Chapter Text
Kaveh only has himself to blame if he's being honest. Procrastination won him over as he was finishing a draft design of a building he was supposed to present to his clients tomorrow. The web novel app whispered to him like a pied piper, ever tempting, and who was he to deny its calling?
Web novels are a secret indulgence of his, a guilty pleasure one might say. It wasn’t, per se, the peak of literature and may be deemed by most as dumb downed books for the regular masses, but some of the best stories he have ever read are from web novels. Surely undergrad him would agree by placing web novels on top of his academic books but that doesn't mean he wasn't able to enjoy both nonetheless.
He’s getting sidetracked, back to the situation at hand. He was browsing for a new novel to read when he accidentally clicked on a pop up ad about a novel released from years ago. It was titled; Transmigration: The devil’s beloved consort [BL]. With an eye-catching title, his eyes involuntarily dragged down to read the summary.
Oh, it’s one of those typical transmigration novels isn’t it? Kaveh thought. A corporate slave slaving away accidentally dies while doing so, transmigrated to the novel he last read, inside the body of a cannon fodder. Decided to change his fate by colluding with the righteous prince, the original male lead, who have endured all kinds of humiliation for the people of the kingdom. Stealing the male lead from the original main character for the transmigrator to survive, while the prince inevitably falls deeply and truly in love with him. Is it just a scheme or is it destiny who brought them together?
Typical slop plot!
Kaveh was about to press exit when his eyes caught on the character illustration of the prince. Sharp jawline, dark hair, brown eyes that screamed righteousness—the typical recipe for a male lead and Kaveh was gone. Sighing, he clicked on the novel before his rational mind could stop him. Just one look, he said repeatedly.
That look lasted until he was able to finish all forty chapters in one sitting. He peeked at the time and sighed as the clock's hands showed that four hours have passed. The moon had replaced the sun in the sky and more people are walking down the sidewalks. Resolved to finally finish the work he was supposed to do, he ordered an iced coffee with espresso shots than his usual and hoped it would be enough for him to not get kicked out of the cafe he’s slaving away for the night.
While waiting for his order, he decided that a power nap is needed to rest his non-stop working eyes for a while. He laid his head on the table, sighing and lamenting the author as he closed his eyes away from the florescent lights.
How dare the author?! How dare he got scammed again by a slop plot?! He wasted hours reading a novel where the story leaves the readers hanging over unresolved plot points, unsatisfaction filling his being.
As the white noise of the cafe lulled him to sleep, he cursed the author in his mind one last time.
With too much light blinding him, he rapidly blinks his eyes before opening them slowly. A patterned canopy swirling in different colors greets him. Cloth ceiling, he muses as he sees it curve down in the middle. Curtains where one's silhouette could be easily seen through softly encompassing the bed—
The bed?
As he registers his surroundings, Kaveh sits up fast and nearly induces himself a heart attack. From his cramped sitting position in the cafe, he now lies on a soft bed. On. A. Bed!
He reluctantly parts the curtain covering the poster bed, movement slow as his eyes dart around. Instead of the earth colors interior of the small cafe, what greets Kaveh is white pearl walls stretching tall around him. Sun rays spill through the stained glass windows, their reflected colors dancing around Kaveh's feet as he steps out to admire the architecture of it all.
He slowly turns, eyeing each and every bizarre detail of the place he's in.
Then it dawns on him.
He–he thinks he's traveled through time! He’s an architect for Kusanali’s sake! He would know an ancient Sumeru building if he ever sees one. And if the architecture of the room he’s in isn’t enough of a tell, surely the bright and old Sumerian clothing he's wearing would be the final piece in his theory.
His vision swims. The theory is laughable but it's the only reason he could think of right now. It's not logical for someone to kidnap him and hold him captive in a building arranged to exhibit ancient Sumerian greatness. He breathes in and steadies himself, holding one hand against a pillar.
A glint catches in his peripheral and Kaveh turns curiously towards its direction. Beside the bed, a vanity table stands where a small mirror resides atop it, catching a sun ray against it causing it to wink for Kaveh's attention. With quick steps, he walks towards it, gripping the table as he crouches to look at his reflection.
