“Episode 26”
“Oh…?”
It was Yuliana who had buried her face in Evan’s chest, closing her eyes tightly as she felt her feet giving way.
Realizing she was sitting on a soft sofa, she stopped screaming.
Startled, she looked up to see Evan smiling down at her.
“Is it nothing?”
“Next time, just… like this, exactly.”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“How did you know?”
Yuliana squirmed to get out of his arms, whimpering. Before his wife could exert more force, Evan raised his hand in surrender, still smiling.
“But then you lose. You finally started liking me.”
“What… What are you talking about? Stop making baseless claims.”
“Still pretending you didn’t hear?”
“Oh, come on?! How many ways can you start with ‘I like you’?”
Yuliana exclaimed, then deliberately looked around, trying not to show too much interest in her husband.
As she glanced around, Evan leaned back on the sofa, relaxed.
“Then tell me after we tour the Empress Mama’s secret villa. Properly, in a sentence.”
“But really.”
Yuliana laughed lightly, then glanced up the stairs with interest.
The walls were warm yellow, and the sofa Evan sat on clearly showed marks where the springs had been worn out.
Black magic could conceal a place. A power that could make a place disappear, which could exist visibly and tangibly. Yuliana thought the space made with that eerie power was surprisingly cozy and pretty.
‘By the way, where did Erena go?’
Yuliana went up the stairs after the vanished Empress, following her own curiosity.
Lo and behold, the noble Empress Mama was lying on the carpet, sound asleep.
“Empress Mama!”
And she was holding something precious. Yuliana tried to gently pick up the sleeping Erena, but had to grab her back because of the effort.
‘…I’m sorry. Empress Mama.’
Erena’s small body was dragged along the carpet to the end of the edge.
And then it happened.
Erena, who had fallen asleep deeply, suddenly opened her eyes and weakly pushed away Yuliana’s touch. And then she grabbed a small stone, fumbling.
Relieved that Erena, who had woken up, seemed not to have lost her soul due to blasphemy, Yuliana froze. …She’s not quite sober yet. Thank goodness.
“Empress Mama. What are you looking at exactly?”
Yuliana awkwardly asked, feeling guilty about dragging the Empress around like luggage.
Fortunately, she seemed to understand the question, as Erena raised her drowsy eyes and showed Yuliana the small stone.
“H-here, I’m here for the first time. I was afraid he wouldn’t like it. I-I might have just given it to him for fun… But, still, I wanted to see it once. Your Majesty’s childhood room… Lu, Lucian’s room…”
Erena laughed brightly.
And Yuliana was shocked.
‘Right. Erena’s favorite character was her husband…!’
Yuliana, half out of her mind, wandered around looking for something to possess, even in a state of half unconsciousness.
Yuliana said awkwardly again.
“S-so that’s it! It must be very emotional for you. Sh, shall we sleep in bed first? You might catch a cold like this.”
“W-which bed…?”
Erena tilted her head.
Her pouting cheeks and lips were truly adorable. Yuliana had to pull herself together and continue to persuade herself.
“Th-the Empress’s bed…?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Even in that absent-minded state, Erena got up unsteadily.
Even as she blinked and pulled the bedspread, she giggled. Yuliana wiped her sweat.
“…I’m glad I don’t drink that much.”
Yuliana helped her staggering, hungover self out of the favorite character’s bed the next day, feeling sorry for her.
Come to think of it, today’s party was more enjoyable than expected, and she herself had drunk quite a bit. If Evan hadn’t cut her off in the middle, she would have drunk more.
“Partly because I had some worries and ended up drinking more as a way to escape reality…”
First, she conveyed her feelings to Evan. It was a bit embarrassing to say that she liked him…
But why do I feel so unsettled? Yuliana looked back gloomily. Then she noticed Erena muttering something in her sleep.
Yuliana reached out towards the mysterious stone Erena had found with her best effort.
“…What’s this?”
