Rolling in Bed with the Male Lead

The air inside the warehouse hung heavy, as if frozen solid.

Cailus said nothing.

He simply advanced, slowly—very slowly. Each time his boots struck the floor, a heavy echo spread through the warehouse like a sentence being passed.

The man with the prominent bridge of his nose tried to force a smile. But the corners of his lips were trembling.

"Y-Your Highness. We..."

Why is he going this far...?

The man was horrified.

Weren’t they engaged in name only? Weren’t they on bad terms?

He had heard it clearly. The Crown Prince had said he would never have agreed to the engagement if not for the Emperor’s command, while Young Lord Friedrich had clung to him, desperate to prevent him from breaking it.

Yet the Crown Prince’s eyes now... looked as though someone had touched something that should never have been touched.

The murderous intent lurking within them felt sharper—and more merciless—than any sword.

Before the man could finish speaking, Cailus’s crimson gaze shifted toward him.

"..."

That frigid gaze pierced him in an instant.

It was only a look, yet the man swallowed hard as though a hand had closed around his throat. His hands trembled so violently that he could no longer speak.

"..."

Cailus’s face remained expressionless.

But the murderous intent concealed beneath that blank expression swept over the men like a merciless storm.

Their spines went cold. They could scarcely breathe.

One of the men in the back finally fell to his knees and bowed his head.

"W-We were wrong...! It was only—only a joke—"

"A joke."

The words came out clipped.

His ice-cold voice reverberated through the warehouse.

That alone made the man’s shoulders quake. His face went deathly pale, as though he might stop breathing at any moment.

Richard forced himself to pull himself together. His legs were still trembling, but he could not tear his eyes away from the scene before him.

...Why in the world...?

Cailus said nothing more.

He simply came to stand beside Richard.

"..."

Breathing heavily, Richard looked up at him.

His expression remained blank.

Yet the subtle tension around his mouth, the cold gleam in his eyes—

All of it made one thing clear.

He was furious.

Far more furious than Richard could ever have imagined.

...Why?

Richard swallowed the question.

The fact that Cailus had saved him was strange enough in itself.

Yet murderous intent filled Cailus’s eyes, as though he could not tolerate Richard suffering even the slightest injury.

Richard’s heart gave an uncomfortable thud.

"...Get up."

His voice was low and clipped.

Cailus took a firm hold of Richard’s arm.

His grip was bitterly cold, yet steady.

As the men watched in terror, Cailus said nothing more.

Without looking back even once, he led Richard out of the warehouse.

Thud.

At the sound of the door slamming shut, the men left behind collapsed where they were.

Richard had no idea where he was being taken. He simply walked wherever Cailus led him.

The lights lining the corridors of the Imperial Palace passed one after another, their footsteps echoing into the distance.

After a while, they arrived at a quiet room within the palace.

Cailus closed the door without a word and seated Richard in a chair.

"..."

He did not say a single thing.

He merely opened a drawer, took out a medical kit, and picked up a damp cloth.

His touch as he wiped the blood from Richard’s face was neither rough nor excessively gentle.

It was matter-of-fact, yet meticulous.

Each time he tilted Richard’s face slightly, his breath brushed close.

"...Don’t move."

His voice was low and terse.

Richard was speechless.

Didn’t he hate me?

He could not make sense of the behavior before him.

Cailus’s fingers brushed Richard’s wrist as he wrapped it in bandages.

The places where he had been gripped still throbbed, yet a strange sense of security spread through him.

Cailus’s crimson eyes never once met Richard’s directly.

He merely examined each of his injuries and bound them securely in silence.

Richard swallowed the words rising within him.

...Why? Why go this far?

Naturally, no answer came.

The room was filled only with the faint sound of Cailus carefully tying the bandage.

Richard’s shoulders heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. His ribs still ached, and the cheek that had been struck burned as if scalded.

Cailus silently continued tying the bandage.

His face remained expressionless. Not even his gaze wavered.

As though what had just happened were nothing more than a minor mishap.

"...Why?"

Richard finally spoke. His heart beat uneasily.

"Why did you help me?"

No answer came.

Crimson eyes flickered over Richard.

Yet Cailus remained silent.

"You hate me."

Richard’s voice rang through the room.

Only then did Cailus raise his eyes.

He regarded Richard in silence before answering curtly.

"...First, explain how that situation came about."

His voice was low but firm.

It was an interrogation.

Richard bit his lip.

"First, explain why you helped me."

Without the slightest change in expression, Cailus said,

"Explain the situation first."

"Your reason first."

"The situation first."

"..."

Richard pressed his lips tightly together for a moment.

"..."

The corner of his mouth twisted faintly.

"...They realized that Your Highness and I were not on good terms, so they used that against me to threaten me. Then they tried to rape me."

"..."

A suffocating silence descended over the room once more.

Cailus did not answer.

But he pulled the knot far tighter than necessary.

Richard suppressed a groan.

"Ugh..."

His face tightened slightly.

More than the pain, it was the suppressed fury conveyed through Cailus’s fingertips that struck him.

What is he thinking?

Judging by the air around him, it was almost as though he thought I was Lady Beatus.

Such undeserved treatment. Even though he hates me.

Unable to endure it any longer, Richard spoke again.

"...Now it’s my turn to ask."

"..."

"Why did you help me, Your Highness?"

His voice was dry, but inwardly, confusion raged through him.

Cailus had no reason to save him. If anything, he should have been the first to cast Richard aside.

Cailus remained silent.

He wound the bandage around once, then twice more, his hands moving as though that alone were an answer.

Richard bit his lip and pressed him harder.

"...You said you hated me. Weren’t you forced to accept me because of His Majesty’s command? Then why...?"

At that moment, Cailus’s hands stopped.

Richard swallowed unconsciously.

At last, those crimson eyes turned toward him.

Seen at such close range, his gaze was as cold and deep as flame.

After a brief silence, Cailus spoke.

"...Even if we’ll soon break the engagement."

His voice was low and firm.

"For now, you are my fiancé."

Richard stared at him in silence.

"An insult to my fiancé’s honor is an insult to my own."

Snip.

Cailus’s indifferent voice fell as he cut off the end of the bandage.

As though checking the injury one final time, he lightly pressed the knot with his fingertips.

Then he slowly rose.

"..."

He said nothing more.

He turned his back and left the room.

The door slammed shut with a crash.

Richard was left alone.

Leaning back in the chair, he looked up at the ceiling.

"...Ha."

A hollow laugh slipped from his lips.

In the room where the scents of blood and medicine mingled, amid the air that had gone cold, Richard lowered his head.

Because of his honor?

Just a convenient excuse about preserving his honor.

Yet the look Richard had just seen in his eyes had been far more intense than that.

Cailus had unquestionably been furious.

Truly furious.

"..."

Richard’s expression hardened.

Why? Why in the world?

His bandaged wrist felt heavy and numb.

Richard kept his head bowed and exhaled.

Then another hollow laugh escaped him.

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