Nothing much had changed; his usual face and crimson eyes stares back at him except his blonde hair that used to be shoulder length, now flows longer down to his waist. Gone are the heavy bags under his eyes and his skin seems to glow.
Kaveh's eye twitches. He looks too pretty! And the clothes he's wearing, even if it's nightwear, are too pretty and extravagant than the usual ancient Sumerian man wears. Unless…
His hands frantically pats down his body, one hand touching his flat chest and the other cupping the part where his private lies; Still a male, thank Archons! But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a knock cuts through the silence of the room.
A boy, who looks to be in his teens, enters the room holding a basin in one hand. “Good morning, Concubine Kaveh. Although from now on, I’ll have to address you as Your Highness. Let me dress you up for the day.”
Concubine..?
Kaveh’s blood runs cold at the thought.
‘Kaveh’ is a pretty common name in Sumeru and even he has met two other people who share his namesake. But he knows of none who also happens to be a concubine. Except for one. The only issue is that this one is very much fictional and from a novel he had just finished.
Kaveh defeatedly sits back down at the bed. He transmigrated! As the villain who shares his namesake! He holds his head as it hangs down, feeling its throbbing at the absurdity of it all.
This is bad, Kaveh thinks, ignoring the mumbling of the servant.
The character he is in was a conceited and evil person who had brought misery not just towards the main characters, but also towards the people surrounding them. By the end of the novel, his death was explained in only two pages, from his begging for mercy and burial. It was truly a death deserving for a conniving fox.
But he, the real Kaveh, can’t just die like that!
Kaveh groans out loud and he is only able to pull out of his reverie when a loud thud echoes through the room. He takes a look and his eyes bulges out at the scene before him.
The servant is now kneeling on the floor while thumping his head against it, “Your Highness! I am ignorant on how I might have offended you but please have mercy!”
Kaveh immediately reaches for the boy, one knee down as he tries to comfort the boy. His actions only incites the other to beg for more mercy.
“You did not displease me!” Kaveh whines, “Please stand up, alright? You did nothing wrong!”
Not waiting for the still pleading boy to stand on his own, Kaveh grabs him by the arm and forces him up.
“I– I just had an unpleasant dream and it still lingers in my memory, that's all!” Kaveh explains, his voice shaking, while the bowing boy meekly wipes tears from his own face.
“Thank you for having mercy, Your Highness.”
Kaveh sighs, exhaustion seeping in his bones, “How should I address you?”
The boy looks up to him with eyes as wide as saucers, on the verge of another waterworks, “This servant understands, Your Highness. I will talk to Miss Sasani about appointing you a new servant that will not displease you.”
“What? No! How did you even–” Kaveh breathes out again, “It's just that, we're now inside the palace and I don't know much on how to address you here.”
“Oh.” The boy breathes out, “You can address me however you want, Your Highness. I have been serving you for years, so choose whatever you see fit.”
I'm asking you ‘cause I don’t know your name! Just tell me so I could keep my charade! Please!
“Okay,” Kaveh sighs, resigning himself for now. He guess he could just call the boy ‘You’ until he figures out what his name is. It's not uncommon for nobles to be rude anyways.
While he's being dressed up for the day, he comes up with a plan. The main character in Transmigration: The devil’s beloved consort [BL] was named Tighnari. Tighnari, the one who transmigrated, was smart. It's what compelled him to choose the wise prince instead of the emperor tyrant, using his knowledge of the original novel to help said prince. He was also ruthless, killing off characters that impede him and the prince’s plans, in the pretense that all these characters are just 2D to him.
Maybe this time, Kaveh will take the prince from Tighnari! Kaveh’s character, after all, was the original main character from the novel that Tighnari transmigrated in. It will be just like taking back what was his in the first place!
Tighnari, who's an actual 2D character, is nothing against Kaveh, the actual real person.
But he only have one worry. He read this novel absentmindedly. If he was going to waste five hours, why couldn't he have read it attentively? Guilt gnawed at him too much for procrastinating that he skimmed pass scenes he found too boring, deciding to only seriously read scenes between the main character and male lead. He was a romantic, the politics of it all bored him!
