Yurian Side Story

Episode 1

Yvonne decided to erase the memories Hildebrandt had returned to her.

Now that Yurian had undergone his second awakening and the Marquess had already become captivated by her abilities, he was willing to obey her every word.

It wasn’t difficult to overpower Hildebrandt, whose body had grown weak after being unconscious for so long.

“I’ll make you wish you were dead, Hildebrandt.”
“As long as you’re alive by my side, that’s impossible, you foolish Yvon.”

She erased even that memory and became the Empress.

However, among all her memories with Hildebrandt, she spared only those of the times she had been scorned.

Yvonne completely carved out the memories of her time as Le Meredin as well.

What she remembered were only the cruel acts Hildebrandt had inflicted upon her in her past life and after arriving here—and the memories of falling in love with Yurian.

She wanted to be happy. But she knew too well that she could never be, not if she still held on to the bittersweet memories of her past with Hildebrandt.

And so, in order to choose Yurian, she erased all of those memories.

Every time she looked at Yurian, even if she forgot the reasons behind her resolve, the feelings remained.

She had no regrets.

* * *

“Yvon, are you alright?”

She was in the audience chamber. As she sat there dazed for a moment, her eyes met Yurian’s, who was looking at her with concern.

“Ah, yes. What were we talking about?”

“We were discussing the reconstruction of the Barendias Bridge. I’ll just reintroduce the proposal later.”

“Alright.”

Yvonne chuckled as she noticed how naturally Yurian stood beside her.

“Let’s skip the boring stuff. Let’s talk about something else.”

Glancing briefly at the gathered ministers, she smiled at Yurian instead. Yurian, caught off guard by that smile, accidentally dropped the documents he had been holding—the ones he was going to hand to her about the Barendias Bridge project.

Even now, whenever Yvonne smiled at him, Yurian’s heart would pound like a drum. And today was no different.

“What kind of conversation are you expecting that you’re so nervous?”

“I’m always nervous. Every time Your Majesty looks at me.”

It amused her that Yurian acted like someone under her power, even though she hadn’t used it on him.

Yvonne’s ability was taming. Anyone caught in it would be enchanted and confess everything—like the first day of a long-awaited romance, revealing all and giving everything.

But Yurian had never been affected by her ability. Not once.

Yet, he behaved like someone who had. Of course, he’d been like that even before she awakened, so it all just felt a bit more endearing now.

“What do you want to talk about? I’m fine with anything.”

“What if I decide to keep you locked up in the duchy forever?”

“Anything but that, I’m fine with.”

Yurian bent to pick up the dropped papers, but another attendant handed them to him instead. Taking them, he looked back at Yvonne—and shot a mocking grin at Marquess Rohan, who was glaring coldly in his direction.

“If it’s something serious, we could always talk about it in the bedroom.”

“Oh my, then you’d just say things I wouldn’t be able to refuse again.”

“That’s how pillow talk works, isn’t it?”

Yvonne laughed at his remark and looked at him fondly. She was admiring how his ears had turned bright red—as red as his eyes—despite his bold words.

“I don’t want to work anymore today.”

“Then I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You’re working hard, Lord Leonhardt.”

“Just Yurian, Your Majesty. Yurian. Or if you prefer, a nickname—Yuri is fine too.”

Ever since becoming Empress, Yvonne had intentionally left the seat next to her vacant—for Yurian.

“Yuri doesn’t really suit you. I like Yurian better.”
“Then it’s Yurian, Yvon.”

Yurian would switch between calling her “Your Majesty” and “Yvon.” Whenever they were discussing official matters, it was “Your Majesty,” but whenever his affection welled up, he called her by her name—his pet name for her.

“Enough. I’m done for the day. Help me up.”

At her smiling request, Yurian picked her up in his arms and carried her out of the audience chamber.

Watching them go, Marquess Rohan wore a bitter expression. But once she was gone, he clenched his fist and looked as if he’d just made a firm decision.

* * *

“Looks like it might snow today.”

Yvonne was strolling through the garden in Yurian’s arms. Whenever she said she wanted some fresh air, Yurian would always carry her like this for a walk.

