Our three romantic leads, a Yandere, The Ingenue, plus a Dogged Nice Guy
Between Yearning and Obsession (狂愛と純愛, Kyouai to Junai) is a fantasy/romance webcomic by Karasuma Shimei and Sorajima Studio which began serialization in Comico in July 6th, 2022.
Poor Julia is a lowly servant working for marquess Layfaette estate, severely bullied by the entire staff, and accosted by the marquess eldest son, Gregory, because she’s a mute. Julia can’t remember her own memories before the age of twelve, along with the memories of how she lost the ability to speak, she's simply been told a certain incident traumatized her into going mute. As the entire world practically has it out against her, Julia’s been able to barely survive from the love of Camille, the second son of the marquess, who uses his magic-like abilities called Arcana, to temporarily cure her muteness.
Little does she know, Camille is a Yandere towards her and is fully aware of all of the bullying the servants put on Julia; he’s obsessed with the idea of coming off as a charming gentleman towards a tragic maiden as lovely as a Julia will only inspire her to cling onto him even more. That was the case until an incident happened at the estate, which Julia is framed for by the jealous servants, and abandoned to the slums.
As fate would have it, Julia comes upon a powerful duke, Glen De Vestris. He’s immediately concerned of her battered condition, so he takes her to his estate so he can to help her recover. It doesn’t take long for Glen to fall in love with Julia, as she reminds him of a long-lost childhood friend of his and is disgusted of her treatment from the Layfaette family. But as Julia bonds more with Glen, it only makes her miss Camille more. Little to her knowledge, Camille grows more and more unhinged without the comfort of his only love. Yet Julia torn between what the right choice is for her; her gratitude of Glen’s kindness or her devotion to Camille’s “love”.
Between Yearning and Obsession provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim:
- That one extremely jealous maid who loved to cause problems for Julia and frame her for it, gets beaten to death by Camille when she tries to seduce him while talking badly of Julia because he was aware of all her misdeeds which lead to Julia’s abandonment.
- Julia is accosted by a man trying to force himself on her, then Camille swoops in and saves her. Little to Julia’s knowledge, Camille secretly killed him, but played it out that it was a “little” punch.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Poor Julia is treated lower than shit by the servants of the Lafayette family because they’re extremely jealous since their master, Camille, is in love with her and treats her better than any of them. That and they’re annoyed that she’s a mute but can somehow only talk to Camille, even though he uses his Arcana to temporarily cure her muteness. The servants overwork Julia like a pack mule without a moment of rest or meals, dumped her with food because Camille wanted the maids to bake her a brioche, locked up in a shed from a jealous maid because Camille wanted to have lunch together (and beats her up because she “forgot” her date with Camille, even though she wasn’t told of this), framed for trashing the kitchen floor by the same maid, then whipped and abandoned to the slums on orders of Camille’s mother. All because Camille just so happened to walk in and help her clean up, yet was aware of who was the true culprit, but cared more of Julia’s misery that will make her cling onto him more.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: As she’s taken in and loved by Glen, Julia constantly thinks of Camille and wishes to be by his side, worried of how much he will miss her. They eventually reunite and it shows how much Julia’s absence has taken a toll on Camille’s Yandere mentality, so he imprisons her to the Toy Room, with a chained leash for extra measure. Camille has gone so far off, even Julia is horrified after seeing him for what he truly is. How so? Camille beats her when he catches Gregory trying to rape her(that he saves her from), while accusing her of seducing his older brother, and trying to escape from his “love”. It’s also strongly implied that Camille rapes Julia in the moment Glen visits the Lafayette estate(he was invited by his father, Camille didn’t know that). When Glen secretly breaks in, Julia wholeheartedly accepts his invitation into getting the hell out of dodge.
- Big Damn Kiss: After Glen makes it clear to Julia that he and Ophelia are not engaged, she asks him if she can stay with him. Glen is so overcome with his love for Julia, he immediately grabs her and plants a kiss. After an embarrassed Julia pushes him, Glen gently holds onto her and ask her to be his and not think about either Camille or Ophelia. Julia reciprocates and they both share a passionate kiss.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
- Julia is deeply in love with Camille, who is quite the gentleman in a family of elite assholes and looks out for her from his jealous servants and their torments. But underneath the surface, he’s fully aware that the servants are bullying her and chooses to look the other way. Why? Because as long as he’s coming off as a Prince Charming with Julia as his Cinderella, then it will inspire her to stay by his side no matter what shit the servants throw at her. Glen is just as disgusted and utterly confused by his logic as you would have expected. Camille drops the act when he reunites with Julia, horrifying the poor girl from the moment he chains her by the neck in the toy room.
