* * *
“Master, Master! You’re finally having your wedding ceremony with Lord Gray, aren’t you?”
“Leave me alone. I want to be by myself.”
“Oh come on, our young master’s just being shy again, isn’t he!”
Nicole, my personal attendant, had a voice as bright as ever—but today, it pierced my ears like a thorn.
Everyone in the mansion, including Nicole, had once believed—without the slightest doubt—that Kyle and I were in love.
A romance, a relationship, or… even the completion of a soul-bond. But that illusion had shattered long ago.
“L-Lord Gray is on his way! You should at least change out of your clothes!”
I shook off Nicole as he fussed around me, trying to tug at my arm, and buried my face deeper into the pillow.
I didn’t want to see anyone right now.
Just last night, I had seen something horrifying. Heard something even worse.
And I still couldn’t believe it had actually happened.
It had been a long time since I transmigrated into the body of the villain in a love simulation game—one that was so easy, it practically broke itself.
At the age of ten, I regained memories of my past life and the “original story” of this world.
Before the narrative could even begin, I had chosen one of the romanceable characters—Kyle—and captured his heart.
I naïvely believed that, as long as I loved him and was loved in return, everything would go smoothly.
That was the only way to survive, after all.
It may have been a relationship born out of necessity, but when I was in it, it felt sweet.
When Kyle’s large, warm hand wrapped around my shoulder, I let myself dream of a rosy future.
When it was just the two of us, and he whispered “Noah” in that low voice of his, it was intoxicating.
I foolishly believed the days of love and being loved would go on forever.
Falling in love made me careless.
Naive.
I thought it would be fine to leave some side character as a token presence.
I turned a blind eye, believing it wouldn’t matter.
But what a joke that turned out to be.
“Hello, young master! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Allen, and I’ll be helping around the estate starting today!”
It had only been three months since the original story’s beautiful protagonist appeared before me.
“You can’t do this, Lord Kyle… What if the young master sees—!”
“That doesn’t matter. I never loved him. From the moment I met you, I already knew…”
The lover who once vowed eternity crushed me with just one sentence.
[System mocks you for ignoring its warnings. ( ˙◞˙ )]
[System asks if you would like to reset everything and start again.]
“Start again…?”
I muttered blankly.
What kind of nonsense was that?
It was so abrupt—and more than anything, I was just tired.
Too tired to be motivated by anything new.
Maybe I was just stunned by the betrayal.
Even when I tried to act fine, tears slipped out when I sat still.
That bastard.
He used to say there was no one but me.
That he loved me.
That we’d be happy forever.
How could someone change so completely, so suddenly?
“Forget it. Even if I went back, what would be the point? I’ll just live however. It pisses me off, but… whatever. It’s not like he’s the only alpha in the world… Ugh…”
[System is heartbroken by how defeated you look.
｡°(°°᷄◠°᷅°)°｡]
“Right. Thanks so much for your sympathy.”
It had just mocked me a minute ago, and now it was claiming to be heartbroken.
Like hell I’d believe that.
I sprawled out on the bed and sighed over and over again.
After several long, deep sighs, my vision started to shimmer strangely.
The guiding message from the system, which had taken up a corner of my sight ever since I regained my memories, stood out now more clearly than ever.
[System decides it must reset your settings to comfort you.
⟡.·ᐠ(ᯣᜋᯣ)ᐟ∗*ﾟ]
“…Reset?”
A chill ran down my spine.
As far as I knew… in games, there was only one thing a “reset” meant.
“What… What kind of bullshit is this? No. No way.”
Returning to the beginning.
“Hey—HEY! You crazy-ass system bastard! Don’t go back! I said don’t—!”
That was the last thing I said.
I didn’t even have time to realize my vision was going black.
It was like someone had yanked the power cord—my consciousness cut off, sharp and cruel.
Back then, I didn’t know.
That this life had only been my “first round.”
That I had countless more ahead of me—so many that even counting on ten fingers wouldn’t be enough.
And that the system, which I thought was annoying but ultimately on my side, was the biggest bastard of them all.
“Master! Wake up! The sun is already high in the sky!”
