TYWN Ch 2

“Radia.”

She looked at the man who called her name affectionately. Sitting across the table, his gaze lingered on her as she ate, making her feel self-conscious.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I love just watching you eat.”

“Honestly, you’re so strange.”

She muttered her usual lighthearted complaint. He laughed, as if knowing she didn’t truly mean it.

“Anyway, want to hear a secret?”

“A secret?”

“Yeah. I shouldn’t tell anyone, but you’re special.”

“If you shouldn’t tell anyone, then bury it forever. The moment you mention it, it’s not a secret anymore.”

“Truly, words befitting a lawyer.”

A tinge of sadness colored his eyes as he chuckled softly. His downcast expression made her feel awkward. She had always been weak to this side of him.

“It’s a bit lonely knowing it only myself. Suffocating, too.”

“So, you’re going to use me as your venting outlet?”

“I can trust you. If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t say anything.”

His tone was light, as if he had just casually brought up the topic.

Avoiding his unsmiling gaze, she glanced down. Feigning disinterest, she twirled the pasta around her fork.

“Tell me. I’ll take it to my grave.”

She played along, pretending to be indifferent. Relieved, his eyes crinkled into a beautiful smile.

“Actually, I’m the son of a witch.”

Even his mouth, uttering such an absurd statement, was…

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

“Radia, are you listening?”

Radia, jolted from her reverie, looked at Claude, who was speaking with an exasperated tone.

They were sitting on the terrace of a two-story cafe. Elegant chairs with long, slender legs, a wooden table, and a sky-blue awning shielded them from the sun’s glare.

Below the white railing that encircled the terrace, gentlemen and ladies strolled along the street.

Overlooking the scene from the second-floor terrace, Radia took a leisurely sip of her coffee.

“If you’re telling me that I’m the only one Yuris doesn’t remember, I heard you perfectly fine.”

Despite the monumental event of her lover completely forgetting her, she remained remarkably composed. Claude pointed this out.

“Why are you so calm? If it were me, I would have lost it and grabbed him by the collar. ‘How dare you forget me!’ I would have yelled.”

“…It just happened.”

She didn’t bother adding that she hadn’t been in the right state of mind at the time.

From the moment she’d first spoken to him until now, Yuris had never looked at her with such coldness. In that instant, the man before her seemed utterly unfamiliar. His evident dislike made her breath catch in her throat, her mind going blank. She was surprised at her own lack of outward reaction.

“So, what’s Yuris doing now?”

“…He seems confused.”

Claude had taken Yuris to his own mansion after he complained of a headache mid-conversation.

“All hell will break loose if this gets out.”

“It will.”

Radia silently recalled the faces of those who had criticized her. They whispered about her being raised by a single mother, her insignificant background.

While she could tolerate insults directed at her, she couldn’t stand them insulting her family. She remembered the time she’d been about to pour a drink over the head of someone who’d mocked her upbringing, when Yuris had smoothly tripped the man, sending him sprawling. A small smile escaped her lips.

“…I can’t understand my uncle. Why he dislikes you. Even if everyone else does, he shouldn’t.”

Yuris’s family, the Astrian dukedom, was one of the most prominent noble families in the kingdom. The current queen being the Duke’s younger sister was a testament to their status.

So, when Duke Astrian, Yuris’s father, announced his marriage to a commoner immigrant with black hair, it inevitably caused an uproar.

Claude couldn’t understand why his uncle, despite his own unconventional marriage, treated Radia so poorly.

“I don’t know. Maybe he just doesn’t like me.”

The clinking sound of her cup being placed on the table signaled her desire to change the subject. Claude quickly obliged.

“I’m going to try talking to Yuris. It’s been a while since you two have seen each other. Is your firm okay with this?”

Two years ago, Radia had transferred to a law firm in the countryside, leading to a long-distance relationship. Claude had endured countless complaints from Yuris about the separation.

Radia answered calmly.

“I’m going to take a long vacation. I can’t just go back while he’s like this.”

It had been a long-awaited reunion. They had planned a simple dinner and a visit to an exhibition.

Yuris never showed up, despite her waiting for a long time at their meeting place. After an hour, anxiety gnawed at her. He wasn’t the type to break a promise without reason.

She contacted his family home but received no news. Claude was equally bewildered. Just as she was considering filing a police report, she received a call.

