The Darkened Second Male Lead Seeks to Rewrite the Original Storyline

“Don’t you think your presence has become a bit faded lately?”

Zen, who had been blinking blankly, suddenly burst out laughing loudly. In front of Zen, who was laughing with his mouth wide open, Ria couldn’t say anything in surprise.

‘Why is he laughing like this?’

Once Zen finally stopped laughing, he continued speaking.

“Presence? Me?”

Only then did Ria realize that the laughter was a sneer, a response to something completely absurd.

“The only heir to the throne of the Baissen Empire, me?”

Zen spoke in an arrogant tone, and Ria frowned. Zen, as if now understanding, said:

“Is that why you’re here? Because you think your place has been taken? So you think your presence has become faint?”

Before she knew it, Ria’s serious concerns had shifted into the complaints of a child who had lost a friend.

“It’s not that—”

She was about to deny it when Zen suddenly stood up, walked around, and sat next to Ria.

“What are you doing?”

Zen, who had turned halfway to look at her, grabbed Ria’s hand and brought it to himself. Ria stared blankly, and Zen spoke in a low voice.

“Stay by my side.”

“…….”

“If you do that, I will give you a place that belongs only to you. A place that will never be taken from you, a place where your presence won’t fade.”

‘A place where I belong…’ Zen spoke as if he knew Ria’s feelings, as if he knew exactly what she wanted to hear.

He slowly kissed her finger, all the while his gaze lingering on Ria. His actions, which seemed both decadent and sacred, made Ria stare at him in a daze.

Without breaking the kiss, Zen stared intently at Ria and spoke.

“The position of empress in this country.”

“What?”

Ria’s expression turned one of disbelief. It seemed like he was about to make another ridiculous proposal after saying he would give her a place.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to quit? If you marry me, you can leave.”

“…Sorry, but my mind has changed.”

Just a few days ago, Ria thought that quitting and escaping this novel was the only answer, but now it was different.

‘If I quit, I might die. I have to stay in school no matter what.’

Zen twitched his eyebrows in a dissatisfied expression.

“Did your mind change already?”

“There was something that happened.”

“…Then tell me what you want. Money, honor—I’ll give it all to you.”

“What I want isn’t something you can give—”

Ria was about to snap irritably but suddenly clamped her mouth shut.

‘What if Zen’s presence hasn’t faded?’

She recalled how the students’ attention had been drawn during the earlier commotion. When she had shouted for Zen, there were far more gazes focused on him when he appeared.

“I’m the crown prince of this country. There’s no reason I can’t give you what you want.”

Zen said arrogantly. As she looked at him, Ria continued her thoughts.

‘If the reason all eyes were on him was because of Zen? And if that reason… was truly because he’s the crown prince?’

She remembered that in the original story, Zen not only played the role of the secondary male lead but also the role of the crown prince. He was the link between Siklaen and the imperial palace.

If that’s the case, maybe it was indeed one of his roles.

The protagonist, the supporter, the antagonist. It wasn’t necessarily that, but the status of being the crown prince of this country…

‘Is that even possible?’

Ria felt a sharp pain in her head. Too many things had happened today.

But one thing was certain: she needed a role, and Zen’s offer was so sweet.

“…Do you really want to marry me without any conditions?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I told you. For my life.”

Zen seemed like he wasn’t going to elaborate any further.

“…Give me time to think.”

Accepting it immediately was difficult, especially with Zen as her potential husband. Zen needed to save Siklaen. If she married him, she might become an obstacle to her own happiness.

Her life and Siklaen’s happiness. Ria needed time to weigh those two things. Zen sighed lowly and then asked with a displeased expression.

“How long do you need? You… do you still have feelings for Darren?”

“What?”

It seemed like he wasn’t expecting an answer to his question, and Zen continued.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not asking you to love me. I’m asking you to marry me. Anyway, Darren will end up with Siklaen, you know that, don’t you?”

“It’s not for that reason.”

“Then what is it?!”

Suddenly, Zen harshly shoved the chair and stood up. Ria flinched, trembling at his shout.

It was a sudden movement. Ria staggered back, and Zen, letting out a deep sigh, seemed to try to calm his emotions as he closed his eyes and pressed his eyelids firmly with his fingers. His chest rose and fell heavily.

“…I don’t have time.”

His voice was cracked. He grabbed Ria’s shoulder tightly, and a chilling cold enveloped her body.

Zen’s clear, blue eyes took on an unusual hue, as if being consumed by the darkness. Ria stared at his face in shock.

‘…Is this really Zen?’

The Zen she had known until now had been strange, but today he seemed particularly so. The bright and harmless Zen from the original story was no longer there.

