Please Take A Step Out Of The Portrait

Chapter 21

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Vivian’s POV

“You, you.”

Thoughts filled my mind to the point of overflowing, and in the end, nothing remained. My words came out haltingly, and in the end I couldn’t continue my words. That’s my current condition.

Yurision River. I was convinced the moment I heard his voice. I’m sure that it’s Yurision River, who had treated me the other day.

I was already aware that he looked a lot like Yuriel Jewell from 200 years ago.

I was bewildered and called out the name ‘Yuriel’ that day. But we had already confirmed that he wasn’t Yuriel that day. Yuriel, who didn’t have to pretend that he doesn’t know me, looked at me without making a response.

But Yuriel, why do I think of you?

A whisper appeared inside me, that in actual fact, my suspicions were right. 

“Yuri…”

Although I opened my mouth to speak, the only thing I could day was ‘Yuri’. I opened my mouth a few times after that, but the only thing that came out were silent exhales. 

As I coughed and gasped for air, blood dripped from her mouth.

Whether it’s on the white dress, or onto the jewels that hung on it, droplets of blood fell onto them. 

When he looked at my current appearance, he finally let out a sigh and relaxed his grip. He then took off the white mask he was wearing and threw it aside. The face underneath the mask was a refined face, one that I knew very well. 

I swallowed dryly.

It was Yurision River, as I’d expected.

“Yurision River. What are you doing?”

My voice trembled due to my nervousness. Yurision didn’t respond to my question. He was extremely adept at managing his expressions that trying to read them was of no use. His uniquely expressionless face looked tired, and he wiped his dry face. 

He stood with his hands on both of my sides so that I couldn’t escape. 

Flustered at the situation of being trapped in his arms, I tried to stand up, but that action only narrowed the distance between us. I couldn’t move an inch as I was blocked by his upper body. 

“……!”

As he leaned his upper body, his white face drew closer to me. His blue eyes were cold to the point of freezing. It felt as though every detail was being disassembled by that gaze. 

I stopped wiping at the area underneath my nose with the back of my hand and stared blankly at Yurision.

How could this not be Yuriel. Of all things, I found myself 200 years in the future. But there’s a mage that looked exactly like Yuriel Jewell. How could I not doubt this kind of situation? 

Still suffering from the after effects of my magic power, my wheezing breaths definitely touched Yurision’s face, but he remained in place for a long while. 

He slowly opened his mouth. After hesitating several times, a small gap appeared through his lips, and the words that I had been waiting for quite a while flowed out.

“……How is it that there’s no change?”

My heart beated a little faster.

“Close your eyes.”

“What, I should believe you, me?”

Uncaring of that, Yurision placed his hand on my forehead. When his index and middle finger touched my forehead, my wheezing finally calmed down. Soon after, the tangled magic in my heart gradually began to unravel.

“Huu.”

“Slowly, manipulate the magical power. You’re capable of it.”

“Wait a minute.”

“There you go, you’re doing well.”

As he skillfully took the right of control over the magical power, I manipulated the mana without realising it and he gathered it. He then released the magic deftly. My breathing became smooth and the dimmed vision returned completely. 

“……Yuriel Jewell.”

He was definitely Yuriel. 

One of the things that I had left behind 200 years ago was living and breathing in front of me.

The fact that I met someone who lived in the same era as I did caused the tension to dissipate and relief to surge. Perhaps I thought that I was fine, but I kept feeling uneasy here.

However, before I could express the feeling of happiness, questions arose first.

Why was he here?

How was he living here with a decent name like ‘Yurision River’?

What will happen from now on?

I swallowed dryly.

The questions started from ‘why?’ and ended with ‘how is it that…’

If it really wasn’t just a coincidence that I fell here, if there was a reason…

Perhaps because he was pressured by Edmund’s impending arrival, Yuriel straightened out the magical power faster than he would usually. Though it wasn’t perfect, it was at a decent enough level. Yuriel tidied up my dishevelled hair gently. 

“You’re Yuri, right? Yuriel Jewell, the one that I know, am I right?”

“That’s right.”

“Explanation. I need an explanation. Why? What in the world is going on? What happened? Why am I here—!”

“Lower your voice.”

The volume of my voice rose as I became impatient. He pressed my swaying body downwards and pressed a finger to my lips.

He then pressed his sleeve under my nose. 

The sleeves of the black suit and the white shirt inside became stained with blood. This manner of wiping wouldn’t clean my face, but Yuriel still continued to wipe away my blood as he opened his mouth to speak. 

“Right now, there’s no time.”

“Then!”

Yuriel turned his head towards the door suddenly.

