How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 695: Frozen Trials 7.5
Previously on How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game...
Truth be told, the sensation of being betrayed—or at least sensing it—had turned into something routine for Snow.
It wasn't as if Riley had actually been unfaithful to her.
Not in the typical sense that others would imply.
Yet that emotion?
The subtle ache that surfaced whenever she caught another woman gazing at him for a beat too long, or when he directed that uncommon, tender look toward someone else?
That occurred far more frequently than she'd care to confess.
During their early days of dating, she had already been aware of the sort of person he was.
Riley drew others in naturally.
Not through any effort on his part.
Not by flirting or seeking attention.
He merely was, and folks were pulled toward him effortlessly.
His steady power, that impassive stoic demeanor, the subdued manner in which he managed situations—it lured people like a beacon through the night.
And Snow recognized her own standing.
She wasn't oblivious.
She realized she hadn't secured him because she was uniquely qualified.
She had just been the initial one to approach him.
The first to pierce his defenses.
The first to cause that icy, enigmatic facade to fracture.
The first to prompt him to gaze at another with warmth.
And she took pride in that achievement.
Proud for being the one to bypass his barriers.
Proud for witnessing aspects of him that remained hidden from others back then.
However, she wasn't innocent or foolish.
The women surrounding him weren't mere fleeting infatuations.
They weren't short-lived diversions.
The connections Riley forged with them were authentic.
The moments shared, the joint struggles, the joy, the hushed conversations—all of it held significance.
Snow comprehended that more deeply than anyone.
She couldn't ignore how Riley's focus didn't always remain exclusively on her.
Alice served as the most evident illustration.
The manner in which Riley regarded Alice—softer than his norm, tolerant, safeguarding in a unique fashion—it wasn't something Snow could feign ignorance about.
It went beyond mere benevolence.
It was fondness.
Genuine fondness.
And it stung.
Not sufficiently to shatter her.
But enough to underscore that she could never possess him entirely.
Not in this realm.
Not given the nature of the man he embodied.
Riley couldn't be wholly owned by a single individual.
Not fully.
He bore too heavy a load.
He held too great an importance—not only to her, but to all those in his circle.
Thus, Snow adjusted accordingly.
If preventing others from adoring him proved impossible... she would instead guide the form that adoration took.
This explained why the harem strategy wasn't a reckless dream stemming from doubt.
It represented calculation.
It signified concession.
It formed her method of remaining central regardless of how many entered his world.
It wouldn't signify anything if Riley eventually brought multiple women home someday.
Provided he genuinely cherished them.
Provided they weren't fleeting.
Provided she could position herself alongside them without revulsion or competition consuming her.
For in the final analysis... the majority of his initial experiences belonged to her.
His initial declaration of love.
His first instance of vulnerability.
His first authentic grin.
Those elements couldn't be supplanted.
And Snow clung to that reality with unyielding grip.
It served as the sole anchor for her stability.
Nevertheless... boundaries existed even then.
Even a person as tolerant as her possessed a threshold.
"Uhm... Miss Innkeeper, we’re willing to pay extra—no, three times—no, ten times the price. We just need a place to stay for the night..."
"Unacceptable."
Snow released a soft exhale while observing the mildly puzzled look on her partner's face.
Or rather... on the Riley positioned before her.
Such situations weren't unfamiliar.
She had encountered parallels previously—once within a vision, once during another challenge.
The backdrop varied, the phrasing altered subtly, yet the essence remained unchanged.
Enticement.
A examination.
A reflection.
Even so... awareness of its nature didn't lessen the difficulty.
Because the figure confronting her wasn't merely an illusion of Riley.
It encompassed a fabricated Snow as well.
An innkeeper incarnation of her own self—serene, poised, jesting with him subtly.
The posture of her arms folded.
The brief softening of her gaze upon his entreaty.
The prolongation of the instant merely to relish his discomfort.
It was undeniably her.
And she understood her own tendencies intimately enough to anticipate the progression.
Should she permit it, that iteration of Snow would ultimately advance.
She would feign hesitation, compel him to persist... then escort him upward bearing that subtle grin reserved for him.
And upon the door's closure?
She'd likely consume him throughout the evening.
Snow tightened her jaw faintly.
I hate this...
Indeed, she recognized this as merely a constructed scene from the challenge.
Indeed, she knew the Riley and Snow present weren't authentic.
Rationally, no grounds existed for feeling endangered.
It was simply a duplicate of herself.
If anything, it ought to seem innocuous. Wasn't it still Snow expressing love for Riley?
Then why did it disturb her profoundly?
Riley with other women was tolerable.
She could endure that.
She had embraced that extent already.
So long as the sentiments were authentic. So long as the ties were true. So long as it avoided superficiality or coercion.
That constituted her stipulation.
That defined the boundary she imposed on herself.
Yet this instance?
This diverged sharply.
The underlying reality was contrived.
The sentiments were predetermined.
The closeness that would develop between them here... it lacked foundation in mutual recollections, mutual suffering, mutual evolution.
It was engineered.
And that was the sole aspect she found unacceptable.
She could voluntarily distribute Riley.
She could align with other women who sincerely adored him.
She could even grin and embrace them if assured of their earnestness.
But what she craved—what she required—was irreplaceable uniqueness.
Something exclusive to her.
A affection originating from authenticity.
A bond forged via all they had weathered jointly.
Not an expedited path.
Not a staged event.
Not an alternate self who hadn't traversed trials alongside him.
Regardless of that Snow's identical appearance.
Regardless of her matching speech patterns.
Regardless of her equally intense devotion in this instant.
