Reincarnation of the Paramour

――――【From the perspective of Hideto Ichinose】

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Surrounded by scorching flames, my skin burns. The intense heat and searing pain feel like I’ve been thrown into the cauldron of hell.

Soon after, I lost consciousness.

That damned Misako… she abandoned me!

I’ll curse her to death!

• • • • ···········

――――Marquess Megas’ House.

“Maximilian-sama, please wake up.”

Who the hell is Maximilian?

“Maximilian-sama! If you don’t wake up soon, the house will burn down!”

The house will burn down?

What are they talking about?

Ignoring the annoying voice, I start to smell something burning. Could the house really be on fire?

Thinking that, I open my heavy eyelids…

It’s really burning…

Looking around, I’m in a strange, Western-style room I’ve never seen before, and an unknown man is shaking me awake. The room is filled with the roaring sound of flames, and the curtains, carpets, and antique-looking furniture are all engulfed in fire.

The flames have even reached the canopy bed I was sleeping in.

It’s a fire, a huge fire.

Just when I thought I’d died in my beloved car and woke up in a weird place, I’m surrounded by flames again. What kind of joke is this?

This is ridiculous!

“Why didn’t you inform me sooner!”

In front of me stood a man dressed like a bartender, and I yelled at him without understanding the situation.

“I apologize, I tried to wake you, but Maximilian-sama wouldn’t awaken…”

“Don’t make excuses!”

“This is no time for arguing. Quickly, we must get outside!”

The man dressed like a bartender grabbed my hand and led me out of the room. The hallway looked like something preservationists would love, with its old, historical feel.

Where the hell am I?

But there was no time to ponder. Flames had spread to the hallway, and smoke was billowing above our heads.

This is seriously bad.

If we get caught in the smoke, I’ll lose consciousness again after just waking up.

Cough, cough!

“Are you alright?”

“If we dawdle, we’ll die!”

I shook off the man’s hand and started running.

“No, you mustn’t! Maximilian-sama! That way is…”

Thinking there was an exit where the smoke was flowing, I ran towards a bright light! I thought I’d be spared from burning to death…

But with the man’s desperate scream, I realized the light was from something exploding. My body was thrown back into the burning building…

“Maximilian-sama! Stay with me! Maximilian-samaaaa!”

My body lay sprawled in what used to be a hallway. The man who had woken me was shouting frantically, but my consciousness was slipping away, making it hard to understand him.

“Damn it, he didn’t die… Well, whatever. You mocked me because I’m from a branch family! But now, Maximilian! From today on, I am the head of the Magus Marquis family. And you will be my slave! Hahaha!”

“Sabot-sama!?”

The explosion had blown the building apart, and it seemed I had avoided being caught in the flames. However, standing before me was a repulsive pig of a man dressed like a medieval noble.

Was I being dragged by him?

I tried to get up from the bed, but everything felt too big, and my perspective was too low…

Ah, this is bad…

I’m passing out again.

“What’s going on? The kind Maximilian-sama, getting this angry, is unheard of!”

Huh?

As my consciousness returned, the man dressed like a bartender was holding his head and grumbling. I’ll have to teach him a lesson later! But why am I locked up in a cell?

Well, it’s more like a makeshift prison without any mats… and the bartender-like man who woke me up is also locked up opposite me.

I had shackles on my wrists, and chains and iron balls attached to my ankles. What era is this…?

Wait!

Maximilian Magus!?

My brilliant mind pieced together the information from the pig-faced guy and the bartender-like man.

Isn’t this the otome game ‘Fortune Engage’ that that geeky otaku girl introduced to me when I slept with her for fun?

Maximilian, right? He’s supposed to be a super handsome guy who wins over some ridiculously cute and unfortunate girl, right?

Hahaha! If I take down that idiot prince and eliminate the other characters, I win!

In this second life, I’ll make the heroine understand my power and enjoy a life of harem bliss.

As I tried to suppress my laughter, that pig-faced guy suddenly appeared.

“Get out. You’re fired as of today. Go back to the countryside.”

“Sir Sabot?”

The pig-faced guy had one of the servants unlock the bartender-like man’s cell, oddly enough, offering him kind words of parting.

“Th-thank you.”

I thought the pig-faced bastard was going to kill him after letting his guard down, but the bartender-like man turned to me and spat out,

“Ha! You idiot! I was sick of babysitting a brat like you! And what’s with that sudden attitude? But now I’m free, unlike you! See ya!”

He spat on me and left the cell.

“What?”

As I wiped the spit off my cheek, a surge of intense anger welled up inside me.

“Hahahahaha! This is priceless. Even your servant despises you! But don’t worry. A life where you’re controlled by others suits you more than one where you control others!”

Grrr…

The pig-faced guy laughed at me.

He has no idea I was a top-tier executive in a leading company in my past life!

Damn it… All this because I slept with that plain girl I took from Okada. I didn’t sign up for this hell, damn it!!!

――――【Brad’s Perspective】

Ah… just in case, I should look into the potential ideal candidates.

However, among all the potential ideal candidates, Maximilian has the most tragic past.

While Brad gets sent to the guillotine, he was able to do whatever he wanted until then. Maximilian, on the other hand, had all his freedoms taken away and was sent to the battlefield. Poor guy…

I quietly closed the personnel file that was sitting on my desk.

“What?! Prince Brad is actually attending to state affairs himself!”

I thought I heard Electra’s voice coming from the direction of the door, but it must have been my imagination. That girl is supposed to be on leave for a while…