Chapter 7

She looked like she was going to die of embarrassment. She couldn’t understand how Kiryan knew about Franz and why he hugged her.

Paradis’s body was stiff due to fear and the only thing he could move was his blue-gray eyes.

“You, who are you?” he said to Kiryan who was still hugging Yvonne dressed as Franz.

Paradis removed her from Kiryan’s arms roughly which made her lose balance and stumbled and made her recline in his arms.

“I think it would be better to reveal your identity first.” Kiryan retorted to Paradis. “Who are you?” his eyes fixed on his arm which still shielding Franz from him.

“The owner of this theater, Paradis Laurent.” Paradis proudly announced.

“Laurent? You must be the grandson of Marquis Laurent. I’m Kiryan Hishleger and Franz’s older brother.” he said irritatingly.

“Your brother?” Paradis, still puzzled by Kiryan’s revelation, turned his head to look at Franz. How come Yvonne has a brother he didn’t know about and most of all, how Kiryan Hishleger knows Franz Bernicke is what Paradis wanted to ask but cannot find the right words to do so.

Yvonne shook her head at this, and she didn’t even know. “I-I, I don’t know you!” she stuttered.

“That’s not true. I expected our meeting to be like this, but it’s still making me sad.” Kiryan said while looking at Franz with a longing expression.

“Sorry.” is the only word Yvonne muttered since she can’t even understand what is happening and seeing the original villain in front of her which she wanted to avoid the most made her mind go blank.

Kiryan approached Yvonne again, ignoring Paradis. Then, he gently patted her right cheek and drew his face close to Yvonne making her back away a bit.

“Look at me carefully. You might remember something.” Kiryan urged Yvonne, making her nervous.

“H-huh… I don’t really know you.” Yvonne is trying to not look at his face, especially his eyes for the fear of her being caught in disguise. Yvonne trembled and a small voice wanted to escape from her throat.

“You don’t know, huh? Stop talking nonsense.” Kiryan is still not convinced with her answer.

“Laurent is gone. Franz, look at me.”Kiryan continued. He wanted “Franz” to not be conscious of Paradis who is still protecting her and to continue searching her memories of him.

“No… I…”, Yvonne still wanted to protest but if she said she could not remember she knew he would cut her head off there and then.

Being stared at by those blazing eyes so bitterly, she just couldn’t speak. What’s more, Kiryan Hishleger killed Yvonne and was the villain that destroyed the world.

He looked terribly handsome but he looked as dangerous as he was handsome.

No matter how much it softened, it was basically unsettling from the taut, sharp eyes. In addition, Kiryan Hishleger exudes a dark and dreary atmosphere just like his original status as the head of a dark house. But the strange thing is that that face isn’t very unfamiliar. It’s obviously a strange face, but feels somehow familiar.

“I seem to remember…” Glancing at him, Yvonne felt a little dazed. “I can’t remember, but I think I saw it somewhere.” she admitted.

Paradis’s face darkened after hearing her. “What do you remember?” he asked.

“N-no. Memory…Huh…” Yvonne struggled to find her memories of Kiryan, so she just stared at him.

‘He told me to look at his face first, so this should be fine.’ she thought.

Black hair that was gracefully handed over, sparse skin, and pitiful, terrifying eyes. Long eyebrows and golden eyes revealed through the eyebrows.

“Golden eyes… Golden… … Eyes?” she thought out loud. “No way…” she gasped.

“You must have remembered.” The corners of Kiryan’s lips formed into a smile. Kiryan pulled away at last.

“Okay, enough. It seems that you’ve forgotten so much and as an older brother, I feel sad.” he said as he put distance between them.

“Hey, Franz. What the hell? Please explain quickly.” Paradis’s nervousness is already showing but his words could not reach Yvonne. Her mind was already wandering into the past long ago.

***

It was Yvonne’s tenth birthday.

“Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday, my dear Yvonne— hey! Diana! Ahh!”

Everyone was singing for Yvonne and it made her heart pounded at the thought of blowing the candle. But she was next to Diana, who was sitting on the couch clapping her hands, suddenly coughed and collapsed, vomiting blood. Red blood splashed on her white whipped cream cake. Mother and father screamed and jumped up. In the process, his father accidentally touched the table, spilling grape juice and soaking Yvonne’s skirt.

