[New Quest: The Crown's Invitation]
Objective: Attend a private dinner with Crown Prince Kaelion. Duration: 1 hour. Choose your approach: Seduce, Deceive, or Reveal.
Reward: Passive Unlock – Empathy Detection (Lv. 1), +10 Affection (if successful)
Evening — Royal Tower Dining Hall
The dining chamber was lit in candlelight, gold-trimmed and eerily quiet.
Selene stepped through the tall doors, escorted by a silent maid. Her dress tonight was simple but elegant — navy silk, pinned hair, and her emerald pendant glowing faintly.
Kaelion was already seated, his posture straight, eyes impossible to read.
"Lady Virellia," he said without rising.
"Your Highness," she replied, curtsying.
They ate in silence for several minutes — silver on porcelain, wine poured by servants too well-trained to breathe loudly.
Then finally, Kaelion spoke.
"You didn't use to be this clever."
Selene looked up, a single brow arching. "Are you complimenting me or accusing me?"
"Both."
[System Alert: Emotional Tension Rising. Choose Response Style: Seduce | Deceive | Reveal]
Selene smiled.
"Maybe I've changed," she said, choosing neither — keeping her cards close. "Or maybe… you never bothered to see who I really was."
Kaelion's jaw clenched. "I knew you."
"No," she said softly. "You loved the idea of me. And when I shattered that illusion, you killed the girl behind it."
The words hung heavy between them.
He didn't deny it.
[Heartbeat spike detected. Memory Echo stirring.]
"…You said something that day," he muttered.
Selene froze.
"You said, 'If you love me, don't let them burn me.'" His eyes lifted. "Why do I remember that?"
Her throat tightened — but she held her mask.
"Because guilt lives longer than love."
[System Alert: Bond Link Strengthening. Emotional Vulnerability Route Partially Unlocked.]
Toward the End of Dinner
He poured her wine — not a servant — and looked her straight in the eyes.
"What do you want from me, Selene?"
A pause.
A dangerous pause.
The air between them was electric.
She leaned forward just enough for her perfume to reach him, her voice like velvet.
"You'll know… when I take it."
[System Alert: Affection +6 → +11. New Quest Branch Unlocked: "Take the Crown"]
Kaelion didn't move, but his next words were soft, dark, and laced with something close to fear.
"Then I'll prepare for war."
Selene smiled — slowly.
"You should."