MVH 01

Chapter 1. This Kind of Twist Is Also a Twist

The sharp tip of the sword pierced Tiana’s body. As blood flowed from the blade lodged in her heart, Lucious slowly withdrew the sword.

Lucious gave a bitter smile to Tiana, who blankly stared at him while clutching her blood-soaked chest.

Tiana, still unable to grasp what was happening, coughed up a clot of blood that welled up in her throat.

She looked between Lucious and the crimson blood splattered on the floor with a puzzled expression.

“What… are you… doing…?”

“……”

“You… me… why?!”

Lucious looked at her tearful face, disbelief written all over it. His smile faded as he knelt down in front of her.

He took Tiana’s trembling hands and placed the sword—still slick with her blood—into them.

Then, covering her hands with his own, he lifted the sword again without hesitation—and stabbed it into his own heart.

“Ugh…!”

“……! What, what are you doing…?!”

Tiana, along with Rayel and Angelica standing behind, were stunned by his sudden act.

Crimson blood trickled down the blade embedded in his chest. Hot blood seeped between the hands overlapped on the sword’s hilt.

Lucious smiled faintly at the sight and gently pulled Tiana closer.

Already drained of all strength, she collapsed into his arms. As she weakly tried to pull away, he whispered to her through shallow breaths.

“In the end… you…”

“……”

“I just wanted… to see that smile again…”

As his voice grew fainter, Tiana’s eyes slowly closed. Feeling her body go still, Lucious also shut his eyes.

“Still… I’m happy…”

His final words reached no one.

“……Ah… Lucious……”

I looked away from the laptop screen and let out a long breath. No matter how many times I watched that scene, it was still shocking and tragic.

In most novels, the villain’s end is usually a tragic death, but who would’ve thought it would be this tragic?

Still, readers would probably think it was a fitting end—that he died with Tiana, who had always been his weakness. I mean, where else can you find an ending where both the biggest villain and the troublemaker die at the same time?

But deep down, I couldn’t shake off the heavy feeling in my chest.

“I can’t believe my favorite character died like that… I’m screwed.”

The idea of continuing the novel after that left me sighing endlessly. Thankfully, the ending wasn’t far off.

The popular web novel His Majesty the Emperor’s Dangerous Circumstances, serialized on a paid platform, had amassed hundreds of thousands of readers in a short time with its cliché-packed premise.

Though it followed the common trope of a contract marriage with a tyrant emperor, it gained acclaim for its well-timed humor and compelling portrayal of a dangerously sweet relationship between cold-blooded Emperor Rayel and Countess Angelica, who exploited his weakness.

Among the characters, the leads—Rayel and Angelica—were naturally the most beloved. But surprisingly, another character stole the hearts of many readers.

Lucious Eyal Roderick.

The greatest villain of His Majesty the Emperor’s Dangerous Circumstances and the spin-off The Emperor’s Secret.

Lucious was Rayel’s half-brother and tried to steal the throne. Backed by the aristocrats who opposed Rayel, he committed countless crimes.

Despite having a wife, Tiana, he treated her like a pawn, while his warped obsession with Angelica—Rayel’s lover—manifested in violent madness.

Readers both hated and were fascinated by him. His obsessive and terrifying behavior made him a compelling villain, and his moments of vulnerability made him strangely sympathetic. Some even wished he could replace the male lead in a tragic love story.

I was one of those people completely drawn to Lucious’ charm.

“I even bought the paperback…”

I picked up Volume 2 of His Majesty the Emperor’s Dangerous Circumstances, its sleek black cover gleaming with gold foil.

Right there in the center of the cover—Lucious.

Silky black hair, porcelain skin, and golden eyes that looked like melting metal. His expression was blank and dark, but those eyes… they shone with something magnetic. I found myself tracing his image like I was under a spell, until I snapped back to the laptop screen.

“Is this really the end? Author! Please give us a side story!”

Despite being the villain, Lucious was just as popular as the male lead Rayel. A side story felt almost inevitable. Judging by the flooded comment section, plenty of readers agreed with me.

[It’s been a month already. Why hasn’t the next chapter been uploaded yet? Author, please release the side story!]

“That’s right! A whole month without an update?”

The Emperor’s Secret hadn’t been updated once since Lucious and Tiana’s deaths. This wasn’t a free-to-read web novel—people were paying, and it was trending. A month of silence with no notice? Of course fans were mad.

