📖 Premise

Two best friends — Arjun and Kian — are suddenly

pulled into a mysterious novel they once mocked.

When they wake up, they are no longer readers.

They are side villains inside the story, destined to

die at the end.

A system appears:

“MISSION: Make the Crown Prince or his son fall

in love with you within 90 days.

Failure = Death.”

But there’s a twist.

They are NOT allowed to fall in love with each other…

or the story will collapse and erase them both.

And the worst part?

The prince they must target… already hates them.

🖤 Main Characters

🔥 Arjun (transmigrated as “Lord Aric Vale”)

Cold, sharp-tongued strategist

Calm under pressure

Assigned to seduce the Crown Prince

❄️ Kian (transmigrated as “Duke Kael Rowan”)

Emotionally expressive, impulsive

Secretly soft-hearted

Assigned to the Prince’s mysterious son (a feared

war heir)

👑 Crown Prince Lucian

Beautiful, cruel, intelligent

Thinks both of them are threats

🖤 Prince’s Son, Ethan

Silent, dangerous, emotionally sealed

Rumored to have killed before

EPISODE 1: “WELCOME TO YOUR DEATH ROUTE”

The world shattered before Arjun’s eyes.

One moment, he was laughing with Kian on a couch,

watching a badly written fantasy drama.

The next—

A blade of light split the air.

And everything went white.

When Arjun opened his eyes again, the smell of roses

and iron filled his lungs.

He was lying on marble floors.

A ceiling painted with golden war scenes stretched

above him.

“Where… am I?” he muttered.

A voice suddenly echoed in his head.

[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

Arjun froze.

Beside him, someone groaned.

“Kian?” Arjun turned sharply.

Kian sat up, clutching his head. His face went pale.

“Arjun… why are you dressed like a medieval rich

villain?”

Arjun looked down.

Long black noble robes. Gold embroidery. A sword at

his side.

“…You too.”

Before either of them could react—

The air turned cold.

And a floating blue screen appeared.

📜 MISSION SYSTEM

You have entered the novel: “Crown of Ashes and Blood”

ROLE ASSIGNMENT:

Arjun → Lord Aric Vale (Target: Crown Prince Lucian)

Kian → Duke Kael Rowan (Target: Prince Ethan)

MAIN OBJECTIVE:

Make your assigned target fall in love with you.

FAILURE CONDITION: Death

SPECIAL RULE: Do not interfere with each other’s

mission.

Silence.

Then—

“…This is a joke,” Kian whispered.

“I don’t think dying counts as a joke,” Arjun replied

flatly.

A second notification appeared.

SUB MISSIONS UNLOCKED:

🔸️Make target hate you (to trigger obsession route)

🔸️Attend royal banquet within 24 hours

🔸️Survive first encounter

Kian swallowed hard.

“So basically… we have to flirt with dangerous royal

psychopaths or die?”

Arjun looked toward the grand hallway doors.

“They didn’t say we had to succeed fast,” he said

quietly.

Kian blinked. “What does that mean?”

Arjun’s eyes narrowed.

“It means… we learn the story first.”

The doors suddenly opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed.

A man walked in.

Golden eyes.

A crown tilted slightly like it didn’t deserve to sit

properly on his head.

Crown Prince Lucian.

His gaze landed on them instantly.

Cold.

Sharp.

Predatory.

“So,” Lucian said slowly, voice like silk over a blade.

“The two nobles who tried to poison my court last

month… are finally awake.”

Kian whispered under his breath:

“…We are SO dead.”

Arjun, however, smiled faintly.

“No,” he said softly.

“We just started playing the game.”

Lucian stepped closer.

“And tell me,” the prince said, tilting his head.

“Which one of you is first to be executed?”

To be continued…

The hall fell into silence.

Crown Prince Lucian stood just a few steps away,

golden eyes locked on them like a hunter deciding

which prey to kill first.

“So,” he repeated softly, “which one of you is first

to be executed?”

Kian’s breath caught.

Arjun didn’t move.

Didn’t flinch.

Instead, he bowed slightly — perfect etiquette, too

perfect for someone accused of poisoning.

“Your Highness,” Arjun said calmly, “if I had tried to

poison you, you would not be standing here speaking.”

A flicker passed through Lucian’s eyes.

Interest.

Not trust — not yet.

But something more dangerous.

Amusement.

Kian quickly followed Arjun’s lead, forcing a nervous

smile. “We… just woke up, Your Highness. I think

there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Lucian stepped closer.

