Trapped Between a Villain and His Ex

After our falling out, the system and I barely communicated, until Caelan found himself in danger again, breaking the silence between us.

"Caelan's homeland is attacking Valdoria. Emperor Theron is furious with Caelan and has ordered him to be punished. Prince Alistair pleaded for him, but now he's been confined to the Prince's residence."

"Caelan is injured, and Prince Alistair won’t let up. He’s come to Vance Manor to torment him. You need to help him! You must get there before Lydia does—don’t let Caelan develop any feelings for her!"

The words didn’t sound like a strategy to win over Caelan. They sounded more like concern for him.

Although I felt something was off with this system, I still followed its instructions and found Caelan.

He had just been beaten. His pale clothes were soaked in blood, and his fragile body trembled from the pain.

Standing in front of him was the same bloated Prince Dorian, who had ordered his men to force Caelan to kneel on the cold stone ground, transferring all his hatred for Prince Alistair onto Caelan.

Prince Alistair was the male lead in this story, and the female lead was Seraphina Vance. They were married now.

"Wasn’t I supposed to get to Caelan before Lydia? I don’t have time to think of a way to help him right now. Could you just give me back my mind-reading ability?"

"I’ll think about it."

"Take your time thinking, but every second you waste, Caelan suffers more."

Noticing the system’s unusual feelings toward Caelan, I cautiously probed.

"Restore the host's mind-reading ability."

A smile tugged at my lips as I casually jogged toward Caelan and Prince Dorian.

I had already figured out how to help Caelan. My earlier words were just a test to understand the system better and to regain my mind-reading power.

"Why are you here again? What trick are you trying to pull this time?"

Prince Dorian glared at me as I stood between him and Caelan, snarling, "If you push me too far, I don’t care if you’re the legitimate daughter of the Vance family!"

And then, his inner thoughts spilled out.

"I can never compare to Alistair. The only thing I have over him is that more people fear me. So no one can stop me from bullying others!"

His twisted thinking made me laugh in disbelief.

Building your own happiness on someone else’s misery? Really?

"Your Highness, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not trying to deceive you. I’m trying to help."

Once I saw his mood settle from my words, I continued, "The enemy is at our doorstep. Even though Prince Alistair is confined, with his concern for the people, he’ll soon figure out a strategy to help Emperor Theron."

"Unlike someone like Prince Dorian, who wastes his time tormenting others."

Prince Dorian fell silent, but his thoughts were anything but still.

"Alistair is so capable. If he offers a solution to Father, he’ll be released soon. Father finally gave me a little favor."

"But no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be as good as Alistair. What else can I do but bully people?"

Having overheard his thoughts, I took the opportunity to give him a nudge. "Back in the day, my sisters and I practiced domestic skills, but I wasn’t as talented and learned slowly. Not wanting to fall behind, I secretly hired a teacher from outside. In the end, I wasn’t any worse than the others."

"Yeah, I could recruit more advisors!"

Prince Dorian snapped his fingers, his face lighting up with realization, and then hurried off.

Caelan slowly rose, his fingers delicately brushing aside his robes. He gave me a glance, but there was no gratitude in his eyes.

Even though I had helped him, all I could sense from him was calculation.