Surviving A Novel I Don't Remember: A Tutor's Guide To Staying Alive

“If I can just stay out of the story, maybe I’ll survive.”

That was Julian Von Astrea’s only goal after waking up inside a novel as the unwanted illegitimate son of a marquis. Unfortunately for him, almost everyone in the capital seemed to hate him on sight.

In this world, every important character looks like the main hero of their own story—beautiful, talented, tragic, and terrifyingly powerful. Meanwhile, Julian feels like an extra character who accidentally wandered into the wrong book.

Then his Affection System appears and completely destroys his hopes of a peaceful life.

Every major character’s affection toward him?

Zero.

Not friendship. Not love. Not even basic human kindness. Just a very concerning lack of interest in whether he lives or dies.

So Julian does the smartest thing he can think of: he runs away from the capital’s drama and takes a quiet tutoring job for the young son of the Empire’s most feared Duke.

His plan is simple. Teach the kid, avoid attention, collect his salary, and survive long enough to die from old age instead of some tragic plot event.

At first, the job feels hopeless. The Duke’s son barely speaks, the cold Duke himself is almost never around, and the mansion feels more like a prison than a workplace.

But little by little, things begin to change.

The lonely child slowly opens up to Julian, and their lessons become the happiest part of the day. Even stranger, the Duke—known throughout the Empire for being distant and untouchable—starts paying attention to him.

A lot of attention.

Before Julian realizes it, the Duke’s affection level shoots up far beyond anything he expected, turning his quiet survival plan into something much more dangerous.

And just when Julian finally starts feeling safe, the Emperor himself begins taking an interest in him too.

Julian only wanted a peaceful life far away from the main story.

Too bad this world seems determined to make him the center of it.