Groaning with dissatisfaction, Sirius squinted his eyes in a half awake state, readjusting his sleeping position into a more comfortable one. His mood was horrendous due to a bad quality of sleep and he could only hope that the last part of his night would be more comfortable.


    However, as he tried to fall back into morpheus’ arms, a strange feeling of fretfulness arose. Sirius couldn’t understand why he was feeling so unease. In hypnagogia, Sirius confusedly wondered about whether or not to go and make sure that everything was alright.


    Just when he was starting to slowly disconnect from reality, he was jerking back awake. This time his instinctive restlessness was impossible to ignore. Even the fine hair of his body had stood up at some point.


    He swallowed, feeling the tightness of his throat, a natural reaction of rejection and fear.


    Now wide awake, Sirius inhaled and exhaled twice to make sure that he had somewhat calmed. However, when he finally decided to open his eyes, what greeted him was pure ink darkness.


    It wasn’t a normal sight, usually, even if he woke up during the night for one reason or another, he could still make out the vague shape of his room.


    Fully aware that something was wrong but unable to come up with any reasonable explanation, Sirius could only hear his rapid heartbeat, as if it could jump out from his chest at any moment. The prescient intuition that something would soon happen made him restless.


    But what was Sirius supposed to do? The natural human fear of the unknown paired with his inability to see anything made it hard for him to come up with any solution.


    Already guessing that it would be useless, Sirius still tried to look left and right and also moved his hand in front of his face. But besides feeling the swinging of his hand, only darkness filled his vision.


    In his growing despair, Sirius furiously stood up, recklessly leaving the warm nest of his bed, not caring about accidentally hurting himself by hitting or tripping over something. However, his worry was useless as what awaited him was nothing more than emptiness.


    Indeed, after realizing that he couldn’t touch anything, Sirius vaguely calmed down.


    “Ahah, the f*ck is going on here? It’s not like things could disappear out of thin air, right?”, his voice was slightly trembling.


    Extremely agitated, Sirius instinctively tried to go back to his bed but, as crazy as it sounded, the bed could not be food anymore. A huge piece of furniture quietly disappeared when he had stopped paying attention to it.


    Realizing that the bed had truly disappeared felt like a bucket of cold water. Having completely snapped out of his confused woe, Sirius finally became aware of the ice cold floor against the sole of his feet.


    Repressing a shiver, he was feeling unusually calm  as he even took the time to shun the sensation of cold by alternatively rubbing his feet against his legs.


    After a while, he couldn’t even feel the cold anymore. His eyes completely empty of any feeling, he robotically sat down, putting his hands around his knees and looking straight in front of him.


    Sirius wasn’t thinking of anything in particular. Not one bit curious about the place he was in or how his bed disappeared out of nowhere, he was dreamily wondering whether or not someone would realize he was missing or if he would disappear from the surface of the earth just like those cold cases.


    Then, his drifting thoughts led him to think about his parents.


    Would they ever know that their disappointing son had, one day, noiselessly disappeared? And even if they did come to learn about it, would they feel sad about it? Would they feel like searching for him?


    With schadenfreude, Sirius thought that they would probably think that he had searched for this outcome. He was convinced that they would not even feel the slightest drop of sadness. Maybe they had dearly loved him at some point but this love was buried alongside the little boy desperate for the acknowledgement of his parents.


    His hazy conscience that kept getting fainter suddenly caught the unusual movement of the empty space. At first, it was faint, barely a ripple of a nearly imperceptible light that made Sirius wonder if he had finally snapped and had started to hallucinate.


    Thus, when the semi-transparent panel fully materialized in front of him, he didn’t show any surprise. It was only when he started skimming through the content of the strange panel that astonishment appeared on his face.


    If Sirius had to put a word on his feelings, he would be unable to do so. The nonsensical things that had happened so far had made him angry, confused, hopeless…


    But, this type of situation, this type of game-like system panel that forced him to accomplish a quest, gave him a strong sense of déjà-vu.


    Wasn’t it similar to a novel he had previously started reading? Titled, Woke up, I became the notorious’ villain wife, it told the story of Irma. Hit by a car, she didn’t immediately die but instead, found her soul floating on top of her body. She also wasn’t alone, a ball of light was by her side and introduced itself as a system capable of bringing her back to life. To do so, Irma would have to transmigrate into a certain novel and accomplish the tasks given by the system. Since she didn’t want to die she agreed to the system and was thus transported into the world of the novel where she had to follow the system’s instruction.


    Left speechless, Sirius didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He needed some time to process everything but, as if aware of his state of mind, the system -it seemed appropriate to call it that way- started to urge him by flashing several times.


