Chapter Text
When Cale first realized he was a character in a game he didn't really mind it that much.
Cale Henituse, minor villain. A side character whose only role is to antagonize the Female Lead and whose backstory is as trashy as his personality.
Becoming conscious of this reality was jarring and unexpected, but for Cale this is just his life, and so he lives it.
It was even comforting, in a way, to know that his life's misfortune is not his own fault.
Sure, his life is full of sadness and isolation with only a few moments of happiness in between, and even knowing the truth of this world doesn't change anything for him, but at least he can blame the system for his shitty backstory!
It's them, not him!
Some days Cale is even proud of his role.
It is easy being a minor villain. All he had to do is insult the female lead a bit. Be rude. Throw around a wine bottle or two. Let that route's male lead hit him once or twice, and then he is done for most of the event. He can drink his days away until the next event. Easy!
As long as he is not part of the story and he doesn't disrupt the game's narrative, then he can do whatever he wants. Sure it could be boring and repetetive at times, but he has more freedom than the clueless masses. That's something!
The only thing Cale doesn't like is the end.
For some reason, no matter what route the Female Lead follows, it always results in his death.
Not an easy death too. He always suffers in the ending until the game resets, and no matter how many times he experiences it Cale can't get used to the pain.
It is different each time.
In The Sun Prince Alver's route, Cale dies by beheading after being stripped of his family name.
In The Hero Knight Choi Han's route he dies by sword after being forced into a duel with the knight turned hero.
In Prince of Darkness Adin's route he dies by dark mana poisoning. By far this is the most painful death and Cale hates it the most
There are other deaths too. He has died by drowning. He has died by being pushed off a cliff. He has died by disease. He has died by battle wounds. Each male lead ends with a different death. All of them unpleasant.
All of them except for one.
The Duke of the North, Kim Roksu.
Although he is connected to all the other male leads and is present in all of the events, Kim Roksu's route is the hardest one to unlock. In all the resets Cale has experienced, the duke's route was only completed once.
In Kim Roksu's route, Cale died by poison.
Cale had ended up being imprisoned after evidence surfaced of his involvement in the assassination of the crown prince Alver that the female lead thwarted. In this route's storyline, Cale was not knowingly involved in it but no one believed him when he claimed innocence. His family also ended up being in danger because of it.
To save his family and his life Cale had to beg for the female lead's forgiveness. It was supposed to be the female lead's chance at retribution after all Cale did to torment her. However, even if he was forgiven, in the end it didn't matter. The story dictates that Cale must die.
It was then that Kim Roksu offered a deal.
In exchange for Cale owning up to being involved in the assassination, Roksu would ensure his family's safety and give him a peaceful death. By admitting involvement, Cale would then be the evidence that will be used to bring down all the Female Lead's enemies, tying up all the loose ends.
Cale accepted the deal, and that is how he found himself dying in Roksu's arms after he drank the poison prepared for him.
In an act of mercy, and perhaps feeling responsible for putting him to death for a crime he did not commit, it was Roksu himself who gave him the poison and bore witness to his last moments.
The duke's arms were warm, and even though he was trash that deserved to die, Kim Roksu still treated him with kindness.
Cale could not forget it.
It was the only death that didn't hurt. It was the only death that someone tried to understand his circumstances and even tried to save him. It was the only death that he was not alone.
Of course Cale knows it is only part of the script that they must follow, and yet...
"You are too kind for your own good." Cale says. This line was fed to him by the system, and yet he finds that he means it. Such a shame, Cale doesn't want this route to end.
"What are you saying? I am the reason for your death."
A smile.
"You could have left me to die alone, and yet you are here with me."
"It is only right."
"See? Too kind."
Cale had wanted to laugh at the confused and mildly offended look that crossed Roksu's face, but he could feel himself slipping, his body slowly succumbing to the poison.
This route is ending.
Cale meets Roksu's kind eyes and for the first time in his repeating life he felt seen.
"Please, remember me."
Cale finds himself saying even if it is against the game's script. This route is ending anyway and Cale had been obedient so far. Can't he disobey the story, just this once?
Cale knows that it is impossible. Once the story resets no one else will remember but him. Everyone will return back to their designated role.
He has accepted his fate, but still, Cale can dream.
Cale Henituse dies.
The route ends, and the game restarts.
It was several resets later that Cale stumbles upon a new place he had never seen before.
After his death in the Kim Roksu route, Cale had started to explore the world he lived in.
Perhaps Cale wanted a change of pace. Perhaps he realized that he knows so little of the world he lived in. Perhaps he unconsciously went to seek some semblance of that warm kindness he experienced dying in Kim Roksu's arms. Whatever the case, exploring this game's setting became something he just started doing.
He still fulfilled his role of course, but whenever he is not needed in the story, Cale Henituse wanders.
With this he finds out that although the world revolves around the main narrative, the people in it all have lives they live.
He learns about the baker son's dream at being a mage. He learns about a guard knight's hairpin collection. He learns that the gardener likes plain toast.
Cale finds that he prefers not to be full on trash outside of the main storyline, and so he lets himself be himself. If he dies at the end anyway, might as well live as he pleased.
No one will remember him after the reset anyway.
And so it is in this mindset that Cale finds the cave.
He learned about it from the a pair of mischievous siblings. It was said that this cave could grant wishes, and Cale wanted to see it.
Although Cale doesn't believe in wishes, this cave is not part of the game's story. It is a new place. Something new in his monochrome life.
There he finds a child dragon.
"Human? Is that you?" The little dragon asks, when it noticed his presence. It flew over excitedly, but when it spotted him there is clear disappointment in it's face. It seems like the little dragon had a frequent visitor and it didn't expect Cale.
"I'm not your human," Cale tells it, "But I can be a friend."
And so, Cale Henituse befriends a dragon.
In between the story events, Cale would visit the dragon. It frequently talked about his human, and by the way the dragon speaks of this human Cale can tell it was someone very dear.
"My human is looking for something," the dragon often tells Cale, "the human has been looking for a very long time!"
Talking to the dragon was refreshing and peaceful, and Cale finds himself wanting for things for the first time in a long while.
Cale wants to know more about this human.
He wants to talk more with the dragon.
He wants to stay, in the peace of this cave, just a little longer.
But this storyline is about to end, and Cale must heed the call of the system.
He bids his farewell.
The route ends.
There is a missive urging the current Male Lead to look into his innocence. This has never happened before. Strange.
Still.
Cale dies.
The game resets.