“Maybe the author’s rethinking the ending? But what’s there to think about? The biggest threat is gone. It’s time for Rayel and Angelica’s happy ending.”

With Lucious and Tiana gone, the aristocrats backing them had already been dealt with. There was nothing left standing in the way of peace.

But still… my heart ached for Lucious.

“A happy ending for the leads is nice, but… Lucious… he had depth. We never got his full story.”

He had all the hallmarks of a sub-male lead: misunderstood, tragic, and compelling. His death felt like a waste.

“I just hope the ending wraps up and we get some spin-offs.”

But when the side story dropped at midnight the next day, it shook every reader to the core.

“I will never love you.”

“……”

“The only one I love is Rayel.”

“……Tiana.”

“I hate you, Lucious.”

She stared straight into Lucious’ golden eyes, filled with utter loathing.

The man who never let his mask slip flinched as their eyes met. Her words—“I hate you”—cut deeper than any blade.

“When did I tell you to kill her? I only said she was annoying.”

“……”

“You acted on your own. I didn’t do anything.”

“Didn’t you put a scorpion in her room?”

“Oh please, that was just a prank. How can you call that a murder attempt? You’re the one who actually released it.”

“……Yes, at your suggestion…”

“No, no. Be precise. I never asked you. I just said a scorpion might scare her. I didn’t tell you to do it.”

“……”

“Remember before? You poisoned her tea, sent assassins—wasn’t that all you?”

“……Tiana…”

“Don’t drag me into the things you chose to do.”

Tiana turned her head away in annoyance and sipped her tea like none of it mattered.

It happened again and again. She never once looked back at him.

Would she ever?

Would she ever see him?

The palm stung where the scorpion had bit him. It burned.

“You… me… why…!”

As she stared at him in disbelief, something filled him—a grim satisfaction he’d never known before.

In the end, she never chose him.

He had waited. He had hoped. But it was all just a cruel dream.

“Ugh…!”

“……! What, what are you doing…!”

Blood poured down the blade. Their hands, gripped together on the hilt, were soaked in heat and red.

But at least, at the very end, they had touched.

He pulled her into his arms with one final effort.

Her body went limp. Still, as she struggled faintly, he whispered:

“You never loved me… not once.”

“……”

“I wanted to see that smile again… I really thought… but I was wrong…”

Her eyes closed. His did too.

“Still… I’m happy… to die with you…”

“……What is this? Wait—Lucious loved Tiana?! But Tiana loved Rayel, not Lucious?!”

What the hell?! Then what was all that in the main story?

This wasn’t how Lucious and Tiana were written. This felt like the real story. The truth. Even though it was a “side story,” it changed everything.

My heart pounded. The comment section exploded.

Trembling, I scrolled—and saw a comment that hit me like a truck:

[Who would’ve thought this was all just a misunderstanding in the illusion world.]

“…Misunderstanding? Illusion? Oh, hell no!”

BANG!

I slammed my laptop on the desk. My hand stung, but I didn’t care. My heart was burning.

So Lucious was never the villain?! The real villain… was Tiana?!

“Wow… seriously…”

I couldn’t take it anymore. Thousands of angry comments flooded the screen. I added mine, overflowing with rage and sorrow for Lucious:

“After…”

A ten-line rant spilled across my screen.

I turned away from the comments and grabbed Volume 2 of The Emperor’s Secret, the one that had slid during my desk slam.

Lucious’ golden eyes stared up at me again.

POP!

“…Huh? What the?”

A sudden noise made me freeze. Black smoke curled from my laptop.

“Oh no. Is it because I slammed it? My ₩1.5 million laptop!”

Sparks flew. The smell of burning filled the room.

“Ah…!”

My phone rang, but I ignored it. Clutching both volumes of His Majesty the Emperor’s Dangerous Circumstances, I reached for the doorknob.

I heard another loud POP! as I tried to escape and dropped to the ground from the heat.

“Gah…! Cough! Cough!”

Smoke clogged my throat. My body trembled. I staggered toward the door, clutching my books.

Through my hazy vision, the laptop screen flickered one last time.

And there it was—the final message.

[Thank you for loving His Majesty the Emperor’s Dangerous Circumstances. We will be back soon.]