It was black and shaped like a cobblestone. When Yuliana touched it, she felt an unusual magical energy and widened her eyes.
Erena, likened to a warrior with only stats in stamina and killing magic if compared to a game character, lacked the delicacy to sense subtle magical waves.
On the other hand, Yuliana Ovon was a wizard who specialized in fire magic and had mastered a wide range of magic beyond that. And she was feeling the energy of dark magic again from the cobblestone, which was the only magic she hadn’t learned.
“This is…”
Yuliana frowned.
At that moment, as Evan’s footsteps coming up the stairs were heard, she hurriedly hid the strange item in her arms.
“Yuliana.”
Evan, who had completely reached the second floor, looked around the small room and smirked.
It was a mocking smile with a somewhat cold demeanor, as if mocking the reproduction of Lucian Bieu Ariaque’s childhood dormitory.
However, his tone was as gentle as when he called her name. He stopped swaying and reached out his arm to Yuliana.
“We should rest too, right?”
“…Um. By the way, how was the party today?”
Feeling relieved, Yuliana tried to change the subject of the conversation.
In the meantime, various questions popped up in her mind.
Why?
Why can I feel his magic?
It felt uncomfortable to hide the suspicious object in her arms.
“I should ask Evan about it. Even now…”
Just as she was thinking about it, it was the moment when Evan was about to release his lips, as if he found his awkwardly smiling wife’s face incredibly adorable.
Knock-knock—
“Yeah?”
Yuliana was the first to turn her head at the knocking sound.
The knocking on the door that no one had opened gradually stopped. And someone came in unexpectedly, with a very relaxed attitude.
It was none other than the Emperor, Lucian Bieu Ariaque.
“Oh, I got soaked in the morning dew.”
Evan, casually crossing his legs in front of the emperor, responded with a nonchalant tone.
“I don’t understand why you chased after me even to the point of getting soaked in the morning dew.”
“What a presumptuous thing to say. Your Grace, you don’t seem to appreciate the effort of a husband who rushed out upon hearing the news that his wife was using the summer villa in the wrong season. How disappointing.”
“If Her Majesty had just casually mentioned to take advantage of her convenience from the beginning, you would have done so without hesitation. Isn’t it because Your Grace didn’t care much?”
“Oh, Duchess. If my ears are still working properly, it seems like the Duke is making presumptuous comments about the relationship between spouses. Am I right?”
“Please stop beating around the bush, both of you,” Yuliana said, exhausted.
The two former academy classmates had a really strange relationship. They seemed like friends, yet not quite.
‘Well, if we were friends, why would we exchange such crazy things as saying, “If you deliberately get injured and lose heavily at the magic tournament, I’ll naturally win, and moved by your courageous act, I’ll grant you a blue rose”?’
Yuliana, mentally shooting daggers at the emperor, crossed her arms with a guarded attitude. Then she recalled something peculiar.
‘But why does the emperor dislike it so much when nobles crawl up to him? As far as I remember, the emperor was undoubtedly a legitimate successor. No… as a legitimate successor…’
In a belated mental whirlwind fueled by the money spent on half of her life to fill the void, Yuliana felt a little annoyed.
Then she finally realized.
‘Ah! Maybe it’s true that he’s not from the aristocracy. Right. Lucian Bieu Ariaque was noble yet not noble.’
After organizing her thoughts, she cleared her throat. “Um.”
“…Anyway, Your Majesty, Her Majesty was able to safely enter the villa without both of you fighting, and since you are old friends, you can have an enjoyable chat.”
Yuliana’s words made the emperor smile as if amused. “Were you surprised?”
“No. It was rather amusing. It was fortunate that I could tell the nobles, who were swarming like a swarm of flies, to ‘leave’ since the party was over. I’m glad I can now tell Her Majesty it’s okay to disappear in the middle of a party in the future.”
It was unclear whether it was a sincere statement or a joke. Yuliana glanced at Evan with an uncomfortable feeling.
