“Episode 5”
To survive.
“I’ll talk to my father. Of course, if we divorce, our family members may feel ashamed to show their faces…”
Yuliana spoke awkwardly, then turned her head to avoid his deep gaze.
Evan, pretending to be composed, acted as if he had regained his calm demeanor. His wife would not know how fiercely his insides were boiling.
Still not releasing his clenched fists, he muttered lost in thought.
“It’s strange for someone who never mentioned divorce to suddenly bring it up.”
“Why? Didn’t you think you’d hear it eventually?”
Her heart still raced as if it were caught between his hands.
She covered her pale face with her free hand and spoke slowly to Evan, who had stiffened his expression.
“I’ve said everything I have to say. If you have something to say, I’ll listen, but I don’t think I can do it now. I’m too tired…”
“Then you should get up.”
He suddenly rose to his feet.
Simultaneously, the chair crashed backward. Evan paid it no mind, striding towards her. He grabbed Yuliana’s shoulders.
“I can walk alone…”
Yuliana attempted to protest, but he didn’t stop supporting her.
In reality, Yuliana was so exhausted, feeling like her feet were anchored to the ground, that she silently accepted his support. Her body was on the verge of collapsing after just a few steps.
“Damn stamina. Damn conscience…”
Yuliana bit her lips, contemplating her own disliked flaws.
The sharp pain somewhat brought her back to reality. Half-leaning on Evan, she headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor and towards her room.
They had never shared a bedroom as a couple, so they used separate rooms.
While Evan knew where Yuliana’s room was, she had no idea where his was.
She had never greeted him or approached him with any business, which is why Yuliana found it strange that she didn’t even know the location of his room.
It had been two years into their marriage. If only she had visited his room before or written him a letter, waiting for him. Would our relationship have followed the plot of a novel?
“Yuliana.”
“Yes?”
Evan approached her room and opened the door himself.
Lost in various thoughts and considerations, Yuliana absentmindedly raised her head. His blue eyes were as cold as ice. She had never been looked at like that before. He still seemed angry.
Yuliana nodded hesitantly. Despite his anger, she had things to do.
“Speak.”
Struggling to maintain composure as she relied on his help to climb the stairs to the second floor and into the bedroom, Yuliana spoke.
But at that moment, she found herself laughing at her own audacity and absurdity, just as he had described.
Unexpectedly, Evan smiled at her laughter. His smile seemed to acknowledge the absurdity of his own laughter despite his lingering anger.
After a brief laughter, Evan spoke softly, as he used to.
“If you were to ask me why I started to like you, it would be from that day. The day you visited our family.”
“There have been too many such days to remember any specifically.”
“Then perhaps I should say the day you fell into the Emerald Lake.”
“The Emerald Lake…”
Yuliana made an effort to recall.
Soon, the memory came back to her.
In old families, there are places like ancient ruins. The Emerald Lake was a peculiar lake belonging to the Hillchen family. It was said to punish those who made frivolous wishes, rather than desperate ones. It was a strange place with odd folklore woven around it.
It was a place that local children feared, but even the fearless Yuliana O’Brien had visited that lake. Despite claiming she wasn’t afraid of anything, she ended up falling into it. Naturally, Yuliana blamed the nursemaid who had failed to watch over her and subsequently dismissed her, just like other adults who had neglected her in the past. That ordinary day, no different from any other, turned out to be the first day he fell in love with her. It sounded foolish.
“You rescued me when I was floundering in the lake? I recall it was the knights of the Hillchen family who rescued me.”
“I was disguised as a servant of the family’s knights. Of course, I witnessed you floundering.”
“You fell in love with me after seeing me in such a humiliating state? Your taste is truly unique.”
Yuliana sighed as she leaned against the door frame.
She had thought too much, known too much. She no longer wanted to know anything more. Especially not Evan’s first love story. If it had been someone else, maybe.
But Yuliana had to listen to him. She had promised to listen to him for the first time.
Meanwhile, Evan, gazing at Yuliana’s pale cheek, gently slipped his hand between her cheek and the door frame. His hand, firm and slightly cool, felt much softer and more pleasant than the pillar it rested against.
Yuliana exhaled tiredly. Evan, holding her cheek, whispered affectionately.
“That’s right. You changed my taste. The girl floundering in the lake suddenly had a different look in her eyes, and seeing her stand up and scold me was actually cute.”
Evan reminisced with eyes that had sunk into the past.
“But soon I found out. You were the despised fiancée of my detestable brother, the illegitimate daughter of the O’Brien Viscount family. It was because of you that I vowed to hide any resentment as if it had never existed. And it was because of you that I began to desire death out of hatred. That’s why I fell in love with an audacious woman.”
“…”
As Yuliana blinked, Evan, who had been watching her even during that momentary blink, grinned.
“And I still love audacious women.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung open the wide-open door.
Thereafter, as if being embraced warmly, Yuliana entered the welcoming bedroom.
When she finally regained her composure and looked back, Evan was already descending the stairs without a sound.
