"Promise me, Leon, before I get my hands on you, don’t let anyone else take you down first.”

“Hmph, don’t get ahead of yourself. From now on, I’ll target you exclusively. You won’t live to see the next meeting.”

“Oh really? And who was it again that skipped the very first meeting of the game? Why didn’t you attend, Leon? Didn’t feel like it?”

“That was just me being caught off guard by your tricks. Your advantage stems purely from your role, not your skill.”

“Fine, fine. I’m really looking forward to your performance next.”

“I’m done bantering with you. Stay away from me. Don’t get in my way while I’m investigating clues.”

“Who's staying away from whom? Clearly, you’re the one approaching me.”

“You make it sound like I’m eager to stick with you.”

The couple spoke in unison: “Hmph!”

However, just as the two were about to part ways and head off in their own directions, the Recording Stones in their pockets simultaneously emitted an NPC notification:

“[The King’s Old Friend] and [The Royal Chef], please be advised. [The King’s Old Friend] and [The Royal Chef], please be advised.”

“You have been affected by the item card [The Seven Days Unbreakable Bond: Love is Stronger than God]. For the next six hours, you must act together and cannot be more than five meters apart.”

Hearing this, the couple froze in place.

W-What? The Seven Days Unbreakable Bond: Love is Stronger than God?

What a disgustingly corny name!

After an initial moment of shock, Leon and Roswitha turned to look at each other.

“Did you use the item card?” Leon asked.

“Are you crazy? Why would I use such a card on the two of us?”

“Then who would be this twisted?”

“Whoever it is, she must think this game isn’t chaotic enough.”

Roswitha shook her head. Since they were already stuck in this situation, there was no point in agonizing over who had done this to them. Their focus should be on the current predicament.

“So, starting now, we’ll have to stick together for the next six hours. "Alas…”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “What’s with that sigh? Acting alongside me is a blessing. Watch and learn.”

Roswitha rolled her eyes so hard they almost disappeared into her skull.

“Six whole hours tethered to an arrogant and narcissistic dog like you... it’s pure torture from head to tail-tip!”

Leon (unwavering): “You’re lying.”

Roswitha: “It’s true.”

Leon: “Lying.”

Roswitha: “True.”

Leon: “It’s true.”

Roswitha: “It’s a lie!”

*Clap*—

Leon clapped his hands. “See? You admitted it yourself. That was a lie. Deep down, you actually want to stick with me.”

“......”

Speechless. Absolutely speechless.

Roswitha stomped her feet and swished her tail. “Not wasting my time on you.”

With that, the queen strode off toward the other side of the corridor.

Seeing how his little ploy had effectively needled the dragon queen, Leon couldn’t help himself and decided to have more fun. He followed right after her.

“Hey, hey, don’t stray too far, wifey. We can’t be more than five meters apart, remember?”

...

Little did Leon and Roswitha expect, the real humiliation wasn’t being tied together—it was being *seen* tied together!

“Little Ros, brother-in-law, your acting skills are top-notch.”

The couple covered their faces in unison, bracing themselves for yet another one of Big Sister’s merciless roasting sessions.

The Red Dragon Queen stood with her arms crossed, her expression gleaming with mischief. She smirked.

“You two clash like fire and ice at the conference table, yet here you are, running around doing missions together in private. Tsk-tsk-tsk. I can’t even enjoy a game without a mouthful of your couple nonsense. Painful, so painful~”

*If you’re so in pain, Big Sis, why not stop tormenting us and go handle your own tasks?*

“Big Sis, we’re *actually* under the [Seven-Day Unbreakable]—”

“Wow~ Not only are you glued together, but you’re also describing yourselves as ‘unbreakable?’ You’ve been married five years. No need to be *this* clingy~”

“Let’s just kill her.”

“I’m in.”

“Hey, hey, just kidding, just kidding.”

Isa immediately retracted her teasing.

She knew full well that while her sister and brother-in-law might act like they can’t stand each other, if they ever truly teamed up, they could practically speed-run this entire game together.

Even someone as sharp as Isa could only go toe-to-toe with Leon on her best day. If you added Roswitha to the mix, there wouldn’t be a soul left in the remaining six players who could rival the duo.

But alas, the only reason this pair was “working together” was because of an external item card. Unless absolutely necessary, these two would never willingly join forces.

“So, have you found any useful clues?” Isa asked, switching the topic.

The couple shook their heads.

“Hmm… I haven’t found anything either. Well, I’ll keep at it. You two, enjoy your ‘alone’ time, hmm?”

With a wave of her hand, Isa turned and strolled off.

After her footsteps faded away, Leon asked casually, “Big Sis’s role is [Doctor]. Do you really think she has no role perks whatsoever?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Look, your role as [Chef] lets you use in-game items to keep certain players from attending meetings, right? Plus, I’m guessing there are other items with other effects you can use too. What about Big Sis? As the [Doctor], logically, her role should be even more versatile than [Chef].”

Roswitha nodded thoughtfully. “True. And my sister keeps claiming she hasn’t found any clues, but since the game started, shouldn’t everyone have completed at least some tasks or gathered some intelligence or items? How could she have found *nothing*?”

Leon blinked, gears of intrigue turning in his mind. He suggested, “Could your sister… be the lone wolf player?”

“Lone wolf?”

“Yeah, someone with no allegiance to any faction. Their win condition is just to survive until the very end.”

The fake lone wolf approach: eliminate everyone.

The *real* lone wolf strategy: cast suspicion on everyone.

General Leon, you genius!

“Hmm… when you put it that way, it’s plausible.”

