No More Doormats
I had always hated doormat characters.
Watching some fool grin and hand over his hard-won achievements to others made me want to reach into the novel and slap him across the back. There was a limit to how far one could take being a pushover. Endless frustration plots were simply rude to the reader.
Yet this novel, The Kingdom's Flower, was different.
The supporting character was clearly a doormat overshadowed by the protagonist, but instead of rage, I felt pity. I kept reading, hoping against hope that he would finally snap, abandon the kingdom and his liege, and run.
His name was Raul Lentz.
The kingdom's hunting dog. A vassal house sworn to the von Valde ducal family. And the ever-loyal tool of the novel's heroine, Catherine von Valde.
“Raul, report this victory under my name. The elders of the house are expecting it.”
Catherine spoke without a hint of emotion to Raul, who had just returned from the front lines, bloodied and exhausted.
“Understood, Lady Catherine.”
A reply that sounded almost natural.
Raul had been raised that way since childhood. The Lentz family existed as the shadow of the Valde family; their lives and glory belonged solely to their liege. The brainwashing he had received from a young age had stripped away his sense of self.
Catherine was no different. She had been taught the same and accepted it as obvious.
“Thanks to the merits you earned this time, I will receive an imperial medal. Aren't you happy?”
“Your glory is my joy, my lady.”
While binge-reading the early chapters on my phone, I finally hurled the device across the room.
“No, you idiot! You should be the one receiving that medal! Your subordinates bled and died to secure that victory!”
Raul Lentz was one of the strongest characters in the story. Yet the man who possessed such overwhelming martial prowess was far too soft.
“If I were Raul, I wouldn't live like that. Not a chance.”
The injustice kept me awake. I picked up the phone again and opened the comments section, ready to add my own plea for Raul's escape, when a blinding flash and violent dizziness struck.
*******
“Raul? Are you listening to me?”
I lifted my head blankly. A black-haired beauty was looking down at me. She looked exactly like the illustration from the novel.
Catherine von Valde, the kingdom's war hero and Raul's eternal liege.
“About the merits this time. I said I would claim them for the sake of the family's honor. You have no complaints, right?”
I looked down at my hands. Rough, callused palms gripping a blood-stained sword.
This is the opening scene of The Kingdom's Flower that I was just reading.
I had possessed the body of Raul Lentz, the kingdom's greatest doormat supporting character—the very man I had been cursing moments ago. Whether this was a dream or reality, I still didn't know, but there was one thing I had to say.
“Heh.”
“Why are you laughing?”
Catherine frowned. Raul's reaction was clearly not what she expected.
Meeting her eyes directly, I spoke.
“I just had a sudden thought.”
“What thought?”
“Every time, I crawl through the mud like a dog while you sit back and steal all the credit.”
The air in the room seemed to freeze. Catherine's elegant brow twisted in displeasure.
“What did you just say?”
Her voice dropped low.
“Didn't catch that? Let me spell it out for you, one by one.”
Every injustice Raul had suffered flashed through my mind like a panorama.
“The recapture of Arkan Fortress. While my men scaled the walls in minus-twenty-degree cold, you were sipping warm tea in the rear tent. And who received the medal?”
“That was something you agreed to, for the family's honor—!”
“Agreed? More like brainwashed.”
“Shut your mouth.”
But I didn't stop. The flood of resentment poured out.
“What about the western rebellion suppression? When my subordinates had their limbs cut off because of the curse, what did you do with the reward money you received thanks to their merits? Oh, right—you bought a dress studded with jewels, didn't you?”
“Raul Lentz!”
Catherine's face flushed with shame and confusion.
“You've gone mad. How dare you speak such nonsense to your liege? Have you forgotten how the Lentz family received the Valde family's grace?”
“Grace? A dog would laugh. Your family has treated mine like hunting dogs for generations, sucking our blood dry. That's your idea of grace? Don't delude yourself, Catherine von Valde.”
I leaned in until my face was inches from hers.
“All this time, it wasn't because I was stupid or because you were so great that I endured. You simply gave me the chance to decide whether to treat me like a person or not.”
Smack!
The slap was so hard my head whipped to the side. A sharp sting bloomed across my cheek, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. At least now I knew this wasn't a dream.