He breathes in and resolves that all will be fine. If Tighnari happens to have the plot armor of a main character, Kaveh will just have to go to all the Statues of the sevens and beg for their mercy. Also, he still remembers the important plot points! Hope is not lost!
“Your Highness,” a male voice announces from outside the door, stealing Kaveh’s attention. “His Majesty granted you the honor to serve him tonight. Please prepare well and make sure to not disappoint His Majesty.”
His Majesty?
That's it! The enemy of my enemy is my friend! Kaveh thought, as he stands up in shock at the realization.
Instead of trying to fight the main character for the male lead’s heart that he's unsure about, Kaveh will just have to cozy it up with the pervert tyrant! And once he topples everyone over, he'll be the one remaining at the top, victorious!
“Thank you, Eunuch Panah,” the servant boy answers back. Footsteps from outside then slowly rescinds out of earshot.
The servant looks at Kaveh with teary eyes. Kaveh raises an eyebrow and thought, What's with that solemn face? According to the novel, Your Highness will be favored by the Emperor! Shouldn't you congratulate him?
Oh… right... This Concubine Kaveh was originally in love with the Prince and that's why he repeatedly rejected the tyrant Emperor. His action earned the ire of the Emperor, taking out his frustration by making the Prince's life a living hell. Hence why the Prince hated Kaveh for it.
Kaveh resolves to maintain his facade from now on. If he obviously changes too much, they will catch on the fact that a pretender is now the puppeteer of their Highness' body. Thankfully, it has only been a week since his character first met the Prince. He'll just have to say that his love for the Prince was puppy love! Easily gone as the days grew between them!
“Y- You there,” Kaveh addresses the servant boy, “Help me comb my hair down...?"
The boy tilts his head at the questioning tone of his Highness but nonetheless still bows in acquiescence, “Yes, Your Highness.”
He already has Plans A and B. Now, he'll just have to win the heart of the Emperor which he thinks won't be too hard since the character of the Emperor was designed to helplessly be enamored with his character.
Thankfully, his best friend back in the Akademiya used to teach him how to wear makeup, saying that Kaveh has a pretty face and it's a waste that his face remains bare the whole time. He'll try and doll up, seduce this emperor and make him fall for him immediately. After all, every second wasted is a step near towards his demise.
In this world full of villains, for Kaveh to survive, he'll have to be the biggest villain out of all!
“Your Highness, doesn't this look a bit too… bold?” His boy servant reluctantly inquires upon seeing his face, adorned with earthly and crimson tones, lips dyed like he had sucked blood.
Kaveh's chuckles maniacally, out of helplessness or insanity, he's quite not sure, “It's fine." He sighs out, "I think.”
Nighttime falls as they finally make their way to His Majesty’s Palace. On his palanquin, Kaveh thinks back about the tyrant's character in the book.
The Emperor tyrant loves sex, it was one of the (if not) the main highlights of his infographic. He also loves pretty faces, especially those with foxy eyes and seductive lips. That's why the tyrant took both male and female as part of his harem, not discriminating between genders when it comes to beauties and sex.
With the makeup Kaveh adorns, he's sure he'll be able to make the Emperor beg for more. If the Emperor somehow changed his type, Kaveh will have no choice but to just jump in the bed and take the initiative himself!
Now standing in front of the Emperor's bed chambers, the same eunuch who visited him a while ago, greets them by the door before letting them in. Kaveh tries for a runway walk, the types that models go for when they want to emphasize their hips. But he feels silly immediately, he feels more like a drunkard brazenly walking back from a night out rather than an alluring model. So, he ceases his attempt of seduction with a clear of his throat and resume his walk through the halls normally.
A small gasp escapes him as his eyes roam around the place. Pearly white walls loom high around them. The room would have been pitch black if not for the solemn reflections of the stained glass windows that's illuminated by the moon and candle lamps scattered all around. Scrolls of documents and books topple over each other from where they're situated in in the rows of shelves and table at the left. On the other side, there sits a long table for dining where an untouched feast lays out on top of it. Finally, at the end of the hall, the bed of the Emperor imposes its presence by the giant poster bed in the middle. The vibrant color of emerald sheets hugs the figure lying on top of it.
