DOL - Chapter 1

When I first possessed this body, I was full of dreams.

"The Pitiful Protagonist!"

That's what I wanted to become.

I was drawn to the idea of receiving a lot of love, even if it was based on a lie.

"Let's see. All those male leads fell for them just by crying."

While the protagonists all use their own strategies, ultimately, their success rate depends on how well they can play the victim.

And playing the victim, isn't that my specialty?

* * *

'The only problem is that it's not an act.'

Being abandoned at birth, being beaten day in and day out, being adopted and then disowned five times, almost being subjected to terrible things.

Just recounting my past life, I was confident I could make someone shed a bucketful of tears.

'I was practically born to be a protagonist, wasn't I?'

Yeah, in a way, it was a stroke of luck!

Even while working in a factory, I enjoyed BL novels and secretly comforted myself with such thoughts.

Because there was nothing else to smile about in my life.

Anyway, for that reason, when I first possessed this body, I decided to become a pitiful protagonist.

Coincidentally, the novel I possessed was perfectly suited for a tear-jerker.

First, all the potential targets had painful stories.

"Sercil has a secret birth… Theodore is on the verge of going mad, consumed by his power. Marcus seems bright but lives with a constant sense of guilt due to his clan's sins."

Grand Duke Skyle was broken from losing too many loved ones.

"And they all hate Ersen immensely."

As if their misfortunes were all Ersen's fault.

Even without a clear reason.

Aren't these characters perfect to become regretful male leads?

"It's a bit concerning that I don't know why they hate him since the novel isn't finished yet…"

Since the reason hasn't appeared even past the midpoint, it might surprisingly be nothing significant.

Perhaps it's just because his personality is too terrible, or because of rumors that Ersen might not be of imperial blood.

'No, even if it's anything else, him being of imperial blood is certain!'

It was mentioned in the original work.

Though weak, Ersen definitely possessed a unique magic called 'Nullification.'

Magic in this world typically consisted of five 'attribute magics' used by mages: light, darkness, fire, water, and earth, and unique magics passed down through bloodlines.

Among them, humans with unique magic that wasn't an elemental attribute were only pure-blood demons and imperial family members.

'Ersen couldn't be a pure-blood demon, so he must be of imperial blood.'

So, Ersen was just the second prince with a terrible personality.

Therefore, the original characters must have hated and ignored Ersen so much because of his terrible behavior.

Without even knowing that Ersen's unique magic could be useful to them.

'With Nullification magic, he could even break the protagonists' curses.'

The original Ersen concealed this power, only occasionally using it when he was alone.

Perhaps it was too weak to show anyone, or he didn't want to do good deeds like breaking someone's curse?

"But it worked out well for me in the end."

Even his concealing his power felt like a stroke of luck to me.

"I'll play the victim, slowly melt their hearts, and then, at a crucial moment, break their curses! Then they'll definitely like me."

The original characters were good people, so if they knew the ill-tempered second prince was actually lonely, they might pity him a little.

And if I break their curses, I might even be loved!

'Perhaps, perhaps I might find a lover with whom I can spend my whole life, gazing only at each other.'

Marriage was recognized regardless of gender here, so who would I marry?

"Ah, this is the best. I don't have to end it with just imagination anymore!"

Perhaps God indulged in a whim, pitying my life which had never known joy?

Expressing gratitude to the nameless someone who sent me here, I threw myself onto the bed.

The soft blanket, which I had never touched in my life, welcomed me.

Thus, the first day came to an end.

And that was the only night I could sleep peacefully.

Three years later.

This world had broken down in a completely different direction than I had imagined.

* * *

"No...!"

I desperately stretched out my hand and threw my body forward.

No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't reach brother.

Brother plunging the sword into his neck felt like a lie.

"Why...!"

I believed everything would be fine if only the curse was broken.

Sercil, the protagonist who was supposed to reach a happy ending, was dying, and Crown Prince Theodore, who was supposed to be happy with him for life, had gone mad.

One of the sub-male leads, Marcus, coldly refused my offer to break the curse and died right before my eyes.

And the Grand Duke, he...

"Why? Wasn't this what you wanted?"

The man who arrived a step too late was deeply corrupted by the curse, broken beyond what my weak power could fix.

Yet, he was still beautiful.

Sorrowfully so.

He calmly pointed a golden sword at the pathetic transmigrator who had not just broken, but completely ruined the original story.

"You hovered around us and deceived us with those pathetic words, all because you wanted this, didn't you?"

With eyes that were darkly dead, he gave a serene smile.

A chilling sensation slightly pierced my neck.

