Surviving marriage in yandere world
Chapter 38: System Glitch: Reverse Roles

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: System Glitch: Reverse Roles

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[System Booting...]

[Analyzing Host Status...]

[Error. Error. Error.]

[Warning: Yandere Behavioral Protocols — UNSTABLE]

[System Debug Mode Activated]

[Recalibrating Affectional Aggression Levels... Standby.]

Rei opened his eyes to find the world... eerily calm.

The sun outside was shining with the gentle warmth of a gentle anime opening, Birds chirped and no blood trails and no mysterious giggles echoing from the ceiling vents and no claw marks on the wall. Even the mirror didn’t spontaneously whisper, "You can’t run."

"Strange," he muttered while sitting up.

For once, Rei wasn’t tied to a bedpost or entombed in scented ribbons. His limbs were free even his clothes weren’t replaced with a bridal tuxedo tailored to his exact measurements and embroidered with suspiciously familiar blood runes. This was even stranger... because his room was empty.

"What... the hell?"

Rei stood up slowly, expecting a yandere to tackle him from the ceiling fan but nothing happened.

[System Notification: Good Morning!]

[Note: Due to an unexpected synchronization glitch between the [Yandere AI Core] and [Fantasy Logic Engine], all obsessive traits have been temporarily suppressed.]

[Enjoy Your "Normal Day"! (Limited Time Event)]

He blinked once then twice. "...You’re telling me that they’re... normal? Like, not homicidally affectionate?"

[System Confirmation: Yes.]

[Warning: Enjoy It While It Lasts because correction Imminent.]

His jaw dropped. "So I get a free day? No choking hugs, no forced dress-up, no—"

[System Notification: Exactly, now you can proceed with hope. (It’ll make the crash funnier.)]

Rei didn’t even care. Hope surged in his chest like carbonated soda.

"Oh sweet Merciful Eris, it’s finally happening!"

He burst out of his room, half-expecting a net trap. Instead, he saw Rosette—Rosette!—walking down the hallway... reading a book. Like a real, actual maid.

"Good morning, Young Master," she said with a serene smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Wait, You’re not hiding a dagger?"

She blinked. "Why would I be hiding a dagger?"

Rei stared. "You... don’t want to bind my soul to yours with a blood pact this morning?"

She chuckled. "That’s quite the imagination but no, I was just going to prepare your tea."

There was no ominous whisper, no hidden needle dipped in venomous vow magic. Just... tea.

"Oh my gods, I must be dreaming."

[System Notification: You are awake and you are witnessing the impossible.]

[Achievement Unlocked: "Peaceful Morning (Mythical)"]

Downstairs, Princess Seraphina was casually reviewing noble documents with two ministers. She even smiled politely at him without the subtle threat of annexing his free will.

"Good morning, Rei," she said. "Would you like to join us for breakfast? There’s a fresh fruit tart."

"You didn’t lace it with aphrodisiac rose honey?"

"Of course not. What a bizarre thing to suggest."

Lucivella was on the couch. Just reading a newspaper. There were no binding circles, no hellfire, Just—economic columns.

"Don’t look at me like that," she muttered. "I’m taking a break from demon politics because It’s exhausting."

Drakana was outside, sharpening her sword calmly. There were no fiery declarations of eternal mating, no blood-charged pink lingerie armor. Just—sparring practice.

Lilia passed him in the hallway humming a normal tune and gently adjusting the petals of her bouquet.

"Good morning, darling!" she said. "Oh, I forgot—you’re not ’darling’ anymore. I’m working on respecting boundaries today!"

Rei’s legs gave out. "Oh gods, I’ve died this is heaven."

[System Notification: This Is Not Heaven. This Is a Temporary System Glitch.]

[System Caution: Emotional Whiplash Imminent.]

