The web is now filled with transmigration, regression, and rebirth stories, each catering to different subgenres and appealing to various people as a form of wish-fulfilment fantasy text. As the genre diversifies, new characters emerge.
Lysander has observed that in these stories, characters often assume roles like villains, tragic side characters, or abused and sickly leads to be some of the worst roles to transmigrate into. From time to time, he pondered about these cliched tropes, finding them particularly harsh, especially in the Otome Isekai genre.
However, his perspective changed when he himself fell victim to the supernatural phenomenon of transmigration. Lysander realized there was a type of character that was especially underrated.
And that is the assistant to the male lead. To make matters worse, the assistant to a 'tyrannical' male lead.
These characters are always left to deal with the consequences caused by the male leads, tirelessly run around fulfilling their selfish whims, and complete the heavy workload that the male lead usually leaves for his assistants while pursuing the female lead. Yet, they are never truly respected.
Hell, these assistants have worked tirelessly for the man, but if the female lead even so much as frowns at them, the male lead would unhesitatingly fire them. They probably don't even know their assistant's names.
It's usually played for jokes or to emphasize the female lead's position in the male lead's heart, and people dismiss it easily.
However, having reincarnated as one such assistant, it was no longer even the slightest bit funny for Lysander. Not when the Emperor, the tyrannical male lead in question, was ready to kill him for even the tiniest mishap.
When he first arrived in this world, he was overwhelmed by the entire situation. Since there was no way back from the scenario, he tried his best to integrate himself into his new life. Receiving the original Lysander's past memories made the process easier, but his situation harder, as he was truly stuck in a difficult place.
But since he had arrived in a romance webtoon, he thought that even if the Emperor was as harsh as he was, he must still be a decent enough man to understand his predicament and not make this any harder for him. Turned out, he was severely mistaken.
Not only was the Emperor lacking in empathy, but the female lead falling into the trope of reborn revenge seekers was almost just as harsh. Lysander had read the webtoon; it was his cousin's work, which was pretty popular.
They had joked a lot about it back in the day because she had made it very steamy. He would often laugh and say that he was gonna expose this perfect daughter's debauched work to her parents. See what their reaction would be.
He couldn't laugh anymore. He remembered her saying from time to time that if the work is R18, the revenge seeker female leads are usually even more fearsome. He experienced it first hand.
From what he remembered of the story, in her original timeline, Lysander had betrayed the Emperor in favour of the Noble's faction. Lysander wanted to believe that the original did so because he was cornered and could no longer tolerate the Emperor's tyrannical behaviour.
For whatever reason, he was suffering the consequences of actions that he did not commit because the time he arrived here was the timeline of the female lead's rebirth. She would be willing to ruin all the 'bad people' by the Emperor's side to gain his trust and also his help in eradicating her own toxic family and fiancé that had abused her in her previous life.
When Lysander thought that was the end of his new meaningless life, he was reborn back in time a little before the female lead could ruin him.
So he tried to make quick preparations and show his loyalty to the Emperor in any way he could.
Unexpectedly, he was killed yet again by his cousin in this world, whom he had trusted a lot throughout both his lives.