Zen stared at her trembling pupils for a moment, then sighed softly and added,

“I can only give you one day. Just one day.”

With that, he roughly opened the door and left the room.

Bang— The door slammed shut with a loud noise, and Ria, left alone, grasped the armrest of the chair and took a deep breath.

‘It’s all twisting.’

There was no turning back now. Zen had changed in an unsettling way, and she was at risk of losing her role and facing death.

Ria rubbed her face with both hands. She sighed, thinking that all of this was because she had failed to play the villain’s role properly.

‘But… there’s no way I could expose Siklaen’s secret.’

Revealing the secret and enduring the painful time she had gone through—it would be too cruel for her.

Perhaps this was the inevitable outcome from the moment she had transmigrated.

When Ria returned home, she was greeted by none other than Darren.

“Sir Darren of the Slanders family is waiting for you.”

The butler bowed deeply and said.

“Ha…”

Ria couldn’t stop herself from sighing reflexively. Her body, exhausted after everything that had happened that day, was pleading for rest.

But she couldn’t turn Darren away. It wouldn’t be polite, and everyone in the household, including the butler, was looking at her with expectant eyes.

The family, who knew Ria had feelings for Darren, and the house servants, were all making a fuss. They seemed to think something was going on between her and Darren.

“Miss, should I bring the new dress you ordered? The one with the open shoulders?”

Isabel, who was the most excited, asked with her face flushed from excitement.

“Sure, just bring any…”

A sudden feeling of unease washed over Ria.

“No. Bring the least flattering one.”

“Pardon?”

“Just leave my hair messy, too.”

“Miss?”

Isabel, who had been eagerly anticipating something grand, now looked dismayed. Seeing her face full of confusion and resentment, Ria simply nodded her head as if to say, “Do it.”

The original story had gone so strangely, and she couldn’t afford to let her guard down. She knew she was being overly self-conscious, but if Darren began to like her, it would be a disaster. Darren was the most crucial character for Siklaen’s happy ending. He had to remain just as he was in the original.

“Isabel, hurry!”

Ria shouted at Isabel, who was sulking.

After a long wait, Isabel finally returned with a dress—a simple white one with tiny yellow wildflowers embroidered on it.

It was quite plain, but the problem was that Ria’s beautiful face would overshadow any dress she wore. Ria casually tossed her shiny hair back and took a deep breath.

“Phew…”

Since her transmigration, this was her first real meeting with Darren. But there was no excitement about meeting the male protagonist. Even when reading the original, she hadn’t been particularly fond of Darren, and more than anything, this wasn’t the time to be expecting anything.

Originally, she would have pretended to like Darren in order to mimic the pre-transmigration Ria, but now the situation was different. The villainess in this world had already become Ernie, and she had no reason to torment Siklaen anymore.

‘I need to make sure that I don’t like Darren anymore.’

With a determined expression, Ria clenched her fists and opened the door to the parlor.

In the parlor, with a blue carpet spread across the floor, Darren sat wearing the red uniform of the Royal Academy. As described in the original story, beneath his dark black hair, his chillingly red eyes were visible.

He sat upright and stiff, even though no one was watching, which gave a hint of his nature. Ria shook her head. She disliked that side of him.

Swallowing a sigh, Ria approached Darren.

“What’s the matter, coming all the way here?”

She plopped down across from him. It wasn’t a particularly polite movement, and because of that, Darren’s eyebrows twitched.

“The school finished at the same time, so why are you home at this hour?”

“Does that have anything to do with you?”

“Ha.”

At Ria’s cold retort, Darren let out a stifled laugh, as if trying to hold back his anger.

“Where did you leave your dignity as a noblewoman? You’ve been shouting around, looking for Prince Zen? You’re calling him by his name so casually.”

This time, it was Ria who laughed. Darren frowned.

“What’s so funny?”

“Did you come all the way here just to say that? Are you Zen’s subordinate now?”

“You… All the citizens of the Baissen Empire are subjects of His Majesty the Emperor. Naturally, Prince Zen is the same. Stop calling him by his name so carelessly. Don’t you think about how you’re diminishing the dignity of the entire nobility?”

Ria already knew that Darren wasn’t favorable toward her. After all, she was the villain who tormented the female protagonist in the original, so there was no way the male lead would think well of her. She also knew from the few encounters they’d had that Darren had looked at her as if she were nothing more than a bug.

So, this kind of sarcasm was to be expected. Ria shrugged her shoulders and calmly responded.

“Zen says he’ll handle it himself, so why do you care?”

“It’s just that Prince Zen’s character is so outstanding that he doesn’t say anything. But if you mistake that for an opportunity and try to climb—”

“Climb?”

At the blatant insult, Ria’s cheek stiffened.