I couldn’t hear him, but it seemed that Edmund was about to return. Yuriel clicked his tongue and messed up his hair. A white forehead that contrasted against his black hair appeared.

“Vivi.”

His expression was desperate, unlike the voice that called me without inflexions in his tone.

His dark blue eyes that contrasted with his black hair were shaking uneasily, like the sea that would be blanketed by waves instantly. 

The Yuriel that I remembered was always relaxed, so I kept thinking about what could have happened to him.

He held my hand imploringly.

It was my first time seeing Yuriel Jewell, a predator who’s always easygoing, like this.

“There’s so many stories, so many things that remain.”

“……Yes.”

“So, come and find me.”

“Where?”

“To the place I’m at.”

Why must you fall in front of that d*mned Edmund Deer? AshHe recited Edmund’s name a few times with abusive language, he rubbed my blood-specked chin with his finger as he spoke. 

“I really have to go now. Come and find me. You must find me.”

“…….”

How should I respond to that? What happened to Yuriel? Just what in the world happened?

I was at my wits’ end when he spoke with a desperate tone. When I didn’t answer him, a sobbing sound burst out.

“Please, don’t make me come to you. I’ve been waiting for over a decade already.”

Yuriel pressed against the corners of my eyes with the hand that wasn’t stained with blood. Whenever I wanted to cry, he would always pretend to be tired like that, and press his palm against my eyes.

He rose from his seat and stroked my hair once. His face was still pale.

The mana is perfectly calm now, but it was strangely suffocating.

He walked behind me and opened the window wide. He seemed intent on jumping out of the window.

I followed him to the window. Yuriel seemed to be hesitating about something. 

Eventually, he grabbed the window frame and made a gesture towards me. When I moved a little closer to him, he gave a faint smile and whispered, ‘A little more.’ More towards here? As I stretched my upper body towards him, he lowered his head.

“Vivian.”

His hair touched my cheek. He whispered in my ear.

“Be careful of Edmund.”

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Yuriel jumped out of the window. I couldn’t see him even when I looked down, so it seems that he had just used magic to change his location. I tried to calm down my thumping heart, and reached out to close the window. 

The ground was filled with extravagant lights, contrasting greatly to the dark sky. There were quite a number of people, too. This entire street seemed to be noisy because of the party.

Just a while ago, I had felt that this place, which I was unfamiliar with, was still a world where people lived in, but it suddenly became something completely different in nature. The feeling that I was a foreign matter that was brought here mistakenly washed over me like a wave. 

There was a knock on the door. It was Edmund. When I didn’t answer, he waited outside for a moment, before carefully opening the door. 

When I heard the door open and the sound of him entering, I tried to organise my complicated thoughts.

“Vivi, I’m back.”

Should I tell him about Yuriel, and the news that might be able to return? 

“You’re not going anywhere.”

A determined voice came to mind. Right, I can’t. He can’t find out about it.  

Rather, it’ll be a disaster if it was discovered.

I wanted to make it look like nothing happened in this place, but that would be impossible as I’d already spilled blood. It seems that I can only explain this by saying that I had pushed myself too much today. 

With the thought that I should close the window and return to my original seat immediately, I stretched out my hand. The opened window was too far away for me to grab it. As I became anxious, things didn’t unfold as planned anymore. 

Edmund looked at me, who was standing in front of the window, and called my name puzzledly.

“Vivi?”

The voice calling my name caused me, who was reaching out for the window, to stiffen.

Edmund seemed to understand the situation, and headed towards my back quietly. He then reached an arm out from behind me silently. 

The window that I tried hard to grab was easily caught in Edmund’s hand. The window closed with a click, and silence enveloped the both of us as the outside noise was completely cut off. 

I breathed in quietly as blood slowly dripped down my dress. What should I do?. My heart was pounding nervously, and Edmund called me from behind. I wiped underneath my nose with the back of my hand and the only thought that ran through my head was, ‘I’m doomed,’ as I surveyed the bloodstains. 

“Vivian.”

“……”

Perhaps finding it odd, he grabbed me by the shoulder.

I slowly moved my body along with the force that was carefully turning me around.

“……”

Edmund, who met eyes with me, stopped in place and stared at me intently while remaining silent. At the sight of his pale face, I opened my mouth to make an excuse, but I had only said meaningless words, before eventually closing it again. 

“About this.”

I knew that he’d be angry right away.

However, he turned frigid instead. Just like he had been submerged in a lake in the middle of winter, Edmund paled. 

He finally broke this suffocating silence by calling my name. 

“Vivi.”

“This was just a mistake. I made a mistake while using magic…”

He cut off my excuse and asked fiercely.

“—Which b*stard was it?”

[T/N: ahhhh Vivian got caught instantly >.<]═══∘°❈°∘═══