Rolling in Bed with the Male Lead

This world is utterly artificial.

It was a phrase Richard had heard long ago, back when he first witnessed their marriage.

It said that a "story," like water flowing from high to low, inevitably moves toward its predetermined "ending," and that every character has an assigned "role."

As if to prove those words, from a certain point onward, Richard’s life became exactly that.

Utterly artificial, strange, and unnatural, as though someone had deliberately crafted it.

He came to think of this world as a single "story."

He had no choice but to think that way. Over the course of dozens of regressions, Richard was forced to realize again and again that this was a "story."

That he was merely a "second male lead," born with the fate of being discarded,

That the heroine of this "story" was the woman he loved,

And that his hated rival was, in fact, the rightful male lead of this "story."

Just as the "story" dictated, she had married Cailus le Regnantia even the "first" time.

But had the two of them truly been happy after the ending?

They had not.

Her true ending was death.

A death by her own hand.

She had hanged herself.

Fastening a rope to the ceiling,

And stepping onto a stool herself.

Like someone who had completely despaired of her own life.

Her married life, which had seemed endlessly happy, had in reality been miserable.

Because of the man named Cailus le Regnantia.

Richard could not bear to watch her marry that man again.

Throughout dozens of regressions, Richard did everything in his power to defeat his rival, Cailus le Regnantia, and win her heart.

During the first regression, he mustered the courage to ask her on a date and diligently practiced swordsmanship to impress her.

Unlike the first time around, when he had not even dared to approach her properly, he actively courted her.

However,

"Daphne, I like you."

When he confessed to her in a field of flowers beneath the spring sun,

"Huh?"

What greeted him was her apologetic expression, as though she did not know what to do.

"Ah, ah, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Richard... I..."

She rejected Richard’s confession, and—

"Long live His Imperial Majesty!"

"Long live Her Imperial Majesty!"

...married the male lead, Cailus le Regnantia.

Then, not even a month later—

"It is said that Her Imperial Majesty has passed away."

She took her own life again.

"..."

During the second regression, he practiced swordsmanship even more diligently. During the third, like a dog that knew only its master, he did everything she liked.

"I’m sorry, Richard."

Yet this time as well, the one she chose was Cailus le Regnantia.

"It is said that Her Imperial Majesty has passed away."

And soon afterward, news of her death arrived.

During the fourth regression, he saved her from danger in place of the male lead.

During the eleventh, he even tried imitating the "male lead" by using an artifact to change the color of his hair and eyes.

But—

"Long live His Imperial Majesty!"

"Long live Her Imperial Majesty!"

The heroine always chose the male lead,

And Richard was discarded.

The reason was brutally monotonous and simple.

For that was the immutable nature of a second male lead.

She was the heroine of this "story," while he was merely the second male lead. Their positions had been fundamentally different from the very beginning.

The two of them being together was as impossible as the moon rising in the middle of the day.

But Richard did not give up.

Because he could not simply stand by and watch her take her own life again.

The principle that allowed him to return to the past had to be a divine revelation intended to prevent that tragic future.

During the sixteenth regression, he even tried introducing her to other men, and during the seventeenth, he begged her to please love him.

There was truly nothing he had not tried.

However, the ending did not change.

"I’m sorry, Richard. There’s already someone I have in mind."

No matter what Richard did, she never allowed him a place by her side.

Thus came the twentieth regression, the twenty-first, the twenty-second...

"Why?"

Richard gradually began to lose his mind.

How could fate be so cruel?

As the number of regressions increased, he became more desperate.

From the thirtieth regression onward, Richard was truly no longer in his right mind.

The Richard of the thirtieth regression...

It was enough to say that he had gone so mad that even his memories had flown away.

And so came the forty-eighth regression.

Before he knew it, Richard had reached a conclusion.

"I’ll kill him."

Cailus le Regnantia was the one who always made her unhappy.

What did he have to do to prevent her unhappiness?

If the cause of her unhappiness was removed, everything would be resolved.

"..."

Yes.

Kill him.

"Hah..."

Richard of the forty-eighth regression let out a rough, broken breath.

Beneath his palms, he could vividly feel the body growing cold.

Panting, Richard slowly tilted his head back.

"Hah, hah..."

The sky, shrouded in acrid smoke, was hazy.

A faint laugh seeped through his parted lips.

"Hah, hahaha!"

He burst into laughter again and again, like a madman.

Dead.

Cailus le Regnantia was finally dead.

Finally.

After forty-eight regressions, Richard had killed him.

The man who had always driven her ending toward misery.

It’s over.

It had been a long and arduous journey.

How hard had he struggled for this moment?

Those forty-eight regressions had been like a nightmare that refused to end.

But now, it’s truly over.

Since he is dead, she will no longer be unhappy.

So—

It’s all over.

This damned regression will now...

...finally come to an end.

If the god who had endlessly sent him back into the past had a purpose, then surely it had been to save her.

Richard let out a faint sigh and lowered his head.

CRACK—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE!

At that moment, a brilliant blue light flashed across his vision.

?!

Richard quickly raised his head.

The blue sky was clearly visible.

The smoke that had covered everything only moments ago had vanished without a trace.

Crackle—crickle...

A crack appeared in the sky.

Literally, a crack.

A spiderweb-like fissure.

Crackle—crickle—crickle—crickle!

The fissure spread in every direction, gradually growing larger.

As though it might shatter at any moment.

Before even a few seconds had passed, it happened.

Why?

It’s collapsing.

The sky.

That desolate sight unfolded across Richard’s lake-blue pupils.

The fragmented sky was literally crumbling apart.

Surely not.

No.

It was not the sky that was collapsing.

Because I killed the male lead?

The "plausibility" of the story was collapsing.

"Hah, hah..."

An empty, hollow laugh spilled from between his lips.

He felt utterly drained.

So killing him isn’t allowed either?

He had tried everything.

Begging.

Trying to seduce her.

He had tried it all, yet nothing had worked.

If even killing him wasn’t allowed...

What on earth...

What was he supposed to do...?

Sharp fragments falling at tremendous speed hurtled toward Richard.

He remained sitting there blankly, like someone who had lost his soul.

The falling debris drew closer.

A shadow fell over Richard’s head.

And thus came death.

Richard opened his eyes.

The chandelier, sparkling like the morning star, was dazzling.

The luxurious strains of string music and the murmuring voices of the crowd dug into his ears.

Again.

His dull, lifeless eyes moved around the room.

I’ve come back again...

He had returned once more to that day’s banquet hall.

"Hah..."

Richard let out a hollow laugh and lowered his head.

He raised one arm and roughly swept back the hair covering his forehead.

Damn it.

This was the forty-ninth regression.

As always, nothing was different in the slightest.

"..."

When he raised his head again, the face that resembled a gentle angel was twisted into a ferocious scowl.

"Oh my..."

"Look over there. His Highness is... to Lady Beatus..."

Whispered voices sounded close to his ear.

"..."

Richard looked in the direction of their furtive glances.

At the center of the banquet hall, where chandelier light poured down like a waterfall—

"Daphne."

There was Cailus le Regnantia in his days as crown prince, kneeling on one knee.

And—

"..."

Daphne, looking down at him with cold eyes.

"Can you not forgive me just once?"

He looked up at her.

His blood-red pupils flickered like candlelight in the wind.

"I regretted it every single day after you left. Won’t you come back to me?"

"..."

Richard’s face grew colder by the moment as he watched them.

Today was that very day.

The prologue of the story.

The day the male lead, Cailus le Regnantia, began to regret his actions toward the heroine.

"..."

Grind.

Richard’s tightly clenched molars ground together.

At the end of his gaze, which had suddenly sharpened like a blade, Cailus le Regnantia came into focus.

The sight of him kneeling before her, begging and admitting his wrongs.

"Cailus le Regnantia."

Cursed Cailus le Regnantia.

Why is it that no matter how many times I regress, I cannot save Daphne from you?

Should I kill him?

A chilling thought flashed through his mind.

Without thinking any further, Richard took a step.

His dull, watery eyes lost focus.

Because of you...

He had witnessed her death forty-eight times already.

He wanted to kill him.

He would kill him.

I’ll kill—

Just as Richard, as though possessed, began walking toward the center of the banquet hall, he suddenly stopped.

"..."

It’s useless.

Even if I kill Cailus le Regnantia, this accursed regression won’t end, and she will continue to die again and again.

And Richard will be forced to watch it happen again and again.

No.

Richard, standing frozen in the middle of the banquet hall, bit down hard on his lower lip.

He had to find a way.

A new method to prevent the two of them from ending up together.

Otherwise, once again...

"..."

But is there another way?

He had already tried everything he could.

Seducing her.

Killing Cailus le Regnantia.

There was nothing left now...

Blood trickled from his bitten lower lip.

A metallic taste touched the tip of his tongue.

His thoughts began spiraling in a negative direction, as though devouring him from within.

Damn it.

There’s no way left...

It was then.

His gaze caught sight of several people moving.

In one corner of the banquet hall,

Near the door leading to the terrace,

Two young noblemen with reddened ears glanced around furtively before pushing open the terrace door.

Their hands were clasped together.

Whispering into each other’s ears and bursting into laughter, they looked like a loving couple.

"?"

Richard’s brow furrowed slightly.

The strange atmosphere between them was palpable even from where he stood.

Had they been a man and a woman, they would have been considered a lovely pair.

But both of them...

No.

Though they were both men, they were most likely lovers.

Whether noble or commoner, people who secretly met with someone of the same sex were not entirely uncommon.

Well, it had nothing to do with him, but...

Just as he thought that and was about to turn his bored gaze away—

"!"

His eyes widened in an instant.

Richard stared, his gaze trembling violently, at the terrace door through which the two noblemen had disappeared.

"Haha, hah, hah..."

Richard let out a laugh that sounded absurd and hollow even to his own ears.

He quickly suppressed it when the surrounding nobles began glancing his way.

How had he failed to realize it all this time?

Right.

Until now, in order to prevent the two leads from ending up together, he had always tried to seduce her.

But seducing her was not the only way to keep the two leads apart, was it?

Thinking about it in reverse...

"..."

Cailus le Regnantia’s figure came sharply into Richard’s view.

Was there not also the option of seducing Cailus le Regnantia?

His head tilted slightly to one side.

A dangerous glint entered his watery eyes, making them shine vividly.

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