Inas, thoroughly tormented by the king, didn’t return until late in the evening. Nigel had thought it was his own damn fault, but no matter how much you hate the bastard, it’s hard not to feel bad when someone comes home after getting beaten. He went downstairs to greet him personally.
“Inas, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Inas smiled, same as always. But just like always, despite those words, Nigel couldn’t help but worry.
“You must be tired…”
“I imagine you’re more exhausted than I am. You don’t look well.”
“Yeah, I’m tired.”
Normally, he might’ve put on a brave front, but since it was this man’s fault, Nigel didn’t bother. Inas stared at him for a moment… and then silently scooped him up into his arms.
“W-Wait…”
“I’ll carry you. Just stay still.”
“No… That’s not the issue here—”
Everyone’s watching.
This wasn’t some back hallway—it was the lobby on the first floor of the mansion, where a fair number of servants were moving about. They all turned to stare, eyes round with shock. When Nigel glanced their way, they hastily averted their gazes and pretended like nothing happened.
It would’ve been even more embarrassing to flail and demand to be put down, so Nigel gave up and buried his face in Inas’s shoulder.
“Don’t do this…”
“Just be embarrassed for a year. Everything will go back to normal after that, so don’t worry.”
No thanks—he didn’t even want a year of this. Though… not everything about it was awful.
Still nestled in Inas’s arms, Nigel allowed himself a brief moment of comfort and happiness as they ascended to the top floor.
When they reached the bedroom, Inas carefully set him down and made sure he was seated comfortably. As Inas moved to step back, Nigel reached out and pulled him into a tight embrace.
The familiar warmth wrapped around him, soothing and pleasant.
Being held by Inas in front of the servants had been mortifying, but here in private, it wasn’t so bad—especially if it meant he could stake a claim on him.
Man and man. Duke and knight. A relationship that could never be publicly acknowledged.
And so, in truth, Nigel felt a mix of fear and a twisted sort of joy in having this secret with Inas.
Of course, he still wanted to find a way out of this endlessly repeating time loop and finally live in peace.
“Inas, I love you…”
The moment he confessed, Inas—who had frozen in his arms—finally moved.
His strong arms tightened, locking Nigel firmly in place. Nigel’s face flushed bright red, and Inas, still holding him close, let out a deep sigh.
“Inas?”
Instead of answering, Inas pressed gentle kisses to his forehead, his cheek… and finally, his lips.
A soft touch, then their lips parted again. Inas’s eyes lingered on him with a weighty gaze as he brought one hand up to Nigel’s dry cheek.
“Why…?”
“You seem very tired. Your complexion is poor.”
“You already asked me that earlier.”
“You shouldn’t overexert yourself.”
“I guess not…”
He wasn’t exactly exerting himself by cuddling and kissing a little—but Inas still stepped back.
Now kneeling on one knee, lower than where Nigel sat in his chair, he looked up at him.
Nigel’s nerves flared. This man seriously had no sense of timing.
Muttering complaints in his head, he decided to let it go and bring up what he originally meant to ask.
“What did the king say?”
“The king…”
Inas furrowed his brows, visibly irritated.
“He barked at me as usual.”
“….”
Barked. That was not a word Nigel ever expected to hear from the mouth of a model knight like Inas.
Once he broke character, he really went all the way with it, didn’t he?
But as far as insults went, Nigel couldn’t say he disagreed.
The current king, Esian, was an authoritarian who constantly schemed to invade other nations. He and Nigel never saw eye to eye.
“If this really is just a game, I wish I could be the one starting the rebellion.”
“Shall I arrange that for you?”
What had been a casual joke muttered under his breath was answered without hesitation. For a second, Nigel couldn’t tell if he was serious.
Watching Nigel’s puzzled expression, Inas gently took his hand and kissed the back of it.
“If you wish it, I’ll give you the throne. Not just that—I’ll place the entire world beneath your feet.”
“…No. That’s okay. I don’t need it.”
“You’re not even a little curious?”
“Not at all.”
He had no desire for world domination, and even if he did conquer it all, what would it amount to in the end?
Inas gave a quiet laugh and kissed his cheek again.
“You’ve always been so modest, Nigel. But if you ever change your mind, just say the word.”
This wasn’t the first time he’d offered.
Nigel had to admit, rebellion sounded tempting—even if world conquest didn’t. And frankly, it wasn’t hard to imagine Inas leading a global takeover. Dangerously easy, in fact.
“Anyway, what happened with the king? Why did he call you in?”
“For now, it went smoothly. But… the problem’s gotten worse.”
“Why?”
Nigel had assumed Inas’s mana outburst was just a one-time incident.
“Do you remember in the last Loop, when monsters started running rampant across the kingdom?”
“Yeah.”
Back then, it had been around July when chaos erupted.
Schumacher had been collecting Relic Fragments and ended up breaking various seals across the land, unleashing monsters everywhere.
Nigel had only found out the truth much later.
“Well… it looks like my mana triggered it to happen earlier this time.”
“What?”
He’d been insanely busy trying to contain the damage last time, and now it was going to start even earlier?
Nigel glared daggers at Inas, who just shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Just stop working and enjoy yourself, Nigel. You’ll come back to life anyway, won’t you?”
“Still! That doesn’t mean I can just sit back and do nothing…”
His voice trailed off, unable to fully dismiss such a heartless statement.
