Chapter Text
"I think marriage is something truly wonderful."
"...Huh?"
"It's a ceremony that gives form to the feelings of people who love each other and genuinely want to be together. It's something that happens when a person finds someone they truly love among all the people in the world, and that person loves them back... and I think that's really amazing."
As Emilia spoke, Regulus let out another "Huh?". He didn't do so in anger or irritation, but rather with deep confusion. He directed his gaze toward the charming young woman, who was perfectly dressed for a wedding, his eyes wide open and a look of great surprise on his face. Then, he shifted his attention to the women, whose gazes were completely empty, reflecting the fear they felt and bearing expressions devoid of all emotion.
Regulus lowered his gaze and looked at the palms of his hands. He clenched them and then opened them again. He felt strange, as if he had never closed his fists at all, as if his body had stopped in time. He did not feel like a person, but rather something lighter and more powerful, and a feeling of greed filled his mind.
But he was not Regulus; he was a person from Japan who, one day, after being overworked, fell asleep at work. Suddenly, he found himself at an altar, in another body: that of the Archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneas.
"Regulus, why do you refer to your wives by number?"
Recovering some of the clarity he had lost due to the confusion he felt about his situation, Emilia asked him a question. Perhaps she wanted to understand Regulus better, or perhaps she simply wished to investigate his true intentions in having so many wives and referring to them by number as if they were mere livestock.
He looked once again at Emilia, one of the main characters of Re:Zero, whom the original Regulus wanted to marry because of his Authority, which required wives in order for him to be completely invincible and share his heart with all of them, because his Authority alone stopped the time of his heart.
He had watched the series during his adolescence and knew that the fate awaiting him was death, because he knew Subaru would discover his weakness—his wives—and that Emilia would freeze them, causing their hearts to stop beating, after which he would finally be defeated by Reinhard and drown to death.
He didn't want that. He didn't want to die that way, and he 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 awaiting him and knew that he could avoid it...
Silence settled over the chapel. Emilia, still with curiosity reflected on her face, waited for an answer, but the new Regulus couldn't think of an appropriate one.
What was he supposed to say? He couldn't act exactly like the original Regulus, but neither could he present himself as someone completely different without arousing suspicion.
The wives' empty and lifeless gazes made him feel strange. He knew that to them, Regulus was not a husband, but a cruel husband, a man who had stolen their lives and reduced them to grim ornaments of what they once were.
"...Because that's what I've always called them." he replied, finally choosing his words carefully.
Emilia frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
"No, I understand. Nobody likes being called by a number. I like my name, and I like it when Subaru calls me Emilia-tan... you can hear what he feels in his voice when he calls me Emilia-tan. And when he sometimes calls me simply Emilia, it's always obvious that it's a special moment. A name should have that kind of feeling behind it."
Regulus narrowed his eyes, seeming to be on the verge of biting his nails because of the anxiety all of this was causing him.
Emilia was repeating the exact same words he had read in the light novel, which caused a growing unease within him. He knew that in a matter of minutes Subaru and Reinhard would arrive, and in his mind, the real danger was Subaru.
Reinhard was undoubtedly the strongest, but Subaru was still someone clever, and thanks to Regulus's ego, he had discovered his weakness, leaving him practically vulnerable before Reinhard.
He knew Subaru was the protagonist who was not powerful at all, yet possessed the ability to achieve great feats with his Return by Death. He knew he could kill him, but Subaru would simply come back once more and try again. That was why Subaru had killed Petelgeuse and the Great Rabbit—because he adapted to circumstances.
If he wanted to survive, he couldn't allow Subaru to discover his weakness. But how? His death was practically written in stone, a fate he had read and seen with his own eyes in his original world. But now he was Regulus. And if there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that he would not allow that fate to come to pass.
He tried to focus on the current situation. Emilia was waiting for an answer, her gaze full of honesty and conviction. But she wasn't the threat.
"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.
Even so, Emilia did not lower her gaze. Her eyes were full of determination, and she was not afraid of Regulus.
"Marriage is something shared by two people who love each other. But I don't meet the requirements for that. I've never loved a man the way a woman does. So when Subaru tells me so insistently that he loves me, I can't give him the answer he wants, nor the other one. And I know how hurtful that is and how much it has bothered him. But..."
