"Hmm." Florian tapped the quill against the edge of the parchment, his brows furrowed in deep thought. The words weren't coming easily, and his mind kept circling back to the conversation he'd had with Cashew just moments ago.
As expected, his loyal servant had been utterly floored by what he said.
"Pardon...you don't love His Majesty anymore?" Cashew's voice trembled, his wide purple eyes filled with disbelief. "But..."
'Time to use the accident card again.' Florian let out a quiet sigh, channeling every ounce of drama club experience he'd accumulated over the years. He placed a hand dramatically over his heart, tilting his head just enough to look like he was carrying the weight of unrequited love.
"After my accident from trying to get His Majesty's attention…" he began, his voice low and sorrowful.
'Thank you, Scarlett, for bringing that up earlier, or I wouldn't have remembered to use it.'
"I realized…" Florian paused, glancing upward for maximum theatrical effect. "I realized that he will never truly love me back." He forced a tear to slide down his cheek, letting it glisten in the soft light of the room.
Cashew gasped audibly, his hands flying to his mouth. "Y-Your Highness!" Without hesitation, he grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and rushed to Florian's side, gently dabbing at the tear with such care that it nearly made Florian laugh. "Please… please don't cry…"
Grasping the handkerchief, Florian dabbed at his eyes, biting back a grin as pride swelled in his chest. 'Damn, I'm good at this. Someone should've cast me in a drama series.'
"Thank you, Cashew," Florian murmured, his voice quivering as he pushed the moment to its emotional peak. He let out a deep, dramatic sigh before continuing, "His Majesty announced that he intends to look for a wife… a wife."
He placed extra emphasis on the word, letting it linger as though it physically pained him to say it. "I realized… I never stood a chance."
"That's..." Cashew faltered, his expression heartbreakingly sympathetic.
"We both know it's true, Cashew," Florian interrupted, his voice low but steady. "But don't worry. I have a new goal now." He met Cashew's gaze, his tone suddenly resolute. "I'm hoping you'll still help me and remain by my side to achieve it."
Cashew's eyes widened, shimmering with unshed tears. Without hesitation, he knelt beside Florian's chair, his small hands clasped tightly in front of him. "O-Of course, Your Highness! I'll do anything for you! You can leave everything to me!"
The shift in Florian's demeanor was immediate. He straightened his back, his dramatic facade slipping into something more serious. His gaze softened as he looked down at the boy.
"I want to go home."
The conversation replayed in Florian's mind as he tapped the quill once more, the ink pooling slightly at the edge of the parchment. For Cashew, his vague wording probably made it seem like he simply wanted to return to his kingdom.
After all, it made sense for Florian to miss his homeland, especially with the humiliation he faced daily in Concordia.
But for Florian—Aden—the meaning was far deeper. He didn't just want to return to Florian's kingdom. He wanted to find a way to return to his world, to his old life, to his sister, Kaz.
'Some kind of divine interference or magic got me into this mess,' Florian thought, his jaw tightening. 'There has to be a way out of it.'
This world wasn't ordinary; it was filled with magic, powerful artifacts, and gods who meddled in human lives. The same gods who granted Heinz the power to overthrow his father and conquer other kingdoms. Surely, somewhere in this world, there had to be a way to reverse whatever had brought him here.
But before he could even begin to think about his true home, he had to focus on the more immediate problem: escaping the plot of this ridiculous novel.
As long as he stayed in Concordia—under Heinz's nose and within the reach of the other male leads—he was constantly at risk of being dragged deeper into the narrative. And while he wasn't naïve enough to think his plan was foolproof, he knew his first step had to be returning to Florian's kingdom.
Florian set the quill down, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed his temples. "First, get sent home to Floramatria," he muttered under his breath. "Then figure out how to get out of this mess for good."
The thought of freedom, however distant, gave him a flicker of hope.
'Even if the odds are slim, I'll take my chances. There's no way I'm dying again, and if I do end up surviving I'm not spending the rest of my life as part of a harem.'
Florian drummed his fingers against the edge of the desk, staring at the blank parchment before him. "Alright," he muttered, picking up the quill again. "Step one: avoid any romance with Lucius and Lancelot."
He carefully wrote the words in bold strokes at the top of the list, his handwriting surprisingly elegant for someone whose nerves were currently shot. His lips pressed into a thin line as he underlined the phrase twice for good measure.
'At least I've already started working on this,' he thought, reflecting on his earlier interactions with Lucius. Sure, there had been some awkward moments—okay, maybe a lot of awkward moments—but he had successfully drawn a line in the sand. For now.
The key was maintaining that distance and making sure he didn't accidentally fall back into old habits that Florian—the original one—had established.
'Lucius seems wary, but it's manageable. One down, one to go,' Florian thought grimly as he tapped the quill against his chin.
Lancelot, however, was a different story. He didn't even know where to begin with him because— Oh no.
Florian froze, his quill hovering mid-air as a sudden realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. His eyes widened as memories of the novel flooded back into his mind.
'Lancelot falls for Florian during the kidnapping of the harem!'
He dropped the quill, his hand instinctively going to his temple as he leaned back in his chair. "How could I forget something so important again?" he whispered, dread sinking into the pit of his stomach.
The harem kidnapping arc was one of the first pivotal moments in Kaz's story. Florian, along with the princesses, had been abducted by a rogue faction opposing Heinz's rule. In the novel, it was a harrowing ordeal that forced the harem members to rely on one another for survival.
And it was during this event that Lancelot—one of the kingdom's most skilled knights—was sent to rescue them. Florian, in his typical melodramatic fashion, had been utterly helpless, requiring Lancelot to step in and save him on more than one occasion.
'After the kidnapping, Lancelot volunteers to be Florian's bodyguard.' Florian pressed his hands against his temples, the pieces of the narrative clicking into place.
It was during their time together as knight and charge that Lancelot began falling for Florian. And, to make matters worse, Lucius was always lingering in the background by that point in the story, having already succumbed to Florian's relentless advances.
But that wasn't even the worst part.
'Florian got molested during the kidnapping.'