Catherine glared at me, her hand still trembling from the force of the blow.
“Raul, do you not understand that your words disgrace the kingdom and my family?”
Her voice shook with fury.
“Don't think I'll let this pass. Not only you, but every member of the Lentz family connected to you will be torn apart. I'll make sure your pathetic clan learns exactly what treason feels like!”
The absurd threat made me chuckle.
“You're laughing? It seems you still don't grasp the situation.”
“Don't you remember the day I swore to serve you as my liege? What your family did to my parents right in front of me?”
“......What?”
“They dragged them into the square and executed them before my eyes. So that the Lentz family would never harbor any disloyal thoughts. Your father personally beheaded them, calling it an ancient custom to prove our loyalty.”
It was the scene that had disgusted me most while reading. Yet the perpetrator, Catherine, treated it as nothing. Or had she simply forgotten?
“You think there's still family left to kill? Go ahead, hunt down some distant relatives if you want. People I've never even met. Do whatever you like.”
Catherine grabbed me by the collar, her face twisting.
“......Get out.”
She shoved me away roughly, her fingers still trembling with rage as she pointed at me.
“Disappear from my sight this instant. I banish you from the kingdom. Never set foot here again. I don't even want to hear your name!”
“Wow, thanks for saying it first.”
I smirked. “I was already wondering how to leave without causing trouble. But are you sure about this?”
At this point in the novel, the kingdom was locked in a brutal war with the Empire. And the one who had made every impossible victory possible on the front lines under Catherine's command was none other than me—Raul Lentz.
Catherine snorted as if the very idea was ridiculous.
“Ha! You think you're that irreplaceable? Don't flatter yourself, Raul Lentz. Men like you are a dime a dozen. Your place will be filled by someone more competent by tomorrow.”
“Ah, I'm sure it will.”
I answered half-heartedly and turned my back.
“You won't leave here unscathed!”
Catherine's venomous voice chased after me as I began to walk away.
“The crime of abandoning your duties as a vassal house! And the crime of treason against your liege! I'll gather every charge, real or invented, and issue a wanted order. You won't breathe easy anywhere in this kingdom!”
“Take that time to find a subordinate more capable than me. The kingdom's army will be swarming in starting tomorrow—aren't you worried about who'll stop them in my place?”
“Who do you think I am?! I am the war hero who has led countless battles and wars to victory!”
Catherine shouted.
“If you're so great, try winning without me. The doormat who used to hand over his merits is gone now.”
“R-Raul, you……!”
Her voice trembled faintly behind me. I couldn't tell if it was rage or the shock of seeing the vassal she had believed would stay by her side forever finally break. Or was it regret?
Don't be ridiculous. That arrogant woman would never feel something like that.
I snorted and kept walking, refusing to define the tremor. Whatever expression she wore now, it no longer concerned me.
But the moment I stepped outside, practical worries flooded my mind.
What now?
The first thing that came to mind was the faces of the subordinates who had fought beside me. The Fenrir Unit. They were the elite force Raul had personally trained—second to none in the entire kingdom.
But I couldn't take them with me right now.
How would I even bring them along?
I had nothing left to lose, but they were different. They had aging parents waiting for news back home, wives and children in their arms.
They wouldn't be crazy enough to stake their families' lives on following me.
Even if some of them offered to come out of loyalty, I would have to refuse. It was better for me to leave alone, since I had nothing to lose.
Besides, we were at war. The high command and the imperial family were preoccupied with maintaining the front lines, so the longer I delayed, the worse it would get. If I was going to run, I had to do it quickly.
First, I need to eat to stay alive.
I checked my pockets and found a few gold coins. Thankfully, Raul—the fool—hadn't spent every last coin on his men's medical fees and equipment repairs. It was enough to last a few days.
I already know where I'm going.
A place beyond the reach of the kingdom's laws. A lawless sanctuary where only skill mattered and the past was irrelevant—a land of opportunity for those with strength.
Let's head to Luan, the mercenaries' holy land.
It was a place Raul had visited several times to clean up dirty matters for Catherine. There, even a kingdom wanted order would be nothing but a joke. More than that, it was the perfect place to build my own power base.