“Episode 34”
Yuliana spoke gloomily, resting her forehead against his chest. Evan, mirroring her actions, took one of the flower petals laid next to their heads and placed it in his mouth. Soon, a subtle floral scent filled the room.
She leaned up against his chest, seeking comfort effortlessly. As Evan’s long fingers combed through the tangled mess of her red hair, Yuliana, who had been absentmindedly staring at the strands grasped in his firm, large hands as if they belonged to someone else, snapped her head up with a blank expression.
His masculine jawline came into view. Yuliana leaned her head against him, almost as if she was playfully nuzzling him.
He chuckled lightly at her small gesture, absorbing her essence like she absorbed the scent of flowers, and leaned in to capture her lips, filled with the same floral fragrance as hers.
Unexpectedly, Yuliana giggled and playfully dodged his approaching lips. Thanks to her playful action, Evan ended up leaning back completely, seeing his wife lying back on the bed.
With her unfamiliar, almost pale naked body, illuminated faintly by the burning end of the flowers she held in her hand, the ember extinguished as soon as she touched it. She laughed, almost as if it was a joke, maintaining her poker face. Then, she touched her husband’s torso.
Evan briefly touched the flowers to his lips, then inhaled the last scent. The scent permeated his nose and mouth without any bitterness. Then, he smiled faintly as he extinguished the last ember, just as his wife did, and grabbed her gown. He was still between her legs.
“Yuliana.”
“Yeah?”
Yuliana, who had been swaying her shoulders along with his firm and agile waistline, twisted her shoulder as Evan exerted a little more force to lift the gown. Yuliana curled her legs and playfully tickled his thigh with her toes.
Then, she leaned her forehead against his arm, which stood on the left side, and discovered a few petals stuck to his fingers like gold. Impulsively, she dipped her lips into the petals. As she inhaled the lingering scent from his fingertips, she momentarily squirmed with a mixture of resistance and playfulness, then settled down. As soon as that happened, Evan effortlessly removed the gown with one hand.
The sight of her body, exposed as if it were completely foreign, then suddenly bending her waist she had straightened under Evan’s embrace, made her upper body, revealed under Evan’s arms, sway gently.
Evan sighed heavily, watching her quietly without blinking. Then, he called his wife’s name again.
“Yuliana.”
“Yeah?”
She smiled, her eyes twinkling with laughter.
Evan felt a surge of both excitement and desire, as well as a sense of danger as he felt the urge to run wild. It was risky.
“Why tempt.”
“It’s not that.”
Yuliana stuck out her tongue, then corrected herself.
“No, Evan.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she took Evan’s lost hand and guided it. And she touched her skin with his hand.
Simultaneously, Evan bent his waist against her body, which crumbled like a pile of pillows. The softness of her skin, gently held in the palm of his hand, felt like a dream.
In her seductive demeanor, Evan felt abundance in both her affectionate attachment and playful affection. There was a question in his mind, saying ‘This is strange.’ However, as she pushed away the gown playfully, the question was erased.
If Evan could sustain this fulfillment, he could kill the rational part within him several times over. He chuckled hazily, even embracing his wife’s anxiety, and rolling it around in his mouth.
* * *
This morning, due to lingering in bed with her husband for quite some time, Yuliana finished dressing much later than expected and arrived at the palace looking stunningly beautiful.
Accompanied by Evan, who had joined her to present himself to the emperor, Yuliana walked gracefully, acknowledging her meticulously adorned self with more emphasis than usual.
People’s clothes were truly peculiar. The more beautifully and leisurely adorned one appeared, the more acceptable they seemed as a person.
And today, Yuliana wanted to appear as the most beautiful and graceful human being.
It was because a somewhat mysterious female protagonist had asked to see her today.
The intricately tailored dress swayed with her steps, perfectly matching her stride.
As usual in the palace, there were many children, and if there were, they would have made quite a commotion chasing after her fluttering train.
Beauty was revered in the empire.
Regardless of age or gender, everyone pursued beauty, captivating even clueless children like Yuliana.
