SMCBRN Chapter 2

Darkness had settled heavily over the room, and silence filled the space.

 

Freed to speak under the condition that I neither shouted nor called for anyone, I asked,

 

“……So, you’re saying that you want to sleep in my bed?”

 

The crown prince, who had pulled up a chair beside the bed, nodded.

 

“Yes.”

 

“May I ask why?”

 

“That is…….”

 

A slight crease formed between the prince’s elegant brows.

 

Reynard Baltic Lehenberg, Crown Prince of the Lehenberg Empire. And one of the sub-male leads in the novel Looking for a Husband.

 

<Looking for a Husband> was a novel famous for its wealth of captivating sub-male leads. Despite having a firmly established main love interest, it featured three incredibly charming sub-male leads.

 

‘Every chapter was flooded with comments lamenting how wasted they were. I was the one who left most of them.’

 

The story followed Ayla, the female lead, who, for certain reasons, needed to marry in order to inherit the fortune left by her parents.

 

The sub-male leads were the candidates she considered as potential husbands.

 

But the true male lead was always Cedric, the black-haired duke from the north, Ayla’s childhood friend, and a man who reserved his warmth for her alone.

 

The charm of the novel lay in Ayla treating Cedric as just a friend, while Cedric, awkward in expressing emotions, fumbled through misunderstandings.

 

The added bonus was seeing the main lead’s adorable jealousy toward the sub-male leads, which made him even more endearing to readers.

 

‘That never really did it for me, though.’

 

As for me, I had always been devoted to sub-male leads, forever drawn to those who seemed like the perfect choice but were ultimately never chosen.

 

Naturally, this made me an avid fan of Looking for a Husband, with its lineup of compelling sub-male leads. My hobby was leaving comments under every chapter, lamenting over them.

 

[ “Author…… If I buy a hundred copies, will you let the sub-male leads end up with Ayla too? Let’s go for a polyamorous ending!” ]

 

[ “These poor sub-male leads… Just once, can’t one of them be the main love interest? That’s all I ask…” ]

 

[ “Honestly, aren’t they more attractive than Cedric? I don’t get Ayla’s taste. Just my opinion, so no offense to Cedric fans.”]

 

[“Whatever! Ayla has Cedric, so I’ll just take all the adorable sub-male leads for myself!”]

 

……Looking back, I was probably just an annoying reader. I really did get too emotionally invested in that novel.

 

But none of that mattered now. What mattered was that the man sitting before me was glaring at me with eyes sharp enough to cut.

 

Even though I had adored this sub-male lead so much, facing him in person was terrifying. Because it was Reynard, of all people.

 

The truth was, beyond his self-assured nature, Reynard had another major flaw that made him unsuitable as the main lead, his ruthlessness.

 

Though he currently kept his claws sheathed for the sake of his public image, he was infamous for brutally eliminating his enemies.

 

As I nervously waited, Reynard finally broke the silence.

 

“You asked why I want to sleep in your bed.”

 

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

 

“Naturally, I should tell you the reason…… but once you hear it, you’ll think I’m insane.”

 

“That’s impossible! How could I dare? Please, speak freely.”

 

The crown prince crossed his long legs. Even in such a simple motion, there was an undeniable air of nobility and confidence, just as the novel had described.

 

“I haven’t been able to sleep well lately.”

 

Now that he mentioned it, the dark circles under his eyes seemed more pronounced.

 

“I’ve pushed my body to the limit, even tried taking sleeping aids, but nothing worked. I’m utterly exhausted, yet strangely, sleep refuses to come.”

 

His expression twisted with irritation, and for some reason, my heart started pounding.

 

“Because of this, my once-perfect routine has been completely shattered. Look at me. Even my flawless skin, which everyone used to admire, has suffered.”

 

…Well, he wasn’t wrong. But hearing him say it out loud felt oddly self-indulgent.

 

“And every time I try to sleep, I hear a voice.”

 

“A voice?”

 

“It must be a hallucination since I’m the only one who hears it. But it’s disturbingly vivid, relentless, whispering over and over in my ear. Damn it. I’ve heard it so many times, I’ve memorized every single word.”

 

I swallowed hard. Looking for a Husband was supposed to be a romantic comedy. What was with this eerie turn of events?

 

With absolute seriousness, Reynard recited the words of his hallucination.

 

“Author, since the main lead belongs to the heroine, I’ll take the sub-male lead. Reynard, come to my bed right now.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

Hearing something so utterly unexpected from someone so utterly unexpected at such an utterly unexpected moment left me momentarily stunned.

 

“What it means, I don’t know. Who is this ‘author’? What is a ‘sub-male lead’?”

