Then, the atmosphere between them stiffened. After silently buying what she was going to buy, she seemed to apologize and offered to treat him to dinner.

Dining in a Muggle restaurant was a novel experience for Snape. Although he often wandered the streets and suffered from hunger during his turbulent and dark childhood, he did not have many opportunities to eat in restaurants.

Now, for the sake of the Dark Lord's orders, he had to accede to the invitation of the imposter who had just offended him impertinently, and who was now acting as if nothing had happened. This is really the biggest torment!

They sat facing each other at a table in the corner. Because of the arrival of Christmas, the restaurant is crowded.

After they had ordered their meals, in order to make Snape appear more relaxed, Willow Springs cast a Ignore Charm and a Silence Charm around them.

But that didn't make Snape feel much better. His hands as he cut the steak moved stiffly, and the back of his hand gripping the fork and knife was even bruised. Each of his movements looked robotic, stiff and unnatural, and in the end, Liu Quan couldn't pretend not to see it, so he had to be the first to break the deadlock.

“...... Thank you for agreeing to my invitation tonight, Severus. She said in a gentle tone.

"It seems like this is the first time I've eaten with you like this. What do you think of the chef's craft?"

Snape stopped cutting the steak. He was silent for a moment before he said in a low voice, "...... Not bad. ”

Both pretended that the scene at the gate of the mall had not happened. On this point, they actually tacitly reached a consensus.

Liu Quan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up the glass and took a sip of water, pretending to be nonchalant, and casually asked, "How are you doing, Severus?"

Snape was munching on a steak when he paused again before swallowing the veal steak slowly before replying, "...... Nothing special. What about you?"

Willow Quan smiled, "What else can you do as an Auror—"

Pretending not to know that Snape was a Death Eater, she raised the glass, her gaze hidden above the rim, glanced at him quickly, and continued tentatively, "...... It's been getting busier lately. There are mysterious men's men wreaking havoc and doing bad things everywhere......"

Snape's eyes flashed, but he didn't speak.

Very good, with the qualities expected of an outstanding double agent. Liu Quan thought.

It was already Christmas, so Trelawney's famous prophecy should have already come true. Dumbledore, however, said nothing about it.

Now she's still Lily Evans instead of Lily Potter. James married someone else and still gave birth to Harry Potter. However, she did not know if the prophecy had changed in the same way as a result of this change, and she did not know if the new prophecy had become related to Brielle Potter.

In any case, Snape didn't seem to have turned to Dumbledore for help because of that prophecy - there was no clue to support the speculation.

So, without Lily, would he still be a Death Eater through and through, and would he want to serve the Dark Lord to the end?

Liu Quan felt an inexplicable sense of agitation.

She suddenly put down her glass and knife and fork and leaned forward slightly. Decide to go straight in.

"Severus, for the sake of the real Lily, don't let her come back and see you with ...... Hang out with a bunch of lunatics and villains!" she lowered her voice—though it wasn't necessary, the mute spell was still working—and her tone became serious.

She cut to the topic suddenly, and Snape seemed a little unexpected for a moment, and a flash of panic on his face quickly disappeared. He also slowly lowered the knife and fork in his hand, and raised his eyes to stare at her.

“...... I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked slowly, in a silky voice.

Liu Quan tried to be as sincere as possible.

"I say, don't go near those who are dangerous, Severus. Especially the mystery people. She said.

"Don't be deceived by their demagoguery...... You can succeed on your own—"

"No!" Snape interrupted her suddenly. His hands on the table were clenched into fists, so hard that the backs of his hands were tensed.

"I have to be strong to change all of this, to change my life...... And that's what you can get with 'that person'......" His expression twisted, like pain, like some kind of strong determination.

"But if you do this, the real Lily will not accept it!" Willow Quan was surprised and involuntarily blurted out, trying to stop his crazy dream.

Snape gave her a cold look. There was a sneer in her eyes that made her gasp.

"So what do you think I can put in front of her now? I don't have a good family background, as a Slytherin, maybe I don't have a good reputation and image, and even if I do, do you think I can get everything I want by applying for a small clerk in the Ministry of Magic now?" he sneered, his tone full of mockery, looking at her expression as if she were a naïve idiot with a troll mind.