But why did the current emperor and nobles intentionally avoid having children? This place, surrounded by everyday tranquility, looked glamorous but lonely. Yuliana thought anew about why the palace was so beautiful yet desolate.
Thus, guided by attendants, Yuliana arrived at a small garden littered with tiny stones like chairs.
The hostess who had invited her was nowhere to be found, and only the empress was seated on the stone chair.
It had been 7 days since the saintly appearance.
It was still time left after recovering from the hangover, but fatigue seemed to linger on the petite face of Elenya.
“Empress Mama!”
Approaching her, Yuliana smiled brightly at her.
Elenya, chosen as the suitable figure to envelop her notorious self, was the one Yuliana selected. Before turning into a villainess in the original work, she had been quite a favorite character, too.
With such sentiments, the chosen Elenya possessed various facets.
Yuliana always felt a strange sensation when facing her. Whenever she saw her, she felt a vivid sense of being alive in this world.
And partly, Elenya was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t even know someone was beside her, until she heard the voice and abruptly rose from her seat. She greeted somewhat sullenly.
“Madame Duchess.”
“It’s been a while. Oh, hasn’t it been a while?”
“The party was a mess, so I-I’m sorry.”
Although Yuliana didn’t know what the purpose was, it was clearly a gathering to celebrate the success of the Duchess who had helped her. It turned into a party where noble insects swarmed in droves. Moreover, in the blurry mood, they didn’t even realize it and just drank their wine and got drunk.
Elenya had a hard time that day. Yuliana, who looked down at the petite empress who nervously held hands with her, grinned.
There was something strange about this little bird who had lost all the confidence she had found after the magic contest.
‘What is it? Is the emperor’s child causing trouble again?’
Yuliana asked, pretending not to know.
“By the way, Empress Mama, you responded to the saint’s invitation, too.”
“The saint?”
Elenya snapped her drooping head up. A sense of anger, as if she couldn’t control her emotions, spread its wings in her gentle brown eyes.
‘Huh…’
Yuliana was inwardly surprised.
Is the female lead already infiltrating the original male lead?
‘…No.’
The original story had already twisted due to Yuliana O’Brien regaining memories of her past life and surviving for so long. Even though the original story had progressed, it was not going to progress ‘as it was’.
The emperor and empress were even intentionally engaging in a power struggle, making the setting unknown even to the fans who read the original work. Yuliana, who learned about the setting that even the fans didn’t know, sighed inwardly.
She couldn’t guess how the events would unfold. In her deep contemplation, Elenya spoke as if shooting at her.
“That person is still a guest of the palace. I heard she hasn’t undergone the sanctity test yet at the temple.”
Perhaps it was thanks to her hurried speech. Elenya stumbled less as she went on.
Yuliana murmured as she tried to understand her hostile feelings towards Elenya, who tried hard not to mix her emotions and strove to speak like a ‘queen’.
“Your Majesty has postponed the evaluation of the guest. I also…”
“Empress Mama, you have been trying hard to prevent the side effects related to the succession rights to the throne for a long time. Maybe you were captivated by the idea that the guest could resolve that part.”
Yuliana murmured.
A woman with the ability to foresee, who could predict drought and war coming to a difficult region with no magical energy consumption, was a woman with the ability to love anyone. Only Yuliana and Elenya would be jealous of such a woman.
And Yuliana wanted to take advantage of Elenya’s such aspect as much as possible. She needed to expand her faction a little more. It was just a moment when the invited people were not coming, but only the invited ones were murmuring.
Rustle―.
Someone stepped on the bushes instead of walking on the well-maintained path.
“Hello. Empress Mama! Duchess!”
With her long black hair untied and her clothes not properly worn, a stranger revealed herself.
Yuliana felt a strange hostility toward her, taller than the petite Elenya but not much larger.
She couldn’t gather her senses properly due to the anxiety that came before the rational thoughts. The guest of the palace, who seemed to penetrate through her, had her eyes sparkling.
“You… You’re Yulia, right?”
Elenya said, hesitatingly.
Looking down at her, who straightened her waist to speak confidently, Yulia smiled sweetly.
