Winning the male lead

Land was born with divine power, the chosen representative of the gods on the continent. By the time he was seven, he was nearly omniscient and omnipotent. The Pope decided to appoint him as the Holy Emperor and invited the kings of all the continent’s nations to witness the ceremony.

At that time, the King of the Orland Empire was still Cyril’s father, Simondos. Simondos was elegant and regal in his demeanor, yet he was always troubled, sighing heavily.

By chance, Land had a brief private conversation with Simondos before his coronation.

Simondos confided his worries, saying, “My only son—Cyril—I am deeply concerned about his future.”

Land replied gently, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

With his divine power, he could heal ailments that ordinary medicine could not cure.

Simondos’ face darkened. “He refuses to see anyone.”

Land asked, “Why?”

Simondos sighed heavily. His son’s unusual narcissism made him hesitant to speak. He vaguely said, “He believes he is different from everyone else.”

“Every person in this world is unique. With an open heart, one can accept oneself and embrace the world,” Land said. Just then, a priest approached, requesting him to lead a prayer, and so he left.

Later, Simondos passed away, and Cyril ascended to the throne. His reputation for extreme narcissism spread across the continent. Only then did Land realize what the former king had meant. At first, he had assumed Cyril might have some physical defect that made him unwilling to see others, but the real reason was far more absurd.

Now, he had used his divine power to project his spirit to the Orland Empire, intending to persuade Cyril not to be so willful. He did not wish for one man’s whims to bring instability to the entire continent.

But he never expected to witness such a scene.

Faced with such an awkward situation, he could not reveal himself to intervene. Just as he was about to leave, he realized he couldn’t. Stunned, he tried multiple times to shift his presence, but nothing worked.

The young king was still in motion, seemingly in distress. Crystal-clear tears slipped from his lake-green eyes, rippling like waves. Land looked away, trying to exit the bizarre palace filled with mirrors, but he was still trapped.

This was bad. It seemed he was stuck in this palace, unable to move more than half a meter away from Cyril.

The soft sobbing continued behind him. He turned his back, silently reciting holy scriptures. As God’s messenger, he was born pure and ascetic, respected by all. He rarely interacted with others, let alone in such an intimate manner… His face heated rapidly.

Finally, Cyril let out a long sigh, seemingly having found release.

Land, still turned away, suppressed his thoughts and tried to gather his willpower to leave. But the palace seemed to be surrounded by an eerie energy that prevented him from leaving. He frowned slightly.

The system, previously blocked from viewing, suddenly came online and saw Le Tian in a disheveled state, looking tearfully distressed. It sighed helplessly, “Pull yourself together.”

Le Tian gritted his teeth. “Tell me the truth. Did you do this on purpose?!”

System: “I am not a vengeful system.”

Le Tian: “But I am a vengeful person.”

System: “…”

Who could understand the suffering of possessing unparalleled beauty yet being unable to show it to anyone? Le Tian now completely understood Cyril’s mindset. Ordinary mortals were not even worthy of a glance, let alone marriage. The very thought gave him chills. At this moment, only one name remained in his mind—his only hope.

“Land…” Please, you have to be more handsome than me!

Land suddenly heard his name and instinctively turned toward the voice.

Cyril raised his arm, covering his face and revealing only his perfectly shaped red lips. As he whispered Land’s name, the sound carried an inexplicable allure.

Land had to admit—Cyril was not insane. Those who thought he was mad simply had never seen him before.

If they had, they too would acknowledge that only a child of the gods could possess such divine beauty.

Since he was unable to leave, he approached Cyril and gently enveloped him with a stream of divine power, hoping to soothe his pain and sorrow.

Le Tian: “System, I suddenly feel very hot.”

System coldly replied, “…Don’t use this as an excuse for your arousal.”

Le Tian protested, “No, I really feel hot.”

A strange warmth surrounded him, especially above his head, like a little sun. It was quite comforting. He looked up but saw nothing except his own face in the mirrored ceiling. Confused, he lowered his head again.

Land, floating above him, suddenly locked eyes with him. Up close, Cyril’s lake-green eyes carried a hint of gray, giving him an innocent yet melancholic look. He knew Cyril couldn’t see him, yet in that moment, he still held his breath.

Le Tian thought for a while and suddenly realized, “I know! It’s my beauty radiating light and heat!”

System: “…” Yeah, he’s definitely not well.

After “relieving” himself, Le Tian entered a brief moment of clarity and went to the bathroom to take a bath.

Cyril knew how to enjoy life. His bath was made of pure gold, connected to an underground hot water system. With just a shake of a bell, endless warm water would flow in. Small drainage holes at the bottom ensured that water continuously circulated, eliminating the need for servants.

Le Tian shook the bell, and warm water gushed in. Watching the steam rise, he muttered, “This reminds me of something unpleasant.”

System: “What?”

Le Tian: “A math problem. If water is being added while draining at the same time, how long does it take to fill the bath? I always got these wrong.”

System: “…You couldn’t solve a simple problem like that?”

Le Tian: “Can you? Go ahead, tell me how long it takes to fill this bath!”

The system sneered and instantly provided an answer: “78 seconds.”

Le Tian: “Not bad. If I had you as my calculator during exams, I’d have aced them.”

The top-tier system, reduced to a calculator… The system almost glitched in anger. It even began questioning why it had insisted on capturing Le Tian in the first place. Maybe the other systems had failed on purpose after realizing his true nature.

While the system was lost in thought, the bath was ready. Le Tian undressed and got into the water. Land, seemingly attached to him, instinctively drifted into the bathroom as well. He turned his back, listening to the soft splashes of Cyril sinking into the water.

Cyril seemed to be a quiet person. Since Land had arrived, aside from whispering his name, he hadn’t spoken a single word.

Le Tian cupped the water in his hands and suddenly panicked. “Mom, the water isn’t clear! Why is it cloudy?”

System: “…” It really didn’t want to answer, but if it didn’t, Le Tian would pester it endlessly. “There are some cleansing and skincare ingredients mixed in.”

Le Tian let go of the water and mourned, “How can such murky water reflect my beautiful face? This is a tragedy.”

System: “…” It was now full of regret. Immense regret.

Unable to admire his own beauty, he became melancholic. He lazily leaned against the bath’s edge and told the system he wanted to cover the entire bathroom with 360-degree mirrors.

The system shuddered at the thought and quickly suggested, “Why not just hold a handheld mirror?”

Le Tian thought for a moment. “Good idea.” He immediately climbed out of the water.

The system, caught off guard, was instantly flooded with censorship pixels. Land, however, wasn’t so lucky—before he could close his eyes, he was once again forced to admire Cyril’s bare body.

While Le Tian was admiring himself in a mirror, Land hesitated before finally speaking. “Cyril.”

Le Tian: “Huh? I think I just heard someone call me.”

System was startled. “I heard it too.”

Le Tian shivered. “Could it be a ghost? Are there ghosts in this world?”

System: “I… I don’t know…” There weren’t supposed to be ghosts in this world’s setting!

Le Tian: “I’m scared of ghosts…”

System: “……” It was scared too…

Seeing Cyril terrified, Land softened his voice. “I am Land.”

Le Tian’s face froze. He cautiously asked, “Are you… dead? Are you a ghost?”

Land: “……”