When I woke up, I wasn't the hero.

I wasn't the villain.

I wasn't even the second male lead.

I had become Lucien Everhart, a side character whose name was mentioned only three times before dying during the final war.

"I refuse."

This life would belong to me.

If I wanted to survive, I needed power before the story even began.

So, instead of chasing the protagonists...

I disappeared from the capital.

Arc One – The Hidden Heir (Age 12–18)

For six years, Lucien never attended noble banquets or social gatherings.

The capital slowly forgot he existed.

Rumors spread.

"The youngest Everhart son is sick."

"No, he's weak."

"I heard he can't even use mana."

Lucien smiled whenever he heard those rumors.

The less people noticed him...

the longer he lived.

Meanwhile, he secretly built his own strength.

He mastered swordsmanship under retired mercenaries.

He learned ancient magic from forgotten ruins.

He established an intelligence network made up of merchants and adventurers.

He even founded a secret guild called Silver Eclipse, though no one knew its mysterious master.

By eighteen...

Lucien had become one of the strongest people on the continent.

Yet no one knew.

HIs first friend

Deep within the Frost Mountains...

Lucien discovered a dying dragon hatchling.

Instead of taking its crystal heart, as most humans would...

he stayed beside it for weeks.

He hunted for food.

Protected it from poachers.

Read stories aloud because he thought dragons might enjoy them.

"...You're strange."

The silver dragon finally spoke.

"My name is Kael."

Lucien smiled.

"I'm Lucien."

That day...

the world's youngest Dragon King gained his first human friend.

Neither of them realized it would become something far deeper than friendship.

His Second Friend

Months later, while exploring the Beast Kingdom...

Lucien found a young beastman imprisoned by slave traders.

Covered in blood.

Half-conscious.

Golden wolf ears twitched weakly.

Lucien quietly cut the chains.

"Can you stand?"

"...Why... help me?"

"Because someone should."

The beastman stared silently.

No human had ever helped him without asking for something in return.

"My name..."

He lowered his head.

"...Riven."

Lucien smiled.

"Then let's go home."

For the first time in years...

Riven smiled.

The three of them traveled together.

A human.

A dragon.

A beastman.

They became an inseparable family.

Unknown to Lucien...

Kael secretly found himself fascinated by Lucien's older brother, Adrian Everhart, after hearing countless stories about the honorable knight.

Riven, meanwhile, would one day lose his heart to the Crown Prince's closest friend—a brilliant duke who always treated beastfolk as equals.

The Five Male Leads

When the original story finally begins, the five male leads are:

Prince Cassian Valerius – The cold and calculating Crown Prince.

Duke Rowan Ashford – A genius mage with a gentle smile hiding dangerous ambitions.

Commander cassian Everhart – Lucien's protective older brother and the empire's greatest knight and the adopted son of the ever hart family

Marquis Elias Ravenshade – A charming noble, master of spies and politics.

High Priest Caelum – The youngest saint in history, beloved by the people but burdened by prophecy.

None of them have ever met Lucien.

As far as they know...

Adrian simply has a quiet younger brother who never leaves his estate.

The Imperial Gala

Everything changes on one night.

The Imperial Gala.

The event where every noble family must attend.

The night all five male leads gather for the first time.

And the first time anyone lays eyes on Lucien Everhart.

No one expects much from the forgotten youngest son.

Until the grand doors open.

A young man with silver hair, dressed in black embroidered with silver lilies, steps into the ballroom.

The music stops.

Conversations die.

Five pairs of eyes lift toward him.

For reasons none of them can explain...

They cannot look away.

And from that single moment, the fate of the novel begins to change.

End of Arc One.

The slow-burn romance begins at the Imperial Gala, where the five male leads meet Lucien for the very first time, while Kael the Dragon King and Riven the beastman each begin developing feelings for people close to the male leads, creating intertwined romances throughout the story.

A year had passed since the Imperial Gala.

The five male leads had become a constant presence in Lucien's life.

Not because he wanted them to be...

But because fate refused to leave him alone.

Cassian, the Crown Prince, began dropping the formal "Lord Everhart."

Now he simply called him...

"Lucien."

It was such a small change that no one else noticed.

Lucien did.

Rowan always found excuses to visit.

"I was passing by."

"You traveled three days to get here."

"...A coincidence."

"It never is."

The servants learned to stop questioning it.

Elias Ravenshade smiled as always, but everyone noticed one strange habit.

Whenever another noble approached Lucien...

Elias somehow appeared beside him first.

"Oh? You wished to speak with Lucien?"

His smile never changed.

