"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."
***
Do you know how hard it is to willfully move towards your impending doom?
Really fucking hard apparently.
My, no, Kaelen's legs did not feel like cooperating at all. It's almost like the muscles of this body knew exactly what was going to happen and attempted to partially shut down.
The thing that really sucks about it is the sun made the courtyard looked so beautiful. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this Kaelen should be reading a book under a tree with some cold water.
But nooooo, he had to be a creepy pervert instead.
A small crowd had gathered near the center of the courtyard. Students, mostly. A handful of servants who were very obviously pretending to work while sneaking glances at the main event. Everyone loves free entertainment, I guess.
Leo stood in the middle of it all with his arms crossed over his familial uniform. The sunlight hit his golden hair at just the right angle, like the world itself was his personal lighting crew. Three other people flanked him. His supporting cast. Future party members. The people who would eventually follow him through dungeon after dungeon while I rotted in whatever unmarked grave extras got dumped into.
I recognized them from the novel.
The first was Marcel Blackwood who stood on Leo's right. He had dark hair and a permeant scowl on his face. His arms were crossed as well, copying Leo's pose to a tee.
The beautiful woman standing apart from the group would be one of Leo's first harem members in Elena Morgenthorne. She had the "ice princess" package with her long silver hair, curvaceous body, and just so happened to be the daughter of a marquis.
And then there was Gareth Stoneheart. Built like someone had stacked two normal people on top of each other and wrapped them in muscle. Leo's enforcer. The guy who did the heavy lifting when the protagonist's hands needed to stay clean.
There are names for the chosen narrative favorites. Some call them heroes, I call them Scions. They get to do the heroic shit while extras and minor villains like me are here solely to make them look good by comparison.
There's something weird about being looked at by a protagonist. It's not just arrogance, though there's plenty of that. It's this feeling like you're being evaluated. Like someone's mentally sorting you into categories. Threat. Non-threat. Useful. Useless. Worth remembering. Worth forgetting.
I knew which category I fell into.
"Kaelen Leone. You've kept us waiting."
Even his vocal cords are protagonistic. The universe really went all-in on this guy.
I opened my mouth. Closed it again.
Think. What's the script here?
In the novel, Kaelen would start throwing around threats. He'd bring up his family name like it was a magic shield. He'd act like an entitled piece of garbage until Leo had no choice but to put him in his place. Classic villain setup. Give the hero justification so the audience can cheer when the bad guy gets what's coming to him.
But that was exactly what Leo wanted.
What does this scene require? For Leo to feel like a hero and give righteous judgement to a villain who deserves punishment.
So... how do I rob him of that opportunity?
"I... yes, Cousin. I sincerely apologize for the delay."
You know how some people have presence? Not just physical size or good looks, but something that makes the air around them feel heavier? Leo had that. The protagonist aura, maybe. The universe's way of marking its chosen one. Standing near him felt like standing in a spotlight you didn't ask for.
"Do you know why you're here, Kaelen?" His voice was level. Controlled. But I could hear him building up to something. Preparing his speech.
Because the plot demands it. Because you need a punching bag to establish your moral superiority. Because someone had to draw the short straw in this cosmic lottery, and congratulations to me.
"I... no?" I let confusion into my voice. "Have I offended you somehow?"
Leo's jaw went tight. A muscle twitched under his skin.
"Don't be ignorant. Surely you remember the servant Armelle? The one your cornered in the kitchen?"
There it is. The inciting incident.
According to the novel, Kaelen had done exactly that just yesterday. Grabbed a kitchen maid's wrist. Made comments that would get you fired from any job and probably arrested in my old world. Generally acted like the entitled scumbag he was written to be. The scene existed so readers would hate him. So they'd want to see him suffer.
But I hadn't done that.
The original Kaelen had. Before I crash-landed into his body and took over the controls. Before my consciousness or soul or whatever you want to call it overwrote whatever had been here before.
I could deny it. Claim innocence. Point out that, technically speaking, I literally hadn't done anything wrong because I wasn't even driving this body when it happened.
But that wouldn't work.
Leo and the narrative needed a villain who deserved what was coming to them AND someone too stubborn to back down, forcing the hero to act. If I gave him that, I get my ass whooped. If I denied any wrongdoing, I got my ass whooped worse for being an asshole and lying about it.
What if I gave him something he wasn't expecting at all?