Too close.

Kian instinctively took a half-step back.

Arjun did not.

Lucian noticed that.

“…Interesting,” the prince murmured. “One of you

trembles. The other pretends he is already above

fear.”

His gaze lingered on Arjun.

Longer than necessary.

A new system notification flashed in Arjun’s vision.

⚠️ SUB MISSION UPDATED

TARGET EMOTIONAL STATE: INTEREST (Lucian) +5%

Arjun’s jaw tightened slightly.

So even silence could be dangerous.

Lucian turned away suddenly.

“You will attend tonight’s banquet,” he said. “If you

are truly innocent… you will survive it.”

He paused at the door.

“And if not…”

A faint smile.

“Then I will personally decide how slowly you die.”

The doors shut.

Silence returned.

Kian exhaled sharply. “Okay. That man is insane.”

Arjun finally let out a quiet breath. “He’s not insane.”

Kian looked at him.

“He’s observant.”

🌙 NIGHT — ROYAL BANQUET HALL

Crystal chandeliers lit the massive hall.

Nobles whispered behind fans and wine glasses

as Arjun and Kian entered under heavy stares.

Everyone knew.

They were the “poisoned nobles who woke up.”

Everyone was waiting for them to fail.

At the far end of the hall—

Lucian sat on the throne-like seat at the center table.

And beside him…

A boy in black military robes.

Silent.

Still.

Eyes like frozen steel.

Kian’s system flickered.

TARGET DETECTED: PRINCE’S SON — ETHAN

EMOTION LEVEL: ZERO (DANGER CLASS)

Kian swallowed.

“That one looks worse,” he muttered.

Arjun didn’t answer.

Because Lucian’s gaze had already landed on them

again.

And this time…

It wasn’t amusement.

It was challenge.

🍷 BANQUET STARTS

A noble suddenly stood.

“Your Highness! Why are the accused allowed here?”

Whispers spread instantly.

“Poisoners…”

“They should be executed…”

Lucian leaned back slightly. “Let them speak.”

All eyes turned.

Silence pressed down.

Arjun stepped forward.

Kian’s heart dropped.

What is he doing? There’s no script for this—

Arjun spoke clearly.

“If I were truly a poisoner,” he said, “would I attend

a banquet where I could be killed before I finish

my first drink?”

A pause.

Then soft laughter… from Lucian.

The sound shocked the entire hall.

Kian froze.

Lucian raised his glass slightly.

“Continue.”

Arjun’s eyes met his.

For a split second—

Something passed between them.

A challenge.

A spark.

Then Arjun said the worst possible thing:

“Or… perhaps Your Highness enjoys entertaining

dangerous people.”

Silence.

Kian nearly choked.

Even Ethan’s gaze shifted slightly.

Lucian’s smile faded… slowly.

Then—

He stood.

The entire hall froze.

Lucian walked down the steps.

One by one.

Until he stood directly in front of Arjun.

Too close again.

Always too close.

“You are either very brave,” Lucian said quietly,

“or very stupid.”

Arjun didn’t step back.

“I’ll let you decide.”

A new system alert exploded in his vision.

💥 TARGET EMOTION SPIKE: INTEREST +12%

WARNING: RAPID ATTRACTION DEVELOPMENT

DETECTED

Kian stared in horror.

“Arjun…” he whispered. “Why is it working??”

Across the hall—

Ethan finally spoke for the first time.

Cold.

Quiet.

“Father.”

Lucian didn’t look away from Arjun.

“Yes?”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“This one is dangerous.”

Lucian’s lips curved faintly.

“I know.”

And then—

He smiled.

At Arjun.

Not cruelly this time.

Not like a king.

Like someone who had just found a puzzle he

intended to break slowly.

“Stay alive until the end of the banquet,” Lucian

said softly.

“Let me see what you become.”

🌑END OF EPISODE 2

Kian pulled Arjun aside in panic.

“What the hell was that?! You’re supposed to make

him fall in love, not provoke a royal psychopath!”

Arjun watched Lucian from across the hall.

“…I didn’t provoke him,” he said quietly.

“I caught his attention.”

A pause.

Then softer:

“And now he won’t look away.”

The banquet had not ended.

It had only changed its shape.

Laughter returned to the hall, but it was fake—thin

as glass over a blade.

Arjun stood still beside Kian, watching everything

carefully.

And more importantly…

watching Lucian.