The noble usually fled.

High Priest Caelum prayed more often.

Not for the Empire.

Not for peace.

But for one silver-haired noble who unknowingly occupied every quiet moment of his heart.

He hated himself for it.

Yet every prayer ended the same way.

"May he always smile."

Adrian...

Lucien's older brother...

Remained completely oblivious.

He thought the princes and nobles simply admired Lucien's talents.

Kael and Riven knew better.

One evening...

The dragon king Kael sighed while watching Cassian secretly drape his royal cloak over the sleeping Lucien.

"He doesn't even realize."

Riven laughed.

"Our friend is hopeless."

"You mean dense."

"I mean impossibly dense."

Both of them looked at Lucien sleeping peacefully beside the campfire.

"...He's adorable."

"...He is."

They froze.

"...Did we just say that together?"

"...Forget it."

Meanwhile...

Feelings were blooming elsewhere.

Kael found himself spending more time with Adrian.

The great knight treated him neither as a monster nor a king.

Only as...

Kael.

It was a strange feeling.

One he wanted to protect.

Riven's heart was slowly stolen by Elias.

The marquis laughed with everyone equally.

He defended beastfolk in court.

Shared meals with commoners.

Never looked down on anyone.

Riven had met countless humans.

None like him.

The world seemed peaceful.

Too peaceful.

Because the original protagonist...

Had finally returned.

His name was...

Leonard Ashbourne.

The son of Marquis Ashbourne.

The true protagonist of the original novel.

Blessed by destiny.

Loved by the spirits.

The one every male lead had originally fallen in love with.

Except...

Nothing was happening as it should.

Cassian ignored him.

Rowan barely acknowledged him.

Caelum treated him politely but distantly.

Elias simply smiled.

Every one of them...

Watched Lucien instead.

Leonard noticed.

At first...

He convinced himself it didn't matter.

Then came jealousy.

Then resentment.

Finally...

Hatred.

"So..."

Leonard stood in front of Lucien during the annual Royal Hunting Festival.

"So you're the one."

Lucien blinked.

"...Excuse me?"

"The one who stole everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar."

The surrounding nobles fell silent.

The five male leads immediately noticed the confrontation.

"You manipulated them."

Lucien frowned.

"I've barely spoken to you."

"You took what was supposed to be mine."

"I don't own people."

"They were supposed to choose me!"

The words echoed through the forest.

Everyone froze.

Lucien sighed.

"I think you've misunderstood."

"No."

Leonard's mana exploded.

"I understand perfectly."

He drew his sword.

"I challenge you."

The knights gasped.

A duel between two high-ranking nobles without royal approval was forbidden.

Yet neither stepped back.

Lucien quietly removed his gloves.

"I don't want to fight."

Leonard sneered.

"Afraid?"

"No."

Lucien's golden eyes became calm.

"I'm afraid you'll regret it."

Steel clashed.

Leonard attacked first.

Fast.

Powerful.

Exactly as the original novel described.

The chosen hero.

But...

Lucien sidestepped effortlessly.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Not a single attack landed.

The spectators slowly realized something horrifying.

The strongest young noble in the kingdom...

Couldn't even touch the forgotten side character.

"Fight back!" Leonard roared.

Lucien sighed.

"As you wish."

One movement.

One strike.

CRACK!

Leonard's sword shattered into hundreds of glittering pieces.

Silence.

Complete silence.

Lucien's own blade never touched Leonard.

The pressure of his sword aura alone had broken the weapon.

For the first time...

Fear crossed Leonard's face.

"You..."

"Enough."

Lucien lowered his sword.

"I never wanted your place."

He turned to leave.

"But don't mistake my kindness for weakness."

The duel spread across the kingdom within a single day.

The nobles were shaken.

The royal court demanded answers.

Who was Lucien Everhart?

How had a forgotten side character become powerful enough to defeat the Empire's blessed genius without effort?

Rumors spread like wildfire.

Some called him a hidden saint.

Others claimed he had made a pact with dragons.

Some whispered he was secretly planning to seize the throne.

The kingdom divided into factions overnight.

And from the shadows...

An unknown figure smiled.

"So..."

"The gears of fate have finally begun to move."

The peace that had lasted for a year was over.

The commotion caused by a single duel would soon drag the entire kingdom into a conflict far greater than anyone could imagine.

The kingdom never discovered who took him.

One evening, after leaving a council meeting alone, Lucien's carriage was found abandoned on a lonely mountain road.

The guards were unconscious.

The horses had fled.

Lucien Everhart had disappeared without a trace.

