Chapter 009
Yulhan, who had been silent for a moment following Evgenia’s sincere(?) appeal, quickly wiped the expression completely from his face.
Lightly pushing her hands away, the way he walked from behind her back to the seat in front gave the impression of a person in an untouchable position.
His posture, which had seemed like the personification of ‘slouching,’ had now changed to that of a high-handed ‘superior.’
With his hands clasped over his crossed knees, he clearly looked down at Evgenia.
It was an attitude like a member of the Imperial Family listening to a noble’s petition.
“So, Duchess. Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
It was the same clipped speech as before, but unlike before, his voice carried weight.
Evgenia swallowed hard and lifted her chin slightly.
At least here, showing a confident demeanor would serve her best.
“If I do, that’s my problem to bear. You erase the Name, and I… I pray for their happiness. That’s how this must end.”
Yulhan’s narrowed eyes lightly swept over her.
Tilting his chin slightly, he asked with a cold smile.
“Love that gives one’s body to a man one just met for the sake of one’s fiancé. It brings tears to my eyes. Prince Larsen should appreciate this kind of heart, shouldn’t he?”
As expected, although she had briefly swayed him, he didn’t quite believe her, did he?
His blatantly mocking face, clearly intended to provoke Evgenia, was quite infuriating.
Forcing back the rising surge of anger, she spoke.
“…Since you were demanding my body without rhyme or reason, I thought you were just trying to anger me into leaving, but I never imagined you actually wanted my body.”
Evgenia covered her mouth with her hand, feigning distress, and her eyes blatantly scanned downwards before rising again.
Her bright yellow eyes were immediately hidden by her sweetly curved eye-line.
“I truly weep to think how the Second Prince of the Empire ended up so starved for a woman. It truly brings tears to my eyes, doesn’t it?”
The room instantly fell silent, with only their shallow breathing audible.
As they stared intently at each other, as if ready to start a fire.
Yulhan lightly shrugged his shoulders and raised his hand first.
“I admit, I was shortsighted on that point. I concede.”
The taut tension was suddenly released with a snap.
Perhaps because they felt they had seen each other’s worst side, the atmosphere was noticeably lighter.
Evgenia clicked her tongue softly, lowered her hand from her mouth, and said wryly.
“Good that you know. So, is there really no other way?”
She held onto the hope that there wasn’t, or more accurately, wished there wasn’t.
Even if he was using a fake identity, a man who had lived as a Prince wouldn’t easily bring up physical relations with a high-ranking noble, would he?
When the question she threw out nonchalantly received no answer, a chilling sense of foreboding ran down her spine.
“…Surely, it’s not true?”
“For now, yes.”
Yulhan shook his head slightly at the astonished Evgenia and began to explain.
“Since you know my identity and my ability, you must know why the ‘Name’ is so important in the Empire, correct?”
It was a story her father had told her.
She nodded briefly, and the explanation quickly moved on.
“Then you must also know why I live in hiding.”
“…Because of your ability? Since there’s nothing good about revealing such an ability…”
Yulhan’s eyebrow crooked slightly, but it returned to its place before she could notice.
“Well, that is part of the reason.”
“…?”
“It’s an ability I can hardly be proud of, so I’ve experimented with it in various ways from behind the scenes… First, finding a ‘Name’ bearer was difficult, and experimenting with various methods on the bearers was also challenging.”
Evgenia instinctively grimaced when she heard the word ‘experiment.’
She remembered the ultimate fate of ‘Evgenia Martyre’ in the original story.
Taking her reaction however he did, Yulhan continued his explanation calmly.
“And there is exactly one method left that I haven’t tried.”
“…Surely, that is?”
Yulhan pulled one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the chair.
The words he uttered with an endlessly arrogant attitude were truly those of the ‘Imperial Family’ itself.
That is to say,
“I am a noble person, so I can’t just sleep around with anyone, can I?”
It meant he was awfully obnoxious.
When she shot him a gaze that openly criticized him, he let out a small laugh shortly after.
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
“…”
“Everyone refused, saying they didn’t want to betray the person they loved. Although I don’t understand why they believe such abstract things—destiny, feelings, or whatever—will last forever.”
His tone suggested he completely distrusted their feelings, their ‘love.’