    At last, Sirius seriously focused on it and by the time he was done reading, he had a poker face.


    Welcome to the world of My white knight.


    The host prayers have been answered.


    You will now be able to help the wronged villainess.


    It has been detected that the host felt that the villainess should have ended up with her fiance.


    The ‘wronged villainess also deserves happiness’ system has thus chosen you to restore her happiness.


    How is it? Being able to be the perfect toolman to help your favorite character must make you overjoyed!


    The weirdly enthusiastic punctuation at the end contrasted sharply with the robotical, emotionless-like tone of the beginning.


    Sirius, who had gone through a remarkable variety of feelings during a short time, finally let out a hearty, “F*ck yourself, what’s up with those so-called ‘payers’?! I’m just a normal dude with common sense so of course I’d find this story weird !”


    How is it? Being able to restore commonsense in a brainless story, does this thought make your heart race?


    In front of his very eyes, the system seamlessly and shamelessly changed the content of its last paragraph.


    This time, Sirius could only say “...”.


    Like a deflated balloon, Sirius felt that his anger and unwillingness were probably nothing more than an ant''s cry in the eyes of the system.


    With this constatation, Sirius tried to focus on his current predicament and not to get overwhelmed by all those confused and ever-merging mess of feelings.


    “Hold up now?”, he tentatively said and seeing that the system didn’t write anything else, he boldly continued. “Let me get things clear… Are you telling me that I’ll have to go to a different world? But why? Why should I go to another world, I’m perfectly happy with the world I’m in and I don’t think I died…?”


    The host is correct about the assumption that he will be going to another world.


    As for the other questions, the answer was already told earlier, it is to help the villainess achieve happiness.


    The system then had a subtle pause, as if trying to gauge which answer would be appropriate for his last question.


    Although the host didn’t die, since the system has already binded to the host,


    It is impossible to refuse this mission.


    However, fret not, once the host has accomplished his task,


    He will promptly be sent back to his own world at the exact time he left it


    and he can also keep the magic skills that he acquired in the other world.


    “Despite this tempting offer”, Sirius said with his voice dripping with sarcasm.


    He then tried to advocate for his cause, “Is there really no way to not do this? Can’t you find someone else… For example my coworker, Veronica. I’m sure she would be over the moon if she’s given this opportunity so… think about it.”


    Regretfully, the system wasn’t convinced and new words quickly appeared on the panel.


    The process of binding cannot be undone.


    If the host really wishes to go back to his world, there’s only one way:


    Let the villainess reach the pinnacle of life alongside her childhood sweetheart.


    And do not worry, the host’s role is really simple. The character that the host will replace is also named Sirius and is the devoted follower of the villainess. Unimpressive in every way, he’s a solitary and silent person that rarely makes an impression on other people to the point that even the villainess sometimes forgets about his presence.


    The host’s role is also very simple. While interacting with the characters, tasks will be issued. The tasks may come from everyone as long as it is judged that they can impact the happy ending of the villainess.


    Similarly to a game, the host will be given the choice to accept or refuse to fulfill the task. However, please note that the choices made will directly impact the future.


    PS: some tasks are inevitable and refusing to accomplish them will result in a punishment and in the system forcibly taking the control of the host.


    Flummoxed, Sirius wondered about how the system could qualify a task as “unavoidable” while a choice was possible for the others.


    It was quite puzzling and Sirius faintly felt that there was more than meets the eyes behind the possibility of making a choice and that the results of those choices wouldn’t necessarily be in his favor.


    Holding his forehead with the palm of his hand, Sirius asked, “Then it is like a game, right? By making different choices the “likes” and “dislikes” of the characters will vary and it will influence the ending…? Will there be safe points in case I made the wrong choice?”


    However, the system bespoke his unsaid fears, as if telling him that his pathetic attempt at probing information by using a roundabout speech was seen through and put to light.


    The world of My white knight isn’t a game. Thus, there’s no such thing as ‘reloading’.


    If the host makes the wrong choices and ends up in a difficult position or even dies, the system will not give him a second chance.


    “What does this mean?!”, Sirius blurted out with vivid ire written all over his face, a rare loss of control over his feelings which betrayed his usual appearance.


    Indifferently, words continued to appear on the panel.


    The host does not need to concern himself with the details but the host needs to remember that this world is as real as his own world.


    A friendly reminder: the thoughts and actions of the protagonist of My white knight may differ from their bearing in the game as they’re real people whose thoughts cannot be 100% accurately predicted.


    By then, despite being still angry, Sirius knew that it would be useless to throw a tantrum here and there. The system was clearly hiding something crucial from him and wouldn’t tell him, no matter what.