- Glen’s Wicked Stepmother was this. She took advantage of his mother’s broken mentality over his father’s affairs and gambling, and Suzanne doted on him whenever his mother took out her frustrations onto Glen. Little did he realize, Suzanne was already his father’s mistress and planned from the beginning to marry his father by winning over his young son and driving his mother crazy from their fling. This caused Glen’s mother to drown herself, and her own son discovered her corpse while Suzanne stood over him and wore a Slasher Smile. In the present she leaves her husband when he passes his title to Glen, but when she tries to sweet talk him over Julia’s presence, he orders her to either drop the subject or leave for good, implying he loathes her for what she did to Glen.
- Child by Rape: The previous king, Sigurd, was curious over his son’s secret affair with Celestine and forcibly had his way with her. This led to Julia’s birth.
- Clingy Jealous Girl:
- The freckled-face maid who loves to torment Julia and frame her for troubles she didn’t even do because she has the hots for Camille. She ends up killed by Camille because he knew she was responsible for Julia’s flogging and abandonment since she framed Julia for messing up the kitchen and “forced” him to help her clean up, and pressed his Berserk Button for daring to seduce him.
- Ophelia is this towards Glen. She’s livid that someone like Glen, who hates people in general, has invited a beautiful girl to live with him and dotes on. She confronts Julia at his home, stomps on her hand and hits her face with her high heels. Ophelia claims she’s Glen’s fiancée and threatens to have her killed if she doesn’t leave him.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Julia is framed for making a huge mess on the kitchen floor by a jealous maid, and Camille just so happens to walk in on the servants ganging up on her, so he decides to help out on cleaning. How does his mother respond to this “servant’s job” being done by her own son? By ordering Julia to be flogged and abandoned to the slums! And she was alerted of this by the same maid who actually caused the messy floors but still played innocent and blamed Julia for it.
- Dogged Nice Guy: A rather unique case as Glen is not as forceful as the trope goes. He’s taken in Julia when she was nearly on the brink of death, nurses her back to health, and falls in love in the process of saving her from her trauma and scars. Glen gifts Julia beautiful clothing, has servants waited upon her, and arranges lunch and tea dates with her. Julia is oblivious that he has the hots for her, as she’s devoted to Camille but grateful to have such a kind friend like Glen. That was the case, until Camille imprisons her to the Toy Room with a chained leash for extra measure. And is more than happy to accept Glen’s rescue and getting the heck out of Camille’s life forever. So Glen’s efforts were not put in vain as Julia starts to warm up to him even more.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Gregory hates his brother Camille and loves to beat up the family’s servants, particularly Julia, and tries to rape her on a couple of occasions. But even he was horrified of how his mother orders Julia to be whipped and kicked out of the family estate. Enough to alert his younger brother of this event and beat up the servant responsible for her flogging and abandonment.
- Foil:
- Camille and Glen for their love of Julia and personality wise. Camille is an Yandere but also keeps up a facade that he’s a Prince Charming to Julia. He’s fully aware that his servants bully her out of their jealousy of the “special treatment” she only receives from Camille, but he does nothing to stop the harassment because in his own twisted logic, the bullying will only want Julia to cling onto him more and not want to leave him. And he uses Arcana to cure her muteness but only if she’s with him. Until it’s revealed that Camille cursed her as a mute because of his extreme paranoia of Julia talking to anyone but him, as well as hide a dark secret surrounding her. And is EXTREMELY jealous of any man showing interest in Julia, but will quickly point the finger at HER for daring to attract other men. Meanwhile, Glen is a Nice Guy who never wishes to bring harm to Julia and is disgusted of Camille’s twisted love. While he doesn’t have a way to cure Julia’s muteness, he does read her mind without her knowledge, so he can get to know her better but also as a Secret Test of Character, much to his dismay. While Camille wants her to stay by his side but does nothing to end her suffering, Glen wants her to stay with him less of his jealousy of Julia’s devotion to Camille, but mostly out of his strong desire to protect her from Camille, his family, and his servants.
- The servants of both their estates even count as such when it comes to their treatment of Julia. While Marquess Lafayette’s servants bully her and overwork her to the bone because they’re jealous of Camille’s infatuation towards her, Glen’s servants treat her very kindly and don’t have a problem with Glen pursuing her. Even when Julia wants to help around the estate out of gratitude, Glen’s servants have to remind her that their boss only wants her to work for one hour before spending the rest of the day together with Glen.
- Haughty Help: The servants of the Layfaette estate heaped abuse onto poor Julia because they hate how their favorite boss favored her the most. And they find her muteