Rolling in Bed with the Male Lead

Richard had never once in his life considered being with a man.

Not only did he have no such preference, but he had never even entertained the thought of liking anyone other than Daphne in the first place.

Even throughout forty-eight regressions, he had only ever loved one woman with desperate devotion.

But—

What if he succeeded in seducing Cailus?

What if he stole him away before Daphne married him?

The original "story" would be derailed.

Cailus would not marry her, and she would meet another good man. Naturally, something like her taking her own life would never happen.

It would be a true "happy ending."

I’d rather die than be with someone like him.

Of course, Richard disliked Cailus.

And Cailus undoubtedly felt the same way about Richard.

"The second son of the Friedrich family."

"How interesting. I heard you attended this banquet as Lady Beatus’s partner?"

The nobles whispered as they watched Richard appear in the center of the banquet hall.

Cailus was her former fiancé, while Richard was the man who had accompanied her as her new partner to her first banquet since returning to High Society.

It was the first meeting between the two men surrounding Daphne Beatus.

From this day onward, the ill-fated relationship between Cailus and Richard would begin.

But—

The corners of Richard’s mouth twisted upward.

Smiling crookedly, he strode forward.

For Lady Daphne...

For her,

There was nothing Richard would not do.

Even if it meant seducing the rival he hated most in the world.

"My goodness. He’s heading toward His Highness and Lady Beatus."

"Indeed..."

Daphne stood coldly in the center of the banquet hall, while Cailus knelt before her and pleaded.

Without hesitation, Richard stepped directly between them.

"!.."

Cailus’s brow furrowed for a moment.

Seeing the openly hostile gaze directed at the newcomer, Richard smiled brightly.

"Your Highness."

His long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings.

Richard met the gaze of Daphne’s former lover head-on.

"I would appreciate it if you no longer approached Lady Beatus."

A voice that was gentle yet cold flowed from his lips.

It sounded like a clear warning.

A warning not to approach her again.

"!.."

"Good heavens..."

The gazes of everyone gathered in the banquet hall shot toward them at once.

What an interesting arrangement.

His Highness the Crown Prince, Lady Beatus’s former fiancé, and the young master of Friedrich, the new partner she had brought with her.

A battle of nerves between the two men.

With such a spectacle unfolding, no one cared about anything trivial.

Anticipating what kind of confrontation would follow, even the nobles on the second floor of the banquet hall leaned against the railing and stared down below.

"I’m not sure what you mean."

"I mean exactly what I said."

Richard answered with the same pretty smile still on his face.

"As a man, I cannot help but feel jealous."

At that moment, the banquet hall fell utterly silent.

Then whispers began to bloom.

"He must mean that, since she is his woman, His Highness should stay away."

"To think the second son of the Friedrich family had such a forceful side... How surprising."

The nobles’ eyes sparkled as each of them murmured a comment.

Although the atmosphere prevented them from speaking loudly, since the Crown Prince stood at the center of the commotion, they could not allow themselves to miss such an entertaining spectacle.

Now, what would he say...?

They held their breath.

Would he declare himself Lady Beatus’s new fiancé?

Or would he warn Cailus never to speak to her again?

"..."

Enduring the gazes pouring toward him from every direction, Richard sneered inwardly.

Sorry, but neither.

"Jealous?"

Meeting the red eyes warily sizing up Daphne’s new man, Richard recalled the past.

No matter how hard he tried to crush and break his opponent,

No matter how desperately he struggled to win even once,

As the second male lead, he could never defeat the male protagonist.

So, if he couldn’t break him...

I’ll take you instead, Cailus.

Richard slowly opened his mouth.

"I..."

Tension spread as everyone focused on his next words.

Richard deliberately flushed and hesitated for a moment.

Then, with a single sentence, he shattered everyone’s expectations.

"...have actually harbored feelings for His Highness the Crown Prince for a long time."

Clang!

A wineglass slipped from the hand of one of the watching nobles and rolled across the floor.

"W-What did he say?"

"He harbors feelings for His Highness the Crown Prince?.."

The nobles’ mouths fell open.

Some looked as though their eyes were about to pop out.

"?.."

Cailus also seemed quite taken aback.

No.

He was utterly stunned.

His expression went blank, and his lower lip trembled faintly.

"What did you say?"

Richard smirked and slowly bent at the waist, lowering himself to eye level with the kneeling man.

"I said I harbor feelings for you, Your Highness."

Then he stealthily took hold of one of Cailus’s wrists.

Toward the filthy back of his hand...

No.

Toward Cailus’s hand, Richard lowered his lips.

The distance between them narrowed.

It was just before Richard’s lips could touch him.