    Still, with the mentality of “give it a try, you never know what may happen”, Sirius questioned the system, “Alright, understood. However, I feel like it would be nice to explain why I absolutely need to interfere and make sure that the villainess reaches her happy ending.”


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    This information is unrelated to the host task.


    The host solely needs to focus on the villainess and her happiness.


    “Fire”, Sirius conceded defeat. “Then can you assure me that I will go back to my world after accomplishing this task?”


    Of course, the system guarantees that the host will go back as soon as he has completed the mission.


    While reading the answer, Sirius inwardly swore at the system.


    He didn’t even know what the characters of My white knight looked like, how was he supposed to accomplish this mission?


    Was this broken system trying to trap him in this world?


    At this point, he didn’t even care about how the system could exist or what was his purpose. He just wanted to go back to his world and tell the villainess that she could go rot in hell for all he cared.


    He strongly regretted having listened to Veronica. If he had known, he would just have ignored her, like always and would have never known about the existence of this game.


    Alas, it was too late to regret everything.


    Probably having guessed why Sirius had felt silent, the system updated.


    If the host is worried about not recognizing the main cast of My white knight, those worries can be put aside because the competent system will indicate their name and their role.


    “Ok then. Let’s do it. But I better go back to my world after this ridiculous masquerade has ended.”


    Please prepare yourself, the process of crossing over another world may make the host dizzy or experience symptoms of nausea.


    Sirius was halfway through coldly sneering when his surroundings started to distort. Instinctively closing his eyes to escape this strange sight, he experienced a brief sensation of floating which made him feel nauseous, just like the system had predicted.


    When the situation around him stabilized, Sirius didn''t immediately open his eyes. Still dizzy and unwell, he tried to inhale and exhale slowly. After a few minutes, sensing that his nausea had receded, he finally opened his eyes.


    The surroundings had radically changed. He was now in a spacious looking study. Standing behind someone he could not see, in front of him were several ladies that were sat around a round glass table -presumably having their tea-time, looking at the prominent teapot at the center of the table, the teacups in front of each of the ladies and the plate full of various snacks-.


    Against the dark red of the mahogany chairs, their colourful dresses seemed even more vivid and exquisite, a clear indication that they came from a rich background.


    Despite looking like they were having a conversation, the scene was totally still and silent.


    It was a strange sight, as if he was looking at extremely realistic looking sculptures and not real human beings. It made one feel uneasy.


    Before Sirius had further time to look at who was the person he was standing behind, the scene abruptly resumed, similarly to a movie where the button ‘resume’ had been pressed.


    Immediately, the world came back to life, not letting him the time to truly process that in the blink of an eye he had been transported to another world.


    Thankfully, the familiar scene of girls gossipping between each other somewhat reassured him. At least, there would be some familiarity with the environment.


    Though Sirius really felt out-of-place, he resisted the urge to excuse himself to leave the room. Trying to focus on the ongoing conversation, his expression turned subtle very fast.


    Indeed, the ladies were currently engrossed in discussing the boys they were interested in. Sirius wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to feel aggravated or not because, clearly, the ladies considered him as a part of the background.


    On one side, he was happy to not have to interact so soon with the people from this world. On the other, it was still somewhat vexing to have the status of “furniture”.


    “Either way”, Sirius distractedly thought, “From the system’s own words, I’m just here to be a toolman, a perfect nobody…”.


    The thought of being as remarkable as background characters who only appeared for a fraction of seconds in movies reinvigorated Sirius.


    Feeling that there was still justice in this world, Sirius was thankful that his task hadn’t been to become stupid like “become the crown prince” or “gain the love of the heroine”.


    With this new state of mind, Sirius, who was habituated to feeling bored, patiently waited on the side. As for the ladies, they were still passionately talking about the same subject of conversation.


    While waiting, Sirius took advantage of this opportunity to observe the three ladies that were in front of him. They were all rather plain, neither particularly pretty or ugly. Thanks to their pretty dresses and well combed hair, they still had a certain charm. However, it was only the type of charm that could catch one’s attention for a determined period of time.


    The discussion of the ladies was endless. Despite having spent some time examining them, when Sirius focused back on their talk, they were still talking about the boys they were interested in as if they couldn’t get enough of saying the same thing over and over again.


    As soon as one lady stopped talking to take a sip of the tea -that had most likely turned cold-, or to take a bite into one of the snacks, another would take over.


    Only the lady whose Sirius could not see was silent. Giving the false impression that she might be ignored. However, Sirius dared not to entertain the idea that this lady was one of his “kind”. After all, looking at the attitude of the other ladies, it was clear that they were trying to please her. Indeed, they kept covertly looking in the direction of the villainess and they had a certain look in their eyes, a mix of reverence and disquietude poorly dissimulated, that made it even more apparent.


