> The servant stared at me like I'd grown a second head.
"The… royal history, my lord?"
I nodded, trying to sound like someone who ordered people around every day. "Yes. Now."
He bowed so quickly I thought his spine would snap. Then he rushed out of the room, leaving me alone with my reflection.
I took a slow breath and stood up. My legs felt strange — longer, stronger. This body didn't belong to me. It belonged to Kael Darcan… the villain everyone feared.
I walked to the mirror.
"Damn," I whispered. "You're actually… kind of terrifying."
Silver eyes. Black hair that fell across my face like a shadow. Every line of this body screamed power — the kind that made people bow or run.
In the original book, Kael killed a duke by the end of the first arc. He didn't do it because he was evil — he did it because the world forced him to. His bloodline was cursed to grow stronger with every death. That was the tragedy of this character.
And now, I was him.
The door opened again. The servant returned, arms shaking as he held a thick leather book.
"The history, my lord."
I took it. The cover was warm. Not from the fire. From magic.
"You may go," I said softly.
He froze, surprised. Kael never said please or thank you. But I wasn't Kael. Not really.
When the door clicked shut, I sat on the edge of the bed and flipped the book open. The first page bled with gold ink:
"The Curse of the Darcan Bloodline shall awaken on the 17th year of the heir's life."
My stomach twisted. Kael was 17 now. The curse was already inside me.
"Great," I muttered. "I'm a walking death machine."
The next pages were worse. Wars. Executions. Fear. The people of Asteria didn't see Kael as a prince. They saw him as a monster.
And the hero?
He wasn't even here yet. The story's first major event — "The Arrival of the Chosen" — would happen in three months.
Three months until my death flag.
Three months to rewrite everything.
"I need allies," I whispered. "I need power. And I need to stop this curse."
As if on cue, something flickered at the edge of my vision. A faint blue square. My breath caught.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Welcome, Out-of-World Soul. Your actions can change the script.
My pulse roared in my ears. A system? That wasn't in the book.
"Change the script?" I repeated.
The blue box glitched, then solidified into sharp letters:
[First Mission: Survive the Bloodline Awakening.]
Time limit: 90 days.
Reward: Curse Fragment Control (10%).
I laughed. Not because it was funny. Because it was insane.
I was stuck inside a novel I once loved… as the villain destined to die.
But if the story had a system now — maybe the ending wasn't set in stone anymore.
"Alright," I said quietly, a grin creeping across m
y face. "Let's break this story apart."
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⚔️ End of Chapter 2