I rose slowly, swaying slightly on my feet. Made sure to keep my eyes downcast, shoulders slumped. A posture of submission so total it begged to be dismissed.
Leo studied me for a long moment, then shook his head. "You're not worth the effort."
He turned to walk away, then paused. Almost as an afterthought, he stepped back and shoved me—not hard, but enough to send me stumbling backward. I let myself fall, hitting the stone with another sharp crack.
"Clean yourself up, Kaelen. And stay away from the servants. If I hear about another incident..." He didn't finish the threat. Didn't need to.
The group walked away, their voices carrying back across the courtyard.
"Well, that was disappointing," Marcel muttered.
"Disgusting is more like it," Elena replied. "I've never seen anyone so pathetic."
"At least he knows what he is," Gareth said with a shrug.
Leo said nothing, but I could feel his eyes on me for a moment longer before he finally turned away.
I stayed on the ground until their footsteps faded, counting to thirty before I allowed myself to move. When I finally sat up, I was alone except for a few servants who quickly averted their gazes and hurried away.
Act One: Survival. Successful.
My knees were bleeding and every noble for miles would soon hear of my groveling. A calculated loss. The upside? All my ribs were intact, and I was still breathing. A profitable trade. More importantly, I'd just rewritten my scene of Heirs of the Azure Orb.
In the original, Leo would have beaten Kaelen senseless, establishing himself as the righteous hero willing to stand up to noble corruption. The readers would have cheered as justice was served. But what had just happened? Leo had walked away disgusted, unsatisfied, like he'd tried to step on an ant only to find it was already squashed.
No heroic moment for you, golden boy. No righteous fury, no satisfying violence, no crowd of admirers praising your sense of justice. Just the sour taste of kicking someone who's already down.
I pushed myself to my feet, brushing dust and small stones from my clothes. My hands were shaking—partly from adrenaline, partly from the sheer audacity of what I'd just pulled off.
The original Kaelen would have spent the next week in bed, ribs cracked, shoulder dislocated, pride shattered. Instead, I was walking away with scratches and the knowledge that I'd just proven something important: the narrative could be bent.
But this is just the beginning. Leo might be disgusted now, but he's still the protagonist. The world will keep pushing events toward their scripted conclusion. I need to be smarter, faster, more adaptable than the story itself.
I made my way back toward the manor, ignoring the stares of servants and guards. Let them whisper about the pathetic young master who'd groveled in the dirt. Let them think I was broken, harmless, beneath notice.
That was exactly what I needed them to think.
The maid from earlier was waiting inside, her expression carefully neutral. "Young Master? How did your... meeting with Young Master Leo proceed?"
"As expected," I said quietly. "I've learned my lesson."
She nodded, but her eyes held a flicker of something I hadn't expected: disappointment. Not just the cheated-of-gossip kind, but something closer to contempt.
She'd seen me grovel.
And in this world, for a servant to feel contempt for their master... that was a different, more dangerous kind of weakness
"Very good, Young Master. Perhaps you'd like to rest in your chambers? I can have the kitchen prepare something light for breakfast."
"That would be appreciated, thank you."
I climbed the stairs slowly, letting exhaustion show in every step. Had to maintain the performance, even for the servants. Especially for the servants—they were the ones who carried gossip between households.
Back in my room, I finally allowed myself to collapse into the chair by the window. My reflection in the mirror showed Kaelen Leone: disheveled, defeated, pathetic. Perfect.
Now what?
I knew the broad strokes of the story, but the details were fuzzy. Leo and his party would spend their academy years growing stronger, facing increasingly dangerous threats, building relationships that would define the kingdom's future. The script had cast Kaelen as a starter villain—the tutorial boss meant to give the protagonist an easy, satisfying win before the real game began.
But I wasn't the original Kaelen. I had advantages the story never accounted for. I knew what was coming. I knew who the real threats were, where the hidden treasures lay, which characters would become important later.
The question is: how do I use that knowledge without painting a target on my back?
The academy would be key. That's where the main story took place, where Leo would gather his party and face his first real challenges. Kaelen was enrolled there too—another chance for humiliation and character development for the protagonist.
But what if Kaelen wasn't the same pathetic waste of space everyone expected? What if he was something else entirely—something the story hadn't planned for?
I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. Kaelen's face wasn't built for confident grins, but it would have to do.
Time to become the extra who rewrote his own ending.
===
Don't be shy! Let me know what you think of the story! And if you have time, drop a review please!