    Although he couldn’t directly confirm his suspicions, he had already assumed that the mysterious lady was the villainess. After all, the system had told him that the person he would replace was the devoted follower of the villainess. And as a devoted follower, there was a high chance that he would spend most of his time near the villainess.


    Speaking of, it wasn’t sure where the original owner of the body had gone.


    The system had told him that it would send it back at the exact same time he had left his world but what about this unlucky owner? Had he just evaporated out of thin air?


    While his mind was wildly swirling around with all sorts of guesses, Sirius was forcibly brought back from his daydreaming by a loud bang.


    Surprised, Sirius blinked twice before focusing on the source of the sound. Seeing how the three ladies horrifyingly looked in his direction, he belatedly realised that they were in fact looking at the villainess.


    “T-that… Of course I may have been mistaken…”, the girl with the freckles cautiously said, clearly feeling anxious.


    “That’s right”, her friend chimed in. “After all, it was dark and Susu was really tired so…”


    “Enough.”


    The voice cut through their tentative explanation like a sharp razor and even its innate mellowness couldn’t hide the extreme iciness contained in this sole imperative.


    Then, still with the same tone, the girl raised a finger and pointed it toward the freckled girl: “Susan, I wonder why you would tell me such a thing and then immediately contradict yourself. Are you maybe trying to make me mad?”


    The atmosphere was heavy with the veiled anger of the girl. It was suffocating and even though Sirius wasn’t the one concerned by her wrath, it was as if an invisible force was trying to crush every person present in the room.


    “A-ah…”, under pressure, Susan was incapable of answering.


    Her mouth kept opening and closing, like a fish trying in vain to breathe. Instinctively, she looked toward her friend and her pleading eyes.


    However, her friend was as immobile as a statue. Her eyes were stubbornly stuck toward Sirius’ direction and even though they slightly twitched, it seemed that she didn’t dare -or couldn''t’, look in the direction of the other.


    At this moment, the appearance of the person that had remained hidden until now was finally revealed.


    Indeed, the main villainess had slowly stood up and Sirius could see fiery silky red hair cascading down her back in a thick braid adorned with pearls.


    Floating on top of her head, the same semi-transparent panel Sirius was familiar with crudely displayed, ‘The villainess: Selina’.


    Towering over the other girls who could only honestly shrink, Selina cynically inquired, “Judith, I see that you still baby Susan very much. Since you have such a desire to protect her, maybe you should consider becoming a knight.”


    “Well I …”, Judith hesitantly answered, “It’s just that… her parents asked me to take care of her… and I…”


    “Alright”, Selina simply answered.


    Then, she turned around and SIrius could finally see her full appearance.


    Selina’s appearance was truly worthy of praise. Her eyes were as vibrant as her hair, like two freshly bloomed poppies.


    She was nothing like the crazy and desperate person Sirius had portrayed.


    On the contrary, she had a pearl-like appearance. She was like an unscathed asiatic lily, proudly showing her beauty yet totally unaffected by the rest of the world. She had the bearing of someone who always got what she wanted and that no one could ever tame.


    Seeing her like that made it impossible to foretell that without Sirius, she would have been doomed to lose everything because of the heroine.


    “Sirius.”


    Hearing her dissatisfied tone, Sirius answered a tempo later with a lackluster look: “Yes?”


    Then, as if possessed by some ghosts, words smoothly flew out his mouth, “Excuse me, I was just thinking about the girl and about inviting her for a cup of tea.”


    In response to those words, Selina’s expression eased and the tension around the room also slightly lowered.


    With a dismissive wave of her hand, she said, “Forget it, she does not deserve to enter my sight.”


    While Sirius was mulling over the words he hadn’t meant to say but that had instinctively left his mouth, the heavy atmosphere had already dissipated.


    Selina was now boredly observing him, making him a bit uncomfortable. It was a probing gaze and in the deep red eyes, he could only see a melange of pity, indifference and contempt.


    “You know Sirius”, I really don’t understand why I still keep you by my side”.


    To this, Sirius really wanted to say that she really didn’t need to keep him by her side. He wasn’t the original owner and despite her great beauty, he really wasn’t willing to become one of her minions.


    “If I think about it, you’re really uninteresting, awkward and despite having been by my side for a long time, I still need to always explain everything to you everything”, she added in a pensive tone, mostly talking to herself. “The only redeeming quality I can find in you is your loyalty.”


    Sirius stayed silent. He really had no idea about what he was supposed to say.


