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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Come to My Bed
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A heavy silence settled over the dark room.
Freed to speak on the condition that I wouldn't scream or call for anyone, I asked.
“...So you’re saying you wish to sleep in my bed?”
The crown prince, who had pulled a chair to the bedside and sat down, nodded.
“Yes.”
“M-May I ask why?”
“That is…”
A frown creased the crown prince’s handsome brow.
Raynerd Valdik Rehenbereukeu, the Crown Prince of the Rehenbereukeu Empire. And one of the second male leads from the novel
‘Every chapter had comments about what a waste the second male leads were. I posted the most of them.’
The novel’s plot followed the female lead, Aila, who had to marry for certain reasons or risk losing the inheritance her parents left her, as she searched for a husband. The second male leads were the candidates she found.
But the male lead was always going to be Cedric. Aila’s childhood friend, the black-haired Grand Duke of the North with whom she entered a contract engagement as a temporary measure, who was only warm to his woman.
The charm of the novel was watching Aila, who believed Cedric only saw her as a friend, and Cedric, who was clumsy at expressing his emotions, constantly misunderstand each other. As a bonus, the male lead’s cute jealousy toward the second male leads was also popular.
‘Though I was never particularly moved by it.’
As for me, I had dedicated my life to the second male leads. I had the unfortunate disposition of only liking the ones who, just when you think they’ve won, fail to be chosen by the female lead.
It was only natural, then, that I was an avid reader of
「Author-nim… I’ll buy a hundred chapter passes, so can’t you please make our second male leads Aila’s men, too…? Let’s go for a polyamorous ending.」
「The second male leads are so pitiful… I’d have no other wish if you just made one of them the male lead for once…」
「Honestly, aren't the second male leads more charming than Cedric…? I don't get Aila's taste. This is just my personal opinion, so no hate from Cedric fans.」
「Whatever! Aila has Cedric, so I’ll take all the cute second male leads for myself!」
…Looking back, I just seem like an obnoxious reader. I was way too invested in that novel.
Well, regardless of the past, the important thing now was that the man in front of me was glaring at me with eyes sharp enough to cut.
He was a second male lead I’d adored so deeply, but facing him in the flesh was terrifying. Because, of all people, it was Raynerd.
In truth, besides his narcissistic personality, Raynerd had another flaw that made him unsuitable as a male lead: his cruelty.
Though he was currently hiding his claws to manage his public image, he was originally famous for brutally slaughtering his political enemies.
As I tensed up, Raynerd finally opened his heavy lips.
“You asked why I want to sleep in your bed.”
“Y-Yes. That’s right.”
“I suppose I should tell the person involved… but you’ll think I’m crazy when you hear it.”
“Of course not! How could I dare? Please, speak freely.”
The crown prince crossed his long legs. Even such a simple movement exuded an unconcealable nobility and confidence, just as the novel had described.
“The truth is, I haven’t been able to sleep well recently.”
Now that he mentioned it, his eyes did look a little hollow.
“I’ve tried pushing my body to its limits and taking sleeping pills, but nothing worked. I’m so damn tired, but for some reason, sleep just won’t come.”
His expression twisted with irritation, making my heart pound for no reason.
“Because of that, my once-perfect daily life has been destroyed. Look. On top of that, my smooth skin that everyone used to admire has been ruined.”
…He wasn’t wrong, but hearing him say it himself was certainly something.
“And whenever I try to go to bed, I hear a voice.”
“A voice?”
“It must be an auditory hallucination, since only I can hear it. A chillingly vivid one. It whispers in my ear, relentlessly and repeatedly. Damn it. I’ve heard it so many times I’ve memorized it, word for word.”
I swallowed hard. The genre of
In an utterly serious tone, Raynerd reenacted the hallucination.
“Author-nim, the male lead belongs to the female lead, so I’ll take the second male lead. Raynerd, come to my bed right now.”
“…Pardon?”
Hearing something so utterly unexpected, at such an unexpected time, from such an unexpected person, I experienced a moment of cognitive dissonance. What did this man just say?
“I don’t know what it means, either. An author? What author? And what’s a second male lead?”
Hearing those unfamiliar words again, it seemed I hadn’t misheard. I quietly mulled over what he’d said.
“Author-nim… I’ll take the second male lead… Raynerd… to my bed…”
Huh? What was this? This familiar brand of fawning?
