"Who are you?"
"No, who are you?"
The truck that hit me and fled seemed to have been a hallucination. Otherwise, why would I be in a room I didn't recognize, in bed with a stranger? I'm not particularly uptight, but I've never drunk and partied to the point of forgetting everything.
Furthermore, this man even held a sword to my neck on our first meeting.
"You came into my room, and now you're asking me who I am. Ha......"
The man who sighed with exhaustion had a familiar face for some reason. To be exact, it looked so much like the face that I had imagined dozens---no, hundreds---of times in my dreams.
Blonde hair that shines like the sun and sparkling blue eyes that look like they were taken directly from the stars of dawn. However, his face was more mature than I had imagined.
No way.
No freaking way.
This must be a dream, right? Or did I die and come to heaven?
Even though my throat was about to be slit, I couldn't resist my curiosity. I asked him, wondering if it could be true.
"...Kyle?"
He wrinkled his brow with a stern expression.
"Why are you asking when you already know? Seeing that you hid here, you seem to know everything already."
"Oh my god!"
I forgot that there was a sword against my neck, and I was about to lift my hand to cover my mouth. I could've accidentally stabbed myself with the sword if Kyle, surprised, hadn't quickly moved it out of the way as soon as he saw me trying to cover my mouth.
"What are you doing?"
You were the one who was just pointing a sword at my neck. But...
"...You're still so kind...You're the best..."
With those words, I passed out.
Six months ago, I came across a novel and started reading it without any particular expectations.
The title of the novel was <King Maker>. It was the story of a female protagonist who makes the Emperor of the Bildeon Empire out of a discarded black-eyed prince, where only those with red eyes were crowned emperors.
The Emperor only kept children with red eyes under him, much like a person with mysophobia. Even under the first Empress, Priscilla's rule, only the first child she bore survived, and the children who were not born with red eyes died, either by poisoning or accident.
T/N: Mysophobia is the fear of dirt and contamination.
Some said it was the will of heaven, but everyone knew it was not the truth.
Without any proper trial or investigation, non-red-eyed children were considered expendable by the Emperor and his family, and they only received simple funerals before being buried.
After already losing one son, the Third Empress Luizienne took her child from the midwife as soon as she gave birth and held him tightly in her arms.
"Wake up! I said, open your eyes!"
As the child was slapped on his buttocks, he opened his eyes and filled the bloody bedroom with his cries.
He had black eyes.
"Ah, Isaac, my baby... Why do you look like me, sigh...."
She looked like she would pass out at any moment; she barely regained her senses by tearing at the tender flesh inside her mouth.
Luizienne sent him out of the palace with her maid. That was the beginning of a trial for the male protagonist, who was left in such a sorry state.
After enduring much hardship outside the palace for having black eyes, he discovered that he was actually the crown prince and, with the help of the female protagonist, entered the palace. Gradually gaining influence, he became the first black-eyed emperor of the Bildeon Empire.
I fell in love with a supporting character in "King Maker," not the female or male protagonist, nor even the second-male lead.
Kyle de Bildeon.
He was born with blue eyes like his mother and tried his best to gain recognition from the Emperor; however, the Emperor never once called him by name as the first prince.
Like a fighting dog, Kyle was sent to the war zone at the border, lost his left arm, and returned as an amputee.
There was nothing left for him after his defeat.
*********
"I never wanted the Emperor's position from the beginning. I just... I just wanted to live like everyone else. But why did you do this to me, Your Majesty?"
The Emperor responded to Kyle's words as he entered the office with a stoic expression.
"Well, you've already enjoyed everything there is to enjoy in that position, haven't you?"
His voice was flat and devoid of any affection. Watching the Emperor's eyes, which held no trace of sentimentality toward his child, Kyle used his other arm to slit his neck open and commit suicide right in the Emperor's office.
"I shouldn't have served someone like you as my father."
Those were his last words.
***********
I read the novel with tears streaming from my eyes, but the characters did not mourn Kyle's death for long. In this grand novel, Kyle sympathized with his non-red-eyed brother, helped him, and eventually died full of resentment towards the cold Emperor.
What a pitiful person.
Kyle played just that much of a supporting role.
Without even a chance to grieve, the characters continued their power struggle, getting closer to the vacant position of the first prince.
Angry, I closed the book.
"No, look, Kyle was alive from the first to the third book. Why did this happen? Isn't this too much?"
I was wiping away my tears and scouring various novel communities, but no one talked about Kyle. There wasn't even any mention of Kyle on the author's personal SNS.
Gradually, my anger boiled over.
"Why! Why isn't Kyle the sub-protagonist?"
"Sob sob, if only Kyle had been one, there would have been more information about him."
"Author, if you were going to do this, you shouldn't have described Kyle in the first place."
"Kyle, sob, Kyle... I miss you. Damn it, why did I fall in love with a fictional character? I..."
I, who couldn't receive proper love from anyone and couldn't love anyone but the one that only existed on paper, Kyle, was desperate. I suffered from a fever of love that I didn't even experience during adolescence. I cried a lot, followed Kyle's trail, and re-read the scenes where he appeared more than ten times.
... But was that a bit too much? To the point of sending me into the book...?
Until yesterday, I was just an ordinary office worker who led my tired body to work. A very ordinary woman who loved animals and hated her boss.
While crossing the street, a big truck rushed in from nowhere, but when I realized it, all my memories of this life were passing by in a flash. Among the many memories of life, Kyle's was the one that burned till the last moment.
'...I want to convey my feelings...'
