* * *
“Ha, haha, ha… Ah, yes. Thank you, Sir Kyle.”
Kyle Gray. A capture target in ‘The Gentleman of the Rose Mansion’. Keywords: gentle seme, knight seme, pure-hearted seme, and so on.
When I first decided to win him over for the sake of a peaceful life, and actually managed to do so without much trouble, I never imagined this upright knight would end up flipping the script on me like this.
It gives me chills. I gave him a vague smile and took a big step back.
The same guy who—just a few hours ago, by my estimate—couldn’t let go of Allen and was rubbing lips with him despite Allen being about to marry someone else…
That same guy now shyly calling my name?
Yeah, not a great feeling. Honestly.
In this world, dominant Omegas are automatically considered candidates for the Crown Princess.
As someone who transmigrated into the body of the villainous dominant Omega who gets executed for interfering with the main couple, I absolutely had to avoid getting marked as an “obstacle” by either the main uke or, effectively the main seme, the Crown Prince himself.
So I needed a plausible excuse to naturally back out of the running for Crown Princess, despite being a dominant Omega from a noble family.
The plan was to find another Alpha and make a soul-bond with them before the main uke showed up.
At first, I considered staying as far out of the main plot as possible.
But unfortunately, the moment I was adopted into the Hamilton household, my fate became hopelessly entangled with the main uke’s.
After all, I, Noah Hamilton, had the backstory of being a distant relative adopted in place of the main uke who went missing as a child.
That left me with only one option.
Dropping out of the Crown Princess race without an Alpha to bond with would have been seen as a direct insult to the royal family—punishable by death, no less.
So I had to choose my Alpha very carefully.
It couldn’t be someone so lowborn that the palace would just make them vanish, and since I couldn’t leave the house much without a guardian, it had to be someone I could naturally encounter in daily life.
That narrowed it down to just one person.
Kyle Gray. A knight from a kind-hearted family.
What worried me was that he, like the Crown Prince, was also one of the game’s capture targets.
But back then, I couldn’t afford to be picky.
At the time, Kyle Gray was practically my only viable choice.
I’d told myself it was lucky he wasn’t deeply involved in the main story, and that the only notable things about him were his handsome face and his gentle, caring nature…
But I’ve lost count of how many times that same sweet knight—who acted like he’d rip out his heart and liver for me—stabbed me in the back and ran.
At this point, I’m just used to it. Love that started out of necessity is still love, I suppose.
But I’m not the same person who once cried over the betrayal of someone I’d fallen for head over heels.
That warm, sun-dried love and pure devotion?
Long gone.
“Noah…?”
He was clearly flustered by my overly formal tone. His thick lashes trembled.
Well, well. Is that all it takes to shake him?
Just calling him by name without sounding sweet?
I guess it’s a shock from his perspective.
Just yesterday, I still looked like I was head over heels for him. And now I’m drawing this cold line.
He probably didn’t expect that from someone who used to blush and whisper “Kyle…” like he’d just uttered a secret password every time he called me anything but “Young Master.”
But that’s his problem.
Those blue eyes, clouded and wavering with confusion, honestly?
Pathetic.
‘ don’t need to worry about something so meaningless anymore. I know now. I never loved him. From the very moment I first met you, I already…’
Let him be confused.
I’ve got him beat.
He may be thrown off by my coldness, but can it compare to the shock I felt when I found out that the reliable fiancé I’d dated since eighteen—after years of flirting and finally getting engaged—ended up dumping me for someone he’d barely known for a hundred days?
After hearing that, my head practically exploded.
And before I could process anything, the system dragged me into my first regression.
I returned to age seventeen, for the first time.
Still naive, I thought, ‘This time, I’ll do better and make him stay with me.’
So I played the devoted lover again.
And got dumped even faster.
Returned again, empty-handed.
The damn system even mocked me with a message like:
[The System is impressed by your talent for failure. This must be a gift.]
