Episode 56

Yvonne was in the prayer room for the first time. Although she knew how to pray, she was fascinated by the interior and looked around curiously.

The prayer room was small, almost as if it was designed for one person only.

At the front of the prayer room, there was a small statue of the goddess Yulias, and behind it, a light was flickering. She touched it out of curiosity and found that it wasn’t artificial; it seemed to be shining from behind the statue.

Almost like divine power.

Yvonne knelt and clasped her hands as she knew how to do.

Then she prayed as if making a wish.

Please.

Please don’t let Hildebrandt find out.

After thinking this, she relaxed, leaned against the wall, and put on the veil she had brought.

While she was resting against the wall for a long time, she heard a knock on the door. She knelt again as if she had been praying and looked back.

“Yes?”

Only after the door opened did Yvonne stand up.

“The High Priest is ready.”

“Yes.”

The junior priest, who first informed Yvonne, immediately knocked on the door of the room where Marquess was.

“The High Priest…”

“I know.”

Marquess responded harshly and stood next to Yvonne, then looked at her with gentle eyes.

“I wasn’t feeling well because I was away from my wife.”

“You’re sensitive.”

“Yes.”

He adjusted Yvonne’s veil to obscure her features more clearly. Earlier, she had not worn it, so the junior priest had been glancing at her in a daze.

The junior priest was a woman with good taste, hence her continued glances at Yvonne.

The junior priest felt she had seen Yvonne somewhere before. The Bricesys Empire was the largest empire on the continent, having absorbed many small countries and with many kingdoms cooperating under its might.

The Holy Nation did not favor the Bricesys Empire.

During the previous emperor’s reign, relations were friendly, but the current emperor seemed to have suddenly changed, hating the Holy Nation.

Fortunately, Yvonne’s veil had a peculiar ability.

When worn, it made her features blurry and induced distortions in perception, leaving no clear impression. However, this effect did not last long against high-level individuals.

Marquess knew that many people would not remember Yvonne’s face. But he still had to consider the possibility that the emperor might use her face as an example when searching for her.

“Dear.”

“Yes?”

Marquess caught Yvonne’s hand as she almost stumbled.

“Thank you, dear.”

“It’s nothing.”

When Yvonne smiled and spoke, Marquess felt a strange breathlessness. He cleared his throat and followed the junior priest.

After walking for a long time, they arrived at the High Priest’s private reception room.

“Please come in.”

“Thank you.”

Yvonne smiled and greeted the junior priest as they parted. The junior priest, momentarily free from the veil’s influence, blushed as he looked directly at her face.

Marquess quickly led Yvonne inside, smiling awkwardly.

“May the hope of the goddess Yulias be with you.”

“Hehehe. Welcome. I am Johannes, a servant of the god.”

Yvonne was intrigued upon seeing the High Priest for the first time. He looked no older than a ten-year-old child. She knew that those with abilities didn’t age after awakening, but she had an unconscious bias because all Bricesys royals awakened at the age of twenty, generally after the age of fifteen.

“You are a beautiful person.”

“Thank you.”

Dressed in attire befitting a High Priest and with an air of dignity, Yvonne showed him proper courtesy.

“Please, have a seat here.”

The High Priest’s warm smile made him look like an old man despite his young appearance.

He laughed as he noticed Marquess unable to take his eyes off Yvonne.

“You seem to be a loving couple.”

“Yes.”

Marquess felt a positive sentiment toward the High Priest for referring to them as a couple.

“May I ask what brings you to see me?”

Marquess glanced at Yvonne once before opening his mouth.

“We want to break the ability cast on us.”

“May I ask what kind of ability it is?”

“…Hypnosis and memory loss.”

“Oh.”

The High Priest was certain that these two had come from the Bricesys Empire. There were many people trying to escape the emperor and break free from his powers.

Hildebrandt’s power was hypnosis.

His power did not activate if the distance was beyond a certain range. However, if one returned within that range, there was a risk of it reactivating unless he personally dispelled it. It was like living with a time bomb that hadn’t detonated yet.

“What kind of hypnosis are you under?”

“We don’t even know that.”

“Oh dear.”

The High Priest was known for his nullification abilities.

“If it was cast by the current Emperor of Bricesys, even I can’t fully dispel it.”

“…”

“I can break some of the weaker ones.”

“Then who can break them all?”

“His Holiness the Pope can dispel it. However, he is currently in a deep sleep and will not awaken for another six months.”

Marquess was surprised at how powerful Hildebrandt’s abilities were. But it made sense, as top-tier ability users were not common.

“Whose memory loss ability are you going to dispel?”

“My wife’s.”

“I see.”

“I cast the ability, but I can’t dispel it.”

“Why not?”

Normally, mental abilities could be dispelled by the person who cast them.

“There’s hypnosis that prevents me from remembering it. Even if I find the memory, it gets consciously erased by the hypnosis.”

“I understand.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Yvonne was breaking into a cold sweat. She wished most of the hypnosis on her could be dispelled. But she thought it might be better not to dispel the memory-related ones. She wasn’t the real Yvonne; she had entered Yvonne’s body one day.

Even if she tried to recover the memories, could she truly find them?

She began to worry that trying might reveal her as a possessor.

“Let’s first dispel what can be dispelled.”

“Yes.”

When Yvonne said this, Marquess looked down at her with a sorrowful expression. Yvonne’s heart felt heavier, knowing that his expression was due to guilt.

“Then I will inform you of the parts your wife needs to remember.”

“That would be better.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Yvonne’s face lit up with joy, making Marquess happy too. He was actually afraid of Yvonne regaining her memories because he didn’t know everything.

But if she learned through him, he could at least provide some explanations.

He didn’t intend to restore all her memories anyway.

What the emperor had sealed with his life couldn’t be undone by anyone in this world.

Yvonne would never recall that she was Hildebrandt’s fiancée, whispered love to him, then miserably abandoned him and even made a marital vow with the emperor’s uncle.

Not unless Hildebrandt personally dispelled it.

Therefore, Marquess thought Yvonne would only regain memories of Ebony and himself.

He didn’t want to foolishly lose Yvonne, who had come to him.

He had risked everything he had built up to this point to come here.

“We’ll conduct the ritual tomorrow night.”

“Thank you.”

“Until then, you can relax and enjoy your time at the temple.”

Marquess’s heart raced as Yvonne shyly smiled and expressed her gratitude.

* * *

Thanks to the High Priest, Yvonne and Marquess were allowed to stay at the temple and were given one room. Marquess went out for a walk and did not return to the room.

Yvonne sensed that he might not come back tonight.

The side effect of his ability was bed addiction. If the side effect did not start, he could endure it well, but sleeping in the same bed would make it difficult to resist.

Moreover, his love for her was genuine. That’s why he had run away with her.

Yvonne opened the window to check the cold night air and the full moon.

She took a coat Marquess might wear and went outside.

There were no priests in sight, likely because it was night at the temple. Priests rarely stayed outside after sunset, as they performed personal prayers in their rooms for training.

Thus, Yvonne walked comfortably as if the temple was her own world.

Evening primroses filled the back garden. There were many lilies beside them. It was as if only white flowers had been planted there.

“Your Highness?”

Yvonne turned around to see Yurian standing there.

She was so shocked she forgot to blink her widened eyes.