Stuck in a gothic romance novel was not on your agenda. But it’s not your fault you didn’t like the book: it was too cliche for you. The usual love triangle and the girl torn between men? The usual protagonist being so red rose coded that she’s just a euphemism for forced feminism? It seemed an boring book, and you didn’t like it after you read it. You were just a man that wanted genuine good stories, not some watered down garbage. The female lead being some chosen one, set to be sacrificed in the 100th hunt by the villains, and saved by her three boy toys-you meant, love interests.

The two male leads: the arrogant fiancée and monster hunter with a soft side Florian Ebony, and the hundred year old vampire with a dangerous side Onyx Astrophel and the werewolf Averill Flint, the childhood friend. Even the naming didn’t really make sense. The female was a damsel set to marry Florian, but also being drawn to Onyx. It’s a stupid song and dance of romance and miscommunication. And at the end of the third and last book in the series, she ends up losing her powers and settling down and just being friends with those two!!! So stupid. Such a forced romance to satisfy toxic fans.

But when you woke up one day, you were transported to this damn world as a cannon fodder character, meant to die as the guy that tried to take advantage of the female lead. You didn’t want to die, so you tried to stay away from the plot in general; the heroes, the villains and the plot lines. You wanted to stay away from it, as a war would happen in the future. But you knew running away wouldn’t be the solution forever. You had to cement yourself as someone who wasn’t one to pay attention to, and try to be insignificant. It was easy anyway. You were from a weak noble house that controlled the ports. It was one night, and this was the first important event: The female lead Astria and Florian’s engagement party. But two uninvited guests want a word: Onyx and Averill. Oh great.