"!.."

Cailus shuddered violently, like a cat struck by lightning, and snatched his hand away.

He sprang to his feet and glared at Richard with contempt, his entire body trembling.

As though he had nearly touched something filthy.

"..."

Richard watched him with cold, sunken eyes.

The corner of his mouth curled upward slightly.

It was unpleasant for both of them, after all.

"Why do you reject me, Your Highness?"

"Hah."

His red eyes wavered, unable to conceal their agitation.

"What sort of nonsense is this?"

His expression seemed to ask whether Richard had gone mad.

"What sort of nonsense...?"

Richard pretended to be hurt and lowered his eyes.

Thanks to his eyelashes, longer and more beautiful than those of most women, he looked remarkably pitiful.

"Even if you are the empire’s little sun, it wounds my heart when you trample upon my sincerity like this, Your Highness."

The problem was that, thanks to that pitiful appearance, Richard looked completely sincere.

In other words, to everyone else, Richard appeared to have genuinely lost his mind.

"Has the young master of Friedrich gone mad?"

"He truly seems out of his mind."

The nobles whispered, their faces rapidly paling.

"Haa."

Cailus, who had been sighing repeatedly as though trying to regain his composure, bit down hard on his lower lip.

He pointed a finger at Richard and spoke.

"You are a man."

...And so am I.

The omitted words were obvious to everyone.

"What is the problem?"

Richard tilted his head innocently, as though he truly did not understand.

He could feel Daphne’s scrutinizing gaze from behind him, but Richard decided to focus on the conversation before him.

He had to achieve his objective, after all.

"Because..."

Cailus stopped, seemingly unsure where to even begin.

"..."

As though dealing with Richard had given him a headache, he furrowed his brow and pressed his fingers against his temple.

After a moment of silent contemplation, he offered a simple and convincing answer.

"You are male. Your body is incapable of conception. Is that answer sufficient?"

"..."

It was a reasonable reply, one that strongly implied he had no desire to continue such a foolish argument.

But Richard merely rolled his round eyes, as though he still did not understand.

"Conception, you say."

Of course Richard knew as well.

A child could not be conceived between two men.

Marriage between men did not even exist under imperial law, and moreover, Cailus, as the Crown Prince, needed an heir.

But what was the problem with that?

"I will try my best."

You’ll have to be with me no matter what.

Whether you like it or not, that is how it will be.

I’ll make it so.

Because it is for Lady Daphne.

"?.."

Cailus stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

Richard amiably crinkled the corners of his eyes and repeated himself.

"I said I will try my best."

The whispering intensified.

The nobles let out hollow laughs, each muttering something beneath their breath.

"Surely he cannot be serious?"

"He must be. But how could effort possibly...?"

The young master of Friedrich was clearly not in his right mind.

A man conceiving a child?

How could that possibly be accomplished through effort?

"..."

Cailus was so utterly dumbfounded that he could not say another word.

He simply froze in place.

"Haha."

Richard laughed shamelessly, like a man entirely without shame.

"I’ll try my best, so could you visit the mansion sometime when you are free? Or perhaps you could summon me to your bedchamber instead..."

Good grief.

As words that were painful to hear continued spilling from Richard’s mouth, the nobles squeezed their eyes shut.

"Richard Friedrich!"

A nobleman with a face flushed bright red came hurrying down the stairs.

"You—what are you doing right now?!.."

Unable to conceal his rising fury, the man rushed into the center of the banquet hall, grabbed the back of Richard’s head, and forced it down.

"My apologies. My sincerest apologies, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Please forgive the discourtesy committed by my illegitimate child."

He repeatedly bowed toward Cailus while holding Richard’s head down.

"..."

It was Richard’s biological father, Albert Friedrich.

Forced to bow, Richard secretly twisted his lips into a smirk beneath him.

"Well then, we shall take our leave..."

Still gripping Richard by the hair, Albert dragged him away like a sack.

His ears red with shame, he clenched his fist and spoke in a voice low enough for only Richard to hear.

Richard Friedrich, just wait until we return to the mansion.

It was a warning that Richard would suffer the moment they arrived home.

"Kuk..."

A laugh escaped Richard’s lips.

"Hahahaha!.."

Albert’s face flushed even darker.

Th-This bastard!.. Has he gone mad?!

He yanked Richard’s hair even harder.

Richard obediently allowed himself to be dragged away while continuing to laugh.

Ah.

I should have enjoyed that expression a little longer.

He recalled the face of his opponent, which was delightful even to think about.

That utterly dumbfounded expression on Cailus le Regnantia’s face!

It was truly a shame that Richard had not been able to look at it longer.

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