"Isolde?" Leonel teleported inside World Conqueror's HQ because she wouldn't answer his calls.

They left the party hours ago, and Leonel lost contact with her the moment she left the island. He was hoping that she logged in to COVENANT, but he found the HQ empty.

Everyone was probably still at Silvia's party.

Weak and drunk, Leonel sat on the chair and contemplated his next move. However, he was too drunk to come up with any ideas.

Instead, he ended up with more questions.

Why did she cry? What was she so upset about? Was it something he said?

The misunderstanding he thought finally ended seemed to have ended up in another misunderstanding.

I hope her family won't kill me. Leonel thought and brushed his hands over his face.

But the moment he closed his eyes, Isolde's confident face appeared right in front of him but was suddenly replaced with her crying face. He bolted up and almost lost his balance from dizziness.

Why the game even replicated his drunken state was beyond his understanding.

In Leonel's mind, Isolde was so brave, and she always looked like nothing could faze her. Seeing her cry like that troubled him to no end.

Why he was so affected by her was also a new question. All he knew was that he should make sure that she was alright and that there was no more misunderstanding between them.

Leonel was about to log out when Alice suddenly appeared, holding her ears in each hand, giving him the scare of his life.

AaAaaAArRgH!

If he had been here with his real body, he would've surely passed out right about now.

"It's just me. Stop shouting like you have seen a ghost." Alice pouted.

Leonel took deep and steady breaths to calm himself. "Alice! I told you to stop appearing so suddenly like that! You almost killed me there."

Alice rolled her eyes, and she looked even scarier with her white pupils on display. "Oh, please. Stop being so dramatic. And it's rude to tell a woman that you're going to die because of her face."

Leonel knew that he couldn't reason with the ghost, so he changed the topic instead. "Anyway, what are you doing with your ears on your hands?"

Alice's face glowed golden when she remembered something. "Right! I was going to tell you something important! Some time ago, before you all said you were going to some party without inviting me, Saya came here searching for Ren."

"You're not invited because it's a real-life event, and you're an NPC stuck in here," Leonel explained. "But do carry on."

Hearing Saya's name from Alice's lips intrigued Leonel to no end.

"Mmmpp." Alice pouted before her head went back to its normal size.

"So where was I?" Alice scratched her head before she snapped her finger in a eureka moment. "Right! Saya arrived, and she probably thought that no one was at home. But without her knowing, I hid my ears in one of the shelves there while I pretended to wipe the fallen leaves outside. And guess what I heard?!"

Leonel's brow rose, and he answered in a drunken state. "You hid your ears in the shelves? Do you do that often?"

Alice frowned. "Of course not . . . Sometimes it's my eyes or even my whole head. But anyway, that's not important! I heard Saya say that she would post Evie's video on the net if Ren doesn't answer her call!" Alice said with excitement. "What do you think that video is, huh? Is it important? Sadly, she logged out after that when she couldn't find Ren here. I didn't get the chance to know what video it was."

Alice then gasped, eyes rounded. "Could it be those scandal videos I hear so much about . . . like Evie's snoring in her sleep or picking her nose and eating her booger? Because I could understand . . . those videos could really ruin someone."

Leonel stared at Alice with a dead expression before he rapidly blinked. He then he weakly slumped to the ground. He was having a hard time believing that Saya would do something to force Ren to be with her. She wasn't like that . . . at least, not how he used to know her.

"Are you telling the truth?" rasped Leonel. Pain, disappointment, and sadness made his face crumple.

Why, Saya? Are you that desperate that you have to force Ren to be with you?

Alice raised her right hand and nodded. "With all my heart. I will stake my head for this. I really heard her loud and clear."

That explanation makes so much sense as to why Ren was together with Saya when the former clearly has feelings for Evie. Leonel thought. It was because Ren was protecting Evie from whatever Saya was plotting. The realization suddenly made him sober.

"I have to fix this!" Leonel stood to the ground, and he almost slumped back when the world twirled before him.

Darn this hyper realistic game!

"Wait!" Alice grabbed Leonel's hand, halting him. "What are you going to do? If you're just going to rush in there and confront them, you might make things worse. Remember . . . Evie's reputation is on the line here. Ren knew it too, and that's why he's very cautious."

". . ." Leonel stared weirdly at Alice. "For a ghost, you sure make a lot of sense."

Alice rolled her eyes again. "Of course I do. And I'm not a ghost! I'm a perfectly functioning human being that is cursed."

". . . Right . . ."

"Anyway, I'm on Ren's side on this. We must think of a safe way to separate those two and . . ."

Alice didn't finish her sentence when Isolde suddenly appeared in the room.

Leonel was shocked.

Isolde was shocked.

Alice only smiled meaningfully while her nostrils enlarged. "Oh . . . what's this? I smell something . . . weird between you two."

"Wait!" Leonel said when Isolde was about to log out. "Can we . . . talk for a moment?"

Isolde seemed to at least want to talk with Leonel. But she didn't look completely happy with him either. She was still wearing a sad expression on her face.

Isolde was silent for a moment before she finally replied, her voice small. "Fine . . ."

"Thanks . . ." Leonel then shifted his attention to Alice. "Can you leave us for a moment?"

Alice sweetly smiled. "Sure."

When Leonel redirected his focus to Isolde again, Alice simply hid her ears behind the jars on the shelves and went straight out of the door while snickering as she went.

Good thing that Leonel was a simple guy with a very short attention span. He probably already forgot about her detached ears that could spy everything inside the HQ.

When Alice was out of sight, Leonel immediately said, "I'm sorry. If I said something that made you upset, then I don't mean it."

Isolde stared at Leonel for a whole minute before sighing and looking to the side. "Do you even know why I was upset in the first place?"

"Uhm . . . because of the misunderstanding?" Leonel asked cautiously.

"Do you mean the misunderstanding with you?" Isolde shook her head. "I'm not even mad about that."

Leonel tilted his head and looked at Isolde with a puzzled expression. "Then . . ."

Leonel looked like a lost puppy, and Isolde knew that she couldn't be upset with him forever. In the first place, she shouldn't have placed any hopes on him. He wasn't even aware of what he was saying, and most of the time, he didn't mean any harm.

Although Leonel was a simpleton, he was a good guy and a rare friend to have. And she didn't want to lose him. That's what she thought.

"Well . . ." Isolde began, looking down again for a moment before raising her eyes to meet Leonel's gaze once more.

"Honestly, I don't really know why I was upset. It's just that . . . from your reaction, I feel like no one would like me . . . as a woman."

Leonel's lips curled inwardly. So that was it. He was so used to seeing Isolde as a guy that he forgot . . . she was a woman too.

Leonel wanted to hit his own head, and he spent a whole minute contemplating before seriously saying, "I don't mean anything bad about it. In fact, I was praising you. But know that if I had to pick between you and the hottest girl in school . . . I would pick you without a doubt."

". . ." Isolde was stunned by his reply and a smile slowly made her face beautiful in Leonel's eyes.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)