Episode 75
Marquess Rohan laughed as if it didn’t matter at all that his cheek was swelling from the repeated slaps from Yvonne.
Yvonne was confused, questioning whether this man was truly her husband and if he had always been this way. Even without her memories, she had observed that Marquess Rohan had always been gentle with her.
But now, he was completely different. The change in the color of his eyes unsettled her, and she didn’t like how he was acting.
“What if I say no?”
“Even if you say no, you’ll have to endure it. This is what’s expected between husband and wife.”
Yvonne felt an intense discomfort at those words. But she decided to stay still, curious to see how far he would go. Her neck throbbed where he had bitten her, and she thought she could feel blood trickling from the wound. Despite the burning pain, she couldn’t do anything, her arms restrained as they were.
“I’m disappointed in you, Kes.”
She let the words slip out without thinking. Marquess Rohan looked down at her in surprise, loosening his grip for a moment.
In that instant,
“Ugh!”
Yvonne drove her knee into his groin. His face flushed bright red with pain, and he collapsed easily under the force of her push.
“My… my lady…!”
Marquess Rohan desperately tried to grab her, but his body was too weak to stop her.
Yvonne scrambled off the bed and ran toward the door, but she hesitated when she saw that he was recovering quickly.
Bang!
Marquess Rohan threw something at the door, and it shattered against it. Yvonne looked down at the broken glass shards on the floor, realizing that she couldn’t exit through the door barefoot.
Thinking quickly, she dashed out onto the balcony. She hurriedly ran across the terrace, but Marquess Rohan, sweating and panting, was right behind her.
“My lady!”
His eyes had turned red again. The burst blood vessels made him look even more terrifying. Yvonne began to fear him, unable to recall any of the kindness he had once shown.
“Don’t follow me!”
“Come back here, now!”
For the first time, Marquess Rohan shouted at Yvonne. He had never imagined that he would ever raise his voice at her, thinking he would always be gentle. But now something was wrong. He felt that if he didn’t hold her, he would lose her forever.
He needed to hold her, imprint her, claim her as his own, and then he would kill Yurian Leonhardt.
Then she would look only at him. Then she would surely love him. Her body and heart would belong to him.
With these thoughts, Marquess Rohan chased after her. Yvonne thought he had truly gone mad. She looked around as she stepped out onto the balcony, hoping to see a gardener or someone else, but there was no one in sight.
“If you come any closer, I’ll jump.”
Yvonne warned him, but Marquess Rohan only laughed, continuing to approach her. Desperate, she climbed up onto the railing. She stood there, precariously balancing.
“What are you doing, my lady?”
“If you come any closer, I’ll really jump.”
“This is the third floor.”
“I know.”
Marquess Rohan found it difficult to think clearly. If she fell from here, she would likely break her arm or leg.
If her leg broke…
And she was crippled forever…
Then maybe she wouldn’t be able to leave him.
“If you’re going to break your leg anyway, let me help you.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Then you won’t be able to leave me.”
Yvonne realized that the red color in Marquess Rohan’s eyes and his madness were somehow connected.
“Kes! Are you really insane?”
“Yes, you’re the one who turned a simple matter into something complicated.”
“A simple matter? You’re talking about intimacy?”
“Yes.”
Yvonne couldn’t understand why Marquess Rohan was acting this way. He was just three steps away from her. She looked back, wondering if she really had to jump.
There were many trees below, but if she fell from here, she was sure she would break at least one of her limbs. This was the third floor, and the ceilings were higher than those in a typical building.
“What’s wrong with me planting my seed in you? You said you wanted to have my children, didn’t you?”
“I’d prefer to do that at night. It’s daytime now, and the way you bit my neck…!”
Yvonne ran her hand over the spot on her neck where he had bitten her. A strange sense of déjà vu washed over her, as if someone else had bitten her neck before.
“Yurian….”
The moment she unconsciously uttered that name, Marquess Rohan could no longer hold back.
“Kes?”
As Yvonne briefly regained her senses, she realized that Marquess Rohan had closed the distance between them.