The Emperor's eunuch looks at him and Kaveh returns the look confusingly. The eunuch makes a point of bowing his head while raising his eyebrows repeatedly before Kaveh gets the clue.
Kaveh gracefully kneels down and breathes out, “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Strings of beads teases his sight from the Emperor's bed so Kaveh could only peek through the crevices they make as they sway listlessly. It was fruitless as he's kneeling two meters away from the bed. All he could make out was the Emperor lying sideways as one person massages his head while another holds a big fan swaying it up and down, fanning the Emperor at the side.
The Emperor ignores Kaveh's greeting—rather, his whole presence actually—only continuing in his groaning. Kaveh gulps, wondering how uncharacteristic it is of the Emperor. Usually, the Emperor should be jumping him by now. Sometimes, audience be damned.
The attending eunuch takes pity on him with lips pursing and announces Kaveh’s arrival with a voice a timbre louder than the concubine.
“Your Majesty, Concubine Kaveh has arrived.”
Kaveh stands and closes the distance at the eunuch's urge. Kneeling and bowing his head down, he repeats “Greetings—”
“Get lost,” The Emperor groans.
Forgetting his manners, Kaveh looks up in surprise. What…?
He sees the Emperor's eunuch nod to the two other eunuchs standing by the door. The two bow their heads before opening the door, letting two guards in, who are striding towards Kaveh—
Wait. Striding towards him?!
This wasn't in the original novel! Kaveh thinks frantically, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. Well, he supposes it won't be since the novel he read was written in Tighnari’s point of view, but Kaveh was certain that the Emperor have favored Concubine Kaveh!
The hands of the guards closes around his arms, forcing him to stand up on his feet.
Is he going to just die like this...
“Your Majesty—?” Kaveh pleads absentmindedly, his quick death row sentence slowly setting in. He was so sure he'll come here tonight, give the Emperor the best sex of his pitiful life, and let His Majesty beg for his mercy. But now the roles in Kaveh's imagination has been reversed!
“Your Majesty!” He pleads one last time, ignoring the hysterical tone attached to it.
“Wait,” the Emperor groans and the guards immediately halt from their action of dragging Kaveh out. “Does he have to be executed if he doesn't stay and serve me tonight?”
Kaveh winces and thinks, "Dude, you're the big boss! Why are you asking your servants if it's acceptable or not!"
Everyone in the room raises their eyebrows questioningly. Even the head eunuch, as Kaveh sees, have a wondering look in his eyes. But it only flashes for a second before the eunuch answers, “Not really, Your Majesty. Only if you ordered it so.” The head eunuch looks around before clearing his throat, "Vocally, preferably."
The guards immediately lets Kaveh go, making him fall on his knees with a groan and a thud. The guards drop down to their knees and bow their heads to the floor, “Please have mercy on us, Your Majesty!”
Everyone inside the room, may it be maids or eunuchs, drops down to their knees and pleads, “Please have mercy on us, Your Majesty!”
The Emperors sighs. “Everyone,” he breathes out, “Leave.”
In no longer a minute, everyone clears out from the room leaving His Majesty and Kaveh behind.
What– what is happening? Kaveh thinks. Should he follow the servants out? The Emperor did say leave not leave us. But, the servants didn't bring him with them so should Kaveh assume right that his presence is not unwelcome?
The Emperor stays unmoving in his bed, groans of frustration interrupting the silence of the room. Kaveh stays kneeling, fidgeting with his fingers.
What should he do right now?
Breathing in and out, Kaveh stands. With quiet footsteps, he walks near the Emperor’s bed, holding his breath in as to not disturb the other. His eyes peek through the hanging beads, where he could now see the Emperor lying down on his back with closed eyes.
Kaveh stops a gasp from slipping out. Wow, what a looker! Isn't the Emperor supposed to be the villain? Why did the author give him such good looks? Those grey locks and chiseled jawline, if the whole Sumeru sees that this is the tyrant they hate, they might forgive him for all of his crimes!
The Emperor slowly opens his eyes—as if Kaveh's monologue stirred him awake—and stares at him through the beads, “You there.”
Teal meets crimson, Kaveh's awestruck before remembering his position. He kneels immediately and hangs his head down. “Uh, C-Concubine Kaveh, Your Majesty,” Kaveh whispers.