I looked at him with a wretched face, splattered with Marcus's blood.

"What a pity. I'm not as weak-hearted as my friends."

The habitual faint laugh that escaped his lips was no longer sweet like before.

He hated me. It had always been that way, but now that fact hurt even more.

Because despair was etched on his face.

Never, not once, had I wished for him to despair.

...Everything was a mess.

'Why?'

I, I just wanted to comfort their pain, and, and...

'I only wanted them to love me, just a little.'

It wasn't like I wanted the immense love I had wished for when I first transmigrated.

As time went on, I realized that people's perception of Prince Ersen was much worse than I had thought.

The original protagonists avoided Ersen even more severely than in the original.

Why? Even though Ersen wasn't involved with demons.

I wanted to know the reason, but there was no one to ask.

Almost no one would speak to me.

Naturally, my dreams shriveled day by day.

'So, I just wanted them to like me, just a tiny bit.'

Yes, at some point, I thought even a crumb of affection would be fine.

Even that would have been good. I thought it would be enough if they kept me by their side out of familiarity.

If they, no, if 'he'...

If that gentle person had smiled at me sincerely just once.

'Then I felt like I could live happily ever after with just that one memory.'

However, all the things I did anxiously with such feelings ended in failure.

'Ignorant, lacking discernment. Of course, since I wasn't educated.'

My throat tightened.

Yet, ever since I came to this world, I had diligently studied, hoping to be of some help...

'...I wish I had done nothing at all.'

Sercil's mother's curse was lifted, but it was revealed that he was a fairy, leading him to suffer constant assassination attempts and fall under an even more potent curse.

This time, a curse that my weak power couldn't break.

It all happened because I publicly lifted his curse.

Theodore gained control over his unstable power but abandoned his self-control to die with Sercil.

He would soon close his eyes with Sercil too.

The original him would have chosen to live with Sercil, but due to my blunders, the imperial family was losing both power and magic.

The situation was hopeless.

And Marcus, who was half-demon and had suffered his entire life for the sins of his clan...

...Brother Marcus, unexpectedly, didn't react well when I told him not to bear the sins of his clan.

He was wary of me and never trusted me for a single moment.

And he died so vainly over there.

"Did you want to become the Crown Prince? Or did you want to lead the half-demon clan instead of Marcus?"

Half-demons. The original villains, a group of half-demons centered around pure-blood demons...

'Why would I lead their clan? What connection do I have with them?'

I blinked blankly, then belatedly asked back.

"What...?"

What did he just say...?

"Oh, you didn't know, did you?"

Grand Duke scoffed, muttering that Prince Ersen supposedly had no memories before the age of 7, so it must have been true.

"You're a half-demon, aren't you?"

Ersen, what...?

The words entering my ears felt colder than the blade at my neck.

"Ersen, the bloodline of the pure-blood demon Eris, the great traitor who forcibly violated the Emperor."

Eris... wasn't she the final boss of the original story?

Her name was only occasionally mentioned because even speaking of her was an act against the imperial decree, but each time, it depicted the most cruel scenes, along with the madness of the half-demons.

'She was a character whose cruelty was only revealed, but nothing about her life was shown.'

She was Ersen's mother.

"Didn't you know that you were born because that pure-blood demon insisted on becoming empress?"

"Ah...?"

How could such a fact never have appeared?

I had no way to learn about this world other than the original story.

No one, no one ever spoke to Ersen...

"She was apparently the type of person who wouldn't be satisfied until she got everything she wanted, being the last pure-blood demon. You resemble her."

The sins Eris allegedly committed in the original work came to mind one by one.

Cursing countless people, and even after her death, instigating the half-demons through her will to torment the protagonists.

Among them, there was also something she allegedly did to the sub-male lead Marcus.

Eris herself supposedly cast the 'binding curse' that forced Marcus to leave his beloved family and be bound by the half-demons.

'Ah. Brother. Brother Marcus...'

Marcus didn't simply distrust me.

He hated me but endured it.

I... I knew nothing.

Ignorance was a sin. Even if there was nothing I could do.

The Grand Duke's blue eyes stared through me as if to pierce me.

His gaze was like that of someone facing a sworn enemy.

'Ah.'

What happened with him came to mind.

That day, when I presumed to comfort him, knowing nothing, and incurred his wrath.

I had suddenly received his killing intent and fainted.

'He endured a lot for me, didn't he?'

Skyle Rodias.

The Grand Archmage and Grand Duke of the Empire had no family.

Because they were massacred by some crazy pure-blood demon.

***​