In that instant, his hand pushed her, and she fell.
“Even if you break your leg, you’ll still have to bear my child.”
The last thing Yvonne saw as she fell was Marquess Rohan’s face, twisted into a crazed smile.
As she fell, she realized something.
The scent of hydrangeas that came from him.
And the red glow in his eyes.
It might be a spell cast by Hildebrandt.
Crash!
Yvonne squeezed her eyes shut, terrified of the pain that was about to come. The impact against her back and the backs of her knees felt like being struck by a whip. However, the pain wasn’t as unbearable as she had feared, and nothing seemed to be broken.
“Yvonne.”
“Oh….”
Hearing someone call her name, Yvonne slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, perhaps from tears she hadn’t realized she’d shed during the fall, making it difficult to see clearly.
“Shh.”
She had fallen into Yurian’s arms, beneath the trees. He had been watching from the balcony as she fell and then, seeing Marquess Rohan hastily retreat, spoke up.
“Shall we run away?”
“…Ugh, yes….”
Yvonne wrapped her arms around Yurian’s neck in her distress. She couldn’t process what was happening. Who was Hildebrandt, and why did she think Marquess Rohan was under his influence?
“Yes.”
Yurian smiled brightly, as if pleased by her answer. Feeling Yvonne’s grip tighten as she struggled to hold back her tears, he quickly moved away from the estate.
Yurian, using his enhanced physical abilities, surveyed the area to ensure they wouldn’t be seen by any of the servants before moving to a hidden spot.
For him, this was as easy as pie.
“Everyone, gather at the main building!”
“All personnel, move to the main building!”
Hearing the urgency in the chamberlain’s voice, it seemed that Marquess Rohan had finally realized that Yvonne wasn’t where she had fallen.
Yvonne had no desire to return to the man who had pushed her. Besides, the bite on her neck still hadn’t stopped bleeding, and something kept trickling down. She tried to suppress her sobs, feeling humiliated at the thought of crying in front of Yurian.
At the same time, she felt a deep sense of betrayal, as the trust she had placed in Marquess Rohan shattered completely.
“Shh.”
Yurian paused before the wall that led to the back of the mountain, preparing to leap over it. Yvonne held her breath and tightened her grip around his neck.
“Holding on so tight makes it hard for me to jump.”
“Wh-why?”
“….”
Yurian smiled softly at her tearful question, deciding it wasn’t necessary to explain his condition.
Then, with a single leap, he vaulted over the high wall and out of the estate.
“Now, you’ll truly have to follow me.”
Yvonne began to regret following Yurian more than staying with Marquess Rohan.
But if she had stayed, she might have ended up dead at the hands of the man who had pushed her. Hadn’t he even mentioned breaking her leg?
With that thought, Yvonne realized she couldn’t hold on to any lingering affection for him.
Was he really her husband?
Then what was that monstrous behavior she witnessed today?
Were the kind and gentle nights they had spent together all a lie?
Yvonne felt herself sinking into a deep melancholy.
* * *
After Yvonne’s disappearance and Yurian’s failure to appear, Marquess Rohan went completely mad, realizing she had fled with Yurian.
“My lord, the lady is nowhere to be found….”
“Hah.”
Marquess Rohan’s suspicion that Yurian had taken his wife somewhere became a certainty. If Yurian had nothing to hide, he would have shown himself by now.
He bit his lip so hard that blood began to trickle down.
“Find her immediately.”
“But, my lord….”
Marquess Rohan knew that the King of Apentina would be of no help. What he needed now was a tracker, but there were no such ability users in Apentina.
His thoughts naturally turned to the Bricesys Empire. With bloodshot eyes that barely blinked, he reached out to the communication orb.
It connected him directly to Erkin, his former aide who had once served him in the Bricesys royal court.
“Yes, master.”
As Erkin’s voice came through, Marquess Rohan spoke.
“Tell His Majesty that I am alive. And inform him that Her Highness, the princess, is here in Apentina.”
If he couldn’t have her, he would destroy her.
Unaware that this was the same thought Hildebrandt had once had.
