The first thing I felt was pain.
A sharp ache spread through my head as if someone had hit me with a hammer. My vision blurred, and unfamiliar sounds filled my ears—people whispering, footsteps echoing on marble floors, and the faint crackling of fire.
"Is he awake yet?"
A deep voice spoke somewhere nearby.
"He should have died from that fall," another voice replied coldly. "Why are we even keeping him alive?"
My heart raced.
Fall?
I slowly opened my eyes.
The ceiling above me was enormous, decorated with golden patterns and crystal chandeliers. It looked nothing like my small bedroom at home.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
But the pain in my body felt too real.
I tried to move, and a wave of dizziness hit me immediately. My hands were thin and pale, resting on expensive silk sheets.
"Look. He's awake."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Seven pairs of eyes were staring at me.
My breath stopped.
Standing around the bed were seven men, each more intimidating than the other. Their presence alone made the air heavy.
One had long black hair and cold silver eyes. Another leaned against the wall with a bored expression. One looked like a warrior, his muscular arms crossed over his chest.
And then it hit me like lightning.
I recognized them.
My blood turned cold.
No way.
Those faces…
Those exact characters…
They were the seven villains from the novel I had been reading last night.
"The Crown of Ashes."
A dark fantasy story where the villains controlled the kingdom from the shadows.
In the novel, they were feared by everyone.
Merciless. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
And worst of all—
They were responsible for countless deaths.
Including the death of a minor character.
A character who appeared only briefly before being killed.
A character named—
"Lucian."
My breathing became uneven.
Wait.
I slowly looked down at my hands again.
Thin fingers. Pale skin.
Memories suddenly rushed into my mind like a flood.
A young noble boy.
Bullied.
Ignored.
Weak.
And destined to die after accidentally offending the seven villains.
"No… no… no…" I whispered under my breath.
The silver-eyed man stepped closer to the bed.
His gaze was sharp enough to cut through steel.
"You're finally awake," he said calmly.
His voice sent chills down my spine.
This man was Kael Vantaris.
The leader of the seven villains.
In the novel, he was the most dangerous one.
Cold, calculating, and completely ruthless.
Behind him stood the others.
Darius—the brutal war general.
Leon—the charming but sadistic noble.
Riven—the silent assassin.
Adrian—the strategist.
Cassian—the unpredictable genius.
And Silas—the mysterious shadow mage.
Seven villains.
Seven disasters.
And somehow…
I was lying in their mansion.
This is impossible.
Last night, I had been reading the novel on my phone.
I remembered clearly.
I was frustrated because the story killed off the character Lucian unfairly.
He died simply because he crossed paths with the villains.
And now…
I had become him.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
Does that mean…
I'm going to die too?
Kael's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"You fell from the staircase," he said coldly. "Do you remember anything?"
I froze.
In the novel, this exact moment happened before Lucian's death.
The villains believed Lucian was spying on them.
And then—
They killed him.
My survival instinct screamed.
I had to change the story.
Right now.
If I followed the original plot, I would die before the next chapter.
So I did the only thing my brain could think of.
I grabbed Kael's sleeve.
The room instantly fell silent.
Even the air seemed to freeze.
Seven villains stared at me in shock.
Lucian—the weak noble they barely noticed—had just touched their leader.
My hands trembled slightly, but I forced myself to speak.
"I wasn't spying," I said quickly.
Kael's silver eyes narrowed.
"Oh?"
I swallowed.
"I came here because… I admire you."
The silence became heavier.
Darius raised an eyebrow.
Leon chuckled softly.
But Kael's gaze became dangerously sharp.
"Admire us?" he repeated.
"Yes," I said, trying to sound confident even though my heart was about to explode.
"If someone as powerful as you rules this kingdom… it must be safe."
The villains exchanged strange looks.
This was definitely not what Lucian said in the novel.
For the first time, curiosity appeared in Kael's cold eyes.
He leaned closer.
"So you admire villains?"
I nodded nervously.
"Yes."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Leon suddenly laughed.
"Well," he said, amused, "this is interesting."
Cassian tilted his head.
"Very interesting."
Darius crossed his arms.
"I was planning to kill him," he muttered.
"But now I'm curious."
My heart skipped a beat.
Wait… what?
Kael stared at me for a long moment.
Then, slowly—
He smiled.
It wasn't a warm smile.
It was the smile of someone who had just found a very entertaining toy.
"Lucian," he said softly.
"You just made your situation… much more interesting."
And suddenly I realized something terrifying.
Instead of dying early like in the novel—
I had accidentally caught the attention of all seven villains.