At this, Jella’s eyes widened, and she burst into bright laughter.
“I like you too, Lord Yuphe.”
“…”
Yuphe smiled faintly along with her.
You don’t know, Jella.
How long I’ve held these words, “I like you,” inside me. And how difficult it was to finally say them to you.
How painfully my heart aches at your answer that you like me too.
But if these are memories that will eventually be forgotten, I want to have you even in this fleeting, brief moment.
Swish.
Yuphe’s hand, which had been resting on the edge of the bed, wrapped around the back of Jella’s hand.
Yuphe looked at her intently with a face devoid of smile, then slowly leaned toward her.
Tap.
Their foreheads gently touched.
His golden eyes stared directly into her red eyes, into the soul of Jella contained within them.
“You shouldn’t say ‘I like you’ so carelessly, Jella.”
“Why not…?”
Jella asked, her face clearly tense.
Unlike before, seeing her reaction that clearly showed awareness of him, Yuphe felt a strange satisfaction and curled the corner of his mouth.
“Because perverted people like me will misunderstand and think things on their own, even knowing it’s a misunderstanding.”
“What things…?”
Bump.
As the distance closed, their noses touched. He saw her take a sharp breath.
“That even if I do this, you won’t dislike me. That you like me with the same feelings I have for you.”
“Do this? Ah…!”
As their lips overlapped, Jella closed her eyes tightly and let out an exclamation.
His lips seemed to envelop her upper and lower lips in turn, then parted them and invaded inside.
Experiencing such an intense sensation for the first time in her life, Jella clung to him, gasping for breath. A hot flesh was stirring all inside her.
“Mmm, hah…”
Having forgotten how to breathe during her first kiss, she moaned with moisture gathering in her eyes.
At this, Yuphe briefly detached his lips, then captured her lips again. Having seemingly figured out how to breathe, she moved her lips along with his rhythm, unlike before.
At her clumsy yet lovely gesture, Yuphe entwined his tongue more deeply.
Finally, with one more “chk” sound leaving a moist friction, Yuphe’s lips slowly pulled away.
Jella stared up at him blankly with a flushed face. Her parted lips were slick with saliva that could have belonged to either of them. Yuphe was in a similar state.
For a while, they just looked at each other’s faces, their chests heaving.
It was Yuphe who turned his head away first.
“…Sorry, Jella.”
Just as he was about to turn and leave, muttering in a low, husky voice.
Grip.
A small hand firmly grasped his clothes and wouldn’t let go.
“Jella…?”
“It’s not a misunderstanding.”
Jella said, holding his clothes with her head bowed.
“It’s not a misunderstanding either. I don’t dislike it when you do this to me, Lord Yuphe. I like it.”
“Jella. The ‘like’ you’re talking about…”
Just as Yuphe was about to explain how her feelings and his were different, with his eyes painfully contorted.
“Why do you think I don’t know anything?”
Jella interrupted him, speaking in a clear, distinct voice.
“I know, too, what it means when a man and woman like each other. When eyes meet, you want to hold hands, and when holding hands, you want to kiss—that’s what it is.”
“…Who told you that?”
“Priest Liam told me.”
“Liam, that guy again.”
Yuphe repeated Liam’s name once more.
“And I just realized it clearly. I like you, Lord Yuphe. I want to hold your hand and kiss you.”
“…I don’t think so.”
Yuphe tried to explain at a level appropriate for her blank-slate state.
“Liking someone is when your heart feels ticklish and your chest pounds, like you said earlier.”
“That’s what liking someone is?”
At those words, Jella’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, then she lifted her chin proudly and said.
“I knew it. What did I tell you? I was right that I like Lord Yuphe.”
But Yuphe replied in a somewhat indifferent tone.
“But you said you felt the same way when you saw Niel and Cail too.”
“So what?”
“What I’m saying is, you might actually like one of those guys but are mistakenly thinking you like me.”
“Then I must like all three of you.”
“…”
Watching her speak so confidently, Yuphe let out a quiet sigh.
