"Leo, stop pacing back and forth. You're making me nervous," Alice berated Leonel, who couldn't stay still in a single place.

"You should stop flying around and around as well. You're also making me nervous," Leonel retorted.

"I can't stay still! I haven't slept for days, waiting for those two to be back here!" Alice roared, eyes bloodshot and sunken. "I need to hear their answers! NOW!"

Leonel took a step back. "Chill out. Ren and Evie couldn't avoid HQ forever. And it only happened yesterday."

"You only say that because you live in the real world! But for me -- it's like years have passed! I need them to give me an answer, or I'll go bald!" Alice was clutching her hair, and strands of it came off. She pulled them too hard.

The air was filled with the sounds of ripping fabric and Alice crying in frustration. Leonel sighed and looked at his own hands, which were shaking as they gripped each other.

He glanced at Alice, who was still bawling, and he stared at her with a pained expression on his face.

He could understand her agony. He, as well, didn't have much sleep from thinking about Ren and Evie. And if they didn't show up now, Leonel was a hundred percent sure that he was going to log out and storm into Ren's house, destroying his door if he must for answers.

Alice stopped moving and stared at Leonel. Her eyes glowed red, and her pupils contracted to pinpricks. Then she lunged forward, her hands reaching for him.

Leonel extended his hands to meet hers out of reflex as he looked to the side, avoiding Alice's scary expression. Her head was four times bigger than normal, emphasizing her almost popping eyes. She could really scare the shit out of everyone.

"W-what?" Leonel's hands were shaking from trying to stop Alice from coming any closer to him.

"Go and call your friend. We need to hear what happened after that! We need to know everything down to the very last detail! NOW!"

"I already did, but Ren's not replying to me."

Alice glared at him and roared, "You're lying to me!"

Her head and eyes were about to pop, and Leonel cried inside. "I'm not! I really don't know! If I did, I wouldn't be stressing about it too!"

". . . Oh, right . . ."

It seemed like Leonel's reply calmed Alice, and her body parts also returned back to normal. However, her brain matter seemed to fry from the heat as she flew away in a daze muttering incoherent words to herself.

Leonel sighed and scratched his head. He had no idea what to do with this girl. She was so hot-headed that he could feel the heat radiating from her even though she had an astral body.

Ugh . . . Leonel shook his head and paced back and forth again until his legs went numb.

At the side, Isolde kept quiet and wore an unreadable face. She knew that this day would come, but she was devastated nonetheless. Happy but devastated.

It was not like she had a chance in the first place. She was just happy that Ren was there and that she could look at him from the side. It was not like she had hopes for them to become an item.

A little crush wouldn't hurt anyone . . . until her crush got a girlfriend, that is.

There was no way that Evie would reject someone like Ren. He was tall, handsome, rich, and, best of all, a powerful player in the game. His cold and aloof attitude was also appealing, while his lean frame was a bonus.

What more could she ask?

Isolde took a big breath and released it in one go.

The people in the headquarters were losing their minds as more time passed without Ren and Evie's appearance.

Leonel was running in circles. Alice was muttering to herself. Isolde was trapped in her thoughts with an open mouth and cloudy eyes.

At this moment, Ren finally appeared.

The moment he did, Leonel and Alice came zooming at him, and they both barraged him with questions.

"What happened yesterday?"

"What's her answer?"

"Did you two get together?"

"Tell us EVERY little detail. NOW!"

The two only turned quiet when, out of the blue, someone appeared from behind Ren.

The smile on Alice and Leonel's faces fell.

"Hello," Saya greeted before she intertwined her hand on Ren's arm. "My name is Saya, for those who don't know. I'm a new member of World Conqueror. I'm looking forward to working with you all."

Alice frowned and tilted her head, almost breaking her neck. "Who?"

Isolde shot to her feet. Her expression was of shock and confusion as well.

Leonel hadn't recovered, and he blankly asked back with his eyes glued on Saya's hand on Ren's. "S-Saya . . . Ah, becoming a member . . . That's . . . great?"

Saya giggled when she saw Leonel's eyes darting from Ren to her and to her intertwined hand on Ren's.

"Yes, Leo," she said, smiling sweetly. "Ren and I are dating," she confirmed.

". . ."

". . ."

Isolde turned to stone upon hearing what Saya said, while Alice's face wrinkled and her lower lip detached from her mouth when she hollered.

"Huuuh?!"

Leonel took almost a whole minute to recover, but he still couldn't process what Saya had said. He needed to hear it from his friend's lips.

Leonel couldn't even force a smile as he snatched Ren's arm. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"

Before Saya could react, Leonel had already pulled Ren away, leaving her no choice but to let go of his arm.

Alice was quick on her feet and immediately interrogated Saya. She already knew about Evie and the original gang, but Saya was foreign to her, so she had her reservation.

"Who are you in Ren's life?"

"How did you two meet?"

"How did you two become an item?"

"Give me all the details of your romance, or I'll make your life miserable."

Locked with Alice's barrage of questions, Saya didn't have any choice but to let go of Ren, who was now snatched by Leonel for interrogation.

A/N

Sorry, only one chap for now.

Still hangover 🤣�

Thank you very much to Darted_Table for the super gift and to everyone who supported the story so far.

Don't worry, everything will work out in the end. Have patience �