Episode 45

“Call me by a pet name.”

“Deb?”

“Hilde. You should call me Hilde.”

“Oh.”

Yvonne thought it was strange that Hildebrandt had already decided on a pet name yet made it seem like he was giving her a choice. His breath smelled strongly of alcohol, perhaps because he was so close.

“Dad.”

“Hilde.”

“…Yes, Hilde. How many bottles have you drunk?”

“Alcohol?”

“Yes.”

“Four bottles?”

Compared to the amount he usually drank when his side effects began, it was a small amount. Yvonne wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or not. Her hair was already spread out behind her. Hildebrandt picked up a handful of her hair and kissed it. His eyes, which had been of different colors, had now returned to the same color.

“Your eyes are back.”

“I reclaimed my magic.”

“Where did you put your magic?”

“In a good place.”

He answered vaguely, chuckling as the wolf’s memories flowed back to him.

“Hilde.”

“Yes.”

Hildebrandt let go of her hair and looked at her. With his outstretched arms, his body seemed enormous.

“Should I stop now?”

Hildebrandt’s continual testing confused Yvonne. The emperor she knew wanted to pass the throne to her. He kept her alive despite being frustrated by her inability to awaken her abilities. She clearly remembered it from the original story, yet he was testing her like this.

The original Yvonne would have seen him as her real father.

Or did she?

Yvonne wondered if the relationship she read about between Yvonne and Hildebrandt was all there was. Maybe the original story got completely distorted because of the vow preventing Yurian from killing her.

“Do you think I want to stop?”

Yvonne was gambling. Hildebrandt wasn’t someone to get deeply involved with her. He had gone through so much to become emperor.

Thinking this, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He relaxed and embraced her. The emperor’s deep breath made her feel even more intoxicated. Yet, he remained gently held in her arms.

“Yvonne.”

“Yes.”

“Will you undress yourself, or should I do it?”

She was still tense, feeling that the test wasn’t over. If he truly intended to make a bonding vow with her, he wouldn’t have asked such a question.

A capricious emperor.

Hildebrandt always tested her.

This must be another test.

To see how far Princess Yvonne would be loyal to him, and if she was truly considering becoming his consort.

“I’ll do it myself.”

“Okay.”

“And I’ll undress you too.”

Hildebrandt stood up briefly. She followed his lead.

“Francis.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Turn around.”

“…Yes.”

He had no intention of sending the escort knight away. And Hildebrandt’s goal wasn’t to make Francis leave. The sharp-witted Hildebrandt knew about Francis’s loyalty and how tense he got every time he looked at Yvonne.

He thought it was pathetic that the knight had grown attached while assigned to guard her.

He looked back at Yvonne.

“Can’t we send him out?”

“Why?”

“I’m embarrassed.”

Seeing Yvonne blush and speak shyly, Hildebrandt lost the desire to keep Francis as a warning.

“Get out, Francis.”

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

### Chapter 45

Francis left without turning back. Yvonne watched the door close completely before she was startled by Hildebrandt’s touch on her cheek. She turned her head to find him glaring at her.

“Thank you.”

“Yes.”

Hildebrandt grabbed the choker around Yvonne’s neck and yanked it, breaking it. She smiled as she gently touched his face, sensing his mood had soured again.

“I wish you were dead.”

“If that would make you happy, Hilde, then do it.”

Her obedient words made him realize why his usual self-hypnosis wasn’t working. He grabbed her arms and lifted them. She offered no resistance, looking at him with her beautiful violet eyes, reminiscent of violets.

Hildebrandt recalled the sound of her heartbeat and her flushed face when she clung to him in confusion. It was the same expression she had when she happily professed her love for him in the past.

He couldn’t control the intensity of his self-hypnosis. Even now, despite saying he wanted to kill her, he couldn’t use his powers against her with full force.

He didn’t want to kill her.

Unlike before when she had left him, now it seemed she only had eyes for him.

No matter how much he pushed her away and tested her, Yvonne kept coming back as if she had forgotten everything.

He truly wanted to kill her. That’s why he brought Yurian Leonhart. The disloyal duke, who could break his hypnosis and treated him as less than human, wouldn’t leave Yvonne alone. One day, he would kill her, doing what Hildebrandt couldn’t bring himself to do.

“Say you love me.”

“I love you, Hilde.”

Hildebrandt resented her. Yet, seeing her return to whispering sweet love to him, he was also filled with a sense of betrayal.

What he hated most was that he kept forgiving her and yearning for her without realizing it.

“I love you.”

But even that hatred faded in the face of her loving words.

“What should I do next?”

Her shy smile and gaze still seemed like part of his test. Hildebrandt felt exhausted by his inability to hate her and his unwillingness to forgive her for the past.

“Let’s have ten children.”

“Haha.”

“Is that too many?”

Yvonne’s rolling eyes showed she feared she had upset him with her suggestion.

“Dare to look away from me.”

“Yes…”

Yvonne looked back at him as he commanded.

“Then three?”

Her words made him realize he was genuinely smiling.

“Three is too many.”

“Why?”

“Even one would be difficult. With this body.”

“Oh…”

As Hildebrandt released her hand, Yvonne watched his reaction. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and smiled.

“Then just one.”

“Alright.”

With that, he began undressing. His upper body revealed scars as he removed his shirt. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch him.

“How did you get this injury?”

“You stabbed me.”

“What?”

Hildebrandt looked at the large wound on his abdomen and then at Yvonne. She seemed confused, and he almost told her it was a joke, but he didn’t bother to correct himself.

“Here, here, and here too,”

Hildebrandt said, pointing to several large scars on his abdomen. Yvonne was unsure whether he was telling the truth or not, feeling confused.

“That must have hurt.”

“I could bear it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“My heart hurt more.”

Yvonne couldn’t understand his words, so she decided to play along, thinking he was just teasing her.

“Here?”

“Yes, here.”

As Yvonne placed her hand on his chest, Hildebrandt pressed her hand firmly. She could feel his heart pounding loudly beneath her fingers.

“I won’t do such things anymore. If something happens, just hurt me instead.”

“Why? No… alright.”

Hildebrandt thought it was unnecessary to keep testing her at this point. Yvonne was already being obedient, and although she looked scared, she wasn’t resisting.

“What about Marquis Rohan?”

“Exile him.”

Her straightforward answer made him genuinely laugh. He gently caressed her face.

“Where to?”

“If I exile him abroad, he’ll manage somehow. Honestly, it’s just troublesome.”

Yvonne tried hard not to avoid Hildebrandt’s gaze as she spoke. Her actions convinced him that she was entirely sincere.

The side effects of an ability manifest as what the person with the ability fears the most.

In Hildebrandt’s current state, he was in his most feared condition: a state where he couldn’t maintain his rationality.

Even though he was in this irrational state, he didn’t feel sad. In the past, he had been most afraid of forgiving her and being this close. He wanted to let her go but couldn’t.

But now, it was different. He couldn’t deny his feelings for her to the extent that he couldn’t hypnotize himself anymore.

Yvonne had broken down the tightly shut doors of his heart.

“Then will you really do it?”

“…Yes.”

Yvonne answered naturally, as if breathing. He smiled happily at her words, feeling joyful.

He had no idea that tomorrow, the day he was set to leave on his tour, would also be the day she planned to escape from him.