"I'm not that Potter, Miss Imposter. He ruthlessly denounced the person she wanted to use as an example to stop him, "Perhaps most girls like his type, born pure-blooded, long-standing, arrogant, and provocative, and has a bright future as soon as he enters Hogwarts...... Do you think I'll be able to get all that he already has on my own, or do you think I'll get it all by going to Dumbledore like those trouble-loving Gryffindors? Dumbledore can't give me what I want. Only 'that person', only he can—"

Liu Quan seemed to have just found her voice in extreme shock at this moment, she heard herself hiss like suffocation, and retorted weakly: "...... But 'that man' will also cost you a lot that you can't imagine!Severus, don't believe him, he's ...... He's ......"

She paused and swallowed back the words below.

Her intellect clearly told her that she couldn't tell the details of Voldemort right now. This will definitely lead to a major change in the plot, which in turn will trigger the self-protection mechanism of "plot inertia"! Moreover, if you tell a half-blood wizard that Voldemort is also a half-blood, then he will probably only feel a little more affectionate to the Dark Lord because of his similar background! Especially in this era when the Dark Lord is still buying people's hearts everywhere!

Snape didn't pay much attention to her near-gaffes. He glanced at her haughtily with a cold face, then looked away, a mocking smile slowly rising on his lips.

"I'm sure I'll be able to get a little bit of what I want in exchange. Besides, now that I have almost nothing, I can't think of anything else that 'that person' would want to take here......"

Liu Quan interrupted him suddenly and loudly.

"Soul!"

Snape was slightly stunned, and a look of gloom appeared on his face. "What did you say?!"

Liu Quan seemed to suddenly gain some confidence from it. Her elbows propped up on the table, her upper body leaning forward to approach his face, whispered but firm, "He wants you to sell your soul, Severus." Even so...... Are you willing to give it to him, just for everything that you can get by working hard for a few more years?"

Snape looked up suddenly!

His slightly sallow face was pale and bloodless, but his dark eyes burned with fierce flames, as if to burn her, an unknown impostor, to ashes.

As if to hide the confusion in his eyes, he instantly showed a contemptuous smile, looking at her expression as if he were looking at a futile clown.

"Really...... Naive. His deep voice rang in her ears, and the voice, which had passed the period of voice change, fully revealed the famous silky velvety texture. "Impostor, what good did Professor Dumbledore give you to speak for him so desperately, even at the cost of ...... Oh, you really pretend to be a Gryffindor through and through, and have an unwarranted blind trust in Dumbledore, even before he gave you any benefit - maybe it's because you're so into the play that you can fool him, right?"

Liu Quan was stunned.

It's not that she didn't think that this thing would definitely not be so easy to achieve - after all, the "inertia of the plot" was there, and the real Lily couldn't pull Severus Snape back from the path of the Death Eaters by breaking off her relationship, so how could she, the fake Lily, who had been discovered and hated by him, easily convince him?

But it did not occur to her that he had not listened to her advice at all, but had ridiculed her motives in this way, and that she could not risk being discovered by the "inertia of the plot"—which was almost certain—to tell him everything that was destined to happen in the future!

She swallowed mechanically, feeling her throat constrict, her mouth dry to the point of smoking. She looked him in the eye, and for some reason her eyes were so astringent that she wanted to cry.

She said dryly, "...... You may not believe it, but I care more about your soul than you can imagine, Severus. Your soul is still intact and clean, don't get it dirty—it's not worth ...... to get it dirty, it's just a few years earlier in exchange for the success you should have."

Snape frowned deeply.

His hands were still straight on the table, his whole body tense, and he leaned back a little because of Liu Quan's slight leaning forward, as if he wanted to avoid her touch and breath as much as possible in this limited space. His face was filled with disgust and a certain bewilderment, and after a longer silence than expected, he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, I can't wait for the years you said. I must gain the most power as soon as possible, or before I can do so, I will be tormented to death by the stupidity of the stupid and impulsive trolls like Potter. He curled his eyes mockingly, and said with a slight smile, but there was no smile in his voice, and it was as cold as ice.

Liu Quan stared at him in shock, unable to utter a word.

She wanted to tell him "you're going to regret it in the future," but she suddenly couldn't be sure about that anymore.

He regrets it in the original book, and it was entirely based on his choice that he ended up killing Lily, whom he loved. But now, if she'd made sure Lily didn't die on that brutal Halloween night in 1981, how could she be sure he'd regret it for some unknown reason?

