Rolling in Bed with the Male Lead

Richard opened his eyes.

"Richard!.."

Cailus was right before him, wearing an expression Richard had never seen before.

What was that emotion? It seemed like relief, but also anger, and even sorrow.

Cailus approached Richard and hugged him tightly.

"It's fortunate that you woke up..."

Held in Cailus's embrace, Richard thought, So, right now, I can see Cailus in front of me, and I can even feel his breath... Am I being held by Cailus right now?

"Let go of me, you fucking bastard!"

Realizing the situation, Richard immediately began flailing his limbs. Why am I being held by this bastard?!

"Richard, please..."

However, the arms wrapped tightly around him showed no sign of loosening.

"Ugh, let go! I said let go!"

Richard resisted as though having a fit. This son of a bitch! To be held by the bastard who killed Daphne again and again! Horrifying!

Just as he struggled, his vision blurred.

"Shaar!"

A faint voice rang in his ears.

"Steady yourself!"

His head spun with dizziness.

"I cannot afford to lose you again..."

And then, darkness.

"Hahk!"

Richard screamed and opened his eyes.

"Hahk, a, a dream? Was it a dream?"

He hurriedly looked around. Curtains and a bed embroidered with the Imperial crest. And a golden chandelier.

Beside him...

"You wake up late."

Cailus was looking down at him with cold eyes.

As his mind slowly cleared, he finally grasped the situation.

Phew, it was a dream.

Richard let out a sigh of relief. Being held by Cailus. It had been an utterly horrifying nightmare.

Once he understood the situation, Richard's expression involuntarily contorted.

"Why would I have such a dog-like nightmare?.."

He swore to heaven, Richard was truly heterosexual. He did not have the slightest inclination toward dark, brooding men.

But what was this? This dream? After forty-nine regressions, had he finally gone mad?

Unable to believe it, Richard slapped his own cheek.

Smack!

"..."

And immediately regretted it.

Damn, that hurts...

Perhaps because he had seen Richard slap his own cheek and tremble immediately after waking up, Cailus's eyebrow twitched.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"It's nothing."

"You are a strange man."

"I have a habit of slapping my cheek when I wake from sleep."

At those words, Cailus's face scrunched up sharply.

"I retract that. You are a madman."

"Well, they say even dog shit can be used as medicine, so would not a madman have some use somewhere too?"

"Dog shit cannot be used as medicine. You know nothing."

"That's..."

Richard stopped trying to argue. Come to think of it, he's right, isn't he?

"Still, would not a madman be slightly more useful than dog shit?"

"Ha, fine. Where exactly would he be useful?"

"Well, who knows? For instance, in the bedroom, or..."

"..."

Cailus fell silent.

The look in his eyes held the resignation of someone who had accepted that if he continued talking to this madman, the conversation would not merely go over the mountains, but cross the fields and the sea, circle the world once, and still never end.

But Richard decided to consider that a kind of victory.

He straightened his shoulders and spoke.

"So, what happened to the poisoned tea I drank?"

"..."

The red eyes turned chillingly cold.

"You knew it was poisoned tea?"

"!.."

Oops.

Realizing his mistake and briefly berating himself, Richard immediately put on a poker face and spoke.

"If I drank it and collapsed, it must have been poisoned tea, right? So, what happened?"

"..."

Cailus continued to regard him suspiciously, but soon answered.

"They are searching for the culprit who put the poison in it. ...More importantly, why did you steal and drink my tea?"

"It looked delicious?"

Richard rolled his eyes.

"..."

A piercing gaze fell upon his head.

Richard briefly tried to smooth things over with a smile, but eventually spoke.

"I simply did not like Your Highness drinking Daphne's tea."

It should be fine to say it was because he was jealous.

"Your Highness has feelings for Daphne, does he not? Even indirectly, your lips touching..."

"Ha."

As though it were absurd, Cailus covered his mouth and laughed.

"In any case, I shall take my leave and return home."

Richard subtly tried to lift himself from the bed and stand.

The objective has been achieved...

Blocking the progression of the romance between Cailus and Daphne.

Regardless of the process, since I drank the poisoned tea, it counts as a success.

It was then.

Whoosh.

His arm was seized.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Richard's body was pulled back.

"!.."

Richard, who had inadvertently been forced back onto the bed, blinked.

