Lionel's mind raced instantly.
Not because he was scared.
Because this was bad.
Very bad.
The silver mask.
The black cloak.
That voice.
He recognized her immediately.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The woman tilted her head slightly.
"You know me?"
Lionel's smile appeared instantly.
Lazy.
Shameless.
Dangerous.
"No," he lied smoothly. "But the whole mysterious masked woman aesthetic is memorable."
[Host survival strategy detected.]
[Current Plan: Bullshit confidently.]
The woman ignored his words and looked toward the skeleton standing beside Lionel.
Its arm fell off again.
Silence.
The masked woman: "…Pathetic."
Lionel looked at the skeleton.
"…She's not wrong."
The skeleton looked emotionally devastated somehow despite lacking facial muscles.
The woman stepped closer.
Every movement was silent.
Controlled.
Like an assassin.
No.
Not like one.
She WAS one.
Lionel remembered her from the original story.
Seraphina Noctis.
One of the hidden geniuses of Silverwind Academy.
Future leader of an underground assassination organization.
A woman so dangerous that even nobles avoided provoking her later in the timeline.
And according to the original plot…
She shouldn't even be near the capital yet.
Lionel's eyes darkened slightly.
"…Butterfly effect already?"
[Congratulations.]
[You touched the timeline and now the timeline is touching you back.]
Seraphina's gaze sharpened.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Lionel blinked.
"…Which one?"
"Why is a royal prince practicing forbidden necromancy inside a graveyard at midnight?"
Silence.
Then—
Lionel sighed dramatically.
"…You know, when you say it out loud it really does sound illegal."
The woman stared at him.
"…It IS illegal."
"Right. Forgot that part."
The skeleton suddenly tried to intimidate Seraphina.
It raised its remaining arm aggressively.
Its spine detached and fell apart.
CLACK.
The skeleton collapsed into pieces.
Lionel covered his face.
"…I hate this game."
[YOUR ARMY IS COOKED.]
Seraphina stared at the pile of bones.
Then unexpectedly—
A small laugh escaped her mouth.
Tiny.
Short.
But real.
Lionel noticed immediately.
Interesting.
In the original story, Seraphina was known for being emotionally detached.
Cold.
Merciless.
Almost impossible to read.
Yet she laughed at THAT?
"…Damn," Lionel muttered. "Your sense of humor is broken."
Her laughter disappeared instantly.
"You're strangely calm for someone committing a crime punishable by execution."
Lionel smirked.
"I was royalty five minutes ago. Everything I do is technically illegal."
Her eyes narrowed behind the silver mask.
"You speak like someone who wants to die."
Lionel's smile faded slightly.
"No."
Darkness gathered faintly around his feet.
"This time I want to live."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Seraphina felt it immediately.
The shift in his voice.
The hatred buried beneath those words.
The trauma.
For a brief second…
Lionel looked less like a spoiled prince and more like something that crawled out of war.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
[WARNING.]
[Dangerous female has become curious.]
[Host may be cooked romantically.]
"…Shut up."
Seraphina frowned slightly.
"Who are you talking to?"
"My mental illness."
"…Understandable."
Lionel blinked.
"…That was smoother than I expected."
The wind howled across the cemetery.
For several seconds neither moved.
Both quietly evaluating the other.
Lionel already knew how dangerous she would become in the future.
But Seraphina?
She couldn't understand him at all.
A prince secretly practicing necromancy should've been panicking right now.
Begging.
Threatening.
Trying to silence her.
Instead—
This bastard was joking in a graveyard beside a broken skeleton.
"…Weird," she muttered.
Lionel grinned.
"You're one to talk. Why's a masked woman sneaking around cemeteries at midnight?"
Seraphina crossed her arms.
"Information gathering."
Lionel's eyes flashed.
Future knowledge clicked instantly.
"…The underground auction."
Her body froze slightly.
Tiny movement.
Almost invisible.
But Lionel noticed.
Bingo.
In the original timeline, Seraphina infiltrated the capital months before the academy arc because she was tracking a noble involved in human trafficking.
That same noble later funded several future villains.
William accidentally disrupted the operation much later.
But now?
Lionel found it early.
His grin widened slowly.
"Oh this is getting interesting…"
Seraphina's voice became colder.
"How do you know about that?"
Lionel's brain worked rapidly.
Can't reveal future knowledge.
Can't act suspicious.
Need leverage.
Need trust.
Preferably without dying.
So naturally—
He chose violence.
Lionel pointed dramatically at her.
"You."
Seraphina blinked.
"…Me?"
"You look criminal."
Silence.
The system screamed laughing inside his head.
[HOST USED RACIAL PROFILING.]
[THAT'S CRAZY.]
Seraphina stared at him for several long seconds.
Then—
"…You're insane."
Lionel bowed slightly.
"Thank you."
The killing intent around her weakened slightly.
Not completely.
But enough.
Good.
That meant she currently had no intention of attacking him.
Lionel relaxed internally.
Because fighting Seraphina right now would end terribly for him.
Very terribly.
Like "found dead in a river" terribly.
Suddenly—
A new screen appeared before Lionel.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NEW QUEST AVAILABLE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SHADOWS BEFORE THE STORM
A future assassin queen stands before you.
Choose wisely.
Objective: Gain Seraphina Noctis' interest.
Rewards: ☠ Shadow Affinity Fragment ☠ +500 Exp ☠ Relationship System unlocked
Failure: She forgets you exist.
Or kills you later.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lionel stared blankly.
"…Relationship system?"
[Relax.]
[It's not a dating simulator.]
[Probably.]
"…Probably?"
[Look man I don't read patch notes.]
Lionel rubbed his forehead.
This system was genuinely useless sometimes.
Seraphina suddenly turned away.
"I'll pretend I saw nothing tonight."
Lionel blinked.
"…Seriously?"
"You're interesting."
She stepped back into the darkness.
"But if your necromancy harms innocent people…"
A dangerous pressure filled the graveyard.
"I'll kill you myself."
Lionel smiled casually.
"Fair enough."
Seraphina disappeared into the forest silently.
Gone like a ghost.
Lionel stood quietly for several seconds.
Then—
"…Holy shit."
[HOLY SHIT INDEED.]
[YOU JUST RIZZED A FUTURE ASSASSIN.]
"I did NOT rizz her."
[THE TENSION WAS CRAZY.]
"She threatened to kill me."
[WOMEN LOVE THAT EDGY SHIT.]
Lionel sighed deeply.
Then looked down at the pile of skeleton bones beside him.
"…And you."
The skeleton gave him a thumbs up.
Its thumb fell off.
Lionel: "…I'm finished."