1. The 3rd wedding

“Huh, whew.”

I grabbed my stomach with a shaky hand. Sticky, hot blood spurted onto my hand, and it was very moist.

” This…… how is it that I didn’t die instantly?

I was momentarily stunned by the sight of a wound that could have killed me at any moment. It’s not the first time I’ve been through this. Death has always been a shock to the mind.

“Am I….. going to die again……?”

I had died at 21 and regressed to 20. I thought it was heaven’s way of telling me to live longer and not die this time, but no. Death came back to visit me within a year. It was as if someone had decided, “You must die on this day”.

It was a bit unfair to die twice at such a tender age, but there was one thing I was glad about: I’d fended off the assassins.

I stared at the bodies on the ground before me, the men sent by my lord, the Crown Prince of the Empire, Ain. They had the misfortune to run into me on the road to the Netherworld.

I didn’t feel particularly guilty. The lives of ten assassins were worth less than the life of …… our prince. Jeremy’s life is worth more.

“My Prince…….”

I thought of Jeremy, and suddenly I missed him like crazy.

“I may never see him again, and I wonder if I can see him just one more time before I die.”

But then, as if in answer to my desperate wish, I heard Jeremy’s voice.

“Hailey!”

That voice called out to me as I stood on death’s doorstep.

“……Jeremy.”

He was my husband, a prince of the Empire. It was Jeremy Elkissis.

“No, this can’t be happening.”

Jeremy dropped to his knees and pulled my limp body into his arms, his silver hair shining like stars. In my hazy consciousness, I thought it was as mysterious as the face of the moon.

“The wound is…….”

Jeremy’s voice trembled slightly as he tended to the wound. His voice sounded shaky and desperate, like a ship sinking.

“I’m going to cast a spell on you now. Please, just hang in there.”

He hurriedly cast a healing spell. But since death was already inevitable, the healing spell had no effect.

” Ugh. Cough.”

I coughed up another handful of blood, and Jeremy’s face contorted in pain. White skin. Smoothly defined jawline. Seductive eyes, a clean mauve. Indeed, like the Empire’s most handsome man, he was beautiful even when he frowned.

“Why. Why isn’t my magic working?”

A large amount of mana was flowing from Jeremy’s hand. However, my body repelled all of it as if it were an invisible shield.

“Cough. That, that’s enough.”

I overlapped my hand on the back of his. If the healing spell didn’t work, it meant death was just around the corner.

“I’m already dead. So please, Prince, get…… out of here. The crown prince will…… come to kill you, cough! He’s coming.”

“……..Don’t talk. No more.”

Jeremy pressed his lips together at the sound of me stating the obvious.

´I’m the one with bleeding, so why does he look worse than me?´

I wonder why he looks more like he’s going to die.

´Maybe we’ll see each other again. You don’t have to be so sad.´

But I didn’t say it out loud. Because even I don’t know if I can go back.

“Maybe there can be a 3rd time.”

I muttered something he wouldn’t understand. He was listening intently, even though he had no idea what I meant.

And then. Something clear and transparent dropped from his eyes.

“……are you crying?”

I looked up into his watery mauve eyes.

“Why are you crying so sadly……? What did I do?”

I’m just a spy who approached him on the crown prince’s orders, and even if I changed my mind halfway through, I only married him to spy on him in the first place.

“……Don’t say that. You already do enough …… to break my heart.”

Despite myself, Jeremy pulled me into a hug as if I were too precious.

“Hah.”

Then Death snuggled up next to me, and I slowly closed my eyes, breathing raggedly in his arms.

It bothered me to leave him like this, but it wasn’t long now. The candle at the bottom would soon burn its last flame and collapse.

“……I regret it.”

“…….”

Feeling the hot teardrops on my cheeks, I took my last breath.

“I regret not telling you I love you until now.”

I didn’t end up hearing what he regretted. I was just too sleepy. I couldn’t think of anything.

* * *

“Hmph.”

I sucked in air urgently, like someone who had just been pulled from the water. I’d just breathed out my final breath, and within seconds I was breathing again. No, it was a continuation, as my second life ended and my third began anew.

´Again…… I´m back.´

I dazedly looked around. A wedding venue in full bloom with white flowers, and a wedding dress that looked like it was made of thousands of petals glued together.

´Back to my wedding day.´

A very familiar sight. I was standing in the middle of a wedding hall.

“……Are you the bride?”

I turned my head to the side at the sound of an unmistakable voice. There was Jeremy.

“……Prince!”

Jeremy’s hair glistened in the bright sunlight, and I saw his porcelain white face and my favorite, mauve eyes.

´I feel really good, like I might even be able to bite the bullet!´

As someone who had just come back from the dead, I don’t know what to say, but what can you do when you’re so happy that you’re ready to die?

His trembling forget-me-nots eyes were dazzling, and his starry silver hair was dazzling. And look at those colorful, full lips!

I almost forgot my current situation and hugged him tightly, but that would have ended my life less than five minutes after I regressed.

As it is, I have come as Jeremy’s bride at the behest of the crown prince, Ain.

A fake bride.

The instructions I received from Ain were as follows.

[Find out if Jeremy is really an idiot, or if he is pretending to be one].

Ain was the only one who was suspicious of Jeremy, and he set me up as a fake imperial princess to find out if he was an idiot or not.

But the problem was that I forgot to be a spy and became infatuated with Jeremy.

It was a grave mistake for a spy, but I couldn’t help it, and neither could he. Jeremy was such a charming man that anyone who saw him up close could not help but be mesmerized.

´I challenge you to find someone who could spend day in and day out with him and not be mesmerized by him, and I’m sure there isn’t a single one, and I know how hard I tried not to fall for him at first.´

The first time I showed any signs of developing a crush on Jeremy, I deliberately tried harder to report to Ain.