“Yurian.”

Yurian, who had been looking up at the sky to see if it really would snow, turned to her the moment she called his name. He was just about to tell her that the snow might start soon and that they should head inside—
But then he saw her lovely violet eyes and her snow-white silver hair… and forgot what he was going to say.

Yvonne’s silver hair was fake. A false symbol of royalty created through magic. But she wore it so well, it hardly mattered.

It shimmered like a river of platinum flowing down her cheek, and her violet eyes sparkled like mysterious gemstones. Yurian thought there could be nothing in the world more radiant than Yvonne—and his face flushed red.

“Your heart’s beating really loudly, my lord.”

“Yurian.”

“Lord Leonhardt.”

“Yurian, please.”

Yurian found even her teasing absolutely lovable. He liked the way she smirked, lifting just one corner of her mouth.

Ever since Yvonne became Empress, she would sometimes space out—maybe a side effect of manipulating her memories. He worried about her.

Yurian didn’t know exactly what memories she had erased.

But thanks to her powers, Marquess Rohan had become her loyal hound, his memories reshaped at her command. The same had happened to Hildebrandt.

“You’ve got quite the lustful look in your eyes, Yurian.”

And now Hildebrandt had ended up in the same pitiful state as Rohan.

Whatever resentment Yurian had toward Hildebrandt melted the instant Yvonne looked at him. He couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s always how I get when I look at you, Yvon. Even in winter, it feels like I’m walking through the heart of the desert at midday.”

“Two or three o’clock is hotter than noon.”

“Then let’s say two. You’re like a desert at two in the afternoon. I’m burning up.”

“How indecent.”

“Very much so.”

He smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back. Just moments ago, when she’d gone quiet and gloomy, she’d felt a shadow come over her. But seeing Yurian’s bright grin made her forget that mood—and suddenly, she just wanted to tease him.

“Wanna do it in the garden?”

“Surely… you don’t mean that?”

“I do.”

Yvonne’s provocative question nearly made Yurian answer yes on impulse, but he barely stopped himself and shook his head.

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not? Are you scared? Worried someone might see us?”

“No, I’ll just… gouge their eyes out—or erase their memories. That works too.”

“My goodness. Then what’s your reason for saying no?”

Yvonne laughed, caught off guard by his answer. She had a feeling whatever he stopped himself from saying was probably something brutal—which only made it funnier.

“Because I can’t stand the idea of anyone else seeing your body. I’d want to kill them. No, I would kill them.”

“Hahaha!”

She burst out laughing again, amused by how he acted all mild and then crossed a line without warning.

“The maids see my body all the time.”

“The maids, yes. Female attendants. If a male servant ever saw you, I wouldn’t have let it go.”

Yvonne found his sincerity amusing. And then, as their eyes met, she acted on impulse.

“Mm.”

She kissed him, cutting off whatever he’d been about to say.

Yvonne liked Yurian. Being with him made her feel at ease, more than at any other time. She knew full well why, even though he loved her, he never asked for the position of Crown Prince.

That seat, by all rights, belonged to Yurian. And yet, despite being madly in love with her—despite sneaking into her bedroom almost every night—he restrained himself.

He was waiting. Waiting for Yvonne to untangle her complicated feelings. Because even if her memories were gone, it would still take time to sort through her heart.

Because of the deep kiss, she felt like Yurian’s feelings were flowing straight into her.

It was strange. Yurian was a physical-type ability user. At most, he could disrupt mental abilities—yet being with him made her feel like he was the one casting a calming, ticklish spell on her.

When Yvonne began to struggle slightly under Yurian’s increasingly passionate movements, he pulled back with a sigh.

“If you keep using seduction like that… please use it in every argument. I’ll lose every time.”

His words made her smile without even realizing it.

Just as he was about to kiss her again—

“Mother?”

There stood Hildebrandt, the one Yvonne had kept alive just to punish, now reduced to someone completely beneath her. He was holding a purple anemone and staring at them in stunned silence.

Yvonne smirked and kissed Yurian again—mocking him without a word.