“Concubine Kaveh, right. You can sleep on the floor tonight.” The Emperor commands before turning around, away from Kaveh.
Kaveh was on his way to following the other's command when he pauses as realization sets in.
Did he say ‘You there’ a while ago? Kaveh wonders before his eyes widens. That's the same way he had addressed his servant a while ago. Also, the way the Emperor didn't know his own rules and his easy dismissal of a good sex had Kaveh's mind spinning. Could it be..?
“Your Majesty,” Kaveh hushes out.
“What?” The Emperor answers, irritation tinting his tone.
Kaveh gulps before replying, “How… are… you…?” He speak the words in the Teyvatian language.
In this era of Sumeru where Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was the one worshiped, all of the nations spoke in their own languages. It was only after Lesser Lord Kusanali became its new archon that the Teyvatian language was developed to be Teyvat’s universal language. Only those from the Modern world would understand Kaveh's words.
The Emperor suddenly sits up and turns his upper body towards Kaveh. Kaveh gulps, an incessant buzzing remains in his head. It was like a blizzard had hailed and he remained frozen buried under its snow. He remains unmoving, only his wide, crimson, eyes met the Emperor’s wide, teal ones head on.
Relief softens the Emperor intimidating figure. He lets out a small laugh that sounds more like a sigh. “I'm fine,” he answers in Teyvatian, “And you?”
Outside the Emperor’s Palace, Eunuch Panah stands to the side of its gates, waiting for Concubine Kaveh and his entourage to come out. Seeing Concubine Kaveh’s palanquin empty of the man himself, he couldn't help but implore.
“Has Concubine Kaveh not come out?”
Concubine Kaveh’s servant boy bows his head and answers, “Not yet, Eunuch Panah.” Concubine Kaveh’s whole entourage follows, bowing their heads before continuing their way out.
This is a first, Eunuch Panah thinks. Usually, the Emperor would drive all the concubines out immediately. So, he couldn't help but wonder; What did Concubine Kaveh have among the rest?
After sharing a frenzied laugh, Kaveh and the Emperor now sit in the bed while facing each other. Kaveh munches on the mix nuts he had seen on the table a while ago, listening as the Emperor speaks.
“I came here two hours ago," The Emperor, also his fellow transmigrator, sighs out, "I was on my phone while on my way to work when suddenly this pop up about a novel appeared and I accidentally clicked on it. Before I knew it, I'm suddenly here, inside this body.”
“You're on your way to work?” Kaveh raises an eyebrow, “What time does your work start?”
“In the morning, obviously.”
Kaveh rolls his eyes at the unnecessary sass and then furrows his eyebrows, “Wait, are you not Sumerian?”
“I am,” the other answers.
“Then, where do you work? When I arrived here, it was night time already.”
“I work in Inazuma.”
“Really? What work? Merchant work? Could you actually be a domineering tycoon? Like Lord Sangemah Bay?!”
“I wouldn't say I'm domineering but, yeah, I have a stable life.” The Emperor then clicks his tongue, “And now I'm here in a place where access to information is limited and I might have a tumor growing in my head by how much it hurts.”
“I'm pretty sure it's not a tumor. Maybe the Emperor had been poisoned and he died and that's how you assumed his body.”
“That doesn't sound better either way.”
“It’s a hypothesis for a reason,” Kaveh shrugs. “By the way, what should I call you? By your real name or by the Emperor's name?”
“What’s his name?” The Emperor asks.
Kaveh hums, “I think it was… ‘Alhaitham’?”
The Emperor scoffs, “Then we have the same name.”
“Really?!” Kaveh exclaims, inching closer towards Alhaitham in the process. “I also share the same name of the body I'm possessing right now!”
Alhaitham looks down at him and hums lowly, “Right. I'm assuming you have read the novel, then? What happened to my character?”
Kaveh shakes his head, “Not seriously as I have wanted, but don't worry I know the plot points. Basically, your brother hates you. The Empress dowager hates you. Your harem also hates you for having a high libido. Your subjects hate you for being tyrannical. And according to the novel, my character hates you too.”
Alhaitham’s eyebrows twitches though the rest of his face remains impassive, “What exactly did I do?”
