Rolling in Bed with the Male Lead

Understood.

"Phew..."

The man—no, Richard—slowly sheathed his sword. His black robe flapped violently in the cold wind. He scanned his surroundings.

The slave market lay in ruins. The guards and slave traders were sprawled in a wretched heap.

Should I have done this from the start?

Richard’s face hardened subtly.

He had learned to wield a sword with exceptional skill over the course of dozens of regressions. No, even "exceptional skill" might have been an understatement. He was a regressor, after all.

And yet, the reason he hadn’t used his strength from the beginning was to avoid leaving any loose ends...

But I could have just killed them all.

There was a simple way. Cover his face with the hood of his robe so no one would recognize him, then wipe them all out.

He had done it in a fit of anger, but he had never expected it to go this smoothly...

If I’d known it would be like this...

He should have simply smashed his way through every time instead of bothering with stealthy infiltration.

"..."

With a strange feeling, Richard looked back at the collapsed slave cages.

"H-hic!..."

His eyes met those of a group of slaves trembling silently off to one side. They had bowed their heads deeply in terror.

Swish—

Richard drew his sword again.

The tip of the blade pointed at the slaves’ trembling shadows.

"You."

"Sob... P-please spare us!..."

"Get out of here."

Richard growled in a low voice.

"Y-yes, yes!..."

The slaves nodded frantically and fled down the alley without looking back.

No need to kill the slaves.

They wouldn’t become a problem later.

Running a finger along the tip of his sword, Richard nodded slowly.

But...

Richard narrowed his eyes as he looked to one side.

One is left.

And of all people, it was the most important one.

While all the other slaves had fled, Enoch remained where he was, unable to leave because he was chained to a half-collapsed ceiling.

"..."

Richard slowly approached him.

Crash—!

With a swing of his sword, Richard severed the iron chain binding Enoch’s wrist.

Thud.

Enoch’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a squelch.

"..."

He slowly raised his head. His greenish hair fell over his forehead.

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Get lost. Go back to your kingdom."

Swish.

With that one remark, Richard turned his back.

There was nothing more to say.

The important thing was...

It’s all over now.

Now, the incident that entangled Daphne-nim with Enoch would never happen.

Enoch, originally the fourth prince of the Eloise Kingdom, would return to his homeland without ever crossing paths with her.

The execution was different, but the outcome is the same.

His heart lighter, Richard pulled down the hood of his robe and took a step.

That was when it happened.

"You."

A low voice sounded behind him.

"?..."

Richard abruptly stopped.

Did he just call me?

Though Richard had repeated this dozens of times, Enoch had never once called out to him first.

Truly, not even once.

"..."

Half doubtful and half suspicious, Richard turned his head.

That was when it happened.

Swoosh—!

A hand seized the hood concealing his face and pulled it down.

"!..."

Platinum hair scattered through the air—

Richard’s exposed blue eyes widened sharply.

"What are you—!"

"As I thought."

In the pitch-black darkness, the corner of Enoch’s mouth twisted coldly as he held the edge of Richard’s hood.

"You were no ordinary slave."

His strangely gleaming green eyes bored into him.

"!..."

For a moment, Richard was bewildered.

Quickly composing his expression, he raised one corner of his mouth sharply.

Right.

What did it matter if he found out, anyway?

Richard leisurely took a step back and raised his head.

"Do you have something to say?"

Even if Enoch discovered Richard’s true identity, nothing would change.

The slave market had already been destroyed, and Enoch would return to his kingdom.

And he would never become romantically entangled with Daphne-nim.

"You—no, you..."

Enoch’s face contorted viciously.

He spat out each word as though he were chewing it.

"What do you want?"

"What?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Richard reflexively asked him to repeat it.

"I said, what do you want?"

Enoch’s green eyes gleamed vividly with murderous intent.

"I realized long ago that you weren’t an ordinary slave. Slaves and nobles carry themselves differently from the very beginning."

"..."

"You knew who I was and deliberately infiltrated the slave market, didn’t you? To get something you wanted from me?"

He was wary.

And suspicious.

Suspicious of Richard’s intentions after he had appeared out of nowhere, destroyed the slave market, and saved him.

What a joke.

Richard let out a stifled laugh.

"What do I want from you?"

"Yes. Is my body what you’re after, like those filthy nobles of the Empire? Or is it my status? Power?"

"No. I don’t need any of that."

He had no need for royal status or power, and especially not the other man’s body.

The one thing he wanted from him was...

"What I want..."

Crossing his arms and slouching, Richard took a step closer to Enoch.

"!..."

He felt the other man flinch.

Bringing his face right up to the flinching man’s, Richard told him kindly,

"Leave the Empire and never come back."

"?..."

Enoch’s green eyes narrowed slightly.

Richard took another step closer.

"Go back to the Eloise Kingdom and live happily."

Gripping his shoulder tightly,

"So happily that you never even think of the Empire."

"..."

"Be happy. No matter what."

His eyes shone vividly. That was enough.

That was all Richard desired.

"Forget this place completely. Never set foot here again."

That way, I won’t have to watch the likes of you shamelessly clinging to her.

"What?"

Enoch’s gaze began to waver.

"Got it? That’s all I want."

"What kind of—"

"Now go."

Thump.

Richard shoved his shoulder back.

"Don’t ever come back."

Because I don’t want to see you loitering around Daphne-nim.

Keeping the rest of his words to himself, he smiled brightly and stepped back.

"?..."

Enoch’s face was filled with confusion, but Richard paid it no mind.

"Take care."

Let’s never meet again.

Leaving him behind, Richard turned away.

The hem of his robe danced as it fluttered in the bleak wind.

A silent, moonless night. A deserted alley.

"Phew..."

The silver-haired man quietly raised a hand and removed his mask.

His silver hair gradually darkened.

As the artifact’s effect expired, his hair returned to its original color.

Black hair, darker than the night sky.

It swayed as though it would swallow even the light.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

The guard standing one step behind him spoke stiffly.

"You remember what he said, don’t you?"

The man—no, Cailus le Regnantia.

The red eyes of the man known as the Empire’s little sun turned toward his guard.

"Yes."

His voice was cold and low.

The guard knight—no, Senin—clenched his hands tightly behind his back.

"He clearly... said that he hated men."

Senin recalled what had happened inside the inn just moments ago.

"I hate men!"

"I feel like throwing up just from brushing hands with a man!"

Richard Friedrich had resisted with all his might, as though he truly despised it.

He had clearly been sincere.

"What is he plotting?"

Senin couldn’t understand.

At first, he had thought Richard was merely a mad nobleman. That was why he had considered him a threat to His Highness.

Because there could be no blemish upon the exalted position of the Crown Prince.

But to think Richard didn’t even like men in the first place...

"..."

Cailus’s red eyes darkened coldly.

"Who knows?"

"..."

"It’s impossible to tell."

A frigid wind swept through the silent night air.

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