Episode 29
“What are you suddenly talking about, Kes?”
In response to her question, Marquis Rohan hesitated. The princess cherished by the Emperor, who, in turn, obeyed him unconditionally. Despite being well into adulthood, she still followed her father the most. But Marquis knew the reason behind it.
“Listen to me carefully, Yvonne.”
“…”
“Do you have memories from when you were young?”
At Marquis’s words, Yvonne began to sweat. She had possessed Yvonne’s princess’s body when she turned 19.
At 19, just before the noble class typically awakens at the age of 20, she received all kinds of praises. However, as mentioned in the original work, she didn’t awaken on her 20th birthday, and on her 21st birthday, all five puppies she received as gifts were killed.
Now, she had just passed her 22nd birthday.
She couldn’t remember the childhood of Princess Yvonne mentioned in the original work.
“Um…”
“Yvonne, I don’t know how you can trust me. But who do you think erased your childhood memories? And why don’t you remember or even curious about your childhood?”
Marquis’s words made Yvonne quite flustered. She hadn’t thought that someone might have erased her memories, making her unable to remember.
As Yvonne paused in confusion, Marquis knelt down and said to her.
“I erased your memories.”
“What?”
“And His Majesty hypnotized you.”
Yvonne began to feel Marquis, who was trembling and holding onto her legs, as if he were a complete stranger. He had never desperately spoken to her like this before, like a snake circling around its prey.
“Yvonne. Even if you can’t trust me…”
“I’ll trust you.”
Although Yvonne’s head was spinning, she knew as well as Marquis did how sincerely he loved Princess Yvonne.
“But why did you erase my memories?”
“…That’s…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence and was hesitating.
Yvonne seemed to understand why her memories were uncertain. Emperor Heldevrant needed to erase part of her memories to raise her as his daughter. And if he filled in those gaps with his hypnosis, it would be perfect.
She sighed, thinking about it.
“Then, am I not Dad’s real daughter?”
“….”
Marquis faltered, as if unsure how to respond. He was confused. How much could he tell her? He had come to her in fear, without a proper plan.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I let my emotions get the best of me.”
“Kes.”
“I don’t have much to tell Yvonne. I’m also under hypnosis… It makes it impossible for me to say anything.”
Yvonne understood his words, accepting that the Emperor was still a person despite his actions.
“What happened to my hair? You said this silver hair only appears in nobles.”
“Um… Well, you see…”
“Am I a noble then?”
“….”
“It seems you can’t answer this either.”
Marquis looked down at his knees.
“Yvonne. His Majesty intends to kill you. If you don’t awaken by the time he returns from this visit…”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Whenever Dad gets drunk, he says things like that.”
Marquis was even more surprised by Yvonne’s calm response. When he looked up, he saw her indifferent expression. He knew she was under hypnosis, but this wasn’t the usual indifferent Yvonne he knew.
“Um… Are you… okay?”
“I’m fine, Kes.”
“Oh…”
“Did you come running here because you were worried about me? Just like that?”
Knowing how careful Marquis usually was, Yvonne felt a bit sorry. Normally, he would have approached her calmly to negotiate. Seeing him so flustered, she couldn’t help but feel a bit touched.
“Do you care that much about me?”
“Yes…”
“When did you hear that Dad would kill me?”
“I just heard it.”
“And you came running here right away?”
“Yes….”
As he answered like that, Marquis realized what a mistake he had made. Provoking the Emperor and not letting it go was just as bad.
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I can tell Kes was flustered.”
“….Yvonne.”
She felt the need to use Marquis Rohan. Marquis Rohan. He was the highest-ranking ability user who could manipulate memories.
“Let’s make it so Kes can trust you.”
“I swear. I’ll stake my ability.”
His ability must not be lost. Seeing through that she could trust him just by him staking his ability, she smiled unknowingly.
“Kes. I’ll do as Kes says. But there’s a condition.”
He didn’t think she would speak so amiably, contrary to his expectation that she wouldn’t believe him at all.
“When I leave here, please let Yurian leave with me. Would that be too much to ask?”
“Why? Is it because of him?”
“Because of him?”
When Yvonne asked, Marquis squinted. Then, he looked at her pitifully and said,
“Are you starting to fall in love with him?”
At the absurdity of the statement, Yvonne laughed unwittingly. Love for someone who wanted to devour her.
“Haha… Kes. Are you saying that to amuse me?”
“Yes?”
“Hmm.”
She thought she couldn’t possibly fall for someone who was so out of his mind, wanting to tear her throat apart. But somehow, she felt a little sorry when she thought of Yurian and wanted to treat him well.
She couldn’t quite understand it herself. But she was completely convinced that her affection for him was utterly useless and was trying to erase it completely.
“Not at all. I’m just feeling sorry for him.”
“….Yvonne.”
“When I leave here, please let him leave with me. But Kes has to…”
Yvonne swallowed dry saliva, gently stroked Marquis’s cheek, and continued,
“Please erase all his memories. All memories of me. Is that possible?”
“Yes.”
Marquis found solace in her scent. He hadn’t taken any tranquilizers today, despite how urgently he had come.
“Yvonne.”
“Yes.”
“I really like you, Yvonne.”
“I like people who listen to me well.”
Thinking that she felt responsible for Yurian and wanted to release him, Marquis smiled brightly at her hand stroking his cheek and said, “I’ll listen well.”
* * *
Yurian was awake, facing the dawn without being able to sleep.
The tingling sensation on his neck where Yvonne had bitten him lingered vividly, making his chest feel strange. He gently touched the faint marks with his fingertips, feeling a sense of fullness despite not having eaten anything.
If there were a mirror, it would have been good.
He wanted to examine the remaining marks more closely.
Creak.
The sound of the first door opening came. He welcomed the sound, but the footsteps he heard sounded heavy, like those of men. And there were two of them.
“Oh no.”
When the second door opened, Yurian glared at the Emperor approaching him with eyes that hadn’t fully woken.
“You’re up early. Gong.”
Yurian tensed and got up from the bed. He was aware that he hadn’t taken the antidote for the ability suppressant yet. If he had, he would have broken free from these restraints and twisted the detestable Emperor’s neck.
As Yurian gritted his teeth, the Emperor looked down at him mockingly.
When Hildebrandt looked behind, Francis casually pulled the restraint around Yurian’s neck, forcing his head to touch the ground. The Emperor, looking down at Yurian, who was lying on the floor and glaring at him, said with interest, “Seems like our Yvonne gets along quite well with you.”
Then, the Emperor stepped on Yurian’s head. He persistently stared at the mark, presumed to be Yvonne’s, below his neck.
“I can see it’s quite serious with our Yvonne.”
Then, the Emperor kicked Yurian’s head. He looked down at the mark, presumably Yvonne’s, under his neck with interest.
“Ugh…!”
“As expected, dying would be the best for you.”
Hildebrandt said so and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
With the sound, he put Yurian under hypnosis and said, “When Yvonne comes to see you, kill yourself in front of her.”
Yurian’s eyes lost focus as if he were under hypnosis, and he became docile. Smiling, Hildebrandt released his restraints.
T/N: Sincerely, WTF!!!
