Chapter 2: The Second Young Lady Seeks Aid  

Veronica’s words drifted into Ian’s ears like a feather, yet they struck him like a thunderbolt, rooting him to the spot. 

“My lady, what did you just say? I must have misheard,” he stammered, disbelief clouding his voice.

“You heard correctly, Ian. You’re fired. As of now, you are no longer my steward. Your salary for this month will be paid as usual,” Veronica said, her tone resolute.

“Is it because of Ethelrina?” Ian asked, searching her face for answers.

Veronica remained silent, her expression unyielding. Ian recognized that look uncompromising, fierce. 

He’d seen it only once before, when she was a child, vowing to grow strong and claim the title of Saintess. 

He knew no words could sway her now.

“I understand, my lady,” he said quietly.

With that, Veronica turned and walked away, following the path Ethelrina had taken, leaving Ian alone in the fading glow of the gala.

“Seems we’ve hit a bit of an awkward moment,” the host remarked from the stage, her voice carrying over the murmurs of the dispersing crowd. 

“And with that, this year’s Lovers’ Gala comes to a close. Until next year!”

“Fired,” Ian muttered, his steps heavy as he descended from the stage. 

“And with so many debts still unpaid.” 

His thoughts spiraled. 

“I haven’t even sent this month’s money to the orphanage.”

An orphan himself, Ian had been raised in a small, struggling orphanage. 

Last year, when it teetered on the brink of collapse, he couldn’t bear to see the children’s innocent faces displaced. 

Bound by deep affection for the place that had shaped him, he’d taken on the burden of its survival, scraping together his wages and borrowing heavily to keep it afloat. 

But now, stripped of his role as the Saintess’s steward, his creditors would surely come knocking.

“Isn’t that the Saintess’s steward?” a voice sneered from the crowd.  

“Correction—former steward. Just a discarded commoner now.”  

Ian’s closeness to Veronica had earned him the envy and spite of her many admirers. 

Now, with his dismissal, they pounced like vultures. 

He ignored their taunts, knowing arguments were futile. 

His priority was clear: he needed to earn money, and fast.

“Hey, commoner, I’m talking to you! Without the Saintess, you’re nothing!”  

A rough hand yanked Ian’s arm as he descended the steps, his foot slipping. 

He tumbled backward, his head slamming against the stone with a sickening crack. 

Pain exploded in his skull, sharp and unrelenting. 

As darkness closed in, his vision blurred, and he sank into oblivion.

A torrent of memories flooded his mind—Dragonblood Rose and Her Poem of Fate? 

Orange novels? 

Phoenix-Proud Heaven? 

Queen of All Women? 

Images flickered like a reel in his head.  

“Am I… transmigrated?” 

The thought lingered as consciousness slipped away.

In his previous life, Ian had been a schoolboy on Blue Star, struck down by a truck on his way to class. 

By some cosmic twist, he’d been reborn into the world of Dragonblood Rose and Her Poem of Fate, an orange novel he’d once read. 

Its protagonist, Ethelrina—dubbed Phoenix-Proud Heaven—was a human-dragon hybrid, cast out by the dragon clan. 

Her mother, confined as penance, had secured Ethelrina’s freedom at great cost. 

Driven to save her, Ethelrina crossed paths with a cast of heroines: Saintess Lillian, Princess Sophia of the kingdom, Elven Princess Flora, and more. 

As they grew closer, these women fell for her, sparking a fierce romantic rivalry.

In the original story, Veronica was a discarded daughter of the Holy Family, outclassed in the race for Ethelrina’s heart and the first to fall. 

But Ian’s presence had altered the tale. 

A transmigrator with no original counterpart, his guidance had propelled Veronica past her sister Lillian, securing her place as the Saintess candidate. 

Without him, Veronica would have remained a shadow, cowering in corners.

“He’s not dead, is he?” a voice hissed nearby.  

“Dead? Good riddance to filth like him, cozying up to the Saintess.”  

“Killing a classmate is a death sentence, you idiot!”  

“Shh, let’s go before anyone sees us.”  

“What do you mean ‘us’? This is all on you!”  

The bickering roused Ian, his eyes fluttering open to the sight of two second-year students in academy uniforms.  

“Look, he’s awake! We’re out of here!” 

They fled, clearly eager to avoid trouble.

Groaning, Ian dragged himself to a nearby bench. 

“No wonder the young lady loves Ethelrina,” he muttered. 

“This is an orange novel.” 

The pieces clicked into place. 

Ethelrina, hardened by abandonment and a life of independence, despised those who leaned on family or hid behind others. 

Veronica, sheltered by the Holy Family, embodied everything Ethelrina scorned. 

To prove her independence, Veronica had cut ties with Ian, the one who’d always shielded her from the world’s thorns.

“What now?” 

Ian wondered, facing the greatest crisis of his transmigrated life. 

He’d just sent his last coin to the orphanage, leaving him penniless. 

This semester’s dorm fees loomed unpaid. 

“Am I destined to sleep on the streets?” he said with a bitter laugh.

A girl with golden twin-tails approached, her presence snapping him from his thoughts. 

“You’re Ian, aren’t you?”

He knew her instantly: Lillian St. Jora, Veronica’s younger sister, the second young lady of the Holy Family—and her fiercest rival for the Saintess title. 

In the original novel, Lillian was destined to pass the three Saintess trials first, earning the Light Saintess’s blessing. 

Ian’s interference had upended that, paving Veronica’s path to glory and relegating Lillian to the sidelines, unable to clear even a single trial.

“What do you want?” 

Ian asked warily. 

As Veronica’s steward, he’d had little contact with Lillian, their relationship strained by rivalry. 

Her sudden appearance puzzled him. 

Mockery? 

Surely not.

“Poor thing, sacked by Veronica,” Lillian said, her tone teasing but not cruel.  

“If you’re here to gloat, save it. I’m not in the mood for a child’s antics,” Ian shot back, knowing her petite frame was a sore spot in the novel, often mocked by other heroines.

Lillian’s face soured, but she quickly recovered. 

“Such a sharp tongue, Ian. But I’m not here to laugh at you. Word is you’re buried in debt. Fired now, you must be desperate for work, right?”

Ian’s guard went up. 

“How do you know that?” 

His debts were a secret, unknown even to Veronica herself. 

Had Lillian been spying on him?

“Don’t sweat the details,” she said with a wave. 

“I’ve got a job for you. Pays better than trailing Veronica. Interested?”

“Nothing illegal,” Ian said firmly.

“Help me win Ethelrina’s heart,” Lillian declared. “Five gold coins a month. What do you say?”

The offer hit Ian hard. 

Five coins a month was a lifeline—steady income to keep the orphanage afloat and his debts at bay. 

But accepting meant opposing Veronica, a betrayal he couldn’t stomach.

As he wrestled with the choice, a blue panel flickered to life in his mind.

[Divine Choice System]  

[Option 1: Accept Lillian’s request]  

[Reward: Bloodline activation]  

[Option 2: Reject Lillian’s request]  

[Reward: Five gold coins]  

[Option 3: Ignore the system]  

[Reward: None]

“A Divine Choice System?” 

Ian’s heart leapt. 

“I knew it! No transmigrator goes without a cheat!” He studied the options, weighing each carefully, and made his decision.