…Damn it. I’m back again.
Nicole’s youthful voice rang loudly right next to my ear.
The same line as always.
How many times have I heard this now?
It’s been so long since I gave up counting that I honestly have no idea anymore.
I think I used to keep track until maybe the third or fourth loop.
But after a while, it just didn’t seem to matter.
Keeping score didn’t change anything.
“Oh no, why can’t you get up today? Master! Master!”
“…I’m up, Nicole. Don’t worry.”
“You’re awake? Then hurry and wash your face. You’re fully awake, right? You always get up so easily, and of all days, you oversleep today! Honestly!”
Since it was an important day, Nicole kept fussing, making sure all the clothes he’d prepared last night were in perfect condition, adding essential oils to the wash water, sprinkling in flower petals—buzzing around like a bee.
A scene I’d watched countless times, familiar to the point of numbness.
[The system warmly welcomes your return with open arms. ٩( ๑╹ ꇴ╹)۶]
I immediately closed the obnoxious pop-up hovering in front of me.
“Return,” my ass.
More like exile.
It’s hilarious that the damn system thinks it can act like this and still pretend to be all friendly when it resets time just because I’m not playing along the way it wants.
When it first said we were going “back to the beginning,” I thought it meant all the way back—to when I was five and started recalling my past life.
But I guess even that twisted system has a shred of conscience.
The reset point is always today: the morning of my seventeenth birthday.
So, what went wrong this time?
I really thought I was getting pretty close to the “ending” this round.
Haaah… I honestly have no idea anymore.
The system just sits back and watches me like I’m some show.
And then—bam!—smacks me with a time reset like a slap to the back of the head.
Every. Single. Time.
My whole body felt heavy with fatigue.
God, what does it even want from me anymore?
At this point, I don’t care. I just want this to end.
“Ah, it’s so hard to believe! That tiny little young master has grown up and now it’s your Blessing Day!”
Unlike me, dragging my feet and feeling like crap, Nicole was practically bouncing with excitement.
“Blessing Day” was what they called a person’s seventeenth birthday in this empire—when you’re officially recognized as an adult.
On that day, you visit the temple to receive the blessing from the patron deity assigned to you…
Patron deity’s blessing?
Total bullshit.
If there’s any blessing, it’s the blessing of capitalism.
I can still hear CEO Kim’s smug chuckle about how the omegaverse genre always sells well.
The game was a total flop before I even got the chance to cash in on that trend, mostly because it was so ridiculously easy it lacked any tension whatsoever.
If I could, I’d love to slam my fist into Kim’s pompous, smug face—the same guy who never stopped bragging.
Anyway, that’s not what matters right now.
In this world, every noble undergoes a baptism on their seventeenth birthday, revealing whether they’re an Alpha or Omega.
And the body I’ve been stuck in—Noah Hamilton—was fated to manifest as a Dominant Omega.
A Dominant Omega, but still constantly overshadowed by Allen, a recessive Alpha, whose pheromones overwhelmed Noah’s, driving him into an inferiority complex.
The game was a disaster anyway, so why did they bother with such painfully detailed character backgrounds?
As for me, the “main character,” I couldn’t have cared less.
I knew full well I’d end up a Dominant Omega.
And I’d already had this exact conversation with Nicole at least ten times.
Nicole, seemingly oblivious to my indifference, kept chattering away, bursting with curiosity.
“Aren’t you even curious? About what blessing you’ll receive?”
“What else would it be? Useless Dominant Omega crap…”
“Sorry? What was that? I couldn’t hear you!”
“Mm? Oh, nothing. I’m so looking forward to it.”
With Nicole’s help, I slowly got ready and stepped out of the room.
And right outside the door, as always, stood a familiar silhouette.
“You’re awake, young master.”
“…Sir Kyle.”
“Congratulations on your seventeenth birthday. I… wanted to be the first to say it.”
Waves of golden hair, eyes like deep lakes—he looked like he’d stepped straight out of a classic romance novel.
That timelessly handsome man lowered his voice and whispered softly, just for me:
“Noah.”
* * *
