Help! I'm the Plot Device: Just Here to Save the Heroes

The Fine Print Killed Me

Yan An stared at the letter for a long time. For the first time in years, he smiled bitterly.

A debt to the boy whose name he bore.
A grudge to the man who stole his family.

He would settle both.

And on the night of the Crown Prince's wedding, shadows stirred on the palace rooftops.

🧶

The Forgotten Prince

It was here, in the book's pages, that Jerry stumbled across another name.

Prince Zhao Yi Chen, the son of the Crown Prince Zhao Yuan Zhao's uncle.

Jerry blinked. "Huh? Who's this guy? I don't remember him mentioned anywhere else..."

The book explained. Prince Chen, bitter and jealous of Yuan Zhao, once tried to frame him for treason by planting false evidence in his chambers. That night, while sneaking across the rooftops, he slipped and fell to his death.

The Crown Prince was spared suspicion. The empire remained stable.

And Prince Chen became nothing more than a convenient scapegoat.

Jerry snorted. "Wow. A whole prince written just to die so the main character looks untarnished. What a pity. Talk about cannon fodder."

🧶

Jerry squinted at the brittle parchment. His thumb brushed the torn edge where several pages had once been bound, the ragged gap yawning like a missing piece of truth. He read the pages that remained in the book.

The crown prince, once spoken of with pride, had taken the throne and become a tyrant. On the very day of his coronation, he cast his father into the dungeon, accusing him of treason, and ordered his execution. Fear strangled the country-no one dared to speak against him, yet every whispered prayer carried the same wish: his downfall.

And behind him, like a shadow fanning the flames, stood the queen dowager, Lady Liang Fei. Elegant, sharp, and merciless, she was not merely his consort but the hand that steadied his cruelty.

Jerry's finger traced the words as he read on.

The cat demon, Li Jie, appeared before Lady Liang Fei, his golden eyes hard, like a blade unsheathed.

"Stop this madness," he warned, voice low with fury. "If you continue, you will end with nothing but ash."

Lady Liang Fei laughed softly, almost wistfully. "Ash? This country gave me everything and caged me all the same. Because of its laws, because of its chains-I could never live the life I dreamed of. So I will bring it down with me. Let it all burn."

The Li Jie's claws flexed, but his voice was steady. "If you wish to ruin Zhao Yuan Zhou, I will stand beside you. But the moment you turn your hand toward the innocent, I will stand against you."

The page ended. Jerry turned it quickly-

-but the next was torn.

"What the-" he muttered, flipping forward. More were missing, ragged edges where words should have been. Then the story picked up again-

Zhao Yuan Zhou and the Li Jie clashed beneath a blood-red sky, blades and claws painting ruin across the battlefield.

"You want me to believe you never meant to harm me?" the cat demon roared. "After you annihilated my entire clan?"

Yuan Zhao staggered, fell to his knees, the demon's sword at his shoulder. His sword forgotten, his armour stained with dirt and blood.

"I never wanted this," Yuan Zhou rasped. "I never wished to harm you. I only wanted you to-" He broke off, his jaw tightening. Then, with hollow resolve, he whispered, "If killing me will let you forgive me... so be it."