She didn’t remember how she got to the hospital. Seeing him safe and sound brought her relief.

Until he spoke.

“So, you’re claiming to be my lover.”

“Yes.”

“And we’ve been dating since I was twenty-one.”

“…That’s right.”

That meant nine years. Yuris stared at Radia in bewilderment, as if she were a ghost.

I’ve been dating someone for that long? This woman?

His intense gaze scrutinized her. As he muttered to himself as if he truly didn’t know her, Radia countered with a question.

“Do you really not remember anything?”

She desperately wished it was all an elaborate prank, even though she knew Yuris wasn’t the type to joke about such things.

“Not nothing. There are gaps in my memory, but I generally remember everything about myself.”

“But you don’t remember me?”

Radia asked numbly. It couldn’t be. Even if the whole world forgets me, you shouldn’t.

Am I dreaming? This couldn’t be happening unless it’s a nightmare.

Yuris frowned slightly at her repeated questions, as if annoyed. He sighed softly and spoke.

“I hate to say this,” he began, his expression and tone utterly indifferent, “but I would prefer we use formal language. We’re not exactly close, are we?”

He was bothered by the woman’s casual address, her appearance, her background—everything about her grated on his nerves.

“Even if the past me was like that, the present me feels… uncomfortable.”

Radia stared at him silently. This was the same man who had persistently coaxed her to drop the formalities and speak casually, even when they were just friends and she insisted on maintaining a polite distance. Hearing such words from him felt alien.

“I understand.”

If he had no memory, his behavior was understandable. Yuris was generally reserved and maintained clear boundaries with people. He had only been excessively affectionate with her from the start, overwhelmingly so.

“Even now, I find it hard to believe I’ve lost my memory… but as Claude said, there are definitely blank spaces when I try to remember. However, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

As long as he didn’t actively try to retrieve those memories, his existing memories felt seamless. He might feel a sense of disconnect if he realized the gaps, but if he remained unaware, it felt as though there was no need to fill in the missing pieces.

This made it easier for him to solidify his resolve. I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t remember anything. What can I do? If it weren’t for Claude’s vouching, he would have suspected the woman of running a scam.

Jet-black eyes, reminiscent of beetles, held Yuris’s gaze. Radia wasn’t foolish. She noticed the flicker of annoyance across his face.

She also felt like she was looking at a stranger. Hearing him so casually dismiss the time they’d spent together, time she had believed was precious to him, was unpleasant.

“I suppose this is like a bolt from the blue for you.”

Even Radia would find it hard to accept someone claiming to be her lover if she had no memory of them. Even with her closest friend’s confirmation, feelings were a different matter.

But even so…

“However, aren’t you being particularly cold, even more so than usual?”

Yuris was slightly surprised and impressed by her sharp observation. Perhaps her claim of being his long-time lover wasn’t entirely fabricated.

“Then let me be more frank. I don’t like you.”

Radia’s hands, folded neatly in her lap, tightened slightly into fists.

“What don’t you like?”

He had expected tears by now, but she remained remarkably composed. Even her calmness irritated him. He liked her direct gaze, but it was meaningless if it wasn’t directed at him as she remembered him.

He didn’t bother masking his displeasure.

“Do I need a reason to dislike someone?”

“If you’re going to insult someone to their face, you should at least have the decency to explain yourself.”

“You don’t back down, do you?”

“People always say that when they’re losing an argument.”

Radia replied lightly and rose from the sofa. As Yuris stood up as well, she offered him a smile.

With the slight curve of her eyes and the gentle upturn of her lips, her previously cold expression transformed. He had expected her smile to make her appear more intellectual and confident, but while still composed, she now seemed kind.

Realizing he couldn’t tear his eyes away, Yuris chuckled dryly.

He should be thinking of spring, but for some reason, her image evoked a grey winter.

“I’m not going to give up easily.”

“That’s unexpected.”

She didn’t seem like someone with so little pride that she would tolerate such treatment.

“I know you better than you think.”

Her feelings weren’t so trivial that she’d give up easily, nor was she so weak that she’d crumble under this coldness.

[I can’t help but love you, Radia. No matter when or where we meet, that will never change.]

She had no choice but to believe those words. She couldn’t trust the stranger before her, but she could trust the lover she remembered.

“I’ll be going now. See you later.”

He had no choice but to accept this declaration, a declaration of war in disguise.