Chapter - 1 part-(2)

While writing his novel, the idea of the 'marriage agreement' was the only possible solution and reason he could come up with which flamed the spark of hatred between the protagonists.

After entering the palace, Justus and Emile met for the first time and with this meeting they formed a friendship so strong that it became the basis of their survival in the web of palace schemes.

It was a mutual dependence born out of their desperation to be someday able to leave this hell of a place named the 'Palace'.

With their families helping them from behind the scenes they were able to gain a strong foothold within the palace.

Jason unaware of the dangers went on with his daily routine of humiliating the leads in every way possible.From restricting their movements to publicly humiliating them, nothing was left undone.And it was during one of these hellish days when the Princess of the kingdom of Salona, Lorelei was sent as a hostage to Credia.

When she was first presented in front of the court upon her arrival, with silver hair akin to the faint moonlight during the darkest of nights and her clear blue eyes together with her soft features took away the breath of every single being present in the hall. 

But even then, one cannot ignore the the firm will that lied within those never restraining eyes.

As the Protagonist she naturally piqued the interest of the leads as well as of Jason, who liked pretty (things).And between the villain and the protagonists, the latter were obviously the victors.

Emile, who at that time happened to be already at his limit of enduring the daily harassment proposed to Justus in assisting the crown prince to become the Emperor.And, with how quick witted he was, this task proved not to be so hard.

Emile used his brains while Justus used his connections.So when the Crown Prince ascended the throne after the death of the late emperor he had the two leads regain their freedom and return to their respective households as a gesture of thanks.

But this was definitely not the end.

After their return the 'Martin' and the 'Albrecht' clans, their families alongwith the other court officials (who belonged to the the Crown Prince's faction during the struggle for the throne) demanded for the fourth prince to be punished by the law for making use of his position as a prince to bully the weak.

They deemed him a criminal, vicious at heart and one who had loose morale.

The Emperor, already fed up with the prince's (Jason) and was looking for a pretext to get rid of such a nuisance immediately agreed to their demands and sentenced the original for 'lifelong imprisonment' into the darkest of cells at the depths of the prisons.

Never to see the light of the day.

Just thinking about the ending of the original made Jean shudder in horror.He could clearly remember the satisfaction he had felt for coming up with the perfect exit scene for the villain.

He also recalled how in the past he had wrecked his brain to squeeze out the words to describe the various torture methods the Emperor had come up with.If he knew that there would come a day when he himself became the villain of his own story he never would have written it in the first place!

'Is this what they call  Retribution? Am I now being punished for relishing in the misery of the villain(⁠ ⁠ꈨຶ⁠ ⁠˙̫̮⁠ ⁠ꈨຶ⁠ ⁠)?', Jean stood lamenting his bad luck in front of the doors leading to the dining hall.

Announcing his arrival the guards let him pass through.

Stepping into the room  the sight that greeted him made his mind go blank for a second.Sitting at the Head seat at the end of the table was the father of the original, the Emperor, Gerhard Horst Scholz.

Though he was the Emperor he was currently dressed in a white loose robe.The few whites scattered along his black hair and the dark circles under his brown eyes combined with his thin profile were the only flaws that signalled that the man was suffering from some kind of illness.

 The sharp jaw and the high-bridged nose alongwith his thin lips makes one wonder how handsome this very person might have been in his youth and the number of breaths he ought to have taken away from the countless young maidens in the empire.

Turning his eyes to the left Jean could see the Crown Prince, Leon Scholz.

Making his greetings towards them he then, under the silent gazes of both men took his seat which was right opposite to Leon.

As he sat there contemplating on how to break the awkward silence the emperor unexpectedly took the lead, 

"...I heard that you woke up early today.Is that correct?".Looking at the mam who was now his father Jean hastened to answer,"Y-yes, Father Emperor".

Seemingly satisfied with the answer he nodded at him and raised his head towards the entrance when the guards outside announced the arrival of the protagonists.

Dressed in a purple outfit Justus alongwith Emile who wore cyan greeted the Emperor and wished for his long and healthy life.

After that was done they then proceeded to take their seats beside Jean.They didn't even so as glanced at him.

'Oi, you guys, there's no need to give me the cold shoulder alright.Its not like I wanted to marry you either!'

As a straight man from the 21st century not only now was he married to two men but to be treated like thin air was really depressing.He previously thought that he will make friends out of the leads but looking at their attitudes now this task appears to be really difficult.

Unsatisfied with himself or whatever it was Jean directed all his attention towards the food on his plate.

'Waah~~(⁠☆⁠▽⁠☆⁠)What the hell are all these!  Are these all for me?! ~~'

And thus, as he remained immersed in his own world of thoughts he failed to notice the pair of eyes opposite to him that never once left his profile from the very beginning he had entered the room.