It was ridiculous to have a crush on a target, and I felt both proud and guilty, like I was committing a high crime as a spy. So, I increased my surveillance of Jeremy and reported his suspicious behavior to Ain.

One day, in the midst of my frenzied reporting, I made a discovery.

Jeremy was not an idiot.

No idiot. Rather, he was an absolute genius. A brilliant schemer who could think 10 or 20 moves ahead. A wizard of such brilliance that he could surpass the power of the gods. That was Jeremy.

That innocent smile on his face was all an act.

As a Shadow Knight of Ain, I had to tell my master right away, because that was my job.

But……. I was strangely reluctant to do so. I’d always posted frantic reports to Ain…… but as soon as I had direct evidence, my heart sank.

If I posted this report, Jeremy would die.

No, no, no, no. Just the thought of Jeremy dying brings tears to my eyes. I can’t handle the grief. I can’t. I never can.

The day I shed my first tears in a long time. I acknowledged my love for Jeremy.

The feelings of love I harbored were more like a love between a man and a woman…… yes, a feeling of virtuous love. The sort of love that makes you want to watch him, cheer for him, think he’s adorable to look at from afar, and feel like your heart will burst when you see him laugh.

After that, I outwardly pretended to follow Ain, actively helping Jeremy play the idiot. A year later, despite all my efforts, Ein orders me to kill Jeremy. Disobeying orders means death. The magic within me would consume me.

But how could I kill Jeremy with my own hands?

In my first life, I eventually chose death, but then I woke up. I was back a year earlier, married to Jeremy.

In my second life, I did my best to protect Jeremy from his terrifying older brother, helping him to play the part of a fool so that he wouldn’t be found out for being an imposter, and making a series of false reports to the crown prince.

One day, while I was protecting Jeremy, I remembered the words, “Bark at me, and I will bite”. I wondered if he had noticed my flawed reports. Ain sent an assassin to Jeremy. Without a word to me.

That’s what had just happened.

I learned of the assassin’s plans and managed to stop them, but it cost me another life.

That’s how my second life ended. In vain.

I had a vague hope that I would be given a second chance, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself at the beginning of life number three.

´Why did I regress again?´

Not knowing why, I was a little scared, but also excited. After all, it meant that I had been given another chance. A chance to protect the prince.

I wondered; how could I save this beautiful prince in this new life.

It’s my third regression, so I wonder if it will have a different ending this time, and I’m going to take advantage of the future that I failed to take advantage of in my second life.

´I will protect you in this life, Prince.´

I looked at Jeremy, who was grinning from ear to ear, and strengthened my resolve. And so, I continued to drive off, lost in my thoughts. Before I knew it, the wedding was coming to an end.

“You are now man and wife, and to signify that you will love and cherish each other for the rest of your lives, you shall now exchange a kiss of vow.”

I turned to face Jeremy without a second thought.

For those of you who have a crush, you won’t understand my attitude. It must seem strange to be so composed when I’m about to receive a kiss from your favorite person, but there’s a reason for my calmness.

´Jeremy won’t kiss me.´

Having been to two weddings in the past, I knew there was no such thing as a kiss of vows.

´There’s no way Jeremy, who’s acting like an idiot, is going to give me a vow kiss.’´

In the past, he had adorably blinked and asked, “What’s a kiss?” which had been met with laughter. First wedding, second wedding.

´Let’s call it the third one. I’ll do it again. Hmm, now that I think about it. I was really nervous at my first wedding, worried about my walk down the aisle and whether or not I was going to get a kiss.´

To be honest, I was a little bit hopeful about the second wedding, in case something changed. But he skipped the vow kiss at the second wedding, just like he did at the first.

´Now, you’re going to skip it again, aren’t you? I’m not looking forward to it anymore, so just tell us, What’s a kiss.´

I waited for Jeremy’s line with the same ease as if I was re-watching a performance I’d already been watching. But somehow, he looked different in his third life. His mauve, mesmerizing eyes seemed to hold something other than innocence. It’s hard to describe, but…… if I dare to give it a name, a glow?

“Prince?”

I called out to him cautiously, unfamiliar with such an appearance. Then, as if to answer my call, he smiled softly.

“Eh……?”

While I was dazed by his smile, Jeremy took a large step forward, closing the gap between us. His mauve eyes stared down at my lips, searching for prey. Then he gently pulled me to him and wrapped one hand around my waist.

´What’s going on, you never did this to me before the regression, did you, prince?´

I was confused, wondering why he was suddenly behaving this way, and bewildered because it wasn’t what I knew. But I let the questions in my head go. My eyes were drawn to Jeremy’s colorful lips.

´You, you are so, beautiful.´

As I stared at his lips in a daze, Jeremy’s lips closed over mine.

“Eup?”

That was the kiss of oaths, the one that never happened in my first life, nor in my second. Three seconds after assuming everything would go the way I knew it would, the unexpected happened.

“……!”

Despite the unexpectedness of the emergency, I couldn’t think straight. I felt a soft touch that made it impossible to continue thinking.

“Breathe, bride.”

“…….”

After what seemed like an eternity, I lifted my head and saw Jeremy smiling at me. His eyes, folded like a fox’s, seemed to glint with predatory intent.

´What the heck, why are you smiling like that?´

I looked up at him, bewildered.

´Are you not going to play an idiot in this life?´

The scream echoed inside me. But Jeremy, who couldn’t possibly have heard me, just smiled at me, seemingly unaffected by the fact that I’d slowed down.

I broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that it seems like I was about to get married for a fourth time.

´Will I be able to protect this man in this life?´