A Background Character's Path to Power-Chapter 90: Another Protagonist?

[Character Insight - Lv2 (Active)]

A translucent blue screen materialized in my vision as the skill activated, overlaying red haired guy’s retreating back with damning clarity:

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Alias: Nolan

True Name: Nolarien Vell’ael Tarethil

Affiliation: Male Lead / Moon Elf Prince

Present Goal: "Find the shop’s Manager and use his ability to manipulate him and enter the Knowledge Emporium."

Threat Level: ★★☆☆☆ (2 Stars)

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I exhaled through my nose. Good thing I grinded this skill to Lv2. Without it, I’d have dismissed him as just another arrogant noble. But a moon elf prince? With that "Male Lead" tag?

My fingers tightened around the now-cold teacup. The ceramic groaned in protest.

Two-star threat my ass. That rating only accounted for direct combat power. The real danger was in the details:

- Manipulative Charm: He’d hijacked the twins’ minds like turning pages in a book. Not to mention the fact that it was area effective, if it wasn’t for my high mental defenses, I wouldn’t be able to resist it either.

- Arrogance: The way he’d smirked after being called a pervert—like the insult couldn’t even touch him. Or it was exactly because the insult touched him.

- Disdain: That fleeting look of disgust when the human crowd jostled him.

And worst of all—Male Lead affiliation.

In this world’s screwed-up narrative rules, that meant plot armor thicker than dragon scales. If I tried to gut him now, some "guardian spirit" would probably materialize to block the strike while the System would spit out a [Fatal Error: Protagonist Integrity Compromised] warning.

And the last words I see would be - [You died.]

...Wait.

My eyes snapped back to the blue-haired girl now fussing with her skirt near the pastry counter. If Nolan was a Male Lead, then that cring "accidental fall" scenario...

Was that a forced meet-cute event? Was it called ’Tripping Into the Heroine’s Arms’?

I nearly crushed the cup from cringe.

The haughty prince "trips" into the clumsy commoner girl, their eyes meet, and bam—instant romance flag.

Or more accurately, he ’trips’ into a gorgeous girl in a staged coincidence, only to get verbally slapped with an insult and branded a pervert. And because this world runs on twisted narrative logic, he’ll fall head over heels precisely because she had the audacity to humiliate him.

Urgh, I really hate this trope.

This is worse than even those trashy villainess novels, I finished the thought with a mental grimace. The kind where the colder the heroine treated the male lead, the harder he fell. Disgusting.

Fortunately, I’d yanked the guy away before the trope could trigger. Though... that girl’s lingering gaze at me had been strange. Almost like—

No. Focus.

[Echo of Life] pulsed through the floorboards as I shadowed Nolan upstairs, my footsteps lighter than falling ash thanks to Zephyr’s "if you make noise, you drink another poison" drills. Ten meters back. Five. Close enough to see the way his shoulders tensed every time a customer laughed too loud, like their joy personally offended him.

Options: ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Confrontation - Risky. His charm magic might not work on me, but that "Male Lead" tag meant the universe itself would bend to keep him alive. I’d probably trip on a conveniently loose rug mid-strike.

Play Along - Let him "manipulate" me?

No. That’s risky too.

The last thing I needed was this entitled brat demanding I hand over the shop’s ledger or worse—forcing me into some elven political scheme.

A headache pulsed behind my eyes.

Just when my life was getting peaceful...

The world decides to throw a ticking bomb at my life, under the guise of an arrogant elven prince.

Urgh...

Look at the guy.

He didn’t hesitate at my office door. No knock, no courtesy—just a smooth turn of the handle and an arrogant stride into my office like he owned the place.

Spoiled princeling.

I waited three breaths. Let him get comfortable. Then—

"Didn’t your parents teach you to knock?" My voice cut through the room’s stillness as I stepped into the doorway. "Or are you just a thief with terrible manners?"

Nolan froze mid-step toward my desk, his crimson eyes widening a fraction. A satisfying sight—he is probably surprised that he couldn’t detect me.

Of course, because I spent the last month training my [Background Character Aura] to the point where I could sit on the same bench as someone and they’d assume I was part of the furniture.

Main characters like him?

They’re used to having the world revolve around them. They don’t notice things unless those things have theme music and dramatic lighting.

Unless... they know me.

Personally.

Like Aeron, Cassandra, or Zephyr.

"My apologies."

The elf prince recovered fast, his surprise melting into a smile sharper than a gutting knife. He gestured to the untouched tea set on the side table. "I assumed the Manager would welcome... valuable clients."

Ah. So that’s how you want to play.

I leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Clients bring business." My gaze dropped pointedly to his empty hands. "But you? You were clearly trespassing into someone else’s private room."

A flicker in his aura—irritation.

Good.

"Haha, hahaha!"

Nolan threw back his head and laughed, the sound like shattering crystal. His crimson eyes began glowing with an eerie lunar light, pupils elongating into slits.

I squinted. "Why are you laugh—"

My words cut off abruptly as my jaw locked. A foreign pressure wrapped around my mind like silk cords—his charm magic, slithering past my defenses.

Shoot.

"Heh. Acting so smart," Nolan chuckled, twirling a lock of red hair around his finger. The glow in his eyes intensified. "Are you the Manager?"

I rolled my shoulders slightly before answering in a deliberately flat tone: "Yes."

His lips curved. "Good. Then can you accept me into the shop?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." He stepped closer, the scent of frost and starflowers clinging to him. "What position will I get?" A deliberate pause. "Will you give me yours?"

The pressure increased.

With every ounce of willpower, I wrenched control of my tongue just enough to twist the answer:

"...No."

Nolan’s smile faltered. "Huh?"

The cords in my mind frayed as I struggled to fight back. But at the right moment, I seized the opening, letting my lips curve into the faintest smile.

"...I will give you another position."

Nolan leaned in, moonlit eyes narrowing. "Oh? Tell me what it is."

I exhaled through my nose and delivered the killing blow:

"...Janitor."