Cailus looked down at him expressionlessly and spoke.

"You must undergo an investigation before leaving."

"An investigation, you say?"

"Even if it was originally Daphne's tea, it was unequivocally an attempted assassination of a member of the Imperial family. As the victim, you must also be questioned."

"Ah."

Richard propped himself up against the bedsheets and asked,

"Can I leave afterward?"

"Yes."

It was bothersome, but it could not be helped.

I should find meaning in having blocked the progression of their romance.

And so, Richard followed Cailus to undergo an investigation.

The investigation was simple.

They merely asked whether he had noticed anyone suspicious, and that was all.

It was doubtful whether this could truly be called an investigation into the attempted assassination of a member of the Imperial family.

"Am I free to go now?"

"Yes."

In any case, once the investigation ended, Cailus permitted Richard to leave.

I'd like to play a few more tricks...

But since I've already drawn so much attention, standing out any more might seem suspicious.

"Yes, then, until next time..."

Just as Richard, thinking that, obediently bowed his head to Cailus—

"Young Lord Friedrich!"

A knight who had run over, breathing heavily, blocked the doorway.

"?.."

Richard blinked.

The knight caught his breath and spoke.

"His Majesty the Emperor wishes to see Young Lord Friedrich."

"His Majesty the Emperor, you say?"

His blue eyes widened.

"Yes. His Highness the Crown Prince as well..."

The knight glanced sideways at Cailus, who stood to Richard's left.

"He said he wishes to have luncheon with you."

"..."

Cailus's face hardened.

Meanwhile, the corner of Richard's mouth slowly curled upward.

"Is that so?"

A meeting with the Emperor. An unexpected opportunity.

The time had come to carry out his next plan.

Clink-clink-clink—

A metal coin spun.

"..."

The eyes of the prisoner bound with rope wavered. At the end of his gaze, the coin continued spinning without stopping.

Thud!

At last, the coin stopped spinning and struck the floor.

The obverse side, engraved with laurel leaves.

The coin's face gleamed with a clear golden light.

"Hahk."

The prisoner's eyes widened as he let out a ragged breath.

"I, I'm, I'm alive!.."

"Hmm."

The highest seat in the Empire.

The Throne.

The pupils of the man reclining in the chair adorned with lavish gold narrowed thinly.

"Next."

The Emperor spoke in a bored voice.

The soldiers forced the next prisoner to kneel before their monarch and placed a single coin in his hand.

"If the obverse shows, you live. If the reverse shows, you die. Toss the coin."

"Huh? Hahk..."

The hand of the prisoner holding the coin trembled faintly.

When the hand clutching the metal piece showed no sign of tossing it, a low voice growled.

"If you do not toss it, you will be executed immediately."

"Yes, yes!.."

The coin instantly fell to the floor.

Clink-clink-clink—

"..."

"..."

"..."

The sound of spinning filled the silence.

Thud.

Obverse.

"!.."

In other words, survival.

"Whoo, hahk!.. Haa..."

Drenched in sweat, the prisoner let out a sigh of relief.

"Next."

The smile carved at the corner of the Emperor's mouth deepened.

The next prisoner.

And the next.

Obverse.

Obverse.

Obverse.

Obverse again.

Now only one remained. All the preceding prisoners had been fortunate enough to get the obverse.

And so, it was the last prisoner's turn.

Clink-clink-clink—

"..."

"..."

Thud!

"Hahk!.."

The obverse side engraved with laurel leaves.

Survival.

"O, oh God."

Relief brightened the last prisoner's face.

"Hmm."

The Emperor slowly tilted his head.

"Obverse?"

"Yes, yes!.. That is correct, Your Majesty!.."

Fearing his head might be sent flying, the prisoner answered hastily.

"..."

Gripping the gold-adorned armrest of the chair, the Emperor personally rose to his feet.

Tap, tap—

The sound of his shoes descending the steps echoed continuously.

"Yo, Your Majesty?.."

The moment the prisoner looked up at the Emperor with trembling eyes—

"Boring."

Splat!

Blood splattered.

Thud-thud-thud...

The severed head rolled through the pool of blood.

The Emperor, who had watched the scene with cold eyes, extended his hand.

His deeply wrinkled hand flipped over the coin lying on the floor.

The reverse side glittered with a bloody hue.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!