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Chapter 1
The beginning was a job posting I found during an extreme employment slump—an opening for a web novel editor. And of all things, it was specifically for the BL (Boys’ Love) department.
“…Have you ever read a BL novel before?”
When the interviewer asked with a slightly troubled expression, I nodded confidently.
After all, staying up all night reading one yesterday still counted as ‘having read one before.’ It wasn’t technically a lie.
I had already failed job hunting twice and was now on my third attempt. This publishing company was the only one where I had even passed the document screening stage. Given how desperate my situation was, cramming BL novels overnight to become a BL editor was a small price to pay.
And honestly, that wasn’t the only reason.
“Um… if you’re hired for this position, you’ll need to read a lot of BL novels going forward. Do you happen to have any discomfort with same-sex relationships…?”
“None at all.”
I nodded firmly again.
Of course I had no issue with same-sex relationships.
Because I was gay myself.
That was also why, when I encountered BL novels for the first time—something I had never read before—I ended up completely absorbed in them. To be honest, they were more entertaining than any novels I had read before.
“That’s good to hear. We’ll notify you of the results within a few days.”
“Yes, thank you!”
I greeted them energetically and left, but anxiety crept in immediately afterward.
No matter how strongly I insisted that I had no problem with BL novels, it would mean nothing if the interviewer simply didn’t like me.
Would the company even want to hire a male employee for this position?
Still, I had done everything I could. The rest was up to fate.
A few days later, the publishing company contacted me with the results.
Thankfully, I had passed.
* * *
At last, my long job-hunting nightmare was over, and I was thrilled.
Better yet, for someone who loved novels, this place felt like a dream workplace.
Before long, I threw myself completely into the work of being a BL novel editor. I became so immersed that even when the authors under my supervision came to complain, I found myself pushing them harder instead of comforting them.
The one who resented me the most was Author H, who was currently writing an especially dark story.
She slammed her coffee cup onto the table and glared at me.
I quietly avoided her gaze.
“PD-nim, aren’t you being too cruel? Etienne is going to be way too pitiful!”
“But Etienne is the villainous second male lead anyway.”
“Even so, do you really have to kill him in such a miserable way?”
“If he’s a villain, we should go all the way. Let’s make it stimulating—add lots of drama.”
“PD-nim, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? You know that’s a terrible hobby, right?”
“I’m simply hoping your work succeeds…”
“Don’t lie! Everyone knows you’re obsessed with dark tragedies!”
“…How did you know?”
“Isn’t it obvious?!”
Author H shouted.
I awkwardly lowered my eyes and just sipped my coffee.
Today, the coffee tasted unusually bitter.
The situation was this:
Author H was one of the first writers assigned to me. Since our tastes were similar, we became close quickly, and she often consulted me about plot developments.
The BL novel she was currently writing was an Omega-verse tragedy featuring an obsessive regretful male lead and a pregnant runaway protagonist.
There was also a villainous second male lead who loved the protagonist.
Since it was a tragedy, the protagonist suffering was inevitable. Author H had no objections to that. In fact, while the male lead tormented the protagonist without realizing his own feelings—building up future regret points—she seemed extremely delighted.
But as the story progressed, a problem arose.
Author H had accidentally made the villainous second male lead, Etienne, her favorite character.
Originally, according to the synopsis, Etienne was supposed to be brutally killed by the male lead. But when the time came to decide his fate, Author H and I clashed.
My position: Etienne had committed too many evil deeds and deserved a horrific death.
Author H’s position: she wanted to let Etienne quietly survive somehow.
I glanced at her suspiciously.
“…You’re not thinking of pairing the protagonist with Etienne instead, are you?”
“…That wouldn’t work, right?”
“You can’t change the main male lead just because you got attached to the second male lead! You know that!”
“Then at least let Etienne live peacefully! He could forget the protagonist, leave the capital, and live quietly somewhere! Start a business, make lots of money, marry a beautiful omega…”
“Absolutely not!”
Of course, the direction of a novel ultimately belonged to the author. Even as an editor, I couldn’t interfere too much.
Technically, even arguing like this was overstepping my authority.
But Author H and I were very close, so we talked freely about anything.
And, as she said, I was a little… too serious about tragic fiction.
If you read tragic stories because you want to see suffering, then the villainous second male lead—who should suffer the most—living happily ever after would completely ruin the point.
…That was my thinking.
After more arguing, Author H finally gave in. She reluctantly agreed with my opinion that the story should stay true to its tragic nature.