Yuliana stepped outside and watched him descend the stairs, her waist bent. She kept staring until he was completely out of sight, then quickly turned and dashed back into her room.
“What on earth…”
Her mind was in turmoil.
She buried herself under the blanket, trying to sort out her emotions.
Finally, an answer came to her. She was still angry because she couldn’t properly respond to his words.
Nevertheless, she had no choice but to anticipate what would come next. Her stamina couldn’t keep up with the ongoing argument.
Yuliana vowed to refute his words somehow and plan for divorce, burying herself deeper under the blanket.
Soon, the male protagonist would truly fall in love, and the female protagonist who received his love would appear.
Of course, Yuliana O’Brien knew very well that she was not the protagonist of this story.
—
The next day.
Yuliana walked briskly through the garden, organizing her thoughts. Perhaps it was because she had passed out last night. It was very early, and the surroundings were bathed in the blue dawn.
She breathed in the unusually cold morning air and gazed at the blue roses that bloomed even in winter.
In the Duke’s estate, there was a mysterious and peculiar blue rose garden. It was a garden Evan Hillchen had created simply because Yuliana liked roses. Yuliana had never thought of it as a garden meticulously prepared by him, even though it was a gift.
To be honest, Yuliana O’Brien had avoided thinking about Evan Hillchen from the start.
However, in the quiet dawn like this, and as she walked through the garden surrounded by the blue roses he had gifted her, she couldn’t help but think of him.
The man who inevitably laughed along when Yuliana laughed, even when she was angry. The man who would soon love her unconditionally.
But when the true protagonist appears, the man who would help kill Yuliana O’Brien and pretend not to have loved her…
“You surprisingly like me too much.”
Yuliana chuckled faintly, gently caressing the blue rose he had given her.
“I still don’t know why you like me so much.”
As she traced the petals of the rose, she was about to touch the stem when she pricked her finger on a hidden thorn.
“Ouch!”
She sucked on her slightly bleeding thumb and made a face.
She suddenly lifted her head.
Although no one was by the window, she could feel someone’s gaze. But Yuliana had a vague idea of whose gaze it was, and he probably knew she knew. Yet he wouldn’t care.
“But I do care.”
Yuliana complained silently.
She lowered the finger she had been sucking and stared at the faint mark where she had been pricked by the thorn.
The skin was slightly torn, and there was a faint trace of blood. Yuliana furrowed her brow in thought.
“It’s an unfair game from the start. I can’t ignore your attention, and I can’t shake you off.”
He was acting childish, clinging to the hem of her skirt, pleading. For a love she couldn’t afford to reciprocate. For the love of a woman who would eventually kill him.
“Evan, do you have to see me hit rock bottom before you give up on me?”
Yuliana murmured gloomily.
Evan Hillchen was still unaware of one thing: that Yuliana O’Brien, who remembered her past life, was capable of not only committing evil deeds but also childish ones.
As she licked the circular scar on her skin, Yuliana thought gloomily, ‘If I’m going to tear it off, I’ll have to do it decisively.’
Then, she squatted down and looked at the blue rose that had fallen to the ground.
The damp rose petals, moistened by the winter dew, seemed to foretell the impending doom as they drooped sadly.
“I didn’t intend to use such a typical method…”
She pitifully held the broken stem of the rose against her chest. Her heart fluttered as if a startled bird were flapping its wings.
Yuliana then tried to lift her head again to search for Evan’s figure.
However, perhaps because he had already entered the room, his figure was nowhere to be seen.
Yuliana O’Brien, or rather, the O’Brien Marquess family, was wealthy. And the substantial dowry she brought with her originated from the gold mine in the Marquess family’s backyard. Moreover, on the other side of the mine lay the ruins of a deceased dragon, scattered across the land like a treasure trove. Thanks to the Marquess family’s adept handling, that archaeological heritage belonged to the O’Brien family for generations.
Even the esteemed archaeologists of the palace would knock on the O’Brien family’s door every summer, claiming they wanted to research the dragon’s bones. Of course, this included paying passage fees and contributing to research expenses.
Thus, the O’Brien family grew into one of the empire’s wealthiest families, and Yuliana O’Brien, the illegitimate daughter, enjoyed that wealth to the fullest.
Despite marrying into the Hillchen Duke family, she refused to use the money from the “filthy bastard Duke” and instead spent lavishly from her own funds.
As the Duchess, she never bothered to check the Hillchen Duke family’s financial status and simply stayed at the Duke’s mansion like a guest, enjoying the summer days.
People whispered that the only thing she did right was not meddling with the Duke’s money.
However, not long after the duke’s return, Lady Yuliana O’Brien began to meddle with the Hillchen Duke family’s property.
Unfortunately, it was for the worse.
People finally nodded in agreement, acknowledging that the Duchess was indeed on the path to becoming a true villainess.
And on the other hand, upon hearing these rumors, there was someone who knocked on the duke’s door a month later…
It was none other than Lord Hilden O’Brien.