 

The strange words confirmed that I hadn’t misheard. I carefully turned them over in my mind.

 

“Author… sub-male lead… Reynard… bed…”

 

Wait a minute. Why did this sound so familiar?

 

A cold sweat formed in my palms. Reynard continued, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

 

“I don’t understand what the hallucination means, but every time I hear it, your face comes to mind. My instincts tell me to go to you, to go to your bed.”

 

“M-Me?!”

 

“Yes. I feel like I could finally sleep if I were in your bed.”

 

His intense gaze bore into me, or rather, into the bed I was sitting on.

 

“So, will you let me sleep there?”

 

A bolt of lightning couldn’t have been more shocking. The words spun in my head, author, sub-male lead, bed… me.

 

I had no choice but to accept the truth.

 

That… that was my comment.

 

[ “Author, since the main lead belongs to the heroine, I’ll take the sub-male lead…! Reynard, come to my bed right now!!” ]

 

Reynard, so devastatingly attractive yet doomed never to be chosen, had seemed too tragic to me. If I could, I had wanted to become his new love. Maybe even spend some intimate time together in bed.

 

Could it be that my comment caused all of this?!

 

First, I had died in a car accident. Then, I had woken up inside this novel. And now, a sub-male lead was asking me to let him sleep in my bed.

 

At first glance, it seemed like my wishes had been granted.

 

But no! Not like this!

 

I had wanted to share a sweet romance with Reynard, not face him while he glared at me like he wanted to devour me whole.

 

“Just to be sure, Lady Charlotte, you didn’t cast a curse on me, did you?”

 

“A curse?”

 

“The more I think about it, the more it seems like someone has cursed me with insomnia. And the most likely culprit is the owner of the voice in my hallucinations. The voice told me to come to its bed, and yet, your face keeps appearing in my mind. Could it be, ”

 

“N-No! I would never do such a thing!”

 

He looked ready to draw the sword at his hip, so I denied it with every ounce of conviction I had.

 

“Besides, I don’t have that kind of power. I can’t use magic at all, and I’ve fallen out of favor with my father, so I certainly don’t have the money to hire a mage.”

 

Thankfully, my desperate plea seemed to work. The sharpness in his gaze softened slightly.

 

“And apart from today, I’ve been under strict house arrest, unable to go anywhere. If your symptoms only started recently, I couldn’t possibly be the culprit.”

 

“True. You’re known as Cedric Hickleed’s devoted shadow. I doubt you’d waste time casting a spell on me instead of him.”

 

“Exactly! My heart has always belonged to Duke Hickleed alone. My feelings toward Your Highness are nothing but loyalty and respect.”

 

For the first time, I was grateful for the misconception that I had a crush on Cedric.

 

“Besides, now that I hear you say it, my hallucination and Lady Charlotte’s voice sound quite different. Though… both belong to a young woman.”

 

“R-Right…!”

 

Wait. Could that voice be… my real voice? Not Charlotte’s, but my actual voice?

 

There was no way to confirm it, but the thought sent a shiver down my spine.

 

“Hah… And there’s no guarantee I’ll even be able to sleep in your bed.”

 

The exhaustion in his sigh was undeniable. His claim of sleepless nights was clearly true.

 

“Regardless, I’d like to test it. Will you lend me your bed?”

 

…So all I had to do was let him borrow it? That seemed simple enough. I nodded vigorously.

 

“Of course! At first light, I’ll have my bed delivered to the palace.”

 

“If I were willing to wait that long, I wouldn’t have come here in the middle of the night.”

 

“Then…?”

 

“I’ll be sleeping in that bed tonight. One night should be enough to determine if it’s the solution.”

 

“Uhh… Won’t that be… uncomfortable? A man and a woman sharing a bed…”

 

An odd little sound escaped me. While I had certainly fantasized about a situation like this, having it happen without warning was a different matter entirely.

 

But Reynard looked utterly baffled.

 

“Don’t tell me… you have feelings for me? You’re obviously sleeping somewhere else.”

 

“Where… exactly?”

 

“That’s for you to figure out.”

 

Without waiting for my response, he began unbuttoning his clothes and changing into a different set. I quickly turned my gaze away as a sliver of bare skin came into view.

 

He even brought his own sleepwear? He really came prepared!

 

By the time I dared to look again, he was already lying comfortably in my bed.

 

“Apologies, but try to understand. I’m at my limit.”

 

Left utterly speechless, I could only stare at the back of his head.

 

Whoever had sent me into this world, whoever had granted my ridiculous comment the power to alter reality…

 

I never asked to be kicked out of my own bed while the sub-male lead slept in it!