Chan was just a student. Emphasis on just. A student with 6 part-time jobs, no sleep schedule, and a hatred for everythine except cheap instant noodles and the sweet release of mid-afternoon naps. College was killing him, and capitalism was singing backup vocals. So when he stumbled across a random manhwa in the dingy break room of job #4, a romance fantasy thing titled Velvet Chains of the Archduke—he figured; Screw it. Maybe I'll rot my brain in style.
And rot did it. The story was teeth-rottingly sweet. Giselle Aurellia, the sunflower of the story, was practically a walking Saint wrapped in silk and trauma. Her love interest? Mythus Eldrin. The emotionally constipated son of an emotionally neglectful nobleman who learned to love because she gave him a flower and smiled. Vomit.
Still, Chan read the whole thing in one night. He didn't like it, but he finished it. Like a bad date you sit through out of politeness.
He woke up from his nap. Not in his crappy shoebox of an apartment with mold in the ceiling and a roommate named Greg, instead he woke up in a massive, gilded room. Gold trims on the walls, heavy velvet curtains, marble floors so polished you could see the depths of your soul if you looked down too long. Definitely not in Kansas.
Confused? Oh, absolutely. Mildly panicked? You bet. But also? just a tiny bit intrigued. Because that gold statue in the corner could probably pay off his entire tuition. Twice.
Then he saw the mirror.
It wasn't his face lookimg back. The person in the mirror had short black hair, smooth pale skin, and eyes like overcast skies—cool, unreadable, vaguely brooding. Muscular too, which was a nice bonus. Chan hasn't seen an ab since middle school. It was him, but not him. It was Mythus freaking Eldrin.
He stared at the reflection. Blinked once.
"Oh hell no." he muttered. "I've been isekai'd into a manhwa romance."
A knock at the door.
"My lord, may I assist you in preparing for the day?" came a soft voice, clearly a maid, as per trope protocol.
Right. He was Mythus Eldrin now, 18 years old. The emotionally repressed son of an Archduke Misery incarnate. The manhwa had gone into great detail about how his father basically broke him as a child, which, Chan admitted, did explain the whole ''can't love'' thing. But then Giselle arrived, with her eternal optimism and an ability to smile through war crimes, and he was healed. Cue sparkles and wedding bells.
Problem? Chan was aroace.
Like, not just "hasn't met the right person yet," we're talking full existential eh at the idea of romance. The thought of kissing someone made him feel like he'd just chewed aluminum foil. And this story? it ended with a massive romantic climax, the power of love saving the world and all that cheese.
Now that he was living it, he realized just how cringe that actually was.
He let the maid in, still mentally spiraling. She helped him into a ridiculously starched cravat and enough layers to smother a cow, then bowed politely and left him alone again. His face still looked way too serious in the mirror. Very tragic.
Chan sat at the edge of the bed, one boot half-on, and squinted at the gold-trimmed wallpaper.
"You know what," he muttered. "Screw the script."
He was Mythus now. And if he had to live in this frilly, emotionally manipulative world, then by Gods, he was going to remix the hell out of it.
Love? pass. Drama? maybe. Comedy? absolutely.
This wasn't Velvet Chains of the Archduke anymore.
This was Operation: Break the Narrative.