It didn't pertain to her.
And Snow declined to permit an artificial entity to seize a love destined for reality.
Her bond with Riley transcended mere endearment.
It encompassed legacy.
Encompassed wounds.
Encompassed being the initial presence when he hit his nadir.
If this challenge demanded she witness another "Snow" construct something profound with him in one evening... then it utterly misunderstood her.
For she preferred shattering the deception—
Over permitting a counterfeit self to flourish in her stead.
Riley is mine...
Irrespective of the realm.
Irrespective of the reverie.
Irrespective of the illusion or distorted reality variant.
Riley is mine.
The devotion I harbor for him... it dedicates solely to him.
Not to a duplicate.
Not to a setup.
Not to some inexpensive facsimile devised to challenge me.
I won’t allow a simulated self even a fleeting view of what demanded my blood and tears to erect.
That subdued reflection anchored in her heart like unyielding metal.
Her doubt vanished.
With composed determination, Snow raised her eyes and regarded the pair of perplexed forms ahead.
The simulated pair.
The simulated Riley.
The simulated Snow.
She tucked a lock of ebony hair behind her ear, methodically and intentionally.
Beyond, the urban area pulsed with energy.
It was the eve of festivities.
Sounds of melody wafted along the avenues—rhythms, mirth, remote exclamations.
Bursts of pyrotechnics illuminated the heavens, casting hues upon the edifices.
Lamps oscillated softly amid the breeze.
Lunar glow cascaded from on high, pale and chill, filtering via the lodging's ajar pane and settling tenderly upon her silhouette.
She donned the unadorned attire of a hostel attendant currently.
Basic cloth.
An apron fastened casually around her midsection.
No celestial radiance.
No commanding aura.
Her ethereal allure had faded.
She appeared commonplace.
Nearly unmemorable.
Yet her deep chocolate irises...
They gleamed.
Not from might.
Not from godliness.
But from something infinitely more perilous.
Conviction.
Both the Riley and Snow before her expanded their gazes marginally.
Not due to her look—but owing to the alteration in her aura.
Something in her seemed... weightier.
Tangible.
She offered them a mild grin.
Gentle.
Courteous.
Nearly benevolent.
"I just remembered," she stated casually, her tone even and firm. "All the rooms are taken."
She inclined her head slightly.
"Unless you two want to spend the night with some strangers, I suggest you leave."
Her grin persisted.
"Now......"
"Get the fuck out of my face."
The phrasing was vulgar.
Direct.
Utterly mismatched with her visage.
And still—
Even within that loaned, mundane form... she possessed beauty.
The affection.
The fabricated Snow sensed it initially.
A subtle quiver coursed along her vertebrae.
Then Riley.
He fixed his stare upon her for an extended instant.
Not upon her features.
But upon her eyes.
As though, briefly, he regarded someone inherently his.
....
In the meantime, returning to the Frozen Castle.
Technical Banquet Hall.
The vast room lay hushed save for the subtle snapping of ice spreading over the stone barriers.
Elongated crystal tables remained undisturbed, utensils immobilized by frost, chalices brimming with solid ice rather than liquor.
Overhead, frost-crafted fixtures dangled akin to ensnared celestial bodies.
At the heart of everything perched the Frost Queen.
Opposite her, Riley.
The pair had shared this quietude for some time.
A slender luminous pane hovered between them—displaying Snow’s ordeal with flawless detail. Each utterance. Each countenance. Each emotional fluctuation.
But solely the Frost Queen could perceive beyond,
Occasionally they traded brief remarks.
Occasionally silence prevailed.
"Hmm..."
The Frost Queen’s focus drifted marginally.
Riley detected it at once. "Did something happen?"
She withheld response momentarily. Her glacial azure gaze constricted faintly as she examined the vision.
"An unforeseen response..."
Riley’s brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"It appears your cherished one appreciates the ordeal I crafted..." she hesitated slightly. "No. Maybe despises it. Uncertainty remains."
Riley’s features intensified. "Please explain."
The Frost Queen at last met his eyes squarely.
"Do not become riled," she uttered serenely. "She remains unharmed. Merely, I might require tweaking the ordeal’s core. Your partner—my successor—proves more resolute than foreseen."
"Huh...?"
"Well," she reclined faintly in her frozen seat, draping one graceful limb atop the other, "that aspect proves intriguing. Perhaps I ought to grant her passage outright."
Riley blinked.
"Did Snow complete the second trial already?"
He felt intrigued by Snow’s resolution.
The Frost Queen’s mouth arched subtly.
"Labeling her the ’correct answer’ to my intended framework would prove challenging," she conceded. "But... her selection stands out as distinctive."
Her gaze reverted to the suspended depiction of Snow beneath the lunar light.
"I like it."
A hint of entertainment colored her voice now.
"A successor needn’t mirror her forerunner precisely. Indeed, that would dull the experience. The icy sovereignty aims not to spawn duplicates."
She propped her chin delicately upon her covered palm.
"It appears she treads a route surpassing my own."
Riley gazed at her, evidently perplexed.
"Surpassing you... in what manner?"
The Frost Queen overlooked the bewilderment in his tone.
Her focus dwelt on Snow a beat more—on the assurance in her gaze, on the ownership she wouldn’t disavow, on her dismissal of a vacant mimicry of devotion.
Then she inclined her head silently to herself.
"Yes... that suffices."
She elevated her palm.
A keen, clear crack resounded across the assembly chamber as her digits connected.
The luminous pane fragmented into icy shards—
And elsewhere amid the ordeal, radiance erupted.