chapter 02
What connection could there possibly be between being reincarnated as a minor character destined to die and becoming a serial handsome-kidnapper?
To explain that, you first need to understand the main story of the original work, “The Flower Stained with Blood.”
The ill-fated prince, Kallis, was kidnapped by the empress the moment he was born and raised underground, suffering abuse.
One day, he manages to escape from the underground prison and finally reaches the outside world.
But just as he barely succeeds in escaping, he gets kidnapped again.
By whom? Me.
How could Kallis, who had been locked in an underground prison his whole life, possibly escape on his own?
In truth, another faction had intervened and helped him escape.
They wanted to secure Kallis as a chess piece under their control.
And the one who personally delivers the male lead to them is none other than Vivian Schmidt, the kidnapper in charge.
A bold crime she would have never committed under normal circumstances.
Vivian, who was on the verge of starving to death, was deceived by the promise of a huge sum of money and took on the job—
Never even realizing she was destined to be discarded once her role was over.
But things begin to go strangely wrong. Vivian fails her mission.
After learning about Kallis’s past too late, she decides not to hand him over.
Instead, she chooses to imprison him somewhere safe.
Though it was confinement meant for protection, Kallis had no way of knowing that.
Understandably so—Vivian was so poor that she practically starved him.
In the end, after one month of captivity, Kallis kills Vivian and escapes.
And on the day his resentment toward the world reaches its peak, he encounters his destined partner, Ludovica.
“In short, I’m nothing more than a disposable character created to bring the protagonists together.”
If I don’t act according to the original story, their first meeting will never happen. The plot will fall apart.
“I wish I could just not care whether the story collapses or not…”
But that was absolutely not an option.
In Part 2 of “The Flower Stained with Blood,” the two protagonists fight against demons that appear in the human world.
A trial no ordinary human could overcome.
Like true protagonists, Kallis and Ludovica somehow find a way to save the world.
They cross mountains and seas in search of a legendary dragon, and eventually obtain a holy sword, defeating the demons.
Without them, humanity would have been doomed to extinction.
Recalling all of this in an instant, I fell into despair.
If I follow the original story, I die at Kallis’s hands. If I don’t, I die from demon attacks.
Trapped between a rock and a hard place, there was only one decision I could make:
“Kidnap Kallis—but treat him kindly to avoid dying.”
That was the best solution I could come up with.
* * *
A year and a half ago.
After dramatically falling out of a carriage and fainting, I only regained consciousness a full week later.
The doctor told me to stay hospitalized a bit longer, but I didn’t have time for that.
“This world… is inside a novel?!”
The vivid dream of my past life threw me into confusion, and I wanted to sort out my thoughts alone.
“First, I should go home. Then I’ll think things through.”
Fortunately, the house I had rented before leaving my family estate wasn’t far from the hospital.
In my haste, I lowered my head and rushed toward it.
But then—
Whoosh.
Huh?
It should have taken at least 20 minutes on foot, yet I arrived in the blink of an eye.
“Was I always this fast…?”
Tilting my head in confusion, I happened to catch my reflection in a shop window.
My slightly wavy, light purple bob fluttered in the breeze.
Below my short bangs were round, gentle eyes—and golden irises shining brightly.
Wait, golden?
Startled, I dropped my belongings and rushed closer to the glass.
“What is this? Why did my eyes suddenly turn gold?”
My irises had always been brown since birth. Ordinary, unremarkable brown.
But no matter how I looked at them, they were now gleaming gold.
A vivid past-life dream, dramatically enhanced physical abilities, and now strangely glowing eyes.
Had I been subjected to human experimentation rather than treatment at the hospital?
The overlapping coincidences felt anything but normal.
Fortunately, after a few minutes, my eyes returned to their original color. Later experiments revealed that I could change their color at will.
When they turned gold, my physical abilities skyrocketed—my strength became monstrous, and my speed incredible.
I was so fast that no one could even perceive me while running.
However, using this strange power drained my stamina heavily—I could only maintain it for about five minutes a day.
After roughly understanding this ability, I tried to investigate its origin.
But no matter how many books I searched, I couldn’t find anything—not even cases of changing eye color.
Soon, I lost interest in the power.
Because a much bigger problem awaited me.
I was a character who appears briefly at the beginning of “The Flower Stained with Blood”… and dies.
Thankfully, after much deliberation, I found a solution.
“Kidnap Kallis—but treat him kindly to avoid death.”
But the execution wasn’t so simple, so I spent the whole night thinking.
“Should I lock him in a luxurious room? The mattress and blankets should be top-tier… What else? Ah, I’ll just match a five-star hotel standard.”
But then I realized—being locked up for a whole month with nothing to do would be boring.
“Maybe I should prepare books? He’d probably like exercise too. I’ll need gym equipment.”
A large bathtub would also be perfect for passing time.
I added a massive bath and various scented oils to the list.
As I kept adding things, the list stretched across several pages.
“This is bad… I’ll need a lot of money.”
But I didn’t have much on hand.
So I quickly devised a way to earn money.
Using knowledge from the original story and my past life, I started multiple businesses under a hidden identity.
With the money I earned, I built a place to confine Kallis.
With enough money, illegal and questionable methods became easy.
Even more so with prior knowledge of the story.
I completed all preparations without anyone noticing.
All that remained was to wait for a suspicious group to approach me and then kidnap Kallis…
But—
“Why is no one approaching me?”
Unlike in the original story, if I appeared wealthy, the dark organization might not target me.
After all, they originally approached Vivian because she was desperate.
So I even created a fake identity and pretended to struggle financially!
But no matter how long I waited, no one came.
“Something’s going wrong.”
I couldn’t figure out what—but it seemed they had chosen someone else.
“If that person hands Kallis over to them, the original story is doomed.”
I couldn’t rely on uncertainty.
If no one hired me, I’d just kidnap Kallis myself.
But there was a serious problem.
“I don’t know what Kallis looks like!”
To capture him, I needed at least some identifying features—but I had none, except that he was extremely handsome.
Worse still, I didn’t even know what he wore or exactly when he’d be kidnapped.
The only thing I knew was the location: Hildes Street.
So I made a decision.
“I’ll kidnap every handsome man who passes through Hildes Street.”
In the original story, Kallis escapes after one month.
So I decided to detain them temporarily and release anyone who didn’t escape after 30 days.
Of course, I would hide my identity to avoid retaliation.
“Well… they might not even want to escape if they enjoy it.”
That didn’t matter.
As long as I confirmed who Kallis was, I could solve everything.
“I just need to make sure he meets Ludovica.”
The important thing was to find Kallis, change the part where I die, and keep the story on track.
At that time, I thought handsome men were rare—so I assumed I’d complete my mission quickly.
But life is unpredictable.
A year and a half later, I had become a serial kidnapper of handsome men, constantly featured in the news.
