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Chapter 2
The Male Leads of Tragic Stories Are Too Obsessive
“Julietta, you’re such an idiot. Are you seriously trying to defend me right now?”
At my question, Julietta nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“B-Because… w-we’re friends…”
“I’ve never considered you my friend. That’s why I bullied you.”
“…”
Maybe I had been too blunt.
Tears quickly welled up in Julietta’s eyes.
Hmm… Maybe I went a little too far again.
In moments like this, I should have handed her a handkerchief.
Unfortunately, with my wrists shackled in handcuffs, that wasn’t possible.
I absentmindedly rattled the chains around my wrists before looking back at Julietta.
“So forget about someone like me and go live a happy life. And don’t come looking for me like some pathetic fool.”
“…”
“Take care of yourself.”
Yeah.
Please… this time, just live happily.
Let me finally see the ending.
Swallowing the words I could never bring myself to say aloud, I turned away.
Fortunately, the prison guard seemed perceptive enough not to ask any questions and silently escorted me back to my cell.
And so, I began a prison life that I had never even imagined in my previous world.
To be fair, calling it a “prison” made it sound much harsher than it actually was.
I had been placed in a special prison reserved for high-ranking nobles.
The facilities were excellent.
Everyone had a private room.
The food was delicious.
There were daily walks.
Honestly, it was even more comfortable than living in the ducal mansion while constantly watching everyone else’s moods.
Just as I had started thinking,
“This isn’t so bad.”
A violent black whirlwind suddenly erupted throughout the prison.
[<SYSTEM>
Julietta has gone berserk due to the male leads’ obsession.
The Empire has fallen. Moving to RESET POINT.]
[<SYSTEM>
Restarting because the story remains unfinished.
You are Ariadne Veloa, age 18.]
“…You’ve got to be… kidding me…”
The familiar system window greeted me once again.
I had returned to being eighteen-year-old Ariadne.
Which meant…
This was already my third life as Ariadne.
How is this even possible?
Something was clearly wrong with my plan.
I calmed myself and carefully organized my thoughts.
First of all, the reason Julietta in the Cage could never reach its ending was because the heroine always went berserk.
When that happened, the Empire was destroyed, and everyone living in it died.
If that was the case…
Then I needed to investigate exactly what caused Julietta’s rampage.
So I buried myself in the Imperial Library and the Magic Tower Library, gathering every document I could find.
Fortunately, being the daughter of House Veloa meant no one questioned why I spent all day shut inside libraries.
After three full months of relentless research…
I finally found a clue.
“Mana Rampage… This has to be it!”
Mana Rampage.
A rare phenomenon that occurred when a person’s mana exceeded their ability to control it.
According to every research paper,
The chances of it happening were incredibly low.
And…
There was currently no known cure.
“…Huh?
There’s no way to fix it?”
But it was still too early to give up.
Abusing my noble authority, I brought Julietta to meet the Great Archmage Benjamin.
At this point, we were merely casual friends.
Kind-hearted Julietta simply followed along because I asked her to.
“Could this girl possibly suffer a mana rampage in the future?”
Without any hesitation, I pointed at Julietta and asked Benjamin directly.
“…Huh? Me?”
Julietta blinked in confusion.
“Ari… what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
I ignored her.
Right now…
Benjamin’s answer mattered more than anything else.
“Hoho… What an interesting question.”
Unfortunately, Benjamin clearly assumed this was nothing more than childish curiosity from two young ladies.
His tone remained relaxed.
“To answer your question…
No.
That is impossible.
Mana Rampage is an extraordinarily rare phenomenon that may occur only once every thousand years.
More importantly…
Someone with exceptional mana control like Lady Julietta could never experience such a thing.”
“But what if she suffered overwhelming stress?
Or became mentally unstable?
Wouldn’t that reduce her mana control and increase the chances of a Mana Rampage?”
In the latter half of the original novel…
Julietta’s mind was completely destroyed by the male leads’ obsessive behavior.
She could barely think rationally anymore.
Surely…
If her mind collapsed, her mana control would suffer too.
That was my reasoning.
Benjamin simply smiled.
“Hoho.
People unfamiliar with magic often misunderstand this.
Mana control is completely unrelated to stress, emotions, or one’s mental state.
It is an entirely innate ability.”
He immediately dismissed my theory.
…Then it wasn’t Mana Rampage after all?
That didn’t make any sense.
Then what exactly was the “rampage” the system kept talking about?
“Sir Benjamin…
Then…
Could Julietta one day lose control… and destroy the Empire?”
Whenever something bothered me, I couldn’t rest until I asked.
With both hands clasped tightly together, I anxiously waited for his answer.