The entire Empire erupted into chaos.

Cassian sealed the capital's gates.

Adrian searched every border himself.

Rowan used forbidden detection magic until he collapsed from exhaustion.

Elias unleashed his network of spies across the continent.

Caelum prayed day and night, yet even the divine could not reveal Lucien's location.

Six months passed.

No clues.

No ransom.

Nothing.

Only silence.

The Prison Beneath the Mountains

Lucien awoke in darkness.

His captors never showed their faces.

They wanted only one thing.

"The Everhart heir is a threat."

"Tell us who taught you."

"Who commands Silver Eclipse?"

"Who are your allies?"

Every time Lucien remained silent, they tried another way to break his resolve.

They isolated him.

They deprived him of comfort and hope.

They tried to convince him that everyone he cared about had abandoned him.

But every lie met the same calm response.

"...You're wasting your time."

As the months passed, Lucien changed.

Not into someone cruel.

Into someone harder to deceive.

He memorized the guards' footsteps.

Counted every hour.

Observed every weakness in the prison.

He waited.

Patiently.

The Escape

On the first night of winter...

The prison shook.

Not because someone came to rescue him.

Because Lucien had finally decided to rescue himself.

Years of preparation, hidden magic circles, and careful observation came together in a single night.

The chains that restrained his mana shattered.

The prison walls cracked.

The guards barely understood what was happening before Lucien slipped past them.

He did not stay to seek revenge.

He walked into the snow.

Free.

Home

Weeks later, the gates of Everhart Estate opened.

The servants froze.

A lone traveler stood in the falling snow.

His silver hair had grown long.

His once-bright smile was gone.

His golden eyes were colder than winter itself.

"Young... Master?"

Lucien gave a faint nod.

"I'm home."

The entire estate burst into tears.

When Adrian arrived, he stopped several steps away.

For the first time in his life...

He didn't know what to say.

Lucien smiled faintly.

"I'm alive."

Adrian crossed the distance in an instant and embraced his younger brother without a word.

The other four male leads arrived before sunrise.

None of them asked what had happened.

They could see it in Lucien's eyes.

Something precious had been taken from him.

A New Resolve

Days later, Lucien stood before the map of the Empire.

Colored pins marked dozens of noble houses.

Secret organizations.

Merchant guilds.

Unknown symbols.

"I don't want revenge," he said quietly.

"I want the truth."

He looked toward the capital.

"Someone united factions that should have been enemies."

"They framed me."

"They kidnapped me."

"They wanted the kingdom to fear me."

He closed the map.

"So I'll uncover every lie."

"And if those responsible threaten the innocent again..."

His voice became steady.

"I'll tear their conspiracy apart."

Dreams of Another Life

That same night...

Cassian dreamed.

He stood in a palace from another lifetime.

Beside him was Leonard Ashbourne—the original protagonist.

Across the hall stood Lucien.

Forgotten.

Alone.

Cassian remembered himself turning away.

Remembered believing rumors instead of seeking the truth.

Then he watched Lucien walk toward his lonely death.

Cassian woke with tears on his face.

"...No..."

Rowan dreamed next.

He remembered choosing ambition over trust.

Ignoring Lucien's warnings.

Only realizing the truth after it was too late.

He awoke gripping his blanket.

"What have I... forgotten?"

Elias saw himself laughing with Leonard while Lucien's name was dragged through the mud.

He had investigated too late.

By the time he uncovered the conspiracy...

Lucien was already gone.

Caelum dreamed of praying over a grave.

A nameless grave.

The inscription read:

"Here rests the man who saved the Empire, though no one believed him."

He fell to his knees in the dream, unable to stop weeping.

Even Adrian dreamed.

He remembered failing to protect his little brother.

Remembered arriving only after the battle had ended.

Remembered carrying Lucien's lifeless body through the rain.

He awoke with a cry.

The five men gathered before dawn.

Each had seen different memories.

Different regrets.

Yet every dream ended the same way.

Lucien had suffered because they had failed to stand beside him.

Cassian broke the silence.

"...These weren't ordinary dreams."

Caelum nodded.

"They were memories."

"From another life."

Elias looked toward the horizon, where the sun was beginning to rise.

"If fate has given us another chance..."

Adrian finished the thought.

"Then this time..."

Rowan clenched his fist.

"...we will protect him."

Far away, in a hidden chamber beneath the capital, the mastermind behind Lucien's kidnapping smiled as another piece of the plan fell into place.

"The memories have begun to awaken."

"Good."

"Now let us see whether destiny... or free will... will decide the end of this story."