<CHAPTER 2>
Eiden.
Either Eden Van Chekhov.
That was the name of the Demon King himself in The Demon King’s Consort.
“Why is the male lead here? And why does he look like that?”
I looked him up and down, flustered.
Dust-caked black hair, grimy, stained skin. Cuts and scrapes all over.
His skinny body was the textbook image of a neglected, malnourished child.
Suddenly, the novel’s description of the male lead came to mind:
“Either Eden Van Chekhov., the illegitimate son of the Empress, was abandoned at birth and left to die. By some miracle, he survived and spent his childhood wandering the slums.”
Wait… that slum…
“Was it in our Sergeev estate?!”
Granted, our territory bordered the monster-infested regions and wasn’t exactly safe.
There were even rumors that criminals who couldn’t show their faces in the capital had fled here.
With no welfare system for the locals, it wasn’t strange that slums existed.
But still—who would’ve thought the male lead as a child was living there?
“F-Father…”
I looked up at my father with grave determination.
“I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m too old to play with dolls. Shouldn’t we return this ‘doll’ to where it came from?”
Wherever he’d found this thing, Father, no thanks! Let’s just return him already!
“You’re saying you won’t take it?”
“Yes. Um, there’s no room left in my room…”
Father raised an eyebrow as if he’d heard the most absurd excuse.
“This ‘thing’ is already yours.”
His cold voice cut through the air.
“If you want to get rid of it, you’ll have to dispose of it yourself.”
Dispose of it?
I’d seen what Father meant by “disposal” a few times around the estate.
It usually happened to traitors or those who made irreversible mistakes.
They were tossed into the forest—where monsters roamed.
And I was sure not one of them lasted an hour out there before dying.
If a child like him was thrown into that forest…
He’d die. No doubt about it.
Even if he were destined to become a hero later on, right now he was just a helpless boy.
In The Demon King’s Consort, while it was a brutal story for the main character, the world itself ironically ended up in a golden age—because the male lead saved it from a monster-infested collapse.
That angry little boy glaring at me?
Yeah, he was supposed to be the hero who saves the world.
If the main character dies here like this, won’t the world go straight to doom?
No way I was going to lose this second life I’d been lucky enough to get.
“You can’t even throw him out yourself, huh?”
Father frowned down at me, watching my pale, stricken face.
“Give him here, then. I guess even taking out the trash still requires my help.”
His voice was laced with disdain and indifference.
The kind of tone reserved for a daughter he never had any expectations for.
It stung a little, but that was beside the point—my body was already moving to stand protectively in front of Eiden.
“No, Father! On second thought, I love this doll! Wow, he’s just so cute and charming!”
I forced a delighted tone and yanked at Eiden’s cheek.
His pale face stretched, and his expression twisted into something murderous.
“Thank you, Father! I’ll take good care of him! Nice to meet you, little doll. My name’s Lillian!”
“Lilli…an…”
He muttered my name, slightly muffled by his stretched cheek.
It sent a chill down my spine. It sounded like he was etching it onto his kill list for the future.
“Master,” Father said with dry sarcasm.
“The doll should call its owner ‘Master.’”
“Dad! Don’t do this!”
I could hear Eiden grinding his teeth.
I felt like I was racking up death flags in real-time.
His golden eyes—like molten gold—glistened with murderous intent.
His scabbed lips moved slowly.
“…Mas…ter.”
Gahh.
Hearing the future emperor—infamous for his bloodlust—call me master? Absolutely terrifying.
I pretended I didn’t hear it and forced a cheerful tone.
“Alright, little doll. Shall we go play house now? Father, may I?”
“Do as you like.”
He turned his head away, like he couldn’t be bothered anymore.
Before, I might’ve been hurt by his frigid indifference, but now? Not really.
My brain was already full of sirens blaring “Male Lead Alert! Danger! Danger!”
“Thanks so much!”
I practically shouted and grabbed Eiden to escape the room.
As I dragged him up the stairs, my brain was spinning at full speed.
The Demon King’s Consort is a hardcore dystopian romance simulation game.
‘Hardcore,’ ‘dystopian,’ and ‘romance’? A weird combo, like mint chocolate in spicy stew.
Truth is, there wasn’t even any romantic fluff. The “love” was just the male lead’s obsessive madness.
The game got blasted for being misleading. I liked it, though.
The R-19 rating wasn’t for hot scenes—it was for the cruelty. Who would’ve guessed?
Anyway, I—Lillian Sergeev—was a proud character in that game, too.
As an extra?
Nope. I had the honor of being the main villainess.
“Lillian Sergeev. The heroine’s half-sister, and the only living human mana stone.”
In this world, magic could only be extracted from rare mana stones.
But Lillian could produce magic inside her own body.
Thanks to this ability, she attracted a swarm of powerful mages.
Basically a mage harem. They’d die if she told them to, especially the men.
She was a total femme fatale.
Though, looking at my current stubby limbs and baby fat, it’s hard to believe.
Anyway.
Lillian used her terrifying network to try and eliminate her half-sister—the heroine. But…
She’s the one who got eliminated instead.
Killed by the male lead.
So if I just don’t try to hurt my sister, I won’t die, right?
Sadly, no.
Even if the male lead didn’t kill her, Lillian was doomed to die.
Her body, being a mana stone, lost life force every time she used magic.
And of course, she recklessly cast flashy spells all the time.
She would’ve died early anyway.
A second life—and it’s terminal?
A nightmare.
But let’s stay positive.
If I just avoid the dumb mistakes Lillian made, maybe I can survive longer.
Thankfully, I regained my memories while still young.
The future home-wrecker who’d destroy her sister’s sanity? I caught myself early.
Yes. I can do this.
I’ll crush the original plotline before it ever begins.
I can make it happen!
…That was the plan, until he showed up.
“How did everything get so messed up?!”
I was just trying to live my life, and the male lead randomly dropped into it!
I glared at Eiden.
“Why did you have to get caught by my dad? Couldn’t you have been sneakier?”
Our eyes met. He stared back with a defiant glare that screamed what nonsense are you spouting?
And I stopped.
…Wait, is he really the male lead?
Uncommon black hair and gold eyes, same name… I thought it was a match.
But now I was starting to doubt it.
He’s shorter than me.
Well, boys develop later. That’s fine.
But he’s all skin and bones.
In The Demon King’s Consort,Either Eden or Van Chekhov. had flawless physical stats.
Broad shoulders, a solid chest, lean waist, powerful thighs. A stare so intense it could stop hearts.
The game always compared him to a panther or a jackal.
But this guy?
…He’s just a kitten.
Upturned eyes, golden irises like fine art, delicate features, and skin so pale it looked translucent.
He was almost angelic.
Is this really the guy who turns into that?
That man—with that criminally beautiful face—constantly naked in-game for no good reason, making you wonder why it wasn’t adult-rated for erotic scenes.
This boy and that man… the same person?
Is he really the male lead?
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.
“Hey… your name really is Eiden, right? Not Ethan or Arden or something?”
“What kind of dumb question is that?”
His eyes snapped wide open, irritation flashing.
A faint menace glimmered in his catlike eyes.
He’s definitely the male lead with that attitude.
If that’s the case, then my mission is clear:
Even if things have gone off the rails, I’ll make sure he never meets my sister.
A fateful childhood encounter? Yeah, no.
Not even over my dead body.