There were more regressions after that—no point remembering how many—and every time, Kyle found increasingly creative ways to stomp all over my teenage sincerity.
Maybe that’s why?
By the most recent round, I barely even flinched at most insults.
What was it last time?
Something like, “A wretched side-branch like you should know your place and stop coveting what belongs to the noble.”
Honestly, is there a more helpful bastard in the world?
Last cycle, I thought: ‘What if I just cleared the original game’s true ending instead of fighting the loop?’
Maybe I kept failing because I’d never gone full villain like the original Noah had.
So I dropped the morals. I decided to do everything the game’s villain would have.
Frame innocent people.
Secretly orchestrate Allen’s assassination while pretending to quietly accept the love of the Crown Prince and others.
As a result, I ended up imprisoned as a traitor who tried to kill the Crown Princess-to-be.
I was just waiting for the guillotine when… the system, that goddamned system, once again…
[The System is bored of this lackluster ending.]
[The System is resetting the scenario.]
[Returning to the beginning.]
Like it never gets tired. It turned back time.
Again.
“Well then, I’ll be off now, Sir Kyle. I’ve got a packed schedule today.”
“Ah…! Shall I escort—”
“No, that’s not necessary. I couldn’t possibly trouble the next captain of the knights with something so trivial. I’ll take my leave.”
If I’ve learned anything from all this, it’s that the more desperately I cling to Kyle, the faster he lets go.
Sure, he always ended up giving his heart to Allen, but the speed depended on how much I chased.
“Young Master, are you feeling off today? Or maybe had a bad dream?”
Nicole—who usually made himself scarce whenever Kyle showed up—ran up and whispered in concern.
I found him oddly endearing and gently ruffled his hair.
My nanny, Madam Seymour, and her son, Nicole.
No matter how far things went, they were the only ones who always took my side instead of Allen’s.
“It’s nothing. Just… Seventeen’s practically adulthood. I guess it’s time I grew up.”
“Young Master…”
“Is the carriage ready? We should leave now. I’ve got to visit the temple and still help with the banquet prep.”
“Yes, of course! Safe travels! Leave the banquet to me!”
Even though he was younger than me, Nicole nodded with an overly emotional look, like he was the one who had raised me or something.
If it were anyone else, I might have brushed it off—but it was Nicole.
Even I was almost moved.
[What a convenient excuse! (〃● ₃● ) ~ﾐ]
[Speech +3]
Ugh. There’s always something to ruin the moment.
I quickly shut off the notification window and picked up my pace.
I brushed off the servants’ greetings as I passed and finally found a moment of peace once I climbed into the carriage.
‘Aaargh! So annoying! So freaking annoying!’
I yanked the curtains shut like a fortress and silently screamed my lungs out.
I punched the air with clenched fists and kicked around like a child throwing a tantrum.
I couldn’t actually scream, but the thrashing helped a little.
Just a little. Barely.
[The System praises your unrestrained expression.
· ₊ ˚✿𓂃 ପ₍ᐢ๑• ֊ •๑ᐢ₎ଓ ⌒☆
Ballroom Dance +0.5]
“Huff, huff, wheeze… 0.5? Not even 5? Are you kidding me right now?!”
[Perception +0.5]
I was too tired to react to every petty insult.
I just closed the notification window and flopped onto the seat.
The ceremonial outfit Nicole had painstakingly prepared for me wrinkled beneath me without a care.
“How the hell… do I end this?”
…The System, which normally can’t keep its nose out of my business, was suddenly silent
. I stared blankly at a floating speck of dust and muttered again.
Please, just end this. Please.
My teeth clenched involuntarily.
[The System reminds you it’s been clear from the beginning.
s(・｀ヘ´・；)]
“That vague crap about ‘entertaining you’?”
[Perception +0.5]
“Even now, you… unbelievable.”
Sighing, I scrubbed my face with my hands.
Right. Worst-case scenario?
I just end up back at this damned morning again.
* * *
