How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game

Chapter 265: Calm down my ladies...Interlude...

The air was chilly.

A biting wind swept through the space, but it wasnʼt the cold that sent shivers down Rileyʼs spine-it was the weight of the moment, the suffocating tension that hung heavy in the air.

Everyoneʼs thoughts seemed to converge on a single word. ”Mama?” ”Mama....” ”M-Mama?”

Three distinct voices, three very different reactions. Yet the same word spilled from their lips.

Seoʼs soft tone carried innocent confusion, her red eyes wide as she tilted her head ever so slightly.

Snowʼs trembling voice was filled with heartaching confirmation, her hands balling into fists at her sides as if bracing herself for something unbearable.

Aliceʼs voice, on the other hand, quivered with thinly-veiled denial, like her mind refused to process the implications of what she had just heard.

Eventually, two pairs of eyes turned toward him.

Snow and Alice.

Their gazes burned into him like searing flames, full of questions that carried a weight far heavier than words could express. ”Riley...”

Snowʼs voice was sharp, her normally calm demeanor slipping as her piercing gaze demanded answers. ”Junior...”

Aliceʼs tone was less formal, but the dark undertone in her voice carried a dangerous edge, a cold fury barely held at bay.

Riley felt the pressure intensify. The combined stares of the two girls were suffocating.

He gulped involuntarily, his throat dry, his mind racing for some semblance of an explanation, some way to untangle this impossible situation.

But as he met their eyes-Snowʼs icy, calculating gaze and Aliceʼs fiery, almost wild intensity -something in their expressions struck him.

It was a look he recognized.

A memory he thought he had buried deep resurfaced, unbidden.

He recalled a girl from his childhood, her face twisted in a crazed, unrelenting obsession that had haunted him for years.

Now, that same look was mirrored in the eyes of both Snow and Alice.

Fear gripped him.

His heart raced as he tried to suppress the rising panic.

Heʼd faced monsters, disasters, and countless impossible situations before-but this? This was something else entirely.

A slew of options flashed through Rileyʼs mind, none of them particularly appealing.

The first option was telling the truth-flatly denying his dear daughterʼs proclamation and labeling it as some elaborate prank.

But that came with its own risks.

While it might stop this strange situation from spiraling further, it would open the door to an even more dangerous conversation: ”If sheʼs lying, then who is the mother?”

The second option was to play along, using the opportunity Lauraʼs sudden declaration had created to escape the moment unscathed.

Yet this route came with an equally troubling consequence.

Agreeing with Laura, even tacitly, would cause great misunderstandings-and Riley could already feel the sting of future accusations brewing in Snow and Aliceʼs sharp gazes. His choices were painfully limited.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how precarious his position was.

Rileyʼs gaze flickered briefly to Snow, her calm exterior barely hiding the inner storm brewing beneath.

And then to Alice, her fiery eyes burning with suppressed frustration, her mind clearly racing to make sense of the unfolding chaos.

He swallowed hard, recalling a very specific individual from his past.

The dragon hiding behind an innocent façade.

Liyana.

No.

He couldnʼt let their attention shift to her.

The mere thought made his stomach tighten with anxiety.

Getting Snow and Alice involved in anything related to Liyana was too dangerous.

Because as far as Riley knew, his fiancée was every bit as unpredictable as Rose when it came to certain actions.

And unlike Rose—whose dangerous whims were often wrapped in calculated grace-Liyanaʼs unpredictability came with an untamed intensity Riley was far too familiar with.

After all, heʼd spent most of his childhood navigating the minefield that was Liyanaʼs peculiar logic.

Riley clenched his fists subtly, his mind solidifying around one absolute truth:

He couldnʼt let Liyana become the center of attention. ʼShe probably came to the conclusion that I couldnʼt let them know about Liyana...ʼ

Riley mused, analyzing Lauraʼs sudden actions.

Her motives remained a mystery, but he didnʼt let the thought linger too long.

His focus shifted to the present, and more importantly, to the opportunity Laura had just handed him.

If his dear daughter was crafting some elaborate, double-edged prank to give him a means of escape, he couldnʼt afford not to take the bait.

Taking a deep breath, Riley turned his attention to Laura and summoned the inner actor that had gotten him out of trouble so many times before.

His expression softened into one of pure, innocent confusion, masking the rising tension in his chest. ”Laura...” he began, his voice steady but laced with just the right amount of disbelief. ”Seo is your mother?”

The room froze.

Lauraʼs lips curved into a sly smile, amusement practically radiating from her face as if to say, ”Good move, Papa.”

Snow and Alice, on the other hand, had entirely different reactions.

Their eyes widened in synchronized shock, and the same question immediately formed in both their minds. ”What do you-”

Before they could finish, the swirling energy in the air surged with a deafening hum.

The tension snapped as reality around them shattered like glass, filling their vision with an overwhelming flash of blank white.

The oppressive weight of the domain lifted in an instant.

