There was something different about today.
Not in the air or the sky—but in the way the classroom shifted around me. Like gravity itself had bent. The whispers had grown softer, but not quieter. Girls leaned closer in the hallways, longer eye contact, subtle glances beneath their lashes. Boys watched me too—but not with camaraderie. Jealousy had crept into their stares, coiled tight like a drawn bow.
And at the center of it all sat Seraphina Graye.
The Golden Lioness of the Academy.
She was elegance sharpened into a blade, posture perfect, back never touching the chair, her quill dancing across parchment in a language most nobles barely understood. Her every move held the weight of legacy and pride, yet—
She kept glancing at me.
Tiny, fleeting glimpses from behind her platinum curtain. Like she was trying to convince herself I wasn't worth noticing... and failing.
I didn't return the gaze.
Not yet.
---
> [System Notification: Trait – Game Insight (Awakened)]
You subconsciously remember core patterns and hidden mechanics from the original Eroge.
NPCs and heroines are influenced by narrative familiarity and emergent attraction.
---
Magic Theory today was centered around rune shaping—boring on the surface, but useful for triggering a chain of hidden events. In the game, this was where Seraphina first noticed the player... if they'd grinded enough Charisma points or helped her father's knight questline.
I hadn't done any of that.
But she was already watching me.
Was it the system? The goddess's passive blessing? Or maybe just the way I carried myself—calmer, more confident than this world expected of a supposed "extra."
Whatever it was, it was working.
---
The professor tapped his staff against the podium.
"Who among you believes they can draw the acceleration glyph unassisted? Hands up."
Seraphina's hand rose before he even finished.
Of course.
She stood, her boots echoing crisply against the stone floor, and approached the central sigil circle. Her wand traced elegant arcs in the air, each stroke glowing with vibrant firelight. Precision, poise, restraint.
And then—just like in the game—she hesitated.
The final swirl began to distort.
I stood slowly. Not dramatic. Just enough to catch the professor's attention.
"If I may," I said, walking to the front.
A murmur ran through the classroom. Nobles scoffed. Girls blinked. Seraphina didn't look at me—yet—but her wrist trembled slightly.
I stopped beside her. She didn't step back. That was all the permission I needed.
"Your angle on the last stroke—it's too steep," I murmured, voice low enough for only her to hear.
I lifted my hand, let my fingers glide against her wrist, just enough contact to correct the movement without breaking her illusion of control.
Her skin was warm.
So was her breath—caught somewhere between pride and confusion.
The glyph stabilized, its lines pulsing in perfect sequence.
---
> [Heroine Reaction: Seraphina Graye – Interest +5]
[You've triggered an optional event: "The Lioness Acknowledges"]
[Lust Level: Minor (suppressed)]
---
She stepped back.
Not in defeat—but in consideration.
"Functional," she said coolly, addressing the class. "Though I prefer precision to improvisation."
But she didn't meet my eyes when she returned to her seat.
Which meant she felt something.
That was enough.
---
After class, Lily lingered near the doorway. She hadn't said much lately—not since that afternoon in the gardens where her skirt fluttered too high for modesty. But the way she walked now was different. Measured. Teasing.
"Kai," she called, waiting until the hallway emptied. "Walk me to the bathhouse path?"
I arched a brow.
"Aren't you afraid I'll try something indecent?"
She tilted her head, biting the corner of her lip—half flirt, half test.
"If you do, I'll scream loud enough for half the campus to hear."
I stepped closer. Just close enough for her perfume to fill my nose. Fresh linen. And something sweeter beneath.
"You're not the type to scream," I murmured. "You're the type who bites her lip and pretends she's angry while her thighs squeeze together."
Her breath hitched.
But she didn't deny it.
---
We walked slowly beneath the flowering trees.
The path to the bathhouses wound through a quiet grove, far from the main dormitories. Most nobles had private baths, but commoners like Lily—servants, scholarship students—used the public ones.
When we reached the edge, she stopped.
"I'm going in," she said, turning just slightly. "Alone."
I leaned against the gate's post.
"Should I wait?"
She looked at me over her shoulder.
"If you want to get kicked out of the academy... sure."
But there was a flicker in her eyes. The kind of look that wasn't no. The kind that said try it.
She disappeared behind the wooden door.
Steam curled through the cracks.
---
> [New Location Unlocked: Bathhouse Corridor]
[Scenario Flag Raised: "Temptation at the Springs"]
[Erotic Energy Building: 26%]
---
I didn't follow her.
Not yet.
Let the tension build.
Instead, I turned toward the moonlight filtering through the trees and smiled to myself.
This world didn't know it yet...
But I wasn't just some extra anymore.