He was the complete opposite of his daughter in appearance. While she boasted a sharp beauty like a pointed rose, he was a round-faced, simple-looking man. As he aged, his belly grew and his hair receded, giving him an innocent appearance that would not harm anyone. He loved his daughter so much that he carried her around and doted on her like a princess until she could walk on her own.
He had never regretted it until today, when he felt a bit of regret seeing his daughter’s excessive behavior.
“Ahem, ahem!”
Since he couldn’t see his son-in-law, Evan, Lord Hilden decided to visit the Hillchen Duke’s mansion at a time when he might have gone to the palace guard.
Looking around cautiously, he waited for permission in front of his daughter’s tightly closed door.
Normally, he would have burst in and either scolded or cried like a baby (he generally used the latter method to make his daughter feel guilty), but he couldn’t behave that way in front of the master of the mansion.
Trying to remain as calm as possible, he lingered in front of the door, and to his surprise, Yuliana opened it herself.
His daughter, revealed before his eyes, was more beautiful than usual. No, she was fatally glamorous, stealing gazes and lives like a poisonous rose.
Her gorgeous dress and lavish jewelry sparkled dazzlingly even in the dim winter light. The ruby necklace complemented the vividly applied crimson lipstick, and diamond earrings sparkled in her ears. Her dark red hair cascading down to her waist was as radiant as a rose petal that never withered even in winter.
Every time she moved, her hair seemed to sparkle, so he carefully examined it and noticed that there were tightly embedded ruby-like diamonds resembling dragon hearts interspersed between her hair ties, which were tied tightly behind her head.
Considering his daughter’s character, they were definitely not fake. Thinking about the value of everything she was wearing and adorning herself with made his head spin.
“Ah!”
“Why are you surprised?”
Yuliana grinned mischievously and twirled her hair with one hand.
“It seems like you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have.”
“Y-Yuliana!”
“Why? You know my name is Yuliana O’Brien.”
She said innocently.
Then she took her father’s trembling hand in hers and led him, looking more stunning than ever, to a chair she had arranged in a corner of her room.
“What brings you here?”
“I-I don’t even know why I came.”
Hilden said pitifully.
Then he looked around nervously.
Normally, his daughter wouldn’t be afraid of people’s gossips, but this was a bit too much.
Not only was she openly ridiculing nobles while associating with men, but now she was also lavishly spending the Hillchen Duke family’s wealth!
The marriage between Yuliana O’Brien and Evan Hillchen was not just a simple marriage. There was no way she didn’t know that, yet she was crossing the line.
“Yuliana.”
“Would you like a cookie? I happen to be eating some.”
To divert her father’s attention, she offered him a cookie.
True to his nature as a nobleman who wouldn’t refuse food offered to him, he immediately took a bite. The crisp and crumbly cookie piece fell onto his chest.
At the same time, Yuliana used a handkerchief to brush off the crumbs from his chest. His heart, which had been ready to scold her sternly, melted at her gesture.
Of course, Yuliana had known all along that her father’s resolve would melt away like ice cream on a summer day with such simple actions.
“Why did you come out on such a cold day like today?”
“Ahem, ahem!”
The Viscount cleared his throat repeatedly while drinking water.
Whether it was because something got stuck in his throat or because his daughter’s cute whining, which wouldn’t even hurt his eyes if something got in them, softened his heart, he found it difficult to find the right words.
“I heard that you’re crossing the line.”
The Viscount finally managed to speak, his eyes already watery as expected.
Whether it was the pressure to scold his daughter or his softened heart from her adorable pouting, his chest tightened, and his arms wrapped around it in a tense manner.
Yuliana pretended not to notice and innocently asked her father.
“Crossing the line? What do you mean?”
“Look at this!”
The Viscount raised his trembling hand and gestured towards the luxurious room, then pointed to the stack of orders on the desk, exclaiming.
“Dragon hearts? How do you expect me to acquire these?”
“I just wanted more diamonds resembling dragon hearts.”
“I knew it! It’s authentic! I knew it!”
Yuliana hesitated.
“E-Evan said we could order as many as we want.”
A few days ago, when she showed Evan the absurd order form, he didn’t even bat an eye and said they could order as many as they wanted.
Even after hearing her ambitious plan to spend money extravagantly to tire her opponent, he remained unfazed!
He was too crafty to be fooled easily. That’s why she spent a fortune on the scarcest and most difficult-to-obtain items.
Feeling guilty, Yuliana gripped the hair tie tightly, which was embedded with diamonds, and muttered.
“I didn’t force anyone to do anything.”
Unable to find a retort to her father’s bewildered expression, Yuliana hesitated. Thanks to her hesitation, he found the perfect moment to scold her with trembling head.
“Even if you didn’t force anyone, this demand is too absurd! Yuliana, isn’t it time to let go of your anger?”
“Anger?”
Yuliana pretended not to know again, but this time, Viscount Oben confidently placed his hand on her waist, as if to assert that he wouldn’t let this slide.
