Bang!
Cailus pulled his hand away and slammed it hard against the wall.
Fine cracks spread across the stone surface.
He glared at Richard for a while without saying a word.
His breath heaving as though he were suppressing the urge to break something, he turned and walked away.
"..."
Richard watched him, not allowing a single detail to escape his notice.
A dark smile slowly spread through his watery blue eyes.
As though everything were proceeding according to plan.
After stepping out into the garden, Richard walked across the grass.
Night insects occasionally chirped softly, and the moonlight cast long shadows. One step, then another.
The night air was cool, but he was more than satisfied.
If things continue like this...
A smile brushed his lips. He stopped beneath the shade of a tree.
He had prevented the Main Event.
The Duke's intervention, what had happened in the North. Although nothing had gone as expected, he had changed the outcome.
Perhaps...
Maybe it is possible.
In this Regression,
this time, he might truly be able to prevent their marriage.
Richard looked up at the sky. Faint moonlight streamed between the clouds. The air was still, and the garden was as quiet as a painting.
The "story" is twisting little by little. In the direction I want.
He had secured the engagement, and as a result, the course of the "story" had undeniably changed.
The change was certain. And where that course would lead was now entirely in his hands.
There are still many crossroads ahead. But...
He brushed a fingertip against a leaf beaded with dew.
A single drop of water fell quietly from its tip, wetting a blade of grass below.
This time, I may truly be able to protect Daphne.
If I can protect her, prevent her death, and erase this terrible ending—even if I am ruined as a result...
It doesn't matter. I am the second male lead.
If that is my "role," I will gladly bear it.
Even if my destiny is not to stand at the center, as long as I can be her shadow.
Richard recalled his dozens of failures.
No matter how hard he struggled, Daphne always married Cailus and ultimately chose death.
The "story" had always ended in ruin.
I'll make it different this time.
Moonlight washed his profile in silver. The shadows of his long eyelashes fell across his eyelids.
Richard let out a long breath. Then he began walking again, as though feeling his way through the quiet garden.
Now I just need to continue like this.
That was when—
Swish!
The grass rustled.
"!"
Richard instinctively turned his head.
A faint presence. Killing intent concealed so perfectly that it could stop one's breath.
Thud!
Something descended from the sky.
Light scattered.
A magic circle.
Richard instinctively rolled aside.
Boom!
An explosion erupted, and flames swept through the garden.
"..."
Amid the smoke, Richard held his breath and lay prone on the ground. Acrid air rushed into his throat.
Don't tell me... an ambush?
He searched his memories.
[Main Event] The Emperor's birthday. An episode in which Daphne is ambushed in the garden and Cailus saves her.
That's strange.
According to the "story," the ambush is supposed to target Daphne.
There is no reason for it to be aimed at me.
But this...
Richard raised his guard and looked around.
A presence poured down from the void.
No, countless presences.
There were dozens—no, hundreds.
"Surround him. Don't let him escape."
A low, dry voice.
No matter how I look at this...
Richard let out a hollow laugh.
Black masks, identical black clothing, emotionless killing intent.
They moved in perfect unison, like a trained squad of assassins.
They're targeting me.
Not Daphne, but Richard Friedrich himself.
"Move in. Now."
One of the masked men shouted.
Swish!
Shadowy figures leaped out from every direction.
From the trees, the walls, and the darkness between the corridors.
Even from behind him.
It happened in an instant.
Before Richard could react, a sharp dagger grazed his ankle.
"Ugh!"
Blood splattered.
His breath caught harshly.
There are more than I expected.
Far, far more.
No matter how skilled I am with a sword, against such overwhelming numbers...
Richard gritted his teeth and rose.
Blood dripped from one leg.
His balance was compromised.
Even so, he could not give up.
He reached inside his clothes.
He drew a sharp dagger.
But—
"Kill him."
A short, clear command rang out.
At once, hundreds of masked men rushed him.
Slash!
A sword grazed his shoulder.
Thud!
An arrow flew through the air and buried itself in his left leg.
"!"
Another arrow aimed at his heart missed.
Richard's eyes narrowed and trembled.
This... isn't an attempt to capture me. They came to kill me.
He gritted his teeth.
Taking a short, forceful breath, he concentrated magic power into the hand holding the dagger.
Blue energy slowly spread from his blood-soaked fingertips.
Whoosh!
In an instant, blue Sword Aura erupted explosively from Richard's dagger.
Its force resembled calm water rippling beneath the wind.
"Block it!"
One of the masked men shouted. But it was already too late.
Carried by the momentum, Richard swung his dagger in a wide arc.
The blade of Sword Aura spread in a semicircle, hurling several masked men away.
Crack!
The ground split, and the trunks of the trees beyond the bushes snapped cleanly.
But that was all.
Against the shadows pouring toward him by the dozens, by the hundreds, even that stream of blue Sword Aura was feeble.
The masked men faltered only momentarily beneath the impact before quickly regaining their footing and charging again.
It's no use.
No matter how powerful the Sword Aura is, it means little against such overwhelming numbers. There are too many for me to handle alone.
Richard gritted his teeth and forced himself upright once more. He tore the arrow from his leg and gripped his dagger with a bloody hand.
"Why?"
He asked between ragged breaths.
"Why me?"
"..."
"Why are you trying to kill me?"
Originally, in the "story," the mastermind behind the ambush was the villainess.
Jealous at the sight of Cailus clinging to Daphne, the villainess had tried to kill her.
"..."
One of the masked men quietly approached.
Richard continued questioning him until the end.
"Who's behind this?"
Is it the villainess this time too?
If so, is it because the Duke is in danger of dying because of me? Or because I'm engaged to Cailus?
"..."
At that moment, the masked man's pupils faintly distorted.
His brief answer was shocking.
"Do not try to ruin the 'story' any further."
"What?"
Richard's watery blue eyes rippled violently.
"If you twist it, everything will collapse."
A chill ran down his spine.
His heart pounded rapidly.
Do they know?
That this world is a "story."
How?
They aren't mere assassins.
No. The mastermind who sent them definitely knows something.
Don't tell me...
Countless possibilities flashed through Richard's mind.
A Regressor? Or another being?
"Who is... behind—"
He opened his mouth, his voice trembling.
Swish!
The masked man's fingertips moved, and throwing knives flew in from four directions at once.
Thud!
One buried itself in Richard's shoulder.
Another grazed his abdomen.
And he could not evade the remaining two.
Richard's body twisted.
He felt the strength draining from the hand gripping his dagger.
Damn it.
The ground tilted.
His vision shook, and alarms blared through his mind.
His heart beat irregularly.
Is this the end...?
Am I going to Regress again, just like this...?
After going so far as to secure the engagement?
Am I going to die so meaninglessly, attacked by masked men without even knowing who sent them?
That was when—
The air split.
Fizzle!
A tremendous burst of magic power erupted in the center of the garden.
A sealing spell inscribed with a red sigil.
Several attackers were hurled backward by the impact.
"...?"
Through his fading vision, Richard saw the silhouette of someone approaching.
That person skillfully swung a sword and drove back the masked men.
Through the smoke and blood, the figure slowly advanced toward Richard.
"Who..."
The question was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} never completed.
Blood rose in his throat.
His eyelids grew heavy and fell shut.
The world tilted into darkness.
In the final moment before he lost consciousness,
Richard caught a fleeting glimpse
of familiar eyes.
And so,
Richard's world went dark.
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