“Hoho…
Another fascinating question.”
Benjamin stroked his beard.
Then…
For the next three hours, he logically explained in painstaking detail why such a thing could never happen.
What the hell…?
This guy calls himself the Great Archmage?
He’s a complete fraud.
Yeah.
I’m not buying what this quack is selling.
I took Julietta and visited every other Great Archmage across the continent.
Every single one of them gave exactly the same answer.
I was devastated.
No…
There’s still one last hope.
The Master of the Magic Tower.
The first mage in history to reach the Ninth Circle.
A once-in-history genius.
People constantly said he had a terrible personality and was completely insane.
But no one questioned his magical ability.
If it’s him…
He’ll definitely see what’s wrong with Julietta.
Unfortunately…
No matter how much money I offered…
Or how much I threatened…
The Tower Master refused to meet us.
Just like that…
My final hope turned to ashes.
Sigh…
What am I supposed to do now…?
After suffering for over six months…
I had learned absolutely nothing.
Eventually, I gave up researching Julietta’s rampage.
After all…
I already knew the cause.
The system kindly reminded me every single time I died.
[<SYSTEM>
Julietta has gone berserk due to the male leads’ obsession.
The Empire has fallen. Moving to RESET POINT.]
Right.
Julietta lost control because of the male leads’ obsession.
Which meant…
If the male leads never became obsessed with her…
Then Julietta would never go berserk.
Perfect.
For Julietta’s mental health…
I’ll reform those obsessive male leads.
And so…
The “Turn the Obsessive Male Leads into Green Flags” Project officially began.
Back then…
My personality hadn’t become completely twisted yet.
So I tried to reform them peacefully.
With words.
“Duke Callisto…
If you ever fall in love with someone…
Please respect her.
Never imprison her or treat her as your possession.”
I sincerely tried to persuade Male Lead No. 1, the Duke of the North.
“Young Master Douglas…
If you truly fall in love with someone…
I’ll gladly break off our engagement.
But don’t suffocate her with your warped possessiveness.
Treasure her with kindness and love instead.”
I sincerely tried to persuade Male Lead No. 2, my fiancé.
“Sir Gabriel…
Please never lose the kindness you have now.
Even after falling in love…
Continue treating the person you love with that same gentle heart.”
I sincerely tried to persuade Male Lead No. 3, the High Priest.
Of course…
None of them would change after hearing it once.
So I followed them around constantly.
I repeated those same words until they must have grown sick of hearing them.
Eventually…
It seemed to have some effect.
Compared to the original story, all three of them felt slightly gentler.
However…
On the day of Julietta’s debutante ball—
The very beginning of the original novel—
It was as if they had all fallen under a spell.
Every one of them became obsessed with Julietta.
In the end…
Male Lead No. 1 locked her inside the ducal castle, preventing her from leaving.
Damn it!
Nothing changed at all!
Swallowing my tears, I headed for Duke Callisto’s estate in the North to rescue Julietta.
Defying the Duke’s will was incredibly dangerous.
But I had no choice.
If I left her there…
Julietta’s mind would be crushed all over again.
I secretly infiltrated the guest wing of the ducal mansion, hoping to contact her.
Instead…
The guards caught me.
And I ended up thrown into prison.
“Damn it!
Let me out!
If this keeps up, the Empire is going to be destroyed again!”
I absolutely refused to die quietly this time.
So I screamed.
I raged.
I caused every disturbance imaginable.
But no matter how desperately I begged…
No one listened.
And once again…
The Empire fell.
[<SYSTEM>
Julietta has gone berserk due to the male leads’ obsession.
The Empire has fallen. Moving to RESET POINT.]
[<SYSTEM>
Restarting because the story remains unfinished.
You are Ariadne Veloa, age 18.]
…What?
I regressed again?
So this is my fourth life now?
The familiar system window floated before my eyes.
At this point…
I couldn’t even bring myself to curse anymore.
“Ha…
Hahaha…
Ahahahaha!”
Instead…
I burst into laughter.
Because only now did I finally realize the truth.
Of course.
Trying to reform obsessive male leads through kindness was ridiculous from the very beginning.
Why were they called obsessive male leads?
If they were the type to listen to reason…
They never would have become obsessive in the first place.
That’s right.
There was never any chance of changing them through ordinary means.
So then…
How was I supposed to reform them?
The answer was surprisingly simple.
An eye for an eye.
A tooth for a tooth.
Obsession… for obsession.
This time…
I’d reform them using obsession itself.
I’d cling to them so relentlessly that they’d become sick of obsessive love…
Until they never wanted to obsess over anyone ever again.
And as it happened…
When it came to obsession…
I was actually pretty confident in my abilities.
