Chapter 11
Raising the alert level without capturing a political criminal or declaring war was generally considered a madman’s move—a cardinal taboo. But if royalty was involved in Shunowen…
I was suddenly hit with a flashback to the battles at Shunowen from my first and eighth lives. Even now, I still woke up with a phantom ache in my gut from being stabbed in my sleep, and my thigh spasmed as if I’d been shot with a poison dart all over again!
“Y-Your Grace!”
I dropped to my knees and crawled forward to clutch Tessarion’s ankle just as he was about to release the bird.
“Are you going to fight? Is someone invading Shunowen?”
Before Tessarion could answer, the steward’s voice rang out.
“A dire message from Her Highness, Princess Berieta Barner Belletti.”
The princess?!
“Ugh!”
The old steward briskly approached… and promptly kicked me in the calf. It happened so fast I didn’t even have time to scream. Clutching my leg, I looked up at him, but he only twisted his lips in disdain as he looked down on me.
“……”
Yep. I was definitely on his blacklist now.
Tears welled in my eyes. I looked accusingly at the real cause of all this mess, hoping the steward would feel a hint of sympathy, but he didn’t even glance my way—he just nudged me aside with his foot.
Tessarion glared at the golden envelope resting on a silver tray.
“Didn’t I tell you to shoot down every carrier bird bearing a different seal?”
“How could we shoot one flying at night?”
“Tch.”
Tessarion drew a knife from the tray and sliced his thumb, breaking the security enchantment on the wax seal.
Gold dust shimmered in the air as the letter revealed itself.
[To my beloved fiancé, Duke Tessarion Arker Claremont.]
(Translation: You son of a b***h!!)
[It seems wild beasts and foul birds jealous of our love abound. As I was traveling from Maleta toward Shunowen, waiting sleeplessly for your reply, I was met by some unexpected nighttime visitors.]
(Translation: Did you seriously send assassins instead of a letter?!)
[At first, I thought they were magical beasts and was terribly startled, but it turned out to be a band of rustic thieves. Thieves, near Shunowen of all places! I still can’t believe it. Though I was frightened, I wasn’t harmed at all, so please don’t worry. They were nothing compared to the majesty of the Imperial First Knights.]
(Translation: Did you forget the emperor has my back?)
[Recently, I’ve heard of temples burning and magical beasts attacking villages, and it weighs heavily on my heart. I am filled with dread and unease. Please, my dearest love, come greet me in Shunowen within three days—I beg you.]
(Translation: If you don’t show up in three days, I’ll bring the entire knight order through the North Gate and crush you.)
[Your one true love, Angel of Peace, Berieta Barner Belletti.]
(Translation: Demon of War and Destruction, Berieta.)
“……”
Tessarion exhaled a blade of icy rage and tore the letter to shreds before burning it on the spot.
I flinched and cautiously glanced at his expression.
No way. No way… don’t tell me you’re really going to—!
“Sir Winston, relay my orders to the Shadows and the knights. The imperial princess Berieta who dragged the First Imperial Knights to the northern gate shall be execu—”
Cough! I knew it!
“Ah! Y-Your Grace! Wait, I…!”
I jumped to my feet and threw myself in front of him. My shin still throbbed from the steward’s pointed shoes, but that didn’t matter now.
The steward shot me an incredulous glare and barked,
“What do you think you’re doing?! How dare you—!”
“It’s urgent!”
I cut him off, wrapped myself around Tessarion’s arm, and took off running at full speed.
Tessarion let out a long sigh.
“What’s so urgent?”
What do you think?!
I yelled, emphasizing every word:
“The bathroom!!”
“Haah. Dammit.”
Hey, I’m the one who should be saying that!
Yes, it was messy, awkward, and downright pathetic—but this was the best I could do! The main male lead ordering the female lead’s death? Not on my watch!
Clang! Boom! Crackle!
Clang! Clang! Fwshhhhh!
“……”
I sat hugging an extra-large popcorn bucket, spectating the chaos.
It was the delightful scene of the regretful male lead, who had tried to send his fiancée to her doom, now getting absolutely wrecked by Sir Winston.
Sparks flew from Vicious Claymore, and the aura of his blade, burning blue like hellfire, slashed the training ground floor. Commander Winston, once the very symbol of middle-aged strength and valor, was now struggling just to block Tessarion’s onslaught.
Poor guy.
What a pity he ended up serving such a monster. His wrists and lower back were probably wrecked by now…
Oh right. I serve that same lunatic. Around the clock, no less.
“Haaah…”
I buried my face in my popcorn and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
“What do I do now?”
I barely managed to stop the death order on Princess Berieta with my own body as a human shield.
Now that the moment had passed, Tessarion thankfully seemed to have forgotten about her and wasn’t giving any more orders regarding the princess.
Still, why did Princess Berieta have to show up so early and get under his skin? Sure, I preferred her to the typical villainesses, but still…
“Sigh…”
I held my head and groaned.
“When did Tessarion and the princess even fall in love?”
The more I repeated this cursed regression, the more severe the side effects became.
Namely: memory loss.
I didn’t even remember my original name anymore, let alone the details of this damned romance fantasy novel’s second half, which I had skimmed through before ending up in this world. And I kept dying midway through the story anyway, since I was stuck in the body of Roy Dover, the sub-male lead!
“What was the plot again…?”
I think the two of them had their first kiss and wedding night after the ceremony…
That’s it.
The war demon Duke Claremont locked the poor princess in the castle and spent most of his time out fighting wars. Meanwhile, the princess withered under constant neglect, the coldness of the northern nobles, assassination threats, and complete indifference.
“Before I die again, they need to really fall in love and live happily together…”
That’s the only way this regression will end, isn’t it?
But how the hell do I make two people who barely interact fall madly in love? Especially when one of them is Tessarion, who seems to despise the princess with every fiber of his being? Unless Cupid literally strikes him blind, it’s never gonna—
“Hmm?”
I popped my head out of the popcorn bucket and blinked.
“Why is it impossible? I can make it happen.”
This is a romance fantasy world.
A charm spell? A love potion? That’s just standard cliché stuff, right? Probably easier than time-space magic, anyway.
Whether such magic exists or not doesn’t matter. In this world, there’s one person who can make even the impossible happen: the genius archmage Altair Oswally!
He was another sub-male lead and always the kind-hearted helper of the heroine.
In my second life, I tracked him down to make money. After persistent chasing and persuading, we developed a magical flavor enhancer, built industrial-scale chicken farms, sewage systems, and a high-speed logistics network.
In my fourth life, I created erectile dysfunction meds for Crown Prince Helliot. From my fifth to seventh lives, I barged into the Royal Academy every time and said, “Hey, you’re this year’s top entrant, right? Wanna research the mysterious universe and the laws of space-time with me?” Then dumped all my effort into a dead-end, zero-profit teleportation magic project.
“Fu… fufufu… fuhuhuhu! Hahahahaa!”
I burst into wild laughter, flinging popcorn into the air.
“I am a genius!”
Adrenaline surged through me. My heart raced, and I started punching the air and hopping on the spot.
Yes! This is it!
Even if it’s a political marriage between sworn enemies, classics are eternal. There’s a reason Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are still talked about today.
In romance fantasy, every plot and motive boils down to looks. Love at first sight is the rule, duh!
Love always starts out of nowhere. So a charm spell or love potion that causes instant infatuation? That’s textbook romance fantasy. Just slap on a “cruel twist of fate” label, and it’s totally valid.
