CHAPTER 226: CHERRYADE AND CHARM [2]

In the novel, Ryen met a lot of women.

Take Leona, for example—she was originally supposed to be Ryen’s roommate. But now? She’s mine.

Then there were Kiera, Violet, Mira, Ama... and honestly, who knows how many more if we really start counting.

But among all of them, the one who stood out the most was Nora Hayes.

She was Ryen’s childhood friend, the one who silently loved him from the start. She’d always been there—kind, loyal, the quiet strength behind him. That’s why so many readers believed she was the true female lead.

And I believed that too.

Hell, I was even rooting for them.

They had the history, the chemistry, the slow-burn tension—everything you could ask for in a romance subplot. It felt right.

Until that bastard of an author—my friend—pulled the rug out from under everyone.

Nora, I think I’m in love with someone else!

Yeah.

That’s what Ryen ended up saying.

Out of nowhere.

Like, are you kidding me?

Who writes something like that in the name of storytelling?

Oh, right.

He does.

Naturally, the readers lost their minds. The comment section turned into a battlefield, forums lit up like wildfire, and I don’t even want to imagine what happened in fan communities.

I tried to talk him out of it, you know? Told him this wasn’t the right move, that he was throwing away everything he’d built up.

And what did that no-name author say back to me?

Let me tell you.

—"I’m the author. It’s my story. If you can’t handle Ryen falling for someone else, then maybe you’re the childish one. ’World’s Greatest Hero’ isn’t a romance, it’s a fantasy novel."

Tch.

Right. Because fantasy apparently means stomping on readers’ hearts like it’s nothing.

Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve just smacked him back then.

Would’ve saved everyone a lot of pain.

Anyway, if I think about it logically, I can kind of understand how Ryen ended up falling for someone else.

Why? Because Nora, his childhood friend, had been subtly gaslighting him for years. She didn’t want to lose him—but she didn’t know how to keep him either.

Since they were kids, Nora had always been overly cautious around people who got close to Ryen. Handsome, kind, and naturally charming—of course, people were drawn to him. But Nora would whisper little things, barely noticeable, just enough to plant seeds of doubt.

"Those girls? They’re not really interested in you—they’re just being nice."

That kind of stuff.

She probably didn’t even realize what she was doing back then. It wasn’t outright manipulation—at least not at first. But over time, it added up. The damage was done. Ryen started believing her words, thinking every act of kindness was fake, a facade.

So, in the end, he fell for some random background character instead. Someone new. Someone Nora hadn’t poisoned in his mind.

And when that happened... Nora broke.

The regret hit her hard—too hard. She spiraled.

And that spiral? That’s what turned her into the main villain of that arc. Not just a jealous ex-friend. A full-blown antagonist.

All because she didn’t know how to handle love without control.

Honestly, what kind of messed-up story is this?

Who the hell wrote this garbage?

Yeah, How could I forget? My friend did.

It still pisses me off when I think about it.

Even now, just remembering how Nora’s arc unfolded makes my blood boil. Not because it was bad writing—no, the writing was brilliant. That’s what made it worse. It was too real.

Too painful.

Too human.

It felt like watching a close friend walk into traffic while you’re screaming at them to stop—and they just smile and keep going.

And now? Now I’m Rin Evans, a background character who never even got a full name reveal in the original story. I wasn’t supposed to matter. I was just the "ill cadet who died in the prologue," a single footnote in Ryen’s early days at the academy.

But I’m here now.

In his world.

Living this life...

And knowing what’s coming...

Yeah, I’m going to steer things in the right direction. Not exactly fix everything—that’s too much work. I’ll just... nudge the sail, point things toward a better current, and let fate take it from there.

That much, I can do.

I mean, as someone who transmigrated, this is kind of my responsibility, right?

With that thought in mind, I looked up at Nora, who sat across from me, a soft, unreadable expression on her face.

"You’re better off with Ryen than my sister, you know. There’s a pretty big age gap between them, anyway."

Okay, that was technically a lie. Ryen actually had a thing for older women.

"...Do you think so?" Nora asked quietly.

"My sister’s probably not into younger guys either," I added with a shrug.

It wasn’t a complete fabrication.

After all, she turned down Leo confession like he was last week’s leftovers, and that poor guy developed a whole trauma around older women. Took him a long time to get over that mess.

"That’s... honestly, a relief," Nora murmured, visibly relaxing.

Good. That’s good.

I’ll help you out, so please—get to him before Ryen spirals into a tragic first love arc. Win him over already.

And if possible, just... don’t become a villain, okay?

Because if you do—if you start going down that path—I’ll stop you. Personally. Like I did with Avi.

Even if I don’t want to.

Nora didn’t say anything for a while. She just looked down at her hands, quietly folding and unfolding her fingers in her lap. Her bangs fell a little over her eyes, making it hard to read her expression.

But she wasn’t frowning. She wasn’t smiling, either.

"...You know," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper, "I used to think I knew everything about Ryen. What he liked, what he hated, what made him laugh... but lately, it feels like he’s getting further and further away."

I didn’t say anything. Just let her talk. Sometimes that’s all people need.

"I was so sure we’d always be close," she continued, voice cracking just slightly. "But now, I feel like I’m chasing a shadow of someone I used to know. And when I reach out... he’s not there."

She smiled. Not one of her fake smile "But then you say things like this. And I wonder... are you really his friend?"

That caught me off guard.