Chapter Text
"I think marriage is a truly happy thing."
"...Huh?"
"It's a ceremony that shapes the thoughts of people who love each other and truly want to be together. It's something that happens when a person finds another person they truly love out of all the people in the world, and that person reciprocates... and I think that's truly amazing."
As Emilia spoke, Regulus uttered another "Huh?" He didn't say it with anger or irritation, but rather with deep confusion. He turned his gaze to the lovely young woman, who was dressed perfectly for a wedding, her eyes wide open, showing great surprise on her face. Then, he shifted his attention to the women, whose gazes were completely blank, reflecting the fear they felt and wearing expressions devoid of all emotion.
Regulus looked down at his palms, clenched them, and then opened them again. It felt strange, as if he had never clenched his fists, as if his body had stopped in time. He didn't feel like a person, but like something lighter and more powerful, and a sense of greed filled his mind.
But he wasn't Regulus; he was a person from Japan who, one day, after being exploited at work, fell asleep on the job. Suddenly, he found himself on an altar, in another body: that of the Archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneas.
"Regulus, why do you refer to your wives by number?"
Regaining some of the clarity she had lost due to the confusion she felt about her situation, Emilia asked him a question. Perhaps she wanted to understand Regulus better, or perhaps she simply wanted to delve into his true intentions in having so many wives and referring to them by number, as if they were mere livestock.
I look again at the girl Emilia, one of the main characters in Re:Zero, whom the original Regulus wanted to marry because of her authority, which required wives to be completely invincible and share his heart with all of them, because his authority alone stops the time of his heart.
He had seen the play in his teens and knew that the fate that awaited him was death, as he knew that Subaru would discover his weakness, that is, his wives, and that Emilia would freeze them, causing their hearts to stop beating, and then he would finally be defeated by Reinhard and drown.
He didn't want that, didn't want to die that way, and didn't understand why he was in the body of Regulus, one of the most despicable characters in Re:Zero. However, he was aware of the fate that awaited him and knew he could avoid it...
Silence fell over the chapel, heavy as a slab. Emilia, still curious, waited for an answer, but the new Regulus couldn't think of a suitable one. What should he say? He couldn't act exactly like the original Regulus, but he also couldn't present himself as someone completely different without raising suspicion.
The wives' blank, blank stares made him shudder. He knew that to them, Regulus wasn't a husband, but a cruel master, a man who had taken their lives and reduced them to shadows of what they once were.
"... Because that's what I've always called you," he replied, finally choosing his words carefully.
Emilia frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
"No, I understand. No one likes being called by a number. I like my name, and I like it when Subaru calls me Emilia-tan..." His feelings are evident in his voice when he calls me Emilia-tan. And when he sometimes calls me simply Emilia, it's always obvious it's a special moment. A name should have that kind of thought behind it.
Regulus narrowed his eyes, seeming to be on the verge of biting his nails due to the anxiety this caused him. Emilia was repeating the same words he'd read in the light novel, which caused him growing unease. He knew that Subaru and Reinhard would arrive in a matter of minutes, and in his mind, the real danger was Subaru.
Reinhard was undoubtedly the most powerful, but Subaru was still cunning, and thanks to Regulus's ego, he discovered his weakness, leaving himself practically vulnerable to Reinhard.
He knew that Subaru was the protagonist, who wasn't at all powerful, but who had the ability to perform great feats with his return from the dead. He was aware that he could kill him, but he would return once more and try again. That was why Subaru killed Petelgeuse, or the great rabbit, because he adapted to the circumstances.
If he wanted to survive, he couldn't allow Subaru to discover his weakness. But how? His death was practically set in stone, a fate he'd read about and seen with his own eyes in his original world. But now he was Regulus. And if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he wouldn't allow that fate to be fulfilled.
He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the situation at hand. Emilia waited for an answer, her gaze filled with honesty and conviction. But she wasn't the threat. The real danger was Subaru.
"I don't want to hear another word from you!"
Regulus tried to sound proud and aggressive, but the situation he was in was so surreal that his own nervousness was evident in his voice.
Emilia still didn't lower her gaze; her eyes were filled with determination, and she wasn't afraid of Regulus.
"Marriage is something shared between two people who love each other. But I don't meet the conditions for it. I've never loved a man like a woman before." So when Subaru tells me so insistently that he loves me, I can't give him the answer he expects, or even the other one. And I know how hurtful that is and how much it has upset him. But...
"Stop!" he shouted, interrupting her and turning his gaze to #183, who lowered her gaze in fear. "You, number... whoever you are, take everyone to a safe place! Form groups of three and don't interact with anyone. If possible, get out of Priestella! Understood?!"
#183 nodded quickly, his gaze blank, as if each word were a command that didn't belong to him, but that he must follow without question. Quickly, he hurried to gather the other wives, their bodies hunched under the pressure of fear and submission. Regulus watched the scene, feeling a growing discomfort in his chest even though he had nothing there.
He had become something he didn't even recognize, a puppet on strings tied to a destiny he hadn't chosen. The situation overwhelmed him, not only because he didn't understand how he'd gotten here, but because he couldn't find a way to prevent what he knew was going to happen. Every moment was a reminder that his time was limited, and the uncertainty of how to act ate at him from within.
Emilia looked at him in confusion, as he sounded so agitated, as if he wanted to protect his wives from something or someone...
"Everyone, leave through the back door—"
Before Regulus could finish, the chapel doors were violently kicked open. One of the doors was forced open by a person of average strength, but the other shot toward him like a projectile, impacting with such force that it knocked him all the way to the altar.