As a boy with high self-esteem who spent the first half of his life in poverty, hardship, ridicule, exile, domestic violence, and isolation, Severus Snape chose to listen to Voldemort, who still uses extreme theories composed of flowery rhetoric to deceive people, and wanted to gain great power through his own personal efforts, and from this power he sought affirmation, fame, and social status, which was understandable.

She could tell him, "You can get the Order of Merlin by researching improved wolf venom/potions", but who knows if he is only after everything that potions bring him? Isn't that a mastery of powerful magic and spells part of his quest? She hadn't forgotten that he had researched powerful spells such as "Bladeless" on his own while he was still studying, and she thought that he was probably pursuing all the glory that being a wizard could give him, not just a part.

How else can you convince such a person?

For a moment, she suddenly felt extremely depressed. She thought, she had to admit that she didn't have the power to convince him, even if she was carrying a shell of his love.

Now this situation made her feel powerless like never before.

However, before she could continue to try to convince Snape, he suddenly stood up.

He gritted his teeth, and the lines of force faintly showed in his pale cheeks. Willow noticed that he was holding his left arm—and she knew what was carved into his left arm.

She couldn't help but look at him with a little concern, lowered her voice, and asked cautiously and tentatively, "Severus, you...... Do you have something to do first?"

She heard Snape gasp suddenly, as if she couldn't bear her stupid question any longer. Without answering her, or even bothering to look at her again, he pushed away his chair, skirted the table, and strode straight out.

Liu Quan was even more surprised, quickly pushed away the chair and stood up, with a hint of doubt and worry, and shouted again: "Wait! Severus ......"

By this time Snape had already walked to the door of the dining room, paused at the door, but did not look back, but whispered, "Don't call me that." ”

Liu Quan was surprised, feeling that all of a sudden it was all too wrong.

"Why?"

Snape sighed deeply. His thin back no longer looked so straight, as if it carried the weight and secrets of the world, heavy as if it were about to bend his young back.

Then he suddenly raised his head again, straightened his body again, and said in a cold tone, "...... Because you make me sick. ”

Liu Quan: "......"

She was speechless for a moment. He strode out of the dining room, squeezing through a group of muggles who were talking and laughing loudly, and disappeared around the corner.

Phylogenetic bacteria popped up uninvited at this time.

[I'm hated, player.] Its laid-back tone always feels like there's a hint of mockery.

Liu Quan was silent for a long time.

Then she casually summoned the waiter to hurriedly settle the bill, picked up her coat, pushed the door and walked out of the mall.

The cold air of the winter night rushed to the face, and for a moment it made people feel like their minds were in a hurry.

"It doesn't matter. ”

She whispered only after walking a long way down the sidewalk.

The system snorted. [Uh-huh?!]

Liu Quan put his hands in the pockets of his coat, and the shopping bag hung on one wrist, his head slightly bowed, and he paced slowly. At this time, she happened to pass by a street lamp, and the light cast by the street lamp stretched her shadow for a long time.

"Because...... I'm not going to accept defeat forever. ”

She continued to talk to herself.

"Because I've been told that every failure I've ever experienced is a test and has allowed me to grow. ”

The system was silent for a moment.

【...... Kunimitsu Tezuka?] It softly spat out a name and then smiled.

[I really didn't expect that after such a long time, you haven't forgotten this person.] 】

[So, what about Keigo Jibe?What about Kuranosuke Shiraishi?What about Reiji Sokaka?What about Reiji Soji?What about Zhou Fangzun?What about Yororo, the Night Sword Godoro?What about Toshizo Hijikata?Soji Okita??......

It called out a series of names, and Liu Quan's eyes widened as they appeared in his mind. Finally, she involuntarily stopped, looking at the dark night ahead on an unfamiliar street.

“...... Do you want to make a player who has just suffered a major setback cry? ”

She asked softly in a joking tone. However, the heaviness in his tone did not disappear.

"It turns out that 'just like a world away' is what it says......"

The sigh-like tail note lingered in the night.

“...... They are all in my heart. ”

"Every single one of them, I remember. ”

"So, one day, I'm going to win here too. Because I have my calling. It's the kind of mission that must be achieved even if you cry. ”