Yuri Esrenche. A man who dared to reject her without even knowing his place.

By killing this annoying woman, Sabina could leave Yuri with an irreparable wound, which was a welcome advantage.

Sabina wore a wicked smile as she drew a dagger from her cloak.

‘Farewell!’

Just as the sharp blade was about to stab Titiana, Sabina felt her vision blur as if shrouded in fog. In an instant, she was hurled to the ground.

“Ugh!”

She landed on an unpaved dirt surface.

Though it was a garden at the corner of the hotel, Sabina, with her face buried in the ground, couldn’t tell.

‘What on earth just happened!’

She was certain she had been about to stab that annoying woman in the hotel room!

It didn’t take much thought to figure out who had interfered. From the start, there were only two people in this country who could move others instantly like this.

“Eek!”

A hard boot stomped on the back of Sabina’s hand. It was the hand holding the dagger.

Yuri deliberately pressed down on her fingers with a smirk.

“Long time no see. You seem to be doing well, Sabina. You look good.”

“Yuri!”

Sabina ground her teeth.

‘Was it a trap?’

She should have noticed something was off when things seemed to go too smoothly. It was strange from the moment the door was left unlocked for anyone to hear.

“Despicable! You tricked me, and you call yourself a Grand Mage?”

“Why do you think I tricked you? I was giving you a chance.”

“What chance?”

Instead of answering, Yuri tapped his chin with his finger.

“Seeing you here when you disappeared right before crossing the border, it seems His Majesty helped you again.”

“Of course. Father pities me for being reduced to this miserable state because of you!”

“Pity? Is it really pity? Or was he keeping you in reserve in case a political marriage with another country became necessary?”

His words hit the mark. The fact that Sabina’s burns were limited to her leg was fortunate for the same reason. If her face were scarred, she couldn’t be sent to another country.

However, Sabina, without a shred of doubt about her father’s intentions, shouted angrily.

“There’s no way that’s true! Father truly loves me! You wouldn’t understand since you’ve never received proper affection.”

Talk of affection was like a button that triggered Yuri.

‘Get angry. Shout!’

While Sabina was looking up at him, expecting such a reaction, Yuri countered her words with an unperturbed expression.

“If it’s affection, I’m receiving it in abundance. From my wife.”

“Eek!”

Just as Sabina was no longer “Princess Sabina,” Yuri was no longer the boy who was swayed and hurt by others’ words.

Yuri bent down and leaned toward Sabina. His blue eyes glinted coldly.

“I always thought you’d resort to something bad again. The story of a villain being punished and repenting is something you only find in old fairy tales. But you hid so well that I couldn’t find you.”

Yuri wanted to completely isolate Sabina from society. Yet, even with the help of mages from the Magic Tower and the connections of Esrenche, he couldn’t locate her.

It was all because of an artifact that changed appearances, strictly forbidden by law.

“I never imagined you’d have an artifact that changes hair and eye color. The royal report is quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Yuri’s gaze fell on the red gemstone ring glittering on Sabina’s finger. With a bit of magic, he removed it, and her seemingly ordinary brown hair instantly transformed into a dazzling blonde.

It was a genuine artifact. An ancient relic that continued to function across hundreds or thousands of years, something modern mages couldn’t create.

‘I should at least thank the Crown Princess for this.’

Yuri recalled the artifact request letter sent by the Crown Prince and Princess to Titiana. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary letter to a friend, but it was undoubtedly a telegram meant for him.

“The first Emperor Friedrich I said he once saw a ring-shaped artifact in the Golden Dragon’s Lair that could freely change hair and eye color. I want to give such an artifact to Jea as a gift.”

The Golden Dragon’s Lair was in the middle of the southern sea, a place the first emperor never visited.

Thus, this letter was sent to Titiana to avoid suspicion, but it was merely a means to convey information to Yuri.

That Sabina was hiding in the south using an artifact.

Even after Yuri saw through everything, Sabina didn’t yield or bow down, instead growling fiercely.

“So what? Are you going to personally exile me from the country?”

At those words, Yuri couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Exile?’

To simply exile the woman who tried to kill his wife and be satisfied with that?

“Who would benefit from such a thing? I’ll personally decide your punishment.”

Yuri snapped his fingers. At that moment, the ground beneath Sabina’s feet began to give way.

“Farewell, Sabina.”

Sabina screamed, but it was futile as everything around her was under his control. Soon, even the sound of her screams became intolerable, and Yuri snapped his fingers again to close the pit.