At that moment, two voices echoed in the air, and one of them was, without a doubt, the one Regulus wanted to avoid at all costs.
"We both kicked at the same time, but the results were very different. What are your legs made of?!"
"I apologize, I failed to restrain myself. At least I aimed well at the target, so could you forgive my previous mistake?"
"Yes, but our levels of coolness are totally different now."
My kick opened the door, but yours turned it into a direct attack..."
Two figures appeared at the door of the magnificent chapel, joking with each other. A black-haired boy and a red-haired young man.
Emilia's eyes widened at the sight, and Regulus pushed the door aside like it was an annoying mosquito. He was completely unharmed, but there was deep disgust in his eyes as he watched Subaru and Reinhard. He didn't consider himself a villain, but all he wanted at that moment was to survive.
Regulus was completely trapped at a crossroads of fate and fear. He knew he couldn't follow in the footsteps of the original Regulus, but Subaru and Reinhard's words made it clear that any attempt to resist his fate would only plunge him deeper into despair.
He was aware that Subaru, weak as he currently was, was a real threat, and now, with Reinhard's entry, the chances of avoiding the death he had already witnessed seemed more remote than ever.
Subaru, with his defiant smile, and Reinhard, with his calm and commanding presence, had no idea of the weight Regulus carried, nor of the knowledge the "new Regulus" possessed about what would happen. And yet, the unease continued to grow within him. That Regulus, that callous man, was a facade that didn't fit the person he had become, trapped in the body of a tyrant.
Trying to project an image of calm, despite being fully aware of the extraordinary power Regulus possessed, he cleared his throat and tried to adopt as haughty and commanding a tone as he could.
"And who are you? I haven't invited any men to this wedding, so if you would be so kind, considering you're infringing on my rights, it would be a great favor if you would leave at once."
The two wedding crashers glanced at each other in response to Regulus's feigned insolence and then nodded to each other.
"Subaru Natsuki, a Spirit Knight whose spirit is currently not present."
"Reinhard van Astrea, of the Sword Saint family."
Reinhard stepped forward as he introduced himself. Beside him, Subaru winked at Emilia and then pointed at Regulus, his expression hardening.
"I oppose this wedding! I'll take that bride."
The air inside the chapel thickened as Subaru's words echoed loudly in Regulus's ears. The black-haired boy, as bold as ever, had not only barged into his space, but challenged everything Regulus had ever known. And beside him, the red-haired man, Reinhard, with a presence that seemed to defy the very nature of the world.
Regulus, however, did not react like the man everyone had expected. He was no longer the Regulus who had allowed himself to be consumed by greed, by the desire for dominance and control. He was not the monster who had chained himself to his fate and resigned himself to the pieces life had bestowed upon him. No. The man inside that body could not let history repeat itself, could not allow himself to be pulled into the same darkness.
He was caught in a trap not of his own choosing, with knowledge that only fueled his fear. He knew Subaru was a threat, one who always found a way to exceed expectations. He knew what would happen if he confronted him and Reinhard, knew that the paths he had observed in his previous world were closing in on him. Regulus's destiny was already written, and the same knowledge that kept him alive also held him captive. He knew his survival was not guaranteed, that sooner or later he would be defeated.
But there was something he didn't know, something that kept him going. Something that told him that, perhaps, fate wasn't as unshakeable as it seemed.
Regulus's eyes shone with a new determination, a fleeting glimmer that didn't belong to the man he had once been. He took a deep breath, a respite that wasn't just physical, but also mental. It was an internal struggle, a battle not to give in to despair, to not be swept away by the doom he had witnessed.
(I won't make the same mistakes)
he thought, like an internal promise.
Through the fog of uncertainty and fear, his eyes locked on Subaru, the boy who always returned, who always overcame the impossible. And on Reinhard, the sword saint, whose presence crushed him, but whose confidence was merely a part of his own weakness.
In his mind, Regulus repeated over and over
(Survive. Not let them destroy me like they did the original. Survive. Just that.)
Time seemed to stand still, the silence of the chapel heavy and motionless, as his mind, flooded with greed and despair, found a new strategy.
(I will not be a slave to fate.)
The greed that coursed through his veins, the same greed that had killed so many, now seemed distant. He didn't want control over everything. He only wanted to be saved. To survive. It no longer mattered whether his actions made him look like a monster or a weak man. He just needed a chance, a crack in the fate that consumed him.
In a last-ditch effort to hold on to something that would give him a shred of control over the situation, Regulus spoke, this time in a voice that denoted palpable fear, but also a spark of resistance:
"I don't care what you have planned, Barusu. I don't care what fate says. I am the only one who can decide my future!"
Subaru had a bewildered expression upon hearing the nickname Ram had assigned him from Regulus's lips.
Without waiting for a response, he turned to his wives, who were trembling in fear. Number 183 had already begun to move them toward the exit, but Regulus knew none of that mattered. Right now, the future was at stake, and he wouldn't allow a repeat of the tragic ending he had read and seen.
Subaru, Reinhard, Emilia... they were all part of a game he no longer wanted to play. Survival was his only goal. He wouldn't be the same Regulus, he wouldn't be the same prey. His fate wasn't sealed.
With the voice echoing in his ears and uncertainty taking over, Regulus Corneas—or rather, the person inside him—took a step forward, determined to challenge the future that had trapped him.
This wouldn't be the end of his story.
This would be the moment he changed course.