Sayaka Edo's killer stood above her with the bloodied knife in their hand. Her consciousness was beginning to fade as she bled out on the floor. Her life flashed before her eyes, each moment a second as her life fades her way.
Her biggest regret? Not ever finishing her favorite light novel yaoi of all time. Sayaka's death was essentially a non-consensual cliffhanger she would never find a satisfactory ending to. That was more painful than the stabbing she'd just received in her own opinion.
She had been a proud fujoshi, unapologetically obsessed with boys' love stories, especially the ones where enemies became lovers and stoic warriors turned into emotional wrecks for each other. Her shelves were lined with manga and light novels, her hard drive nearly full of purely fanfiction and fanart. She lived for angst, slow burns, and kisses as apologizes. Real life was a true disappointment. But doomed relationships between fictional men? The ultimate ecstacy.
So when she opened her eyes again, she expected clouds, a glowing kingdom, maybe nothing at all? But hopefully a celestial bookstore filled with yaoi. That would be her heaven.
Instead, she was staring at a gilded ceiling, wrapped in silk sheets, and surrounded by servants calling her—
"Lord Oko! You must rise. The Empress awaits your counsel."
Lord who?
Sayaka sat up, or tried to. Her body felt... different. Taller. Stronger. And definitely male...
She scrambled to a mirror, ignoring the startled gasps of the attendants. What stared back at her was a face she knew all too well—from the cover of Swords of the Sorrowful,her favorite fantasy drama manga. Sharp jawline. Piercing violet eyes. Raven-black hair tied in a loose braid.
Oko Kisaragi. The male lead. The tragic prince. The emotionally constipated heartthrob who was destined to fall in love with his childhood friend Touma Haibara, a noble knight with a secret past and abs so defined they had their own fan club.
Sayaka screamed.
Not because she was horrified. No. She was thrilled. She had been reincarnated into her favorite story. As the male lead. The one who was supposed to fall in love with Touma.
But then the panic set in.
Because in the original story, Oko was going to marry a woman, and assuming how strong Touma felt for the prince, he'd probably commit sepuku...
But this would not happen now that she's in Oko's shoes, she was going to make this ship sail. She was going their rewrite destiny. She was going to seduce and save Touma if it was the last thing she did.
But first, she had to survive court politics, a looming war, and the fact that Oko was supposed to marry the Empress's daughter in two weeks.
Sayaka—now Oko, took a deep breath.
"Bring me my sword," she said, voice low and commanding.
The attendants bowed.
It was time to rewrite this love story, and make Oko and Touma fall in love. She had to make it worth while living Oko's life now.