I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend

At first, I thought I was dreaming. I wondered how he’d come back so soon, and how he knew where to find me.

 

But the reason I realized it wasn’t a dream was simple. The warmth that had wrapped around me like a protective blanket had collapsed on top of me.

 “Mmm…” 

I stiffly picked him up, and then I saw it. The knife in his shoulder.

 “Rudrick!” 

An involuntary scream escaped my lips.

 

My mind went white as I saw the blood quickly spreading around the stabbed shoulder. I shuddered, unable to touch him as he leaned against me.

 “Uh, oh, no. There’s blood, there’s so much blood… I need a doctor right now, ah, no, I need first aid…” “It’s nothing, calm down.” “Nothing? It’s nothing? This?” 

Rudrick said that to reassure me, but it only made my insides burn.

 

That’s why he stepped in the middle, why he didn’t hesitate to throw himself at the knife when he knew it was coming. 

 

And why he stepped in to protect me like he always did when he knew he was going to get hurt.

 

In truth, I knew I would have been stabbed if not for him, but for that moment, I couldn’t help but resent him. But instead of letting my feelings show, I quickly looked around.

 “No, please, don’t talk now, it might open the wound. Let’s go get it treated first. After we heal it, we can talk again…” 

At that point, I froze in place.

 

Then I remembered the whole situation. Yes, before Rudrick got hurt, I was talking to O’Neill, or rather, Dahlia from another timeline.

 

We had a disagreement, and she tried to initiate the seal, and everything around me went black and white, and…

 

‘Time should have stopped for most of this place by now.’

 

My mind racing, I quickly looked over at Dahlia, and in a moment of panic, I tried to get words out of her.

 “Yeah, I don’t know how you…” 

The woman looked stunned. Startled, she dropped the knife and took a step or two back. The corners of her eyes widened as she looked at us.

 “How did you find this place… time should have stopped in the first place…” “Dahlia?” “Is there something wrong with the seal, or is it because you’re the owner of the ring? Maybe… because you got affected by me, so…” “Dahlia!” 

I called urgently, hearing her muttering to herself.

 

Rudrick, who had been following me and watching her in confusion, turned to me at my call, but there was no time to elaborate now.

 

We had to stop the seal at such a time as this, and most of all, she was in a grave condition.

 “Kill, I didn’t mean to kill you.” “Dahlia, just calm down and listen to me.” “I’m just, I’m just trying to create a gap in the spell. The body is cursed, so I’m going to stab it and seal it while the spell is weakened by the wavering of the curse, so that I can perfectly avoid the curse and seal it…” “What? What are you talking about…” 

A curse? A gap? A seal when the curse weakens?

 

The implications of her words bothered me, but now was not the time for idle explanations or questions. I shook my head urgently and shouted.

 “Okay, I hear you, but just listen to me!” “…” “Give me a minute, even if it’s just a minute. At least let us heal Rudrick. He has nothing to do with us, and after he’s healed, we’ll be on our own…!” “Does it matter?” 

But even with my desperate cry, she gave me a distant look. 

 

In fact, she stared at me for a long time with a blank stare, as if it was strange for me to say such a thing, and then she burst out laughing.

 “It doesn’t matter? Not at all? Haha, how could you think that… Oh, you don’t know anything about it, so yeah, maybe it does.” “What? What don’t I know…” “Okay, let’s do that.” 

With a smile, she nodded. My face brightened at that.

 “Then give me a moment…!” “I’ll give you the seal as quickly as I can.” “…What?” 

At the same time, she snapped her fingers.

 “Ugh…!” 

From nowhere, a muffled moan erupted in front of me. I turned toward it, startled, and then froze.

 

The dagger had been pulled from Rudrick’s shoulder.

 

It was obvious she had done it, judging by the dagger floating in the air. Still, I was speechless.

 

Blood continued to ooze from the gaping wound, and Rudrick’s face grew paler and pallid by the second. 

 

Looking at me in disgust, she continued.

 “It’s hard to stop the process once it’s already begun, and I’d have to have my soul destroyed, or something equally devastating, to stop it.” “…” “Well, we might be able to stop it with some time, but in the meantime, Rudrick might lose too much blood and die?” “…” “So let’s stop before that happens.” 

I lifted my trembling eyes.

 “Wouldn’t it be better to be sealed alive than to be dead when the seal is broken?” “…” “At first, I was embarrassed to see him in a space that only we could enter, but then I thought about it, it’s good for you, it motivates me, and I can accomplish what I want.” “You, you’re…” “Don’t worry, Dahlia, I’ll save you. One way or another, we’ll speed up the time of the seal, and we’ll close our eyes together in happiness. Okay?” 

There was Dahlia with a bizarre expression on her face. Her face looked exactly like mine, and she was smiling so brightly, she seemed genuinely so happy…

 

As I stared into her glowing eyes, I heard Rudrick mutter beside me.

