh, the possibilities~!"

As thoughts of sharing his discovery with Alice flickered through his mind, Cheshire's grin

grew wider, more devious.

Alice would surely be interested in this latest developnt, wouldn't she?

But then again, stirring the pot too much might spoil the fun. Perhaps he should wait... bide his ti until the mont was just right.

After all, secrets were best revealed when they could cause the most delightful chaos.

"Ah, decisions, decisions-"Cheshire purred to himself, his laughter echoing faintly in the air, though neither Riley nor Snow would ever hear it. With a final, exaggerated puff of his striped tail, Cheshire dissolved into smoke, his form dissipating like mist caught in the wind.