“Well, it's not you,” Kaveh answers, “But to put it simply; The Empress Dowager is not your real mother so she purposely stunted the knowledge you were supposed to accumulate as a leader. You have this migraine and you're obsessive and always paranoid. The novel even said that because of your hysteria, one shouted accusation was enough for you to kick out all of your ministers! Deeming them traitors and putting them in exile!
You then put up absurd policies that made your already poor people poorer, causing them to revolt against you. At the end of the story, Prince Siraj somehow managed to take the throne and had you secretly killed.”
Alhaitham shakes his head, “And how was I killed?”
“I don't know," Kaveh shrugs, "The end was so boring and political that I just skimmed through it. But I think you were assassinated. Though, I don't know the time, date, or who exactly did it.”
Kaveh looks at the still calm expression that seems to be permanent in Alhaitham's face. When Alhaitham looks up and sees Kaveh observing him, he smirks, “What about you? You also don't look like you're a good person.”
Kaveh smirks back, “I'm also a villain. I was sent to the palace as a pawn by my family. I scarcely appear in the novel to be honest, but in the end, I was buried with you.”
Alhaitham sneers and Kaveh's hackles rises up with the act. Furrowing his eyebrows, Kaveh asks, “What?”
“I'm the Emperor, I could just—" Alhaitham quickly cuts his hand across his neck "—everyone that goes against me.”
Kaveh lets out a laugh, “Tempting. But you can't do that. If you killed the main characters, who knows what would happen to this world? What if Celestia’s retribution struck you down?”
“I am the Emperor. Did you forget? I am supposed to be Celestia’s chosen son.”
“As expected of a tycoon,” Kaveh sighs, “Even if Lesser Lord Kusanali herself appointed you Emperor, you still have no power in the court. Prince Siraj might have a stronger influence than you do right now. Also, he's the male lead, the plot points of the novel will work in their favor. It's useless.”
After a bout of silence, Alhaitham asks, “Then, do you have a plan?”
“Not definite but I'll try to change things bit by bit and hope that it's not too noticeable, especially to the main character that will get transmigrated here.”
“Oh?” Alhaitham smirks, “So someone else does get transmigrated here? Who is it?”
“His name is Tighnari, one of your concubines too. Though, I don't know if the Tighnari we have right now have already transmigrated over or if it's still the original one.”
“If he's transmigrated, what if Prince Siraj is too?”
Kaveh's eyes widens and excitedly inches closer to Alhaitham, “Right! How about you hold a banquet tomorrow so we could see? If all four of us happen to be transmigrators, then let's have a big shawarma and play TCG instead!”
Alhaitham smiles, “Alright, I'll tell my eunuch.”
Kaveh smiles back. This is probably the first genuine smile he had seen from Alhaitham and it fits his face nicely. Alhaitham's eyes didn't seem to be only teal, there are drops of red and orange in them. Alhaitham is also close, really super close, that Kaveh can feel his breathing.
He can feel his breathing?
Upon realizing their close proximity, Kaveh turns his back to give some distance between them. He coughs and fans himself, willing the flush on his face to go away. “So… that's a plan. I'll go sleep on the floor now.”
“No, sleep on the bed with me.”
“What?!” Kaveh sputters out, turning back to face Alhaitham who is now back to lying down. “T-the floor is–”
“Didn't you say the Emperor loves fooling around? If my servants entered and they saw you on the floor, wouldn't that be weirder than seeing you on my bed?”
Kaveh breathes out and nods resolutely, “Right. We're both males after all so what's wrong with sharing a bed, right?”
Alhaitham only hums, his eyes closing along. Kaveh lays down beside him but still puts a distance between them. His head faces the ceiling but his eyes are staring sideways towards Alhaitham’s face. What a sight.
“Sleep,” Alhaitham mumbles.
“Yes,” Kaveh answers back, his eyes slipping close. He recollects the events that transpired as it slowly seeps through his bones and tiredness immediately takes a hold of him. Before he could slumber, he sleepily whispers; “I’m thankful you're here with me, ‘Haitham.”
If Kaveh had stayed awake and opened his eyes one, he would've seen teal eyes watching him with a small smile adorned in the owner’s face.