 “You’re completely insane.” 

At that, she merely smirked, and then gestured with her hand.

 “Is that how you do it?” 

Suddenly her hand was glowing white, and her fingers left a trail of white light in the air where they passed, which soon began to take shape.

 

As I watched, I instinctively realized: that she was, indeed, trying to accelerate the sealing.

 “Dahlia, wait, listen, please, we need to talk a little more…!” 

Growing impatient, I was about to interrupt her.

 

Suddenly, she opened her mouth as if she’d remembered something.

 “Oh, right, you asked me earlier what you didn’t know.  “What?” “Well, it would be boring to keep you in the dark, so I might as well tell you now, and once you know the truth…” 

Suddenly, her amused gaze snapped back to me.

 “You might just give in.” 

With that, my vision plunged back into darkness.

 “You know, the first Rudrick was…” 

Dahlia’s voice trailed off as she faded away.

 “Was happy.”  

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a garden.

 

No, it wasn’t just me. Rudrick was in the same place as I was, probably because I was holding 

him up.

 

‘Is this another vision, like last time?’

 

Maybe it was. After all, the last time I thought I was in Dahlia’s body, I had only seen an illusion. I calmly looked around the room.

 

But it wasn’t long before I realized where I was.

 “Averine?” 

Rudrick’s low murmur answered for me.

 

He was right. The place we were standing in was familiar to all of us, especially me, Avery’s Garden.

 

But somehow, I had an ominous premonition that it would not be the end of it…

 [Charles!]

 

I looked up startled, and my eyes widened.

 [Claire.]

 

It was my parents.

 

They were younger than I remembered them, much younger than I had ever seen them, and they were walking toward each other, the way I had seen them as a child.

 

The second they met, they embraced each other. Their faces lit up with joy, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years, and they held hands and chatted with each other.

 

As I watched, I felt an intense sense of anticipation.

 

This situation…

 [How are you?]

 [I’m always fine, you said you were pregnant.]

 [Oh, my gosh, you already know?]

 [I found out, the Duke and Duchess of Bouser said you like gold thread so much.]

 

‘…What?’

 

And I looked at them blankly.

 [No matter how nice you are, give your friends a break sometimes, or I’ll forget your face.]

 [Oh, it’s not like that. You have to respect my wishes.]

 [I don’t know. How long will you be gone this time?]

 [I’ll probably have a baby and take care of the house, so I’ll stay long enough.]

 

As they stood and chatted for a while longer, the topic naturally shifted to pregnancy. My mother nudged and asked.

 [Is it a girl or a boy?]

 [We don’t know yet, but…]

 

Duchess Bouser patted her belly and said.

 [I hope it’s a girl, since we have Rudrick.]

 

Then she smiled sweetly, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the Duchess’s face, for it was so familiar.

 

My mother also looked at her friend with a gentle smile, and then, as if remembering something she had forgotten, said.

 [Oh, by the way, look at how crazy I am, I should introduce you.]

 

My mother looked back at me and said,

[Dahlia, say hello.]

 

With those words, the scene froze, and a voice came from out of thin air.

 “The Duke and Duchess Bouser used to have a thing for the gold thread. They didn’t come to the capital to fight, they came to give birth to their second child.” “…” “Soon afterward, the Duke came, and though he was still cold, he loved his wife with all his heart, and she was happy.” “…” “I wonder what it was like for Rudrick growing up in that kind of family?  

Scenes flashed before my eyes.

 

Rudrick and I were introduced to each other by our mothers, and although I didn’t mistake him for a woman, as I had in this life, we were polite and slowly built a connection.

 “He was still timid.” 

In the vision, Rudrick was still very shy. At first, I thought he was a little awkward, but as we continued to meet more often, he quickly warmed up to me and made the first move.

 

Sometimes he’d even make the first move, smiling brightly like a child.

 “He has a great attitude for his age.” [I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that I have a brother, but it’s a bit… frustrating because my parents are distracted and don’t treat me like they used to…]

 “He was sweet and gentle.” [I finally saw her face, she’s so tiny and cute, I hope she likes me… what can I do for her?]

 [Oh, no, you’re being flattering, I don’t really…]

 [I’m always grateful, hehe. I hope she’ll see her brother soon.]

 

In the brief glimpse that passed, Rudrick wore a variety of expressions, some of which I recognized, and some of which I had never seen before.

 

I felt nostalgic and took in every single one of them.

 

At the same time, memories of my childhood with Rudrick came flooding back.

 

Yes, we used to be like that. We used to be awkward at first, but then we would open up. We would talk in-depth, play pranks, and laugh so much.

 

But that sweet time didn’t last long.

 “Something happened to that happy home.” 

The calm voice quickly turned sour.

 “Since my regression.”