Yvonne’s birthday cake has the blood of her sister splattered on it and her skirt was drenched with grape juice. She stared blankly at her skirt. She was afraid of the blood that Diana vomited. She was afraid of losing her. The scream came up to the tip of her lips, but she held it down because she feared that if she gave a surprised expression, her parents would have a harder time.

“Diana!” her father shrieked.

“Oh my gosh. Oh God.” her mother cried.

Their parents took Diana up to the room. All that was left was a blood-splattered birthday cake and a lump on her throat. “Miss Beth, I’m going up to change clothes.” Yvonne squeaked. The maid, Beth, looked at her pitifully.

Yvonne pursed her lips as her eyes made the sad situation even more sad. She hates being pitied.

“I’ll go alone.” she muttered to Beth. Showing melancholy was miserable even in her young mind. She left Beth alone and went up to her room. As she walked through Diana’s room, their parents stood close to Diana, comforting her and whispering that she was okay.

‘It’s my birthday today, is it that bad if I want to celebrate it with everyone?’ Yvonne thought.

Thinking about it makes Yvonne so sad she couldn’t stand it.

“I hate you… I hate everyone… ” she whimpered. Although she was concerned about Diana’s health, she also wanted to celebrate her birthday merrily. She was upset that she couldn’t even be greeted by her family.

So Yvonne pulled out her cousin’s trousers, put them on, and shoved a bag full of sweets and left their house. At a young age, she thought it was dangerous to wear women’s clothes when going alone outside so she also tied her own hair. Sneaking through the back door with a bag full of biscuits leaving the house was her form of rebellion.

“No one will be worried without me.”

She left the mansion on the hill and walked to the neighborhood below. She hoped that they would make a fuss after she disappeared. After walking for a long time while imagining receiving the love of her parents, her legs started to hurt. Then, the regret of not being able to properly congratulate her on her birthday faded.

Young Yvonne is really a brat and because of that, she started whining quickly. “Ouch, my leg hurts. Where am I?” she muttered to herself.

Yvonne was heading to the south of Münster, where she lived at the time, on the northern border of the city of Furtra. Her neighborhood, where she lived, is located on the outskirts of the city and is a short walk away. Furtra was the worst city in the Kircheta Empire. A crime city of gambling, entertainment and slums wherein bad people swarmed.

Yvonne arrived at the border between Furtra and Munster. It was a forest she saw when she was young, but she can’t remember it perfectly so she didn’t even know where to go. Without realizing it, she sat down on the floor and rubbed her tired legs. And there he met a boy.

Dark skin that goes well with black hair and it was a boy with a wild atmosphere. Even though he was her age, his eyes were impressive. There was something in his eyes that looked like a grown adult, something that you couldn’t normally see in a child.

Something about it made Yvonne sad. She couldn’t take her eyes off those grown-up eyes. The boy’s yellow eyes were both beautiful and painful, so she said hello without knowing.

“Hello.” Yvonne said. “What are you…? Why are you here?” she got ignored. Then the boy started climbing a tall tree. “Wow… You are awesome…” she said awed with the boy’s ability.

“What’s your name? What are you doing here?” the boy curtly said. The boy sharpened his blade like a beast that invaded his territory. She couldn’t really notice the boy’s hostility, so she answered brightly.

“Me? I’m Franz!” she chirped. When she wears pants and dresses up as a man, her family used to call her Franz instead of Yvonne. Since she was a child, she has been called by her first name Franz, so she prefers the name Franz than Yvonne.

“What is your name?” she asked back. She is still looking up to the boy on the tree unaware of the danger.

“Go away.” the boy said.

“Max? Or Luca? Pin?” She continued to say names without listening to his warning.

“I told you to go away.” he repeated a little bit louder this time.

“Huh… Is this your forest?” she innocently asked while looking at her surroundings.

“What?” the boy was baffled. There was no malice in her. She just wanted to know if this forest is his property, but the boy didn’t seem to take it that way.

“Is it your forest?” she asked again.

“It’s not… Anyway, don’t wander around here and go away!” he hissed at her.

“Then I will live here.” Yvonne set her bag down and sat as well.

“What?” The boy was so surprised to witness this kind of behavior among others. He was speechless.

“Hey. My leg hurts and I don’t want to go home. Come down, please.” Yvonne pleaded. “Come and eat sweets with me. I’m hungry.” She continued to befriend the boy.