It was as if he had only learned about love theoretically.
‘No, is this the time to care about the direct Imperial Family’s scandals? He just said that act is the ONLY way to erase the Name!’
Evgenia lightly ruffled her hair to clear her complicated thoughts and asked hesitantly.
“Can’t you try the methods you experimented with before, instead of that one?”
“Hmm. It doesn’t matter to me, but it probably matters quite a bit to the Duchess.”
“…Why?”
Yulhan adjusted his posture, leaned his upper body forward, and whispered.
“They said it hurt really, incredibly, extremely, deathly, horribly.”
His tone was light, as if teasing, yet Evgenia knew better than anyone that it wasn’t a lie.
The fact that he emphasized it so much, despite having tried various methods, must mean that the pain was not alleviated by ordinary means.
Groaning softly, she pondered for a long time, then tentatively asked.
“…What proof do we have that this method won’t hurt?”
“The experienced account of an informant that the extreme pleasure can overcome the pain?”
“Hah…”
Did she really have to bet everything on this man?
What if the Name remained even after… that act?
‘Wow, my vision is going dark.’
As long as Evgenia was the Duke’s heir, one deviation wouldn’t be a problem.
The problem was that the method to erase the Name without pain would be gone forever.
‘And my future would be fixed to marriage with Raimund? Hahahaha…’
Evgenia tightly shut her eyes and said in a tiny voice.
“First, let’s try the ‘really, incredibly, extremely, deathly, horribly painful’ method, and then try that method, how about that?”
“Turns out there are many people in the world like the Duchess. People who only know by biting it to see if it’s gold or copper.”
“…So, what do you say?”
When she asked, almost grinding her teeth, Yulhan finally gave a proper answer.
“I don’t mind. As long as the Duchess promises not to try and kill me because of the pain.”
“Fine, I promise. Just do it quickly.”
She answered dismissively and subtly presented her collarbone towards him.
A bewildered chuckle was heard, but she didn’t care.
As she pressed forward, urging him to hurry, his cold fingertips landed on her collarbone.
“Ugh…”
“Surely it doesn’t hurt already?”
“No. Just hurry up.”
“Being rushed by the Duchess’s face sounds quite charming.”
“Stop talking crazy and just do it!”
It was frustrating that he only moved after she finally raised her voice.
The thumb that had been slowly stroking her collarbone soon pressed down on the very first letter of the ‘Name,’ near the start of the collarbone.
At first, it was clearly just light pressure sensitivity, but slowly, a flame began to spark from that spot.
The small spark gradually grew, escalating from a match flame to a bonfire, and from a bonfire to a massive fire capable of burning down a house.
“Ugh, Ah, aah!”
The blood flowing beneath her skin felt like lava.
He was clearly only lightly pressing her collarbone, yet her whole body instinctively contracted, screaming in pain.
It wasn’t until her forehead was drenched in cold sweat that Yulhan’s hand finally pulled away.
“Huck, hooh, hoh… This, this crazy, this utterly insane…”
“See? I told you it hurt really, incredibly, extremely, deathly, horribly.”
It was hard to even breathe properly.
Evgenia, still panting as she struggled to manage the pain swirling inside her body, rubbed the area around her collarbone.
She did this hoping that since it hurt so much, at least one letter would have been erased.
If even one letter was gone, wouldn’t there be endless excuses she could weave around that detail?
Yulhan, watching Evgenia desperately touching the Name, spoke with a feigned voice.
“What should we do, Duchess? Unfortunately, the Name stopped halfway through being erased.”
“…What?”
“Ah, sorry. Looking closely, it stopped about 1/4 of the way. It basically looks almost the same.”
Seeing him not even bothering to hide his snickering face, he must have clearly anticipated this result.
It was character-testing behavior that made her teeth grind.
Evgenia took a deep breath in and out, and her voice was now low and subdued.
“You, how good are you?”
“That depends on what your standard is.”
“Are you so really, incredibly, unbelievably good that you can overcome the pain?”
Her voice now sounded almost like a threat.
The sound of her teeth grinding punctuated every phrase.
Yulhan stretched both corners of his mouth into a smile and replied.
“I’m really, incredibly, unbelievably good enough to make you long for our nights together every day.”