If he didn’t step in, it wouldn’t be nobles dying—it’d be helpless commoners. Even if time reset, their pain and fear would be real.
“You’re too kind for your own good.”
“You’re too heartless…”
“They’re meaningless things.”
There was no point continuing this conversation. Nigel shut his mouth tightly.
Inas didn’t push the topic further. Instead, he changed it.
“At this rate, Kay’s party might end up stuck here.”
“…Why?”
Seeing Nigel’s confusion, Inas clarified.
“The Protagonist can’t ignore this kind of chaos.”
“That’s… a bad thing?”
“It’s good—if you want to support Schumacher. As long as Kay’s party stays in the capital, things will remain stable. Less chance of a sudden Game Over triggering a Reset. With monsters going wild, the temple’s forces will be busy dealing with them and won’t have time to chase Schumacher. He’ll be tied up with the knights, sure, but that also gives him a perfect excuse to travel around.”
Inas spoke like someone who’d used such chaos before.
The dim room, lit only by a soft lamp, cast dramatic shadows across half of his face.
“…You sound like a villain, Inas.”
“Well, villains suit me better anyway.”
Honestly, Inas seemed far more fitting for the final boss role than Schumacher. With the difference in their levels, the Protagonist’s party would be instantly wiped every time.
“A guy like me… I’m sure you don’t like that, do you?”
“What? No…”
Not that he liked it. Nigel swallowed the words before they slipped out.
“No matter what happens, I’ll still love you.”
Instead, he said only the best part. And it was the truth—deep in his heart.
Even as new, frightening sides of Inas revealed themselves each time, he could never fully hate him.
“I love you too, Nigel. But…”
And here came the ominous follow-up.
Still kneeling, Inas stood and glanced around the room.
“Did Kay visit earlier?”
“…Yeah. He did.”
Nigel hadn’t planned to tell him, but once the question was out there, it was hard to lie.
Especially with the way Inas looked at him—like his eyes were saying If you love me, be honest.
His expression soured at the answer.
Still, perhaps remembering his earlier mistake, he didn’t let his mood boil over.
“Did Kay… try to touch you?”
Nigel didn’t answer immediately.
If he admitted it, Inas might rush off and kill Kay on the spot.
Unfortunately, his silence gave Inas all the information he needed.
“He should’ve died the moment he tried. Magic nullification…? No. More like… it didn’t register at all.”
Inas muttered, sounding irritated and regretful, but not immediately heading off to murder.
Thinking back, strange windows had appeared the moment Kay reached toward him, blocking the contact.
At the time, Nigel assumed it was Inas’s doing—but judging by his reaction now, it wasn’t.
Nigel checked the silent Quest Window and Character Info Window.
Maybe the one who issued him the quest had done it.
Maybe they opposed Inas and were favoring Kay instead.
More importantly—if that interference blocked Inas’s magic, then…
Does that mean the one behind the quest is stronger than Inas?
He hadn’t tested it head-on, so he couldn’t say for sure—but it was possible.
“…Has this ever happened before?”
“Never.”
Then why now? Why was Inas’s magic ineffective only this time?
While Nigel grew more concerned, Inas quickly shrugged off his own doubts.
“Next time, I’ll make sure to kill him.”
“Don’t just automatically kill him, damn it…”
“That depends on Kay.”
So he wasn’t promising to spare him. Nigel could tell Kay had seriously gotten under his skin.
Silently, he prayed that Kay would behave himself and not trigger anything.
***
As Inas predicted, small and large problems soon began erupting throughout the capital.
The artifacts that usually repelled monster attacks failed, minor monsters began appearing more frequently, and some even snuck into the city through the sewer system.
With the capital in chaos, Kay’s party chose to stay.
They clearly couldn’t just ignore it.
Nigel almost blurted out You could’ve left it to the guards, but held it in and praised them, offering rooms at the mansion.
Inas’s expression was… complicated.
“You should’ve kicked them out. It would’ve been better for you.”
“For me?”
“Quests usually trigger wherever Kay is. Now that he’s staying here, the mansion’s existing issues will start bubbling up. You’ll get one or two random incidents popping off.”
In other words, the reason the Protagonist solves so many problems is because they cause them just by being there.
“How bad are we talking?”
“It’s not part of the main story, so nothing major. They’ll be annoying, but if you keep a close eye, nothing catastrophic.”
“Then it’s fine. Like you said, if it goes wrong this time, I’ve still got another round.”
He couldn’t just toss guests out the day after inviting them. A little trouble was tolerable. Then Inas gave him a knowing smile.
“Don’t come crying to me later.”
An ominous warning—especially from someone who’d gone through this kind of thing many times.
For a while, nothing happened.
Kay and his companions busied themselves resolving minor issues throughout the capital.
At first, they were just anonymous adventurers, but little by little, people started recognizing Kay’s name.
Three months passed.
The turmoil in the capital had begun to spread across the kingdom.
On a July day, Kay’s party informed Nigel they’d be leaving soon, their work in the capital nearly complete.
That same day, after finishing his report, Hayes brought up something strange.
“Lord Nigel, there’s a peculiar rumor going around the mansion.”
“A rumor?”
“They say a ghost has been appearing in this house.”
Nigel was so shocked he dropped the documents he’d been holding.
