Adrian, a 27 year old self proclaimed keyboard warrior lay in his bed as he read his favourite webnovel online.

A few minutes later, he dropped the phone beside his pillow and sighed.

"She suffered so much and yet, this single braincelled protagonist mindlessly went after her and killed her. The true villain here is the society and the people around her that shaped her into what she became." he muttered softly as he closed his eyes.

He had pulled an all nighter since his friend had told him that the author had posted the last Chapter that night and he pushed himself to read the last fifty plus Chapters the same night.

Soon, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep but in just a few minutes, his breathing stopped.

"Defendant Adrian Sterling." he heard a voice and immediately opens his eyes to find himself in a room that just didn’t make sense in the modern world that he was used to seeing. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Before he could take in the room’s appearance, the voice continued.

"The court has seen the proof. You have been unfaithful to your wife. You cheated on her with a servant, and due to the lack of evidence to deny these claims..."

The Judge looked down at his papers.

"We grant Marchioness Vaneira’s request. You are now divorced, but because you are the son of a Duke, we cannot leave you with nothing. You will be sent away to a piece of land called Oresfall and it will be a Barony with a dungeon. From today on, you are the Baron of that land."

The Judge then looked at the small girl sitting quietly in the corner.

"Also, Vaneira does not want the child. You must take your daughter, Aria, with you. She is your responsibility now. Any objections?" he asked as he finally looked up from his papers.

Adrian stared blankly as memories flooded into his brain and in just a few moments, he had a basic grasp of what was going on.

He was now the father of the final villainess of the novel he was reading just the night before and based on what he knew, he himself was a side villain that the main character would use as a stepping stone in the future.

Looking around, he spotted a girl who had familiar features to the character art he had seen before. But she was way younger now, almost 4 or 5 years old.

In the original story, Adrian who actually had the same name as him, ended up acting out of rage. He claimed that the girl was not his child and that there was no proof that she was his. Due to this, he ended up with nothing. No barony and no child either. Instead, he was banished from the empire entirely.

But now, it was different.

Adrian knew what would happen if he picked the same path.

"I accept." he said softly as he looked up at the judge. He also glanced at his now ex-wife Marchioness Vaneira who was smirking at him like she had won.

The judge on the other hand, let out a soft sigh of relief that almost no one noticed. He then picked up the mallet and banged the wooden plate in front of him.

"The court is adjourned."

A knight in immaculate steel armor escorted the child to Adrian before two others took the father and daughter duo towards a carriage.

As they got to the carriage, Adrian saw another person whom he recognized from the character art he had seen, which meant that this was an important one.

"Adrian..." the man muttered as Adrian walked up to him with his daughter.

Adrian nodded in response. The man in front of him was none other than his elder brother. He had luscious silver hair just like him, which ran in his family but this man was a sly fox in the novel and Adrian didn’t have many expectations.

"Your dukedom will have no connections to me from now right?" Adrian asked before the man could even speak and for the first time, the girl beside him looked up in surprise.

The corners of Duke Anderson’s lips twitched before he nodded.

"I’m glad you understand."

Saying that, he left.

Adrian looked down at his daughter, the one who ended up as the main villainess of the novel.

"Aria..." he said softly as he patted her head.

The girl was adorable, with the same hair as his own and large black eyes that weirdly felt like they weren’t that of an innocent child’s.

It was just a feeling but he pushed it aside. After all, she wasn’t mistreated yet.

Aria looked up at him and blinked twice, "Yes, father?"

’Right... etiquette. Call them all father instead of dad or papa... tch.’ he thought as he looked at the carriage.

"Let’s go..."

Once they got in, the driver in the front began to get the carriage moving forward.

Adrian looked at Aria in front of him and hesitated for a moment before speaking to her.

"Do you... really believe what your mother said?" he asked, his voice soft and tentative as he expected the worse.

The last thing he wanted, was for her to think that he was a scumbag cheater. Even though she was too young to understand what was going on.

"No, I believe father." she said and then looked out the window of the carriage.

Adrian let out a sigh of relief and did the same.

The little girl looked out the window but her thoughts were a complete mess.

"Didn’t he reject me last time... is this a parallel world? Or is this a dream?"