But she must have felt bad about Etienne.
Sniffling, she muttered a curse at me.
“If you ever get reincarnated into this novel, PD-nim, you’ll definitely become Etienne! What will you do then?”
I calmly sipped my coffee and replied.
“Well, the me at that time will figure something out.”
I shouldn’t have said that.
* * *
The day after that successful meeting.
Enjoying my rare day off, I lazily slept in and woke up late.
And at that moment—
I had become a character inside Author H’s tragic BL novel.
* * *
“This is why people say you should live kindly…”
One month after reincarnating, I muttered as I dragged myself out of bed while being urged by my nanny, Elsie.
She pulled open the curtains and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Young master? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. I just feel like I’m paying for my sins.”
“Sins? You know words like that, young master?”
“Of course I do.”
After all, I had been a 28-year-old office worker from 21st-century South Korea.
But to Elsie, I was just a 12-year-old young noble, so she seemed amused by what I said.
“Yes, yes, our young master knows everything. Which means you also know you should hurry and get ready, right?”
“…Yeah. I know.”
I replied reluctantly.
On the first morning after possessing this body, I had panicked completely.
But now it had already been one month.
I had figured out a fair amount about this medieval fantasy novel world.
For example, I had learned that a 12-year-old count’s heir was far busier than a 28-year-old editor.
As Elsie dressed me, I continued grumbling.
“This is child abuse. How can someone be this busy? Riding lessons and sword training in the morning, history and arithmetic in the afternoon, then etiquette classes…”
“Child abuse?! Young master! You are the future count! You must learn these things to become a great lord!”
“Well… I’m not even sure I’ll live long enough to become a count.”
“Oh my! What kind of thing is that to say?”
“I mean… you never know what might happen. Infant mortality is high in this era…”
Of course, according to the original story, I wouldn’t die as an infant.
I would be brutally murdered after becoming an adult.
But I couldn’t say that out loud.
Elsie frowned.
“Please never say such frightening things again. Why do you keep saying scary things these days?”
I nodded and apologized softly.
“Sorry.”
But inside, I thought the same thing.
There was no way I—no, ‘Etienne Winyeats’—would live long enough to inherit the countship.
Because Etienne was the villain destined to be killed by the main male lead.
And not just that.
He was the second male lead whose miserable death ending I personally insisted on, rejecting the author’s attempt to spare him.
* * *
Author H’s BL novel “The Prince’s Sword” was so tragic it was difficult to read while sober.
Which meant it was perfect for someone like me who loved dark tragedy.
The main male lead of the novel, Callisto, was the emperor’s illegitimate son.
Because of this, the empress tried to kill him when he was born. With the help of his nanny and a knight, Callisto barely survived.
After that, even though he was a prince, he had to hide his identity and live a miserable life. After his nanny died, he wandered the slums starving.
The one who eventually found and took him in was Count William Winyeats, the father of the second male lead, Etienne.
The count noticed the “Mark of the Prince” on Callisto’s body and realized the child was the missing imperial prince.
The mark was something every imperial descendant was born with—a kind of emblem bearing the imperial crest. The exact shape and location differed for each prince.
Unlike a normal tattoo or scar, it only appeared when exposed to sunlight.
The count decided he couldn’t leave a prince in the slums.
So he brought Callisto to the Winyeats estate.
To hide the mark from the empress, he placed a magical tattoo over it, preventing it from appearing even in sunlight.
He also claimed Callisto was his illegitimate son to avoid suspicion.
But that decision turned out to be a terrible mistake.
Etienne, who had lost his mother early, developed intense hostility toward this sudden “illegitimate brother.”
Callisto grew up suffering severe abuse at Etienne’s hands.
Because of this upbringing, Callisto grew up completely twisted.
Eventually, he became a perfect obsessive tyrant of a male lead.
Even after becoming crown prince, he tormented the protagonist who truly loved him—until the protagonist eventually fled while pregnant.
* * *
“Ah… he really was the perfect obsessive male lead…”
As I reminisced about the novel, I felt a wave of nostalgia.
Strangely enough, Author H loved the second male lead Etienne.
But my favorite character was undoubtedly Callisto, who began as an obsessive tyrant and later became a regretful lover.
Watching him accumulate regret had been incredibly thrilling.
And when he finally destroyed the villainous second male lead and punished him miserably—
It had been so satisfying.
Those were the kinds of thoughts I could only have because I never imagined I would end up possessing that very second male lead.
