I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend

After that, several scenes flashed before my eyes.

 

Rudrick hugged Dahlia, who was already dead and cold, Rudrick being tormented by nightmares every night, or Rudrick kneeling in the temple chanting something.

 

Time passed quickly, and over the years, Rudrick grew older by the day. 

 

He was no longer the man he once was. He had inherited the title and was now a Duke.

 

But one thing remained the same: he was still searching for something.

 

Even though he’s fine during the day, he’s constantly searching for something at night. 

 

There were even signs of obsession in the way he scraped together the information, sleeping for fewer hours.

 

And when his usually dark expression suddenly brightens.

 “What did you want with me?” 

Black smoke billowed in front of him. It had no real shape, but it was ominous to look at.

 

Suddenly, someone beside him muttered softly.

 “Taboo…” 

Before I could turn around, I heard Rudrick’s firm voice.

 “I want to turn back time.” “Backwards in time…” 

The smoke that had clouded his words was soon replaced by a bland tone.

 “Every wish requires a price. What can you give me?” 

It sounded as if the devil was making an offer, but Rudrick was unperturbed. 

 

As if he had anticipated this whole situation, he answered without even thinking.

 “My future.” 

His eyes widened.

 “I will give you the rest of my life. In exchange for turning back time.” “Hmm…” 

But the response from the figure was cold.

 “Your life is short anyway, so it won’t be of much use. You’re not even fit to receive my offer.” “Then what do you want…” “The future of all your lives.” 

Rudrick paused.

 “All your future lives will be unhappy. No matter how many times you are reborn, no matter how many times you begin again, your life will end in misery.” “…” “What do you think, do you want to do it?” 

He was silent for a moment.

 

Seeing him so troubled, I screamed at him, telling him not to accept such a ridiculous offer, that it was a trap, to say the least.

 

But he raised his head and asked only one question.

 “If I give it to you… can you really turn back time?” “Yes.” 

On the verge of shouting something, I stopped myself.

 “Good.” 

He had a genuinely pleased smile on his face.

 

As soon as he finished, there was a burst of white light, as if he’d been waiting for it. 

 

My hands came up on their own, and I covered my eyes, waiting for the light to subside.

 

And as soon as I opened my eyes, I quickly realized.

 

The vision was over.

 

 

Now I was standing in a white space.

 

Upon opening my eyes, I scratched my head in disbelief at the location change.

 

Then something felt off and I muttered,

“Rudrick?” 

The man who had been leaning against me just moments before was gone. 

 

With a sense of foreboding, I quickly looked around. Then I spotted someone sitting close to me and called out.

 “Dahlia!” 

As if I had heard her voice in a vision, she was right next to me.

 

Even though we had just been arguing over who was going to die and who was going to live, I was relieved to see someone I knew in an otherwise empty room.

 

I approached her, looking pleased to see her.

 “Dahlia, do you have any idea what’s going on? I feel like I’m having a vision, but it’s not real… Dahlia, Dahlia?” 

But before long, I was frozen in place.

 

For some reason, her condition was strange.

 

Dahlia’s face was white. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth gaped open, as if she’d seen something she couldn’t believe.

 “Yes, you… you… why would you…” 

With a frown, I turned my gaze toward where she was looking, and at the same time, I froze.

 “Rudrick…?” 

There were two Rudricks there.

 

The Rudrick I knew was lying on the floor. His face was even more gaunt than before, and strange characters were chained around his unconscious body.

 

And beside him, staring down at him, was a man…

 “You…” 

Looking similar to Rudrick, but a little more mature, I already knew.

 

I couldn’t help but recognize it.

 

It was the same Rudrick I had seen in my vision.

 “…” 

But despite our panicked voices, he remained motionless, staring down at the ground.

 

It was Dahlia who reacted to the doll-like figure.

 “It was you…” “…” “Everything I’ve lived through, the countless lives I’ve relived, the insane hours I’ve had to endure.” “…” “It was all your fault.” 

His head snapped back toward her. Their gazes locked, and she screamed.

 “When did I ask you to do this?!” “…” “Did I beg in front of you to save my life, to live?” “…” “It was my choice, I didn’t want to live anymore, it was my choice, I should have stayed dead…” “…” “Why did you keep me alive, why did you turn back time and make me…!” “…Yes.” 

A calm voice continued,

“It was all my greed.” “How my life has been ruined because of you, because of you, how much I’ve…!” “I wanted you to live, I hoped you would live, not die like this, I wanted you to find happiness again, living again.” “How hard it was, how crazy I thought it was going to be!” “I wanted you to be happy for me, too…” 

He paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly and muttered.

 “I’ve made you suffer, after all.” “I… I…” 

Dahlia gasped and dropped her gaze. He only watched her, still.

 

Soon, his raspy voice broke through,

“Let’s get this over with, Dahlia.” 