For some reason, my palms grew clammy as the crown prince continued.
“I don’t know what the hallucination means, but your face keeps coming to mind. My instincts are telling me. To go to you. To go to your bed.”
“M-Me?!”
“Yes. It feels as though I’ll be able to sleep peacefully if I fall asleep in your bed.”
The crown prince’s blazing gaze was fixed on me… no, to be precise, on the bed I was sitting on.
“So, will you let me sleep in your bed?”
It was a bolt from the blue. A few words swirled in my head. Author, second male lead, bed, and me. Yes, I had no choice but to admit it.
‘That’s the comment I wrote…!’
「Author-nim, the male lead belongs to the female lead, so I’ll take the second male lead…! Raynerd, come to my bed right now!!」
I had felt sorry for Raynerd, fated to be a second male lead who was full of charm but would never be chosen by the female lead. That’s why, if I could, I had wanted to become his new love. And preferably, spend some intimate time with him in bed.
‘Don’t tell me this is happening because I wrote that comment?!’
I thought I had died in a car accident, but not only did I end up in the world of a novel, a second male lead was now asking to sleep in my bed. At a glance, it might seem like my comment had come true, but…
‘No, this isn’t what I meant!’
I wanted to share a sweet, tender love with Raynerd, not face a glare that looked like it could devour me whole.
“I’m just asking to be sure, but you didn’t place a curse on me, did you, Young Lady?”
“A curse?”
“No matter how I think about it, it seems someone has placed a curse of sleeplessness on me. The culprit is most likely the owner of the voice in the hallucination. The voice told me to come to its bed, so why does your face keep appearing? Could it be…”
“N-No! I would never do such a thing!”
He looked ready to draw the sword at his hip if I said yes, so I denied it with all my might.
“More importantly, I don’t have the power to do so. I can’t use magic at all, and since I’m on my father’s bad side, I certainly don’t have the money to hire a mage.”
My desperate plea must have worked, as the crown prince’s gaze softened a bit.
“And aside from today, I’ve been grounded, so I haven’t been able to leave the house. If your symptoms appeared recently, then I can’t be the culprit.”
“That’s true. It’s unlikely that the young lady known as Cedric Hiklrid’s leech would bother cursing me of all people, instead of the Grand Duke.”
“Exactly. I have only ever held Grand Duke Hiklrid in my heart. My feelings toward Your Highness the Crown Prince are purely those of loyalty and respect.”
For once, I was incredibly grateful for the misunderstanding that I liked Cedric.
“Besides, now that I hear you speak, your voice is distinctly different from the one in the hallucination. Though you are both young women.”
“I-Is that so!”
Wait, was that my real voice? Not Charlotte’s, but the voice from my real body. But there was no way to confirm that.
“Hah, as of now, it’s unclear if I can even fall asleep in your bed.”
The fatigue was palpable in his sigh. His story about not being able to sleep for the past few days seemed to be true.
“In any case, I’d like to borrow your bed as a test.”
I just have to lend it to him? I nodded my head vigorously.
“Yes, of course. I will have my bed delivered to the Imperial Palace as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
“If I intended to wait that long, I wouldn’t have come here tonight.”
“By that, you mean…?”
“Tonight, I will sleep in that bed. After one night, I should know whether your bed is the answer or not.”
“B-But… wouldn’t that be uncomfortable for us both? For a man and a woman to share a bed…”
A strange sound escaped my lips without me realizing it. I had fantasized about such a heart-pounding situation, but now that it was happening without any warning, I was flustered.
But Raynerd just looked at me as if I were absurd.
“Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for me? You, of course, will sleep elsewhere.”
“Where?”
“Figure that out yourself.”
Without even waiting for my consent, the crown prince began to take off his clothes and change into others he had brought. I had to hastily look away at the sudden flash of skin.
‘He even packed pajamas. He came fully prepared!’
The man, having quickly changed into his sleepwear, brazenly lay down on my bed.
“My apologies, but please understand. I was barely holding on, feeling like I could collapse from exhaustion at any moment.”
Having been robbed of my bed, I could only stare blankly at the back of Raynerd’s head.
To whatever being dropped me into this world and made my delusional comment a reality, whoever and wherever you are…
‘My wish wasn’t for the second male lead to sleep in my bed while I get kicked out!’