The pit Sabina had just fallen into was none other than a passage connected to the labyrinth at the bottom of the Magic Tower.

‘I was right to leave it when I accidentally created it.’

During the period when Yuri was deeply engaged in chimera research with his master, he had constructed a labyrinth designed to prevent the chimera from escaping.

However, the labyrinth was eventually abandoned and never utilized because its design was so intricate that even the creator couldn’t determine its location.

Colin had insisted on destroying it to prevent anyone from accidentally becoming trapped, but Yuri believed it might have a future use, so he had it embedded beneath the Magic Tower.

‘It’s a punishment that suits Sabina perfectly,’ he thought.

He had also placed water and provisions like honeycombs throughout the maze to ensure the chimera wouldn’t starve.

‘Perhaps after wandering for about ten years, she’ll start to reflect,’ he mused.

By then, however, it would already be too late.

Having resolved this long-standing issue, Yuri stretched contentedly.

‘It seems I owe the Crown Princess a favor,’ he considered.

Perhaps they had also wanted to rid themselves of Sabina, finding her unpleasant, but a debt was a debt nonetheless.

After tidying everything up as if nothing had happened, Yuri returned to the hotel room with a refreshing drink. Titiana was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the recent events.

Yuri gently kissed her forehead.

“…Now that all the bothersome matters are over, we can truly spend time with just the two of us,” he whispered.

The flower was a fictional flower he had invented. Since the artifact requested by the Crown Princess had safely come into his possession, it seemed right to head back to the capital.

However,

‘Titi is so busy in the capital,’ he thought.

He decided to delay their return as long as possible.

With slightly mischievous thoughts, Yuri lifted Titiana in his arms.

‘Even Titi drunk was adorable,’ he recalled.

Perhaps it was the relief of being away from the capital, but she chattered like a little bird, sharing stories from her past that she rarely talked about.

‘I wish there had been someone to tell me these things when I was a child,’ she had said.

The tears welling up in her beautiful eyes pierced his heart painfully.

“Your whims are quite demanding. Childhood… I’ve never thought about magic that goes back in time,” Yuri remarked.

He bent down and kissed the forehead of the sleeping Titiana.

“Tell me anything. Your mage will listen,” he promised.

***

Titiana was curled up, sitting in front of the main gate.

The rain had begun drizzling as soon as she stepped outside, showing no signs of stopping.

‘It’s cold…’ she thought.

Yet, she had no desire to go back inside the house.

Inside, loud voices continued to echo. It was the sound of her father and mother arguing.

The noise was so loud that even after leaving the mansion, it still rang in her ears. Titiana covered her ears with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the rain to stop.

But at some point, the rain stopped falling on her head. She looked up cautiously to see a stranger smiling down at her. The rain had stopped because he was holding an umbrella over her.

“You’ll catch a cold, Titi,” he said.

“…Who are you?” she asked.

“Well, it’s a rule not to reveal my name when intervening in time,” he replied.

He was a handsome man with eyes that curved like a fox’s.

The man, looking down at Titiana, twisted his lips slightly.

“But it’s frustrating that I can’t intervene more,” he admitted.

“Uh?” she replied, confused.

At that moment, a warm breeze wrapped around Titiana, instantly drying the rainwater. As she touched her now fluffy clothes, amazed, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the man.

“Mister, are you a con artist?” she asked.

“Mister? I’m younger than you, Titi,” he responded.

“…Are you a weirdo?” she inquired.

“It seems you’ve had a sharp tongue since you were young. How cute,” he commented.

Her father always disliked it when Titiana talked back, calling her an insolent girl, but this man was different.

‘Weird mister…’ she thought.

The man, after patting Titiana’s hair a few times, handed her the umbrella with a regretful expression.

“I wish I could stay by your side, but since we’ll meet again in the distant future, I have to leave now. If I stay longer, we might not be able to meet later,” he explained.

He smiled gently as he added,

“After a few more nights, we’ll meet again. Then I’ll stay by your side forever,” he promised.

His words were as sweet as candy, making her heart race. But Titiana replied with a feigned indifference.

“My mom told me never to trust a man who casually uses words like ‘forever,'” she said.

“I’m not an ordinary man, so it’s okay,” he assured her.

The man, speaking boastfully, extended his finger towards Titiana.

“I promise,” he said.

Hesitant, Titiana carefully hooked her pinky around his.

—Fin

Thank you for reading and supporting Even Madness Strikes Thrice. I’ll be focusing on my other projects, so I won’t be translating the side stories for this novel unless there’s a specific request for them. See you in my other novels! Love, Adeline<3