But I didn't know I would come into the book like this. Did I just come into the book because I was thinking about him as I took my last breath?
...I'm not sure who God is, but my consumer satisfaction level is through the roof. I will fill up 200 letters of review and send my praise. Thank you.
************
My eyelids trembled, and my senses slowly returned to my cold fingertips. I could hear Kyle's voice, "If you're awake, stop pretending to sleep."
...Oh no, his voice is even better than I imagined. I want to hug him and dance in circles. I slightly opened my eyes and quietly observed his actions.
Kyle's side profile with his pensive eyes caught my attention. He's so handsome; am I going crazy? They say a sleeping princess is supposed to wake up with a kiss from the prince, not a hug, right?
T/N: Sis since when did u become a princess, istg she's giving me secondhand embarrassment already.
I leaned forward slightly and extended my lips. Just give me a little kiss already. They say they grant wishes for dead people, so there's no reason you can't grant my wish as a "dead" person, Kyle. Give me a kiss.
"Uh, um... Your Highness, is this lady sticking out her lips?"
"...Cut them off."
"Oh, I'm up!"
What a cruel person.
I tried to sit up but couldn't move. I turned my head and saw that my hands and feet were tied up with ropes.
Fortunately, the location seemed to be Kyle's bedroom, as it was earlier. However, there was a man behind Kyle that wasn't there before, staring at me. He had short orange hair, a tall stature, and a face full of freckles. He was Kyle's trusted assistant, one of the few people he believed in. Isaac, the black-eyed prince, was also the first to approach Kyle to get on his side.
".....Benji?"
Both men's pupils enlarged simultaneously.
Oh my god, it really is Benji. What should I do? My hands are shaking.
Although I wanted to rejoice in our fateful encounter and shiver with excitement, my body didn't move at all because I was so tightly bound. Looking out the window, it was a black night before, but now it was dawn and the sun was rising.
"Who sent you?"
The cold voice made my heart freeze.
I haven't been able to sleep after reading about your life, Kyle, and your irises always remind me of dawn.
For a moment, I was anxious about whether all of this was just my imagination or a dream. Life doesn't always go as we want it to.
"Just to confirm, is this a dream?"
"Your Highness, it seems like she's insane."
With Benji's serious advice, Kyle quietly drew his sword again. He does it so effortlessly. He's so sexy, so I'll let it slide. This sister has already let him off the hook before.
"... Are you really Kyle?"
With a stern expression, Kyle slowly pushed the sword against my neck.
"Answer me, who sent you?"
I could feel the sharp pain and the blood slowly trickling down my neck from the sword that had pierced my flesh.
Ow, it hurts!
"Ouch! That really hurts! Woah!"
As I rolled my eyes to the side, I noticed the red hawk emblem of the Imperial family carved onto the door.
"Wow, this can't be a dream, can it? I know that emblem! It's the red hawk, the symbol of the Imperial family! Ouch! It keeps bleeding; it hurts so much!"
Come to think of it, even the color of the bed I was lying on was red.
I know this setting all too well.
After reading a book repeatedly, you tend to memorize the background and basic settings.
"A red bed! Wow, the room of a royal family member! The golden walls! The first prince! Kyle de Bildeon! The freckled knight with light orange hair! That's Benji Fisher! Am I right? Everything fits; wow, it feels so real! Am I in a coma? Am I dead? If I knew I would get to experience something like this, I should have jumped on the road earlier!"
I looked around the room like a fish just taken out of the water, flopping around. Everything was the same as in < King Maker>.
"...Hey, stop talking nonsense and answer me. Who sent you? What's your purpose for coming here?"
"I don't know. When I opened my eyes, I was here. I was lying next to the prince here. We're meant to be together after all."
"I wonder how they managed to get past the guards and bring her in. Was she sent by someone?"
"Why are you saying that? I'm not a spy. I've never done anything like that before. Besides, why would I want to do something to the prince?"
As I thought about it, sleeping once didn't seem like a bad idea. No, I'd actually benefit from it. A night alone with my beloved. Come on.
"Kyle, I don't know when I'll wake up over there again, so let's do it. Am I dead? Anyway, we're old enough to know."
Kyle started to step back a little as he saw my gaze turn menacing. Thanks to that, the blade that had been at my throat earlier was removed.
Kyle had a bewildered look in his eyes, just like a cat on high alert.
How cute...my small, cute golden kitten.
I felt my nose flare involuntarily.
"Your Highness, it's dangerous. Please step back behind me."
Benji instinctively stood between Kyle and me. He truly is an excellent assistant, no matter the circumstances. To be able to read a situation just by looking at someone's expression.
"What could I possibly do with my hands and feet tied?"
"...Excellent work, Benji. I just had a really bad feeling."
Is this all really a dream? Shouldn't I say it now? What if I suddenly wake up from this dream? This could be my last chance. Even if it's just a fantasy I've created, I want to say it out loud at least once.
"Prince Kyle."
Although I was tied up with ropes and threatened with a blade, which was slightly different from my ideal situation, I had something I wanted to say to him.
"...I love you."
Kyle's pupils widened for a moment as he looked at me. Benji was startled and looked back and forth between the prince and me.
"Your Highness, do you know this person..."
"I don't know her."
Kyle hastily interrupted Benji, perhaps afraid of any misunderstandings.
Surprised, right? You must have been very shocked. I am too. But I must say what needs to be said. Even if this is my subconscious world, I'm glad that I can express it to you.
Once again, I spoke with all my strength.
"Kyle, I love you."
As I poured out the emotions I had bottled up, I felt like the dam holding back my feelings had broken.
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