Rei didn’t care for the first time since his second reincarnation into this ridiculous world of magical romance and emotional war crimes, he had peace because for now no overpossessive hugging, no surprise ring-forging, no obsessive suitors throwing love bombs through my window. Just... silence, a beautiful silence.

He took a walk through the garden and didn’t have to dodge hidden scalpels. He ate a sandwich without fearing that it was an edible engagement contract.

He read a book without someone writing "Our Wedding Vows" in invisible ink between the pages. It was... paradise but it didn’t last because It never does.

That night, when he went to bed smiling.

Suddenly his system screen blinked softly in the corner.

[System Status: Yandere Correction Protocols Reinstating...]

[Countdown to Reinstatement: 00:59:59]

Rei blinked. "Wait, What’s that?"

[System Update: Normal Behavior Protocol Expiring.]

[Reactivating Affectional Extremity Index in: 59 minutes.]

"No no no—System! Cancel it!"

[System Notification: Request Denied.]

[You Didn’t Think We’d Let You Go, Right?]

Rei panicked and he bolted upright because he had to make use of this one last peaceful hour by making an escape plan in No time, marking a hiding spot because all previous had been compromised, making a fake identity that already blew that last week.

Maybe—maybe he could dig a hole in the garden and tunnel to the border— and then he heard it the sound, a whisper in the dark.

"...Rei."

He froze there then a figure emerged from the corner of his room, holding a parasol that wasn’t there when he went to bed.

It was Rosette wearing a white ceremonial veil.

"...Rosette?" he whispered. "Weren’t you normal?"

She tilted her head slowly. "I sensed... the system was wrong," she murmured.

"You... you knew?!"

"I always know," she said softly. "The alignment of your heartbeat... the scent of your dreams... the tempo of your soul when it breathes... I knew the real me was locked away."

"Nope," he said, backing toward the window. "I’m not doing this. I’m not getting blood-married in my sleep."

Rosette smiled. "I brought the ceremonial blade."

She held up a black dagger that shimmered with cursed devotion.

"It’s time to consummate our union... through a soul bond."

[System Notification: Correction Phase 1 Activated.]

[Rosette Yandere Mode → Fully Restored.]

[New Title Unlocked: "Sleep-Bound Husband"]

[Effect: Wake up screaming.]

Rei dove for the window but Rosette was faster. The blade whistled through the air. It stabbed—not into him, thank the gods—but into the bedpost and with a flick of her wrist, threads of soul-threaded silk snapped outward, wrapping his wrists to the mattress.

"I’ll make it painless," she whispered, crawling across the bed like a predator. "You’ll feel nothing but eternal connection."

"This is illegal!" Rei screamed.

"In five provinces, yes," she replied sweetly. "Which is why I chose the cathedral under the city. It’s still governed by ancient rites."

"I just wanted one normal day!"

[System Notification: Correction Complete.]

[All Yandere Traits Restored. Peace Has Ended.]

Rosette raised the blade. "It’s time."

Rei screamed louder than any man has ever screamed before.

FLASH.

Suddenly—

BOOM.

The door exploded inward. Seraphina burst in with a sword drawn.

Lilia arrived on a white swan-drawn sled.

Lucivella emerged from a demonic portal mid-lipgloss application.

Drakana smashed through the wall with a flaming war banner.

"YOU PROMISED HE’D BE SAFE!" Seraphina shrieked at Rosette.

Rosette blinked. "I was being gentle."

"You were carving runes into his chest!" Lilia yelled.

Lucivella was already throwing curses. Drakana was challenging Rosette to a "soul duel."

And Rei? He was still tied to the bed.

"Oh good," he muttered. "Now everyone’s crazy again."

[System Notification: Congratulations! Your Nightmare Is Back.]

[Mission Failed: "Enjoy Normalcy."]

[Reward: Absolutely Nothing.]

He closed his eyes as the chaos erupted again.

Rosette smiled at him through the fire and thunder. "It’s alright. We’ll finish the ritual next time."

"Someone please reboot the system."

To be continued...