VWTI 23

Chapter 23

Feeling her mouth tingling, Yevgenia clenched her teeth and forcefully pushed Yulran’s shoulder away.

“No one’s here, huh? But Madame and my maid are clearly downstairs.”

Fortunately, Yulran didn’t seem to mean it seriously and was easily pushed away.

Of course, only his body was pushed away, while his mouth continued to move provocatively.

“Well, if we’re being technical about it, there were over dozens of subordinates downstairs that night too.”

“Not saying a word, though.”

“I’m not used to losing. You can understand that, can’t you, young lady?”

“Ha! How have you been living, holding in the urge to brag about being a prince all this time?”

The confident look in his eyes was so irritating that she felt a chill run down her spine, causing her to absentmindedly rub her forearm.

She shifted her hips slightly to the other side, creating some space between them, and then finally could get to the point.

“There’s something we need to make clear first.”

Yulran nodded, as if to say, “Go on.”

He looked like he was ready to tease her the moment she said something odd.

Clearing her throat, Yevgenia gathered her composure and made her declaration.

“I’m only making this suggestion to cancel the engagement, no other intentions. …Got it?”

“…So, you’re really planning to use my body purely as a tool?”

That wasn’t wrong.

In a relationship with no personal emotions involved, bodies were nothing more than tools to achieve a goal.

However, she hadn’t expected it to be stated so bluntly.

Her face flushed with embarrassment.

Yevgenia pressed her palm against her cheek to calm herself and spoke again.

“Let’s not call it a tool, uh, more like asking for help. Purely.”

“We’re not exactly doing something ‘pure,’ though.”

“If it really bothers you, just think of it as mutual consent and enjoyment. You must have enjoyed it too, didn’t you… or something like that?”

She tried to say it boldly but fumbled, clearly uncomfortable with the words coming out of her mouth.

Yulran, sensing a weakness, chuckled mockingly.

“What do you mean by ‘something like that’?”

“Y-You know what I mean! Just figure it out with your intuition. I’m not going to say it outright.”

Yulran, narrowing his eyes and suppressing a grin, tilted his head slightly as if he didn’t take her seriously.

“Well, whatever. I wouldn’t want to see my dear first customer die.”

Amidst this, Yevgenia was frantically fanning her flushed face.

She needed to steer the conversation back to a professional level to end this awkward exchange.

Trying her best to sound more formal despite her still flushed face, she said:

“Since even one letter has been erased, it seems you’re still not considering calling off the engagement. It’s possible my father wouldn’t budge even if two letters were erased.”

“…Hmm.”

“So this is more of a request than an assignment, uh…”

Yevgenia thought for a moment, trying to find the right word, then her face lit up as she found it.

With a small smirk of satisfaction, she quickly said:

“How about a joint research project? I would be assisting your research.”

“Joint research? Hahaha…”

Yulran burst into loud laughter, as if he’d heard the funniest thing.

Yevgenia, feeling embarrassed by his reaction, glared at him, mouth shut tight.

But he wasn’t fazed, meeting her gaze with a cold, unbothered look.

“You do know that what you’re calling ‘assisting’ is basically human experimentation, right?”

“…Do you really have to put it like that?”

“I don’t think I’ve said anything wrong. If it still bothers you, that just means your suggestion is absurd.”

Yulran could be irritating at times—actually, quite often—but he seemed especially irritating when he was right.

Though she hadn’t known him for long, she was sure that even if she combined all her experiences with him so far, she still found him more irksome at that moment.

Yevgenia bit her lip and muttered inwardly:

‘It’s not like my lifespan is going to be shortened by a few years like in the original story. And there’s even a chance that it might not be shortened at all. Isn’t that a win?’

Having already become disillusioned with Raymond, she had even resigned herself to the idea of being given a limited time to live. This small hope, no matter how shallow, felt like a huge snowball rolling toward the possibility of breaking off the engagement, and she was ready to trade at least 30 years of her life for that.

She might even consider her shortened life a more fulfilling one, living it to the fullest and then peacefully closing her eyes.

‘Maybe I could buy a nice vacation home by a quiet beach and just live out the rest of my life there. Hmm… when I think about it, it sounds perfect, doesn’t it?’

As she lost herself in such thoughts, Yulran’s gaze slowly became more complicated.

His eyebrows twitched, and he furrowed his brow, tilting his head as if he hadn’t taken her seriously at all.

Perhaps he was too young to grasp the notion of death…

It suddenly dawned on her that she had just become an adult, and she realized how terrifying it must be to live each day, knowing your life is running out, and watching a woman blinded by a feverish love. It was something she never wanted to experience again.

The silence between them broke when Yulran’s voice lowered.

“Do you really love that man that much?”

“…Huh?”

Yevgenia, who had been lost in thoughts of a peaceful life in a quiet beach town, was caught off guard by his sudden question.

She was so disoriented by it that she didn’t even know how to respond.

‘That man? Love him? What’s he talking about?’

Her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of his question.

Then, she suddenly realized.

“Oh right. I’m trying to break off the engagement for Raymond, to save him… I had forgotten I was playing the pure love concept. Not that I actually want to say it out loud.”

Feeling embarrassed, she blushed a little.

Yulran, thinking it was because she was reminded of the man she loved, seemed to find it the perfect response to her discomfort.

Trying to avoid looking guilty, she lowered her gaze and spoke.

“It’s just… it’s a little embarrassing to say it to someone who isn’t the person involved…”

‘Not that I want to say I love Raymond… Ugh, I’d rather not. But fine, let’s just go with that!’

While Yevgenia seemed comfortable with her decision, Yulran looked even more frustrated.

In truth, if he met a woman who was willing to throw away her own future for the man she loved, he would probably feel like punching her in the chest and stopping her.

Still, it was surprising to see him showing such a human reaction instead of just looking like a cold, heartless guy.

Knowing that there was no answer unless Yulran accepted her proposal, Yevgenia carefully started to gauge his reaction.

Of course, Yulran wasn’t the type to miss such subtlety.

He shut his eyes tightly and let out a loud sigh, as if he was making sure she could hear it.

“…Well, if you’ve made up your mind, then it’s good for me. I’ll have no hesitation experimenting with your body, after all.”

It was just another repetition of what they had done before, but he spoke as though Yevgenia was about to do something unimaginable.

Though she knew the “experiments” he referred to were no different from before, she still felt a strange unease in her stomach.

Just as she couldn’t understand why she felt so uneasy, Yulran lightly grabbed a lock of her hair.

The small tug on her hair sent a shiver through her body.

The tension in the air rose, and—

“Yevgenia, come down.”

With a thud, her heart sank.