"What act?" Ethan blinked, forcing an innocent expression, though a storm was already brewing inside him.
Did Damien find out? That he wasn't the real Xia Lian?
Damien's gaze sharpened, voice laced with venom. "All this time, pretending to be clueless, biding your time until you could run. Is that it? You think just because you're a rare target of interest, you're too good to stay beside a broken, discarded cripple like me?"
His lips curled into a mocking smirk, but there was pain behind it—a wound deeper than the words themselves.
Ding!
Warning: The male lead's emotions are unstable.
Survival rate has dropped from 50% to 20%.
Ethan felt like facepalming.
Seriously? What's his beef?
It's not like he had any real feelings for this side character in the original story?
It couldn't be… was Damien seriously one of those yandere types?
The kind of obsessive male lead who thought everything belonged to him—even if he didn't want it?
What a complete and utter jerk.
Ethan let out a long sigh and buried his face in his hands. If this was his life now, he might as well embrace the drama. After a dramatic pause, he slowly lifted his face—his expression completely transformed.
Gone was the confused "innocent" act.
Now he looked like a tragic lover straight out of a melodrama, eyes filled with longing and pain. "I… I just can't stay by your side anymore," he whispered, voice trembling.
"Watching you pamper Jamie like that… it breaks me inside. Maybe… maybe I've fallen for you. But I know you'll never be mine. So… the only thing I can do… is walk away."
Internally, Ethan was screaming.
Pah! What kind of nonsense was this? He wanted to throw up just hearing those words come out of his mouth.
'This is it. Just kill me now,' he thought, holding back the urge to gag. 'Sweet lines like these should be illegal.'
Xixi clapped with its soft little paws. "Wow, host. I did not know you were such a good actor. If you had been an actor in your previous world you would have surely won an Oscar!"
Ethan's lips twitched, resisting the urge to smack this rabbit that buzzed all around him like an annoying fly.
"I…" Damien opened his mouth, his voice hoarse, but no words came out.
Bingo! Ethan mentally smirked.
Jamie Rui is the MC of this world's original plotline. Born with a silver spoon and divine luck, he was practically the heavens' favorite. With rare spiritual energy, he was hailed as the second most powerful prodigy in the city. All the elite families had their eyes on him.
You could say Jamie Rui was that kind of overpowered MC—the one born with everything: wealth, beauty, ridiculous talent, and an influential family that worshipped the ground he walked on.
Back when Damien still stood at the peak—feared, respected, and untouchable—he and Jamie were known as the perfect couple. They trended online constantly, hailed as a real-life fairy tale.
The charming, mischievous second young master of the Rui family.
And the cold, domineering heir of the ancient and powerful Luciano clan.
Together, they were unstoppable.
Until that incident.
After Damien's spiritual veins were shattered and his legs crippled beyond healing, Jamie vanished. Just like that. No goodbye, no messages—nothing. It was as if he'd erased himself from Damien's world overnight.
Damien, still clinging to hope, refused to believe Jamie had left him over something so shallow. Not his Jamie. The Jamie he loved would never abandon him just because he was broken... right?
But according to the original storyline, the truth was far less romantic.
Jamie hadn't just vanished. Bro was whoring with other people. Living his best life while Damien was left to rot, both physically and emotionally.
But for some reason, Jamie was coming back. According to the plot, he would return in exactly seven days and he wouldn't be happy to discover that "Xia Lan" had become Damien's wife.
Worse, he'd find out he was pregnant.
To fix things and win back his precious lover, Damien… killed Xia Lan.
Just like that. Cold, ruthless, and unforgiving.
And the two male leads? They got back together. Like nothing ever happened.
Ethan stared blankly.
..What kind of fucked up plot is this?
Was the author sleep-deprived when they wrote this storyline?
"How exactly do you plan to escape this?" Damien's voice pulled him back, low and calm—but his eyes held a sharp glint. "You do realize you can't just walk away from this marriage. Not when you're…"
His gaze lowered to Ethan's belly. "…pregnant with my child."
Ethan's expression twitched. You don't need to remind me of that fact, okay?
He still couldn't believe it himself. He was actually...
You know what? Never mind. Just—never mind.
"I'll help you rise to the top again," Ethan said firmly, taking a deep breath. "I know a way to restore your shattered spiritual veins."
Damien arched a brow, clearly amused. He leaned back slightly, arms crossed over his chest. "Really? You?"
Ethan's jaw tensed. "Yes. Don't look down on me."
"Then tell me. What's this miracle solution?"
"…My blood."
A heavy silence followed.
Damien's eyes narrowed slightly. "Your blood?"
According to the original plot, after Xia Lan was killed, the research division at the Imperial Laboratory refused to let the body of a pure-blooded Xia clan survivor go to waste. They performed all kinds of experiments and discovered something…
Xia Lan's blood carried an extraordinary ability—an ancient healing trait unique to the Xia clan. Not only could it boost spiritual power, it could repair what was once thought to be irreversible damage… even shattered spiritual veins and crippled limbs.
Frankly, it was simply just downright sickening.
"Yes," Ethan muttered, almost bitterly. "My blood can restore your spiritual core… and even your legs."
He stepped closer, then bent down until he was eye-level with Damien, his hands gripping the cold handles of the wheelchair.
"We both want something, Damien. You want your old strength back, your pride… and maybe even your moonlight, if he's worth it."
He paused, his voice softening just a bit. "And me? I just want to get out of this drama alive, marry a cute waifu who pampers me, and maybe live a quiet life eating good food."
Their eyes locked in silence.
"A fair deal, right?" Ethan smiled. "You get your power. I get my peace. No one dies. Yet."
Damien stared at the young man in front of him, taking in the soft, innocent green eyes that now held something more—something that hadn't been there before.
Confidence.
He wasn't the same fragile boy who flinched at every word or stumbled over apologies. No… this version of Xia Lan stood tall, determination burning quietly in his gaze, like a fire that refused to be snuffed out.
Was this who he truly was all along?
Interesting.
"So, what do you say?" Ethan asked, his voice calm but firm. "Will you trust me?"
Damien leaned back slightly in his chair, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, sure," he answered casually, though his gaze never wavered.
Not because he trusted him but because he was curious.
Something about this Xia Lan was changing. And Damien? He was never one to ignore something… entertaining.
Ethan shifted under the weight of Damien's gaze, straightening up as he awkwardly cleared his throat.
Why was the male lead looking at him like that? His eyes held the calm intensity of a predator– quiet, patient, and just a little too amused—like he was toying with a clueless bunny who'd wandered into his den.
Speaking of bunnies, Ethan turned… only to find a pair of beady eyes staring right back at him.
Xixi.
The little system bunny stood frozen in place, paws covering its mouth, and... wait.
Was that a nosebleed?
Ethan blinked, stunned. "What the hell?! Can bunnies even get nosebleeds?!"
Xixi sniffled, wiping its nose with one paw. "Host… I ship it. I ship it so hard."
Ethan nearly faceplanted. This world was getting more ridiculous by the second.