The Crown Prince had returned to his seat, but his

gaze was no longer distracted.

It kept drifting back.

Always to Arjun.

Like a thread that refused to break.

Kian leaned closer, whispering, “I feel like we’re

being hunted.”

Arjun replied quietly, “We are. Just not by everyone.”

Kian frowned. “What does that mean?”

Arjun didn’t answer.

Because at that moment—

A system notification appeared.

⚠️ MAIN EVENT TRIGGERED: ASSASSINATION

ATTEMPT DETECTED

TARGET: CROWN PRINCE LUCIAN

Arjun’s eyes sharpened instantly.

“…It’s starting.”

Kian went pale. “Starting what?!”

Before Arjun could respond—

Music began.

Soft violin notes filled the hall.

A performance troupe had entered.

Dancers in silver masks moved across the marble

floor.

Beautiful.

Perfect.

Wrong.

Arjun noticed it first.

One dancer’s step was too precise.

Another’s hand was too still.

And the violinist…

never looked up.

Lucian raised his wine glass slightly, unconcerned.

Ethan, however, had already shifted.

His hand moved subtly toward his hidden blade.

Kian whispered urgently, “Arjun, something’s wrong—”

“I know.”

The music rose.

Faster.

Harsher.

And then—

A dancer spun too close to Lucian.

Too close.

A flash of steel.

Kian gasped.

“MOVE—!”

But Arjun was already moving.

He grabbed Lucian’s wrist and pulled him sideways

just as the blade sliced through the air where his

neck had been.

Gasps exploded across the hall.

Chaos broke instantly.

Screams.

Shocked nobles.

Guards drawing weapons.

Lucian turned sharply toward Arjun, their bodies

dangerously close.

For a moment—

Everything stopped.

Arjun’s hand was still on Lucian’s wrist.

Lucian’s breath barely brushed his face.

Too close.

Too intimate.

Lucian’s eyes flickered.

“…You reacted fast,” he said softly.

Arjun didn’t let go immediately.

“I don’t like unfinished performances.”

A beat of silence.

Then Lucian smiled—slowly.

“Neither do I.”

Behind them, Ethan had already neutralized two

attackers in silence.

Cold. Efficient. Merciless.

Kian, shaken, grabbed Arjun’s sleeve. “We almost

died!”

Arjun finally stepped back from Lucian.

But Lucian didn’t let go of the moment.

His gaze stayed locked on Arjun.

Like he was memorizing him.

Like he had just confirmed something.

SYSTEM ALERT: EMOTION SPIKE

LUCIAN — INTEREST + OBSESSION +7%

WARNING: TARGET BONDING ACCELERATION

DETECTED

Arjun’s expression didn’t change.

But internally—

he understood.

The route had changed.

🖤 AFTER THE ATTACK

The hall was cleared.

The assassination failed.

But the danger remained.

Lucian stood alone near the balcony, watching the

chaos being cleaned up.

Arjun approached him.

Kian wanted to stop him—but didn’t.

Lucian spoke first without turning. “You saved me.”

Arjun replied calmly, “It was inefficient to let you die

in the first chapter of the mission.”

Lucian finally turned.

Golden eyes narrowed slightly. “Mission?”

A pause.

Arjun corrected smoothly, “Survival instinct.”

Silence.

Then Lucian stepped closer.

Again.

Always closer.

“You are not afraid of me,” Lucian said.

Arjun met his gaze. “Fear slows decision-making.”

A faint smile.

“That is a very dangerous philosophy.”

Arjun replied, “So is keeping a prince alive while

assassins walk freely in his palace.”

Lucian studied him for a long moment.

Then softly—

“Stay near me.”

Arjun paused.

“…Why?”

Lucian’s expression didn’t change.

“So I can decide if you are truly useful…”

A slight tilt of his head.

“…or just interesting enough to keep alive.”

For the first time—

Arjun felt it clearly.

Not just the mission system.

Not just survival.

But something far more complicated forming

between them.

Kian watched from a distance, horrified.

“…This is not seduction anymore,” he whispered.

“This is mutual disaster.”

🌙 END OF EPISODE 3

That night, the system updated again.

NEW VARIABLE DETECTED

LUCIAN × ARJUN ROUTE: UNSTABLE / RAPID

ATTRACTION FORMING

WARNING: STORY REWRITE IN PROGRESS

And somewhere in the palace…

Ethan silently watched Kian from the shadows.