It seemed certain that Liam had only explained half of what it means to like someone to Jella. Seeing how casually she said she liked all three men.
‘Or am I the one who’s thinking about this wrong?’
Suddenly, such a thought occurred to him.
The idea that one should only like one person at a time was, after all, a rule created by humans.
So perhaps she, who hadn’t yet fully acquired all the rules of this world, really… perhaps she really did like him.
Although it was subtly dissatisfying that she felt the same emotions for that guy from the imperial palace and that guy from the north…
‘Jella likes me? Really?’
The moment his thoughts reached that point, Yuphe stared at her blankly, frozen like someone whose breath had stopped.
“Do you believe me now?”
Jella asked, giggling.
“…Yes. I believe you.”
It felt like something hot was flowing down his throat.
“But why do you have that face?”
“Because this will all be forgotten anyway. The moment you regain your past memories, it will be forgotten.”
At those words, Jella made a sulky face.
Yuphe had said similar things before.
That this moment felt like a dream. That it seemed like it would disappear and be forgotten.
But Jella didn’t agree with that.
“I won’t forget. The ticklish feeling in my heart, the pounding in my chest, and all these moments with you, Lord Yuphe—I’ll remember them for a very long time without forgetting.”
“…”
“So you mustn’t forget either, Lord Yuphe. Understand? Promise.”
Jella extended her pinky finger toward Yuphe and smiled brightly.
“…Yes, I promise.”
Yuphe followed her with a gentle smile and hooked his pinky finger with hers. He did so even knowing that promise would ultimately not be fulfilled.
***
“Liar, Jella.”
Yuphe muttered desolately, looking at the inner courtyard of the Great Temple where her laughter could no longer be heard.
“After all, you forgot everything. Without leaving anything behind, you forgot it all.”
Although she didn’t remember those two years, Yuphe didn’t regret the time he had devoted to her.
‘Because I remember. Because the memories with you will make me live forever.’
Nevertheless, sometimes he did feel regret.
If there hadn’t been such things between us, if I hadn’t hurt you, ignored you, and made you lonely…
Could we have connected hearts, like when you liked me then?
Even knowing it was a pointless assumption about something already past, Yuphe would often indulge in such pathetic fantasies.
Just as Yuphe, who had been quietly reminiscing about his memories with her, was slowly rising.
Suddenly, he froze in place, startled by an afterimage that flashed before his eyes.
This was an afterimage not in his memory.
So this was… a trace of the future, someday to come in the distant future…
After standing frozen in place for a while, Yuphe eventually burst into a low laugh.
“That’s right. You’re right, Jella.”
He muttered in a choked voice.
“In the end, you remember everything, and I doubted you for a moment. I’m sorry.”
Yuphe slowly closed his eyes.
Trying to remember as much as possible of the afterimage that had just flashed before him, so that when he met her again in the distant future, he would recognize her at once…
A moment later, Yuphe slowly opened his eyelids.
Then the inner courtyard of the Great Temple, where no trace of her remained, came into view.
But now he knew.
That someday, in this place, he would meet her again.
Perhaps it was a wait that had begun too early.
T/n: This story truly strikes right in the heart where it hurts most. Poor Yuphe, carrying all those memories and that longing. (˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )
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Mahwiii
i wouldve been sad if yuphe also had the same fate as Niel… limited time.. only the 2 years between them
but it seems Niel was the past, yuphe the future and cail in the present
so for yuphe punishment for the taboo he made is waiting for her for a future who knows when will come
…
so Niel really is the one suffering the most between them.. he also only had 2 years.. and he blames himself alot… now i know why he keeps degrading himself infront of her because he felt bad that he caused her death as Ga Eul..
im gonna be honest idk if i will continue reading the next side story.. i dont feel like reading cail side story he already got his happy ending and im feeling petty about it i dont think it will add much to the story anymore unless all three of them in the story which i guess its not
so thanks again for translating the side stories i hope i can find another masterpiece like this one one day