"..."

Damn it!

After finally tearing his gaze away from the water stain, Leon looked at the red-haired chief's hazy eyes and her slightly flushed neck and couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

She's definitely had too much to drink and is acting up again...

"How about it?"

Looking at the silent Leon standing in front of her, the red-haired chief kicked off her shoes, gently tapping her white heel against the side table of the desk, and smiled:

"Won't you reconsider? If you just stay here for a few days, you could..."

"No chance!"

With extraordinary willpower, Leon refused the red-haired chief's invitation, took a step back, and said with a black face:

"Stop fooling around, I'm already married!"

"So you're rejecting me because you're married, not because you're not interested, right?"

"..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone~"

The red-haired chief, with her drunken eyes, raised her hand and beckoned Leon with a finger. Two strands of fiery red hair coiled around Leon's waist like a lover's arm, forcefully dragging him back, leaving two deep ruts in the carpet.

"Come on, Leon~ just agree to it!"

Right hand gripping Leon's wrist like a vice, she pressed his hand against her thigh, rubbing it twice. Her voice turned soft and sweet, blinking with a pitiful look, she said:

"You've already touched; you can't just go back on your word!"

"..."

I didn't agree, alright? And even though I did touch, it felt like I was being forced... and just how much did you drink anyway!

Seeing the pile of bottles behind the cabinet like a small hill, Leon struggled a bit but found he couldn't break free, so he tried to persuade:

"Chief, you're drunk."

"No! I'm not drunk!"

After completing an utterly classic drunken outburst, a glimmer of moisture appeared in the red-haired chief's eyes. She raised her face, tearfully saying:

"You have to agree after touching, guard my virgin sub-bureau for me... hic... Why am I always the one left behind? It's not fair! I also want to go to the Realm of the Dead! I want to rescue Emma! I don't want to stay here and wait!"

Emma...

Upon hearing Emma's name, Leon fell silent for a moment, and his struggling waned somewhat.

Emma, who had given him so much help and almost... was there before Veronica, was naturally in his thoughts. Ever since he found out she was also in trouble, he had been constantly thinking of rescuing her quickly.

However, the situation in the Realm of the Dead couldn't just be charged into; he didn't even know where she was being held, and he was already on the blacklist of the Overlords of the Dead Realm. If he rashly rushed in, not only couldn't he save anyone, but it would be a pure sacrifice.

So the only feasible way was to use his position as a board member to mobilize the entire Cleaning Bureau's power to pressure the Overlords of the Dead Realm to make concessions and bring back Emma and the captured cleaners.

The reason for not bringing it up in a board meeting was to avoid being seen as impulsive, which could affect the trust other board members had in his judgment, so he was deliberately avoiding that topic, though he was internally quite anxious.

And having a closer relationship with Emma, the chief was undoubtedly feeling worse than he was.

Also glancing at the mountainous pile of empty bottles and some swept aside shards of glass in the corner, Leon couldn't help but sigh, giving up on struggling further. Instead, he reached out and hugged the teary-eyed red-haired chief, gently patting her back.

If his guess wasn't wrong, the chief probably didn't have any living relatives.

The only somewhat close Taurus board member was extremely busy, and others in the bureau were more subordinates than friends. So, during the years when Leon wasn't part of the virgin sub-bureau, Emma was probably her only friend.

And the order for Emma to go to the Thousand Sails Maritime Country was signed personally by her; this was tantamount to sending a friend into danger and being unable to rescue them due to duties. Thus, the chief was naturally feeling quite bad.

Although she usually blinked her charming fox-like eyes and happily drank bottle after bottle, acting like she didn't have a care in the world, it didn't mean she was so calm as to ignore emotions—she was merely rational enough.

But now, having consumed enough alcohol to activate the [Immortal in Liquor] five or six times, the limits of rationality were numb. On learning from him that she still couldn't participate in the mission this time, her emotions finally got a bit out of control.

"Chief."

Gently patting the red-haired chief's back, producing a reasonably sized alcohol-induced hiccup, an understanding Leon hesitated for a moment before softly saying:

"If you're really feeling bad..."

"I didn't intend to cry!"

Sniffing her runny nose, the red-haired chief slightly lowered her head, pressing her forehead against Leon's chest, muttering in a muffled voice:

"I'm just a bit tipsy... just let me lean on you for a bit..."

Your stubbornness... go ahead, lean!

Not exposing the red-haired chief's lie, allowing her to bury herself against his chest and organize her thoughts, Leon lightly patted her back to comfort her, his thoughts involuntarily starting to wander.

Although he indeed touched the chief's thigh, it was under duress and not his intention... well... he admitted there was a tiny part of him that wanted to... but he refrained from acting on it, directly refusing, just didn't have her strength.

And, speaking of this embrace, it should bear no other meaning, only considered... a comforting gesture of friendship, not infidelity, right?

Right?

Right...?

"Leon..."

Amidst Leon's moral struggle and wandering thoughts, the red-haired chief suddenly hiccuped lightly and murmured in his arms:

"I suddenly remembered that leaf from before."

Leaf?

Hearing this, Leon paused and immediately understood.

"The seven leaves recording different 'if lines'?"

"If line? What's an if line?"

"Uh... not an if line, if means hypothetical... like if I hadn't married Veronica, but chose someone else, the different futures that might have unfolded."

"Oh..."

Nodding in semi-understanding, the red-haired chief reversed her grip to hug Leon's waist, sniffing and said:

"Do you think our current position resembles a scene from my leaf?"

From your leaf?

Recalling what the chief mentioned, Leon's expression turned indescribably awkward.

In the chief's leaf, it seemed like he had become a true womanizer to earn a Neptune Badge, enacting a slew of repetitively similar scenes with the chief... (chapter 786)

"The scene you're referring to... wouldn't happen to be..."

"Yep, that one."

The red-haired chief hiccuped, in a sudden bright white light, humming:

"Leon, us doing this, isn't it a bit unfair to Veronica?"

"Ah!"

The moment the white light brightened behind him, Leon instinctively sensed something. Before the cry came from behind, he turned sharply.

As expected, Joshua, who was supposed to still be on the road, was naturally sent back by Capricorn, and right now, the revelation girl looked at him and the chief with shock. Upon noticing his gaze, she apprehensively covered her mouth, frantically shaking her head.

"I... I didn't hear anything! I absolutely won't speak a word!"

"..."

I knew it!

凸(艹皿艹)!!!