Just as Leon thought he might successfully sow doubt and ready to throw more dirt onto Isa’s name, Roswitha suddenly said,

“But then again, it doesn’t really matter. It’s still early in the game, and no one can be trusted. Even though we’re tied together now, I’m still going to doubt you.”

Well.

So much for getting Roswitha to jump on that theory.

Leon shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s keep moving and get some more tasks done.”

The couple set off once more.

About half an hour later, they completed another task.

But the task reward turned out to be exclusive to the [Chef] role.

Which meant Leon had just spent thirty minutes helping Roswitha for free.

Gleefully flaunting the card in hand, Roswitha teased, “Just watch and learn.”

“This is pure luck, nothing else.”

“Tsk.”

Roswitha ignored him and opened the intelligence card, which read:

[Recipe]

[Dish: Mint Cool Tea]

[Effect: Consuming this can dispel any negative effect.]

[Note: Single-use only.]

Roswitha’s pupils contracted slightly. “Dispel any negative effect… which means, if we make this Mint Cool Tea, we can break the effects of this [Seven-Day Unbreakable Bond].”

After Leon hearing this, his eyes lit up as well. “Then let’s head to the kitchen, fast.”

“Let’s go.”

No sooner said than done, the couple made a beeline for the kitchen.

But when they arrived, they found it already occupied.

By Noa and Helena.

The princess and the guard.

“Mom? Dad? Why are you two together?”

“Ah, well… we’re here to do a task.”

While replying, Leon subtly glanced at the water tank below the counter. That’s where the critical in-game item, the Black Holy Stone, was hidden.

Since Leon’s lone wolf victory condition was to safeguard the Black Holy Stone till the end of the game, it was easy to deduce that Noa’s win condition as the [Princess] was to locate it.

And now, the key to victory was within two meters of his eldest daughter.

Leon withdrew his gaze, keeping his composure calm.

“You two? Just wandering around here to do tasks as well?” Roswitha asked.

“Oh, no. We’re just exploring, seeing if there are any task.”

“I see…”

“Mm. Well, you guys carry on. Helena and I will head out.”

“Alright.”

After a brief conversation, the two groups were about to part ways.

But just then, Noa’s Recording Stone emitted a sudden announcement:

“[The Princess] and [Friend A], please be advised. [The Princess] and [Friend A], please be advised.”

“You have been affected by the item card [Seven-Day Unbreakable Bond: Love is Stronger than God]. For the next six hours, you must act together and cannot be more than five meters apart.”

Noa froze. “W-What? Seven-Day Unbreakable Bond...?”

“Friend A? Does that mean one of Muen and Aurora from the [Friends of the Princess] group?” Helena asked.

Indeed, when the task roles were drawn, the sisters had drawn the [Princess's Friend] role.

To differentiate, the roles had been split into [Friend A] and [Friend B].

“Sis! Sis!”

Before Noa could make sense of the situation, Muen appeared at the kitchen door.

Holding her Recording Stone, she bustled over to Noa, grabbing her sister’s arm with bright, teary eyes. “Sis, we’ve been hit with some bad juju!”

“Oh, I just heard about it too. That [Seven-Day Unbreakable Bond; Love is Stronger than God] thing, right…”

“Yeah!” Muen nodded emphatically. “For the next six hours, I can only stick with you. I won’t be a bother, will I?”

“Of course not.” Smiling, Noa pinched her younger sister’s cheek affectionately.

“Yay~ Sis, you’re the best~”

“So, do you know who used that item card on us?”

"I don't know! Muen knows nothing!"

"Oh... okay, then let's go do the mission together."

"Mm-hmm!"

Before leaving, Muen didn't forget to say goodbye to her parents.

"Goodbye, Mom and Dad~"

The couple smiled and waved at their daughters.

As they walked off into the distance, Leon was quick to expose his younger daughter's little secret.

"She definitely used that Eternal Bond item card on herself, didn't she? Definitely!"

Roswitha chuckled helplessly.

"It's just a game. Playing it like this makes it more fun."

Hearing this, Leon seemed to think of something.

He scratched his nose and said in a deliberately nonchalant tone,

"So, after we finish making the mint tea... are we actually going to dispel the effect of that item?"

The queen raised her elegant eyebrows, clearly understanding the meaning behind Leon's words.

But she still wanted to tease this idiot.

"Of course, we'll dispel it. Why wouldn't we?" Roswitha said with a playful smile.

Leon suddenly panicked a little. He rubbed his hands together and maintained a casual attitude.

"Because... you see, the Eternal Bond effect isn't really a major negative debuff. If we use the mint tea to counter it now, then what if we encounter some stronger negative item effect later? That tea can only be used once, right?"

Oh wow, presenting such a well-argued case.

But all this reasoning could be summed up in one simple thought:

**I just want to stay connected with you a little longer.**

"Hmm... you make a good point."

Of course, Roswitha also wanted to spend more time with her captive. After all, this game was a family-bonding type. If they didn't take advantage of this moment to interact more, when else would they?

In truth, their real feelings didn't require much speculation—anyone observing could easily tell.

They were both simply waiting for the right timing to stop being stubborn.

After deciding, Roswitha followed the recipe on the intel card and prepared the mint tea. She then handed it to Leon.

"For me?" Leon looked a bit surprised.

"Yes. You're always wandering around aimlessly, so if you accidentally trigger some negative item effect, the mint tea might save your life."

"Wow, Your Majesty, looking out for your husband, huh?"

"Stop being gross. If you don't want it, give it back."

"I want it! Why wouldn't I want it?"

Roswitha rolled her eyes at him with a playful smile. "Alright, now go on to the next mission."

"Okay, let's go, let's go!"