When the light faded, Riley found himself standing back in his room, the familiar surroundings a stark contrast to the chaotic scene moments earlier.

His eyes darted to the others, quickly assessing their state.

Snow and Alice appeared disoriented, blinking in confusion as they tried to process the sudden shift.

Seo, meanwhile, stood rooted in place, her face frozen in a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment, clearly still reeling from what she had just heard. ... ʼWeʼre back...ʼ

The words echoed faintly in my mind as the reality of the room settled in.

Aliceʼs confused face was the first thing I noticed, her golden eyes darting around as if scanning for residual mana.

Her focus seemed to be entirely on the abrupt destruction of Wonderland, her expression tinged with confusion and curiosity.

Snow, meanwhile, was quiet but visibly perplexed, her gaze sweeping over the room before locking onto me with an unspoken demand for answers.

Seo, still in a hugging position, tilted her head, her crimson eyes flickering with innocent confusion.

It seemed to dawn on her that the person she had been holding moments ago had vanished from her arms, leaving her questioning reality itself.

As for me, mana was slowly stabilizing within my body after the chaotic whirlwind of the domain collapse. Yet my mind wasnʼt afforded even a moment of peace.

Lauraʼs whimsical smile flashed in my memory, a clear reminder of how she had effortlessly cornered me with her antics. ”Hehehe~ Papa! Try cranking that thing up!” ”Oh yeah, Papa! Mama was looking for you-she looked really angry~!” ”Ah~ Papa, look! I made this for you-why donʼt you drink it!”

A parade of memories came rushing back, each one featuring Lauraʼs playful, mischievous grin.

Though she was meant to be nothing more than a fragment of someone I once knew, a person confined to my memories, her presence back then had felt undeniably real. Her demeanor, her personality—it was as if nothing had changed.

Despite the trouble sheʼd caused, her actions had provided me with a means to divert their attention away from Liyana.

But the reprieve was short-lived. ”Riley... that girl... who was she?”

Seoʼs innocent, inquisitive voice cut through the tense atmosphere like a blade.

As if on cue, every pair of eyes in the room turned back to me, their gazes heavy with expectation.

Aliceʼs sharp stare held questions she didnʼt voice, while Snowʼs cool, analytical eyes demanded explanations.

Even Seo, though more naïve in her approach, seemed genuinely curious, tilting her head slightly as if that would help her understand.

The weight of their collective scrutiny bore down on me. ʼHahaha...ʼ

A nervous chuckle escaped my lips, beads of sweat forming on my temple.

Well, I thought, if I was going to escape unscathed, Iʼd have to play this carefully.

Feigning innocence seemed like the best option for now.

Time to crank out a great excuse. After all, what better way to sidestep suspicion than with a perfect act of cluelessness?

Clearing my throat, I put on my most confused yet earnest expression and prepared to talk my way out of this mess. ”Now, about that girl...you might be the mother?”

Now then plan you might be the mother commence...

Throughout her life as a Shadow Knight, Amana had been trained to expect the unexpected.

From a young age, she had witnessed the worldʼs darkest atrocities, the heinous crimes people could commit, and the strange, unpredictable events that unfolded from even the smallest of actions.

Her experiences, both positive and negative, had shaped her into someone who believed she was unshakable, unflappable, and immune to surprises.

Yet, as she stood cloaked in the shadows, her eyes widened in disbelief.

What on earth is happening here?

She had come to this place under a secret directive, her movements careful and precise to remain undetected.

But now, the scene before her was far beyond anything she could have imagined.

Three girls.

Three distinct individuals, each with their own fiery personalities, were clinging to the same young man-him.

The very same young man who had inflicted upon her an inescapable trauma less than a week ago.

Mana gritted her teeth, her emotions in turmoil. ʼI came here as per the emperorʼs command... but whatʼs going on right now?ʼ

She squinted at the trio, her sharp eyes narrowing as she tried to comprehend the sheer absurdity of the situation. ”We got married in the future.... and we had a child..”

The first voice rang out with confidence, filled with innocent honesty and certainty. ”Junior said he couldnʼt figure out who the mother was in his dreams, right? And Junior, you did say Laura loved playing pranks, didnʼt you?”

The second girlʼs tone was calm but carried a sharp edge of analytical reasoning, as if she were unraveling a mystery right before their eyes. ”There might be a chance sheʼs ours, Riley,” said the third girl, her voice full of cold confidence as her piercing gaze pinned him in place. ”After all, Iʼm supposed to be your first wife.”

Amana blinked, her sharp mind trying to process the implications of the words she had just overheard.

Three girls.

Three wildly different opinions.

And in the center of it all stood him.

Riley.

Amana couldnʼt help but observe the subtle shifts in his expression as he tried-and failed- to keep his composure.

He was clearly overwhelmed, his usually confident demeanor cracking under the pressure of their combined intensity. ʼThis...ʼ Amana thought, suppressing the urge to scoff, ʼis the man who brought me to my knees just days ago?ʼ