She opened the bag and took out the cookie bag. She tore the paper bag and came the stuffed walnut cookies and almond cookies. The sweet smell made her feel good.

“Come on!” She called him again. She ate the sweets with powder all over her face. In fact, the boy was hungry so he climbed down the tree. “Come quickly.” she said, offering him a cookie. The boy was still wary of her. So, from quite a distance from her, she looked at him with her sad blue eyes.

His eyes were as sharp as a wildcat, but he noticed that she had hidden chocolate, not cookies and became angry. So he got up and snatched the food away from her. She also ran towards the boy and was able to catch him. He flinched a little, but raised his chin and rolled stiffly.

“Liar!” he shouted at Yvonne. “What is this?” he continued to flail his arms to wiggle his way out of Yvonne’s hold.

“Chocolate.” Yvonne answered while gasping for air.

“Chocolate?” he said.

“Yes. It’s chocolate. Aren’t we gonna stop this game of tag?” Yvonne said. “I won’t eat alone anymore.” she continued.

The yellow gold eyes stared intently at her. Every time it caught the sunlight, it twinkled with golden light, and when she saw the color up close, she fell in love with the boy again. So she took out the pumpkin chocolate she had hidden in her pocket and forced it into the boy’s hand.

“I’m sorry. Eat this too…” Yvonne offered.

“Well, what are you doing…” The boy accepted the pumpkin chocolate. Yvonne smiled.

“Let’s eat together!” Yvonne happily said to him.

“This… … You mean chocolate?” the boy quizzically asked.

“Have you tried chocolate?” she asked while munching the chocolate.

“No, it can’t be!” the boy said in an arrogant tone. Yvonne sat down in front of him and the boy looked at her with a dazed look, and then took a seat a step away from her.

“But do you live here?” she asked.

“It’s none of your business.” he answered quietly.

“Sorry.” she said thinking she might have asked something too personal.

“Why did you come all the way here? What did you come to the forest for?” It’s his turn to ask questions.

“Yes? Me? Me, umm…” as she was thinking of what reason she could say to the boy without giving herself away, their eyes met. A delightful reply came from her, then she ate the pumpkin chocolate and that made her feel better.

“I guess I came to see you. Hehe.” she said while grinning. The boy’s face seemed a little red. She must be mistaken. Thinking like that, she even forgot the chocolate.

“Can’t I live here too? I don’t want to go home.” she pouted. “I want to live here too. I have a sister, her name is Diana and she is three years older than me but she is sick.” Yvonne started thinking about her family again.

“Diana fell sick while celebrating my birthday. It shouldn’t be, but Diana suddenly collapsed today.” she looked so sad while telling him. “Woah. It’s my birthday today.” she remembered and she became more sad.

She felt pathetic for herself to think like that, but if she didn’t talk about it, she would feel upset and it would be unbearable.

In the end of her ten-year-old life, the sadness that had been bottled up for a short time burst. “I love Diana, but I hate her for being sick today. I also want to celebrate my birthday.” she cried.

She sighed and wiped away her tears. “What if Diana never got better?” she sniffed. “That’s not okay. I’m so sorry, Diana.” she bawled her eyes out. When she cried out of nowhere, the boy seemed to be perplexed and became fidgety.

“Hey, hey! Don’t cry!” The boy tried to comfort Yvonne to no avail.

“Dianaaaaa. I hate mom and dad! Waaaaaahhh!” she continued to cry.

“Hey, stop crying!” The boy doesn’t know how to make her stop bawling. “Hey, hey! If you stop crying, I will tell you my name.” the boy said instead.

Yvonne made a strange noise as she was curious about the name of the most beautiful boy in the world. The boy smiled when he saw her cross her palms and covered her mouth.

He looked at the boy as if possessed by his long eyelashes. There was a strange charm in the boy’s eyes that seduced people.

“Hic!” hiccups escaped from her while trying to stop herself from crying.

The boy sighed and shook his head. He said, “I am Kiryan.”

“Kiryan.” she repeated. She whispered the boy’s name again. It seemed to fit him perfectly. She liked it, and Yvonne smiled like a fool without realizing it.

“Okay. Kiryan.” she said it again. Kiryan looked at her and smiled too.

That was their first meeting. It was a pretty refreshing episode for the start of making friends with the villain.