    He was cutting a sorry figure with his lowered eyes and his lusterless expression. It was quite similar to the expression a child would make, knowing he was wrong but unable to understand why.


    Losing interest in talking with him, Selina diverted her gaze, falling onto the window. There was nothing worth seeing but she refused to look again at Sirius, feeling like, by looking at him for too long, she would be infected by his stupid appearance.


    “Forget it”, she magnanimously snided. “Our girls’ conversation must be boring…”


    “No-”, Sirius instinctively started to deny her.


    “...So you should probably go over to Azrael''s side and tell me if he’s still with this girl”, she had nearly spat out the last two words. Her expression had also turned somber with her forehead creasing into aversion.


    However, this time, the atmosphere was still. The three girls’ facial expressions were still numb from Selina’s previous anger but there wasn’t the same obvious fear from before. They were clearly accustomed to her volatile feelings.


    After Selina dismissed him, no one paid Sirius any more attention. He was back to being the invisible man. Thus, even when he opened and closed the door with an audible sound, not a fleeting gaze was thrown in his direction.


    Once he was alone in the hallway, Sirius’ tense body relaxed. He hadn’t thought that interacting with the villainess would be so nerve-wrecking. Maybe it was due to this body’s familiarity with her but as soon as her eyes had fallen upon him, his body had instinctively tensed up and he had felt a distinct mix of nervousness and excitement.


    Now that he was able to breath, he dully looked around him and was left surprised.


    The hallway was very clean and richly decorated. It was divided in two parts with one side that gave view on a huge courtyard and the other that gave on a series of doors identical to the one he had just closed.


    On the walls, there were tapestries that each represented a different person. Finely embroidered, the images were so lifelike that Sirius wouldn’t have been surprised if the character represented suddenly started moving. On the windows’ side, there were little white wooden tables with vases full of blooming and vibrant flowers which diffused a sweet odour that permeated the whole hallway.


    As Sirius started to walk down the hallway and pondered about really going to look for Azrael, a familiar panel popped out in front of his eyes.


    Character Selina gave you a task: go see what Azrael is up to.


    (Confirmed)


    As soon as his eyes fell upon the ‘(Confirmed’) Sirius’ eyebrows twitched. Even if the trashy system had told him earlier on that some tasks were inevitable, being immediately confronted with one of them left him with a bitter taste in the back of his throat.


    A bit annoyed, he tried to make the panel disappear with a vague movement of his hand and, to his surprise, it actually disappeared.


    Knowing that accomplishing the task was inevitable, Sirius’ walk noticeably slowed down in a vain attempt of delaying going down the glass staircase that was becoming closer and closer as he approached the other side of the hallway.


    He was really reluctant to search for someone whose appearance he didn''t even know. Selina hadn’t even given him any lead so he already guessed that he was doomed to aimlessly wander the school in hope of finding this damned Azrael.


    When Sirius was only a few steps away from the staircase, the last -or first depending which way you look at it- door opened right in front of him, nearly hitting him directly in the face.


    Bemusedly looking at the dark wood of the door that was a mere centimeter away from his skin, Sirius even forgot to let out a sound of complaint.


    Meanwhile, unaware that he had nearly knocked out someone by opening the door so sharply, a blonde-haired student bowed deeply, beads of sweat rolling down from his temple. His eyes were slightly dilated and he said with distress, “I’m really sorry! I will make sure that everything is resolved by tomorrow!”


    But the person he was talking to inflexibly answered, “In one hour, I’ll personally make sure that the problem has been resolved.”


    “But…”, the student started to say before shutting up with a fretful expression.


    “His highness is counting on you so I hope you won’t disappoint him.”


    The voice tingled agreeably in Sirius’ ears. It was velvety and deep and contrary to Selina’s voice, despite the audible sharpness that belied the steeliness of his owner, it didn’t give this sense of aggression.


    However, the student obviously didn’t share this opinion. He immediately started to furiously nod, like a little chicken pecking rice and answered with urgency, “O-of course not! Don’t worry butler Nayaz, I will make sure everything is perfect!”


    After saying those words, the blonde haired student hurtled down the stairs, nearly tripping but still didn’t stop and quickly disappeared from sight.


    Silence fell upon the hallway and Sirius hesitated about going down the stairs or waiting for this “Butler Nayaz” to go back inside his room. He didn’t want to look like he had purposely eavesdropped on their conversation but casually passing in front of the other person would still betray the fact that he had been secretly listening to their conversation.


    It felt like an eternity before a sound was again heard in the hallway. Indeed, rather than going back into the room, the named “butler Nayaz” had silently bypassed the opened door to come face to face with Sirius.


    There was a deafening silence in the hallway.