Return of Black Lotus system:Taming Cheating Male Leads-Chapter 141 --

System 427 immediately materialized, his small lion cub form appearing on her desk.

Heena rubbed her forehead tiredly. "System, if you ask me one more piece of nonsense right now, I will delete you on the spot."

The System trembled dramatically. "Host! I’ve been working so hard for you, gathering information, investigating mysteries, and the moment I appear, you want to delete me? How can you be so cruel?!"

Heena just scratched her hair in frustration. "Anyway, where have you been? Why have you been invisible for so long?"

The System’s expression shifted to something smug. "Host, I found it!"

Heena looked at him skeptically. "You always ’find’ something useless. What is it this time?"

The System sighed dramatically. "Host! I found out how the female lead Seraphina really entered the palace today!"

Heena leaned back in her chair casually. "Someone let her in because of her protagonist halo. That’s how these things always work."

"No, no, no, no!" The System shook his head frantically. "That’s not what I want to tell you, Host!"

He leaned forward, his tiny paws on her desk.

"Host, do you remember that when Seraphina came today and you literally humiliated her—I mean, you completely insulted her in front of everyone—there was ’no cosmic backlash’ against you?"

Heena paused.

She ’did’ remember. Yeah, that was strange.

Usually when protagonists were publicly humiliated, the world itself seemed to push back against whoever did it. Bad luck, accidents, sudden problems appearing out of nowhere.

But nothing had happened to her.

"So?" Heena prompted.

The System took a deep breath. "Host, I found that ever since you stripped Seraphina’s title and completely dishonored her family, the female lead has been running around desperately. And she found ’him’. She found ’him’!"

Heena rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "System, I swear to god—how many times have I told you? If you want to say something, say it ’clearly’. I don’t like this whole roundabout way of talking!"

The System sighed. "Host, that’s what I’m trying to tell you! She found the ’villain’! The villain who allowed her to enter the imperial palace today!"

Heena froze.

"What?"

"The villain!" the System repeated. "That man allowed her to bypass all security and enter the palace without an invitation!"

Heena stared at him. "Wait. Celeste—the original Celeste—was the ultimate villain of this story, right? And who else has the power to just let someone waltz into the imperial palace?"

The System looked at her with a deep, world-weary sigh that seemed far too mature for his cute lion cub appearance.

"Yes, Celeste was the main villainess of the story. But there was also a secondary villain—a manipulator who worked behind the scenes. He controlled things from the shadows and almost succeeded in destroying everything by the end of the original plot."

Now Heena was genuinely interested. She leaned forward. "Oh? And who is this mysterious puppet master?"

The System suddenly became very interested in the desk, avoiding her eyes completely.

Seeing this, Heena’s eyes narrowed. "Are you going to tell me, or should I just delete you now?"

The System covered his face with his tiny paws and said in a muffled voice:

"Um... you know him quite well, actually..."

Heena just sighed and reached for a glass on her desk, her intention clear.

Seeing this threat, the System squeaked and said quickly, "It’s Estov’s real husband! The one who’s been following him from world to world!"

Heena’s hand froze mid-reach.

"That general?" she said slowly. "The dragon-natured obsessive ex-lover who sent the porcelain head?"

The System nodded frantically. "Yes! Him!"

"DAMN IT!" Heena grabbed her hair in frustration. "Why the fuck is he interfering with me now?! I thought he was just here chasing Estov!"

The System looked at her carefully. "Well, it’s probably because you’re protecting his... um... ’better half’. So he was—"

"Wait, wait, WAIT." Heena held up a hand, staring at the System. "What word did you just use? What did you just call Estov?"

The System blinked innocently. "His better half?"

Heena looked at the System incredulously. "You... you’ve only been born a few years ago, and you’re already using grown-up romance terminology like ’better half’?!"

The System huffed. "Host, I’m a sophisticated system! I have access to countless romance novels and relationship dynamics across multiple worlds! Of course I understand terminology!"

"You’re a ’baby’," Heena said flatly. "A baby system using phrases like ’better half.’ It’s disturbing."

"I’m not a baby! I’m—"

"You gambled away five years of advance salary on overpriced snacks," Heena interrupted. "You’re a baby."

The System deflated. "...Host is mean."

Heena rubbed her temples, trying to process this new information.

"Okay. Let me get this straight. Estov’s crazy ex-husband—the one Estov is literally ’hiding’ from in a magically sealed room—is the secondary villain of this world. And he’s the one who let Seraphina into the palace."

"Yes, Host!"

"Why would he do that?"

The System shifted uncomfortably. "Well... in the original plot, the secondary villain wanted to destabilize the empire to draw out Estov. He thought if there was enough chaos, Estov would be forced to reveal himself to help. So he supported Seraphina’s rise to power, helped her gather the male leads, and basically assisted in destroying Celeste."

Heena’s eyes went cold. "So he’s using Seraphina as a tool to create chaos, which will force Estov out of hiding, which will let him capture Estov."

"Exactly!"

"And now that I’ve been protecting Estov and hiding him, this bastard is doubling down on helping Seraphina to accelerate the chaos and force Estov out faster."

"Yes, Host! You understand perfectly!"

Heena stood up and started pacing, her mind racing.

"This is a problem. A big problem. Because unlike Seraphina, who’s just a protagonist with a system, this guy is actually ’competent’. He’s a high-level cultivator from another world, he has actual strategic intelligence, and he’s completely obsessed with one goal."

"Getting Estov back," the System confirmed miserably.

"Which means he’ll do anything—’anything’—to create enough chaos to flush Estov out." Heena stopped pacing. "How powerful is he exactly?"

The System winced. "Um... very? He’s the kind of person who could level this entire palace if he wanted to. The only reason he hasn’t is because he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt Estov in the process."

"Fantastic," Heena said sarcastically. "So we have an overpowered interdimensional stalker supporting the protagonist, which explains why the cosmic backlash hasn’t been hitting me."

"Right! Because he’s been manually interfering with the world’s natural correction mechanisms to protect Seraphina!"

Heena sat back down heavily in her chair.

"Does Estov know his ex is here?"

The System nodded. "That’s why Estov is hiding in that sealed room. He sensed him the moment he arrived in this world."

"And the ex knows Estov is in the palace?"

"He suspects. But the magical wards your aunt put up are strong enough that he can’t pinpoint the exact location."

"Yet," Heena added grimly.

"Yet," the System agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment.

Finally, Heena asked, "What’s this villain’s name?"

"General Kaelen Drakos," the System said. "In the original plot, he was introduced as a mysterious powerful figure who appeared midway through the story. He claimed to be helping Seraphina out of a desire to see ’justice’ done, but really he was just using her to smoke out Estov."