I Reincarnated As The Villain Of The Interstellar Empire [BL]

Ren was an ordinary guy on Earth who loved reading the popular interstellar BL novel *Empire of Thorns* — and hated its villain, Rafayal Miller: a beautiful, powerful, spoiled heir obsessed with the male lead, who sabotaged his career, tormented everyone around him, and eventually backed a rebellion that got him executed.

Then a truck killed Ren. He wakes up as Rafayal — engaged to the male lead, Grand Marshal Yegard, the Empire's coldest and most feared commander, with the same tragic ending waiting for him if he plays his role. Ren's response is immediate: he refuses to die for someone else's romance. He breaks the engagement (Yegard agrees without a fight — he never liked the real Rafayal), gives up his title, takes what money he can, and leaves the Capital with one plan: stay alive, stay rich, stay away from Yegard.

It doesn't last four hours. His transport crashes at the edge of monster territory — space beyond the Empire's control, home to alien creatures ranging from civilized and even friendly to hungry, dangerous rogues. Cornered by one, Rafayal's body moves on its own, awakening a hidden, dormant Sentinel rank buried in his bloodline. Yegard's rescue fleet is first on scene. Rather than let it go, Yegard offers Rafayal placement at a remote Sentinel training outpost he commands but rarely visits — technically still the “distance” Rafayal wanted, and a way to get his newly awakened power under control before it becomes a liability.

Rafayal reluctantly agrees, insisting nothing has changed. But as he starts a new life training among Sentinels, navigating the Empire's civilized/hostile monster spectrum, and slowly proving he isn't the man Yegard once despised, the distance between them keeps collapsing anyway.