After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

Isa sat on the edge of her bed, massaging her temples with a headache.

The hangover from last night still hadn't subsided.

Her memory was also fuzzy, only vaguely recalling competing in a drinking contest with Lia, and then...

she'd forgotten everything else.

Isa's complexion changed, worried that she might have done something terrible at the party.

As for the reason she got drunk, it was mostly because she saw Lulu by Lin Da's side.

This made Isa, who had very traditional values and couldn't accept the chaos of multiple partners, feel somewhat disheartened.

She hadn't even started, and she'd already lost!

Isa sighed softly, cradling a cup of hot water and sitting at the desk lost in thought, she reflected on her life—born into an average well-to-do family, her parents were also ordinary adventurers. She grew up normal, was ordinarily outstanding, doing okay in every aspect but never reaching the top. Similarly, she hadn't had an ordinary relationship, never had her own Oath-bound.

At 25 years old and level 28, Isa was considered to be of a higher age among adventurers.

Watching her teammates pair up, showing affection for each other, running off to inns during holidays to frolic... Isa didn't mention it, but she felt envious.

Even if she had good relationships with her teammates, it was not the same compared to having an Oath-bound to entrust her life to.

Isa just wanted an ordinary outstanding male.

But after looking around, she found that everyone had their own strengths, as well as their own flaws!

Even those excellent traits didn't catch her eye.

Especially now that the Ice Flower was on the 13th floor, breaking through one more would bring them to the Iron Level adventure team.

Under these circumstances, Isa's standards inevitably rose again.

Fortunately, there was one person who always satisfied her.

When that person left the team, she immediately sent out an invitation.

Only at that time, that person's level had reset to zero, which made it difficult for her to be certain of his future.

Due to realistic considerations, Isa didn't rush to make a decision.

From that day to the present, it had been just under two months.

In two months' time, by the time Isa came to her senses, she found that that person was about to reach the same level of progress as her.

Now, it was no longer about whether he could catch her eye, but the other way around!

But even so, Isa still held considerable confidence.

She might not have reached the pinnacle in every aspect, but she also lacked any obvious shortcomings.

Isa was ready to lay her cards on the table at the Phoenix Tail Flower promotion party.

But what she hadn't expected was...

As soon as she entered the yard, she saw Lin Da gripping the hand of a werewolf girl tightly.

Isa felt like a deflated balloon, suddenly drained of energy.

Apart from the werewolf girl, by Lin Da's side were also Kafni, Monica, Aiko, Lia...

Each one was unique, their looks by no means inferior to her own beauty.

Isa grew fearful.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She really didn't have the courage to join this smog-filled battle.

Most importantly, her joining would mean becoming the third party, intruding on Lin Da and Lulu's relationship.

Put bluntly, she'd be the "mistress"!

Isa's principles didn't allow her to tolerate the existence of something as despicable as a "mistress," and even less to bear the thought of ruining someone else's relationship.

Therefore, the drunkenness at the party was Isa's farewell to a young girl's love affair that had never begun and had already ended.

She had to forget about the Phoenix Tail Flower adventure team and avoid any contact with Lin Da.

But upon waking up...

Isa's chest felt unbearably tight, and she couldn't help but recall Lin Da holding hands with Lulu, followed by various extreme scenarios.

One part of her was filled with unwillingness sprouting from within her heart, while another part was her rational self-admonition, telling her that staying away from Lin Da was the right thing to do. Drawing closer would be nothing but a moth flirting with flames, only increasing her own pain.

She, Isa—the captain of the highly esteemed Ice Flower Adventure Team—must not play the role of the mistress.

"Starting today, forget about Lin Da and focus solely on climbing the World Tree."

Isa clenched her fists, bit her teeth tightly, and muttered to her reflection in the mirror.

Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking came.

"Fannis? I told you, I'm not in a good mood, don't bother me today," Isa replied, rubbing her somewhat moist eyes, feeling downcast.

"Um, Isa...? What's wrong? Fannis sent me up to check on you."

The voice from outside was a warm male voice.

Isa's eyelids twitched as she jumped to her feet.

What's going on?

Lin Da was at Ice Flower's villa?!

Why did Fannis let him come up? Shouldn't he be waiting for her in the drawing room?

Isa looked at herself in the mirror in a panic: her silver hair was a bit frizzy, her face weary, yesterday's makeup had long smudged, and her pajama buttons were misaligned with the third button fastened in the second hole...

She sniffed herself, and her complexion turned even paler, reeking of alcohol. After coming back last night, she had slept till now without taking a bath!

Outside, Fannis's murmurs could be heard egging on, "Lin Da, just go in, Isa has been awake for a while pretending not to hear. If it was someone else, we wouldn't let him into the captain's bedroom, you know? You might even see some perks."

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Lin Da hesitated: "If Captain Isa's boyfriend finds out, I'm in big trouble."

"What are you talking about? As if Isa could have a boyfriend—she dreams of having one every day. Lin Da, if you're still lacking, we'll just give Isa to you, hehehe." Experience new tales on empire

As Isa hurriedly washed her face and changed her clothes in the bathroom, she kept her ears perked up, listening to the conversation outside.

When she heard Fannis urging Lin Da to come in quickly, she was furious, wishing she could spin Fannis around by her ears like a windmill!

But when Fannis mentioned giving her, the captain, to Lin Da, Isa oddly calmed down, biting her lip nervously, attentive to the noise outside.

Indeed, she held no hope of forming an oath-bound relationship with Lin Da and settled for being just friends. But she wanted to know, what did Lin Da think?

If she received a rejection, Isa could put Lin Da and Phoenix Tail Flower out of her mind and devote all her energy to climbing the World Tree.

So... reject her. Isa allowed the faucet to run, her hands restlessly gripping the edge of the basin.

She held her breath, silently praying, Lin Da, you must reject me!

Only then could she completely forget about Lin Da, letting him become just a passing figure in her adventure.

The two outside continued to chat casually.

They had no idea that, just a door away, a silver-haired girl was closing her eyes as if awaiting the judgment of fate.

If Lin Da had known beforehand, perhaps he would have rejected Fannis's suggestion.

But for Lin Da at this moment, it was just polite conversation with Fannis, and Fannis's comment about giving Isa to him was simply a joke.

Lin Da couldn't help but laugh: "To have a girlfriend like Captain Isa would truly be a great fortune in three lifetimes. Everyone would be envious, hehe."

"Right? Our captain is second to none!" Fannis proudly stated.

...

...

(ps: The protagonist is not going to be left alone; I guess many people want to see Aiko get taken in during this scene, but doing so hastily feels meaningless; Aiko hasn't been enlightened yet. The chicken soup incident is a setup, the next time will be the real deal.)