"Stop!" he shouted, interrupting her and directing his gaze toward #184, who lowered her head in fear. "You, number... whichever one you are, take everyone somewhere safe! Form groups of three and don't interact with anyone. If possible, leave Priestella! Understood?!"
Wife #184 nodded quickly, her gaze empty, as if every word controlled her body and she had to obey without question. She hurried to gather the other wives. Regulus watched the scene, feeling a growing discomfort in his chest even though there was nothing there.
He had become something he didn't even recognize, a puppet with strings tied to a destiny he had never chosen.
The situation was overwhelming him, not only because he didn't understand how he had ended up here, but because he couldn't find a way to avoid what he knew was going to happen.
Emilia looked at him in confusion, because he sounded so agitated, as if he wanted to protect his wives from something or someone...
"Everyone, go out through the front—"
Before Regulus could finish, the chapel doors were violently kicked open. One of the doors opened from the force of a person with ordinary strength, but the other was launched toward him like a projectile, striking with such force that it sent him crashing back to the altar.
At that moment, two voices echoed through the chapel, and one of them was, without a doubt, the very one Regulus wished to avoid at all costs.
"We both kicked at the same time, but the results were very different. What are your legs made of?!"
"My apologies, I failed to hold back. At least I aimed properly at the target, so could you forgive my earlier mistake?"
"Yeah, but our levels of restraint are completely different right now. My kick opened the door, but yours turned it into a direct attack..."
Two figures appeared at the entrance 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 of them, and Regulus brushed the door aside as if it were an annoying mosquito. He was completely unharmed, but there was deep displeasure in his eyes as he looked at Subaru and Reinhard. He did not consider himself a villain, but the only thing he desired at that moment was to survive.
Trying to project an image of calm despite being fully aware of the extraordinary power Regulus possessed, he stood up, cleared his throat, and attempted to adopt the most arrogant and domineering tone he could manage.
"And who are you two? I haven't invited any men to this wedding, so if you would be so kind, considering that you're violating my rights, it would be a great favor if you left at once."
The two wedding crashers looked at one another in response to Regulus's feigned insolence and then nodded to each other.
"Subaru Natsuki, a spirit knight whose spirit is currently absent."
"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, hardening his expression.
"I object to this wedding! I'm taking that bride with me."
The black-haired boy, as bold as ever, had barged into his domain. And beside him stood the red-haired man, Reinhard, with a presence that seemed to challenge the very nature of the world.
Regulus, however, did not react as everyone expected. He was no longer the Regulus who had allowed himself to be consumed by greed, by the desire for domination and control.
He was trapped in a snare he had never chosen, burdened with knowledge that only fueled his fear.
But there was something he didn't know, something that kept him standing. Something that told him that perhaps destiny was not as unbreakable as it seemed.
Regulus's eyes shone with a new determination, a fleeting spark that did not belong to the man he had been.
"(I won't make the same mistakes.)"
He thought it as an inward promise.
Through the haze of uncertainty and fear, his eyes locked onto Subaru, the boy who always came back, who always overcame the impossible. And then onto Reinhard, the Sword Saint, whose presence crushed him, but whose confidence was merely a part of his own weakness.
"(I won't be a slave to destiny.)"
The greed flowing through his veins, the same greed that had killed so many people, now felt distant.
He did not desire control over everything. He only wanted to save himself. To survive. It no longer mattered whether his actions made him look like a monster or a weak man. He only needed an opportunity, a crack in that terrible fate.
In one final effort to cling to something that gave him even a little control over the situation, Regulus spoke, this time with a voice that carried slight fear, but also a spark of resistance:
"I don't care what you've planned, Barusu. I don't care what destiny says. I am the only one who can decide my future!"
Subaru wore a bewildered expression when he heard the nickname Ram had given him coming from Regulus's lips.
Without waiting for a response, he turned toward his wives, who were trembling with fear. Number #184 had already begun guiding them toward the exit, but Regulus knew none of that mattered. Right now, the future was at stake, and he would not allow the tragic ending he had read and witnessed to repeat itself.
Subaru, Reinhard, Emilia... all of them were part of a game he no longer wanted to play. Survival was his only objective. He would not be the same Regulus. He would not be the same prey. His fate was not sealed.
With the voices echoing in his ears and uncertainty taking hold of his entire being, Regulus Corneas—or rather, the person inside him—took a step forward, determined to challenge the future.
This would not be the end of his story.
This would be the moment he changed its course.