However, her husband responded shamelessly, looking comfortably at the emperor who was shaking off the morning dew from his hair.
“Then I will continue to advise Her Majesty accordingly.”
‘This guy is unbelievable!’
Yuliana wanted to scream but restrained herself. Seriously, what kind of relationship is this where they can’t stand each other?!
Yuliana hastily spoke up.
“It’s my fault. This little sister brought news of the mother who cut off contact a while ago. In fact, it was our father who brought this little sister to the palace. Who would have thought that the person who said he couldn’t attend the party because of poor health would dare to bring this little sister and tell a ‘lie’?!”
At the end of her words, she couldn’t hide her emotions and blurted out.
Lucian, who was watching the interesting change in the duchess’s mood, tapped his finger. Following his touch, the teacup floated and eventually settled in his hand.
Sipping on the already poured hot tea, Lucian leisurely spoke.
“Ah, I see. By the way, there’s chaos at the back gate right now. It seems that Commander Claudio is kicking out his guards. They claim that the guards left their posts because they heard the news that the Empire’s hero was guarding, but… ”
Lucian trailed off. Evan, with his shameless face, nonchalantly replied.
“Well, their military discipline has certainly deteriorated.”
Lucian, who was sipping his tea with a sly smile, chuckled softly.
“Yes. But when the Duke’s name was mentioned, Commander Claudio suddenly became interested. It seems that there are nobles lingering around, trying to kick him out. Coincidentally, the Duchess’s father, Viscount Owen, and the lady of Muryeong are among them…”
“Hmm, I wonder what kind of personality Claudio has. Evan, you know, right?”
The emperor spoke confidently, as if he were talking to his friend. It was a candid tone that friends would use when they were together. He even mentioned the name directly.
Then, there was a brief silence.
Evan tilted his head slightly. Then, with a smile that lacked any hint of creepiness, he looked straight ahead.
“I know. He has a dog-like personality.”
Despite the Duke’s casual tone, the emperor smiled affectionately as if he were treating his friend
“…I don’t think there could be anything more surprising than this?”
Yuliana replied weakly. To his astonished wife, Evan added affectionately,
“I know Claudio Anne. Well, I know him from an objective perspective. But the only person I truly want to know and understand is you.”
“…Did you think I’d be surprised because of that?”
Evan asked smoothly, whether Lucian was listening or not.
“Well, weren’t you?”
Then he leaned in for a brief peck on her cheek and rose from his seat, addressing Lucian mockingly,
“Whatever Claudio is, I should probably go see him before tearing him apart.”
Lucian responded gracefully,
“I should really satisfy the curiosity of the commander. Given your interest in the Duke’s affairs.”
“In the entire empire, there’s talk about the illegitimate son of the Duke, yet Commander Claudio seems to be the last to know.”
Evan grumbled, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye. It seemed he was off to deal with that ‘dog-like’ commander.
Meanwhile, Yuliana, still feeling somewhat dizzy, massaged her temples. Too much information was hitting her all at once.
Seeing Yuliana’s confusion, Lucian leaned back on the sofa leisurely. It was an attitude befitting a victor.
“It’s time for each of us to attend to our own business, Duchess. The Duke has gone to deal with the commander, and you’ve hidden my belongings…”
“Uh… what?”
As Yuliana belatedly understood the words and stared frozen, Lucian added with amusement,
“So, now that there are no interruptions, it might be a good time to talk openly.”
* * *
Yuliana partially knew the identity of the ‘belongings’ she had concealed.
In fact, it was somewhat obvious upon a little reflection. The reason she hadn’t paid much attention was that she had recently regained the memories of her past life and was living as ‘Isiane.’
But the strangely attached memories of the current Yuliana Owen made it difficult for her to completely live as ‘Isiane.’
At least for this moment, she had to behave like someone who grew up in the empire, amidst magic, war, and unrest, despite the seemingly peaceful surface.
