The graveyard became silent again after Seraphina disappeared.
Cold wind swept through the trees while Lionel stood beside the pile of skeleton bones like a disappointed father.
"…You embarrassed me in front of a future assassin queen."
The skeleton gave him another thumbs up.
Its hand detached completely this time.
Lionel: "…I'm going to kill myself."
[Technically you already did.]
"…Fair."
Lionel crouched down and shoved the bones back into the grave.
He needed to think carefully now.
Very carefully.
Because something important had changed tonight.
Seraphina appearing early meant the timeline was already unstable.
And if the timeline was changing this quickly…
Then future events could no longer be trusted completely.
That was dangerous.
Future knowledge was Lionel's greatest weapon.
If the future became unpredictable?
He'd lose his biggest advantage.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
"…I need power faster."
[Now you're thinking like a criminal.]
Lionel ignored the system and walked toward the graveyard exit.
The moon hung high above the capital.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Fake.
Because Lionel remembered exactly how ugly this kingdom became later.
The betrayals.
The corruption.
The nobles selling information for profit.
The coming wars.
The monster outbreaks.
And the royal family's collapse.
Including his own execution.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"This kingdom is already rotting."
[Correct.]
[Which means it's the perfect environment for ambitious bastards.]
Lionel stopped walking.
His expression slowly became colder.
"…I need to leave."
The system paused.
[Oh?]
"I can't stay in the palace."
Lionel's eyes darkened.
"The original Lionel was already under suspicion by this point."
And he remembered why.
Because the royal family hated him.
Not openly.
Not yet.
But quietly.
Carefully.
His mother died early.
He lacked political support.
The other princes viewed him as competition.
And the king?
The king barely looked at him unless Lionel caused trouble.
The original Lionel coped with that loneliness terribly.
Arrogance.
Obsession.
Anger.
Pride.
He made enemies constantly.
Then eventually—
He self-destructed.
Lionel clicked his tongue.
"That idiot really speedran his own execution."
[To be fair…]
[Royal families are basically organized backstabbing competitions.]
Suddenly—
A sharp headache struck Lionel again.
"Ghk—!"
Memories flooded his mind violently.
A courtroom.
Chains.
Nobles shouting accusations.
The king's cold eyes.
And a voice screaming—
"Prince Lionel has committed treason against the kingdom!"
Lionel stumbled slightly.
His breathing became uneven.
"…Tch."
Even now…
The trauma still lingered inside this body.
That public execution wasn't something easily forgotten.
The system's tone became quieter.
Less mocking.
[…You okay, Princey?]
Lionel laughed softly.
"…No."
That answer came too quickly.
Too honestly.
Silence followed.
Then Lionel exhaled slowly and regained control of himself.
Weakness solved nothing.
Panic solved nothing.
He survived one lifetime already.
He'd survive another.
No matter what.
His crimson eyes slowly regained focus.
"I need a new identity before entering the academy."
Because Lionel already knew something important.
In less than two years…
William would arrive.
And once William entered Silverwind Academy—
Everything would begin moving rapidly.
The heroines.
The dungeon incidents.
The political conflicts.
The hidden inheritances.
The future monsters.
The rise of legends.
Lionel planned to be there first.
Not as Prince Lionel.
But as someone else entirely.
Someone hidden.
Someone untouchable.
Someone who could steal opportunities from the shadows.
The system suddenly hummed.
[Actually…]
[There IS a way.]
Lionel frowned.
"…That sentence always worries me."
A black screen appeared before him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SPECIAL SYSTEM FUNCTION DETECTED
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BLOODLINE ACQUISITION
Requirements: — Compatible physique — Massive energy source — Survival instinct — Reckless stupidity
Compatibility Rate: Unknown
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lionel stopped walking completely.
"…Bloodline acquisition?"
[Yep.]
[Basically magical identity theft.]
[You absorb a special bloodline and become less human.]
Lionel's eyes narrowed.
"…And where exactly am I supposed to find one?"
The system laughed softly.
[Funny you should ask.]
A map suddenly appeared before Lionel.
A blinking red mark glowed deep within the northern mountains.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
LOCATION FOUND
Forgotten Solar Temple
Threat Level: Extremely Stupid
Recommended Rank: Gold Rank minimum
Host Rank: Bronze Rank low-tier weakling
Survival Probability: 18%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lionel stared blankly.
"…You want me to go there?"
[Absolutely.]
"That survival rate is horrible."
[Look man, greatness requires sacrifice.]
"…Whose sacrifice?"
[Potentially yours.]
Lionel rubbed his forehead.
This system genuinely wanted him dead.
But…
His eyes focused on the glowing location again.
Forgotten Solar Temple.
He remembered it.
Barely.
It was a hidden location from the original timeline.
A place nobody discovered until years later.
Inside it rested one of the legendary inheritance fragments connected to the Sun Tyrant Body.
Originally—
A future powerhouse named Gareth Solaris obtained it.
And later became one of the strongest warriors of humanity during the demon wars.
Lionel slowly smiled.
"…So if I steal it now…"
[Then congratulations.]
[You commit destiny robbery.]
His smile widened.
"Perfect."
The system laughed loudly.
[THAT'S MY GREEDY LITTLE NECROMANCER.]
Lionel ignored the insult and continued walking back toward the palace.
But his mind was already planning ahead.
Money.
Supplies.
Escape routes.
Academy timing.
Future treasures.
Potential allies.
Potential enemies.
Everything.
Then suddenly—
He froze.
A memory surfaced in his mind.
Tomorrow.
There was something important happening tomorrow.
A royal banquet.
Lionel's expression darkened.
"…Ah."
The system noticed immediately.
[That "ah" sounded problematic.]
Lionel sighed.
"Tomorrow is the banquet where the crown prince humiliates me publicly."
[OHHHH DRAMA.]
"And…"
Lionel's eyes became cold.
"That's also the night I get officially marked for assassination."
Silence.
Then—
[Well.]
[That sounds aggressively unhealthy.]