* * *

Eunoh felt a hand shaking him awake.

The touch was so gentle it felt more like a light pat, making it impossible to find the will to rise.

“Young Master, you must wake up.”

Contrary to the tentative touch, the high-pitched voice carried clear urgency.

A wave of tension shot through Eunoh’s body.

Living alone, Eunoh had no reason to feel someone else’s touch while waking.

Naturally, panic took over, and he bolted upright in bed, squinting as warm sunlight streamed into the room.

The next thing he noticed was an unfamiliar woman gazing at him, standing beside a fine-quality blanket draped over him.

“Oh my, you woke up so quickly! I haven’t even brought the washbasin yet. You must be feeling well today.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve been so eager for tonight’s banquet celebrating the Grand Duke’s return. You kept saying you wanted to see for yourself if the infamous Duke Felix truly has such a grotesque face, didn’t you?”

Eunoh stared at the woman in a maid’s uniform, then turned to the reflection in the window.

What he saw was a dazzling young man with golden hair and piercing blue eyes that sparkled like glass.

Eunoh quickly recited the 17 times table in reverse in his head.

Flawless mental calculations proved it wasn’t a dream.

The conclusion was obvious: the person reflected in the window was likely himself.

“Young Master Lowell, are you still feeling drowsy?”

Seeing Eunoh sitting there in stunned silence, the woman assumed he wasn’t fully awake and spoke kindly.

However, hearing the unfamiliar name “Lowell” made his mind spiral further into confusion.

“Are you talking about Grand Duke Felix, the Emperor’s nephew?”

Eunoh tried to maintain his habitual politeness but switched to casual speech halfway through.

“Who else would Grand Duke Felix be? He’s the one born with the Curse of Darkness.”

At the mention of the curse, her voice dropped to a whisper, as though saying it louder might bring trouble.

The woman’s certainty caused Eunoh’s head to drop.

“Ah, you shouldn’t doze off while sitting up. Would you like to sleep a bit longer instead?”

Eunoh didn’t want to sleep—he wanted to pass out.

His golden hair shimmered even brighter in the sunlight.

No denying it now, both “Felix” and “Lowell” were characters from a novel he’d read recently: ‘How the Alpha Crown Prince Loves’.

Eunoh weighed the likelihood of being either surgically altered and dyed in his sleep before being placed on a movie set—or being transported into the book itself.

After considering various possibilities, the scales tipped toward the latter.

“No. I need to wash up first.”

“I’ll prepare everything immediately.”

“Thanks, Tanya.”

Eunoh hesitantly called the maid’s name, which he vaguely remembered.

Thankfully, his guess was correct.

Tanya beamed and said, “Not at all,” before leaving the room.

Once Tanya was gone, Eunoh stumbled to the wardrobe.

Even the short distance left him weak and wobbly—a stark contrast to his sturdy, well-trained body back in the real world.

“Is this really me?”

Looking at his reflection in the full-length mirror, the body before him wasn’t just different in physique, appearance, and hair color; even down to the lack of body hair, it perfectly matched the character description of Lowell from the novel.

The phrase “a sweet, honey-dipped youth” came to mind unbidden.

Instead of trembling in fear, Eunoh methodically reviewed his situation.

Last month, his life had turned bleak after he was forced to leave his teaching job.

Outed by his ex-boyfriend, who had not only betrayed but humiliated him publicly, finding new work felt impossible until the scandal blew over.

In his boredom, Eunoh had turned to reading web novels—something he’d never cared for before.

Then, out of the blue, he’d received an email with a book coupon. Assuming it was just a platform promotion, he opened it without much thought.

That’s how he ended up reading ‘How the Alpha Crown Prince Loves,’ a complete set of romance novels.

It didn’t take long for him to realize it was a BL novel, but it was free, and once Eunoh started something, he had to finish it.

“It was… entertaining.”

After experiencing such a miserable relationship, it wasn’t surprising he found some escapism in other people’s fantastical romances.

“Lowell was one of the novel’s fragile side characters, wasn’t he?”

In the original story, Lowell met his demise at the hands of Felix, who would later become the Demon King.

The event occurred early in Volume 2—a moment so minor it might’ve slipped his mind if he hadn’t read the novel recently.

“Possession, huh? I guess I’ve read enough web novels for this to happen to me.”

Eunoh, who’d always considered himself far from protagonist material, tapped the mirror with a dry smile.

“It doesn’t seem like a dream.”

How could he return to reality?

✨✨✨

Unable to find a solution, Eunoh weighed the two lives on an invisible scale.

“Would returning even be worth it?”

His family had died in an accident long ago, and his ex wasn’t just a traitor but an audacious one who had outed him.

Eunoh had suffered betrayal before, but this level of cruelty was new.

“My future was already blocked anyway. A new life doesn’t sound so bad.”

Discarding his attachments to his former world, Eunoh’s adaptability kicked in.

“First, I need to figure out what point in the story this is.”

With no modern devices like smartphones, he had to rely on limited clues.

“A banquet celebrating the return of Grand Duke Felix… That means the story’s still in the early stages. Felix hasn’t become the Demon King yet.”

Lowell’s death marked the beginning of Felix’s descent into dark magic.

Eunoh returned to the room, hands clenched.

Surviving came first.

And to do that, Felix must never become the Demon King.

“I’ll show you what the butterfly effect really means.”

Drawing on his experience as a psychological counselor, Eunoh resolved to correct Felix’s behavior.

After that, he could enjoy the life of a wealthy noble’s youngest son in peace.

“Young Master, the bath is ready.”

Tanya’s voice brought him back to the present.

“Alright.”

Tonight’s banquet would be crucial.

“I should get used to being called Lowell.”

Feeling a twinge of guilt at occupying another’s place, Eunoh decided it was better than meeting an untimely death.

“Wait. If I’m here, does that mean the real Lowell’s in my body?”

Shaking his head, Lowell—no, Eunoh—put the thought aside.

He had more immediate matters to address.

✨✨✨

The party, carefully curated to look sophisticated, was extravagantly lavish.

As Lowell scanned the ballroom, he noticed black ribbons woven into the floral decorations.

They were there to mock Felix, a mage with the attribute of darkness.

Only the original Lowell from the story, who was so blissfully unaware that he constantly caused trouble for those around him, had failed to notice the intended jab.

To illustrate just how clueless he had been, the original Lowell had even taken one of the black ribbons to Felix, offering it as a gift while naively complimenting how well it suited him.

The terrifying part was that there had been no malice behind the gesture.

‘No wonder Felix the Grand Duke hated him.’

* * *