Dahlia burst out laughing.

 “You? What are you going to do, summon the devil again so you can beg him to take back that wish?” “You can’t take away a wish, but you can break it.” “What…” 

He pointed somewhere without saying a word. Dahlia’s eyes followed his hand, as well as mine. 

Soon enough, I realized what he was referring to.

 

At his fingertips was the present-day Rudrick. Or, to be more precise, the strange characters that covered his body.

 

In the middle of them, there was a vague crack.

 “You can’t be…” “You have a knife that weakens spells, and you stabbed him once with it.” “…” “It cracked the spell, but it’s not enough to break it, unless you aim for the center.” 

His fingertips moved downward.

 “The heart.” 

I exclaimed, sucking in a sharp breath,

“Oh, no! You can’t sacrifice Rudrick, who knows nothing of what he’s done, to break the seal…!” “I misspoke.” 

He suddenly looked back at me. For the first time, I made eye contact with him. 

 

There was a hint of warmth in his gaze.

 “It’s not him.” “What?” “It’s me.” 

With those words, he stretched out his hand toward Rudrick.

 

As if responding to the call of a similar being, the black letters twitched at his gesture, and soon they began to flow into him.

 

As the letters on Rudrick’s body grew thinner, they filled his body, and before long, they were dense.

 “Stab me, Dahlia.” 

He turned toward her. She flinched, trembling.

 “I’m the one who made the wish, so I might as well take it.” “…” “Make sure you aim for the heart, and I don’t want the spell to deflect and break the knife. If you have difficulty, I’ll help you…” “Stop!” 

As he took a step, then another, Dahlia shrank back, hesitating, and when he was within inches of her, she cried out in horror.

 “You think I’ll forgive you for that?” “Dahlia.” “I hate you, I hate you for making me do this!” “…” “You’ve been so controlling from the beginning, and now you’re doing this to me. What do you think I want from you? What do you expect from me…!” “I’m sorry.” 

Dahlia caught her breath.

 “I’ve always wanted to tell you, I’m sorry. For being too late, for not being there for you.” “…” “No matter how many times I apologized, how many times I said I was sorry… you weren’t there anymore, no matter how much I regretted it.” “…” “I thought I’d tell you if I ever saw you again, and I won’t be able to because if I turn back time, I won’t remember the past, but if I do, I’ll tell you.” “…” “Dahlia.” 

He stared down at her, his mouth twitching as if to say something, but he couldn’t, and in the end, only one word came out.

 “I’m sorry.” “I hate you.” “It’s okay.” “I’ll never forgive you. I’ll hate you for the rest of my life, until the day I die.” “Yeah.” “Until I die, if I die, if I ever die…” 

Dahlia’s eyes clouded over as she trailed off.

 “Actually… I wanted to live.” “…” “I asked for one more chance. I prayed to the gods that if I went back to the past, I would change the future, that I would live.” “…” “But if it wasn’t god who heard my prayer, but you, if you had granted my wish…” 

A tear rolled down her cheek. She buried her face in her hands and muttered to herself in a small voice.

 “How could I ever stab you…” 

He pulled her into his arms. A shaky sob escaped her as she buried her face in his arms. 

 

Holding her tightly, he lowered his eyes to hers.

 

They stayed like that for a long time.

 

Dahlia pulled away, her face a mess of tears.

 “I’m sorry, really, I’m sorry. I finally, finally got to see you again… but I was so exhausted… I didn’t have the strength to hold on anymore… and I had to let you go…” “It’s okay, Dahlia.” 

He didn’t say more.

 

Instead, he simply placed the knife in her hand, took a step back, and smiled wistfully, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

 “Go ahead.” 

Dahlia stared at him blankly, and then, as if she had made up her mind, she gritted her teeth. 

 

Raising the knife high, she plunged it into his heart.

 

And then, sure enough, the blade plunged into his heart.

 “…!” 

A blinding white light burst forth.

 

For a moment, I felt a strange sensation.

 

It felt like something that had been imprisoning my body was released. I had never felt stifled before, but for that moment, I felt like my head was cleared, and I was free.

 

As I turned my head in this strange feeling, I suddenly made eye contact with him.

 

He was looking in my direction for some reason, and he smiled softly at me. Then he said something, but I could barely hear him due to the distance.

 “…” 

‘What?’

 

But my question didn’t reach him.

 

His body had already scattered into a cloud of light, and the pure white space was collapsing from below.

 

In an instant, even the floor I was standing on disappeared. Panicking, I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt myself plummeting without warning.

 

And for what seemed like an eternity.

 

When I finally opened my eyes.

 “…Hah.” 

I was lying on the floor of my room.

 

Staring blankly at the ceiling. I blinked slowly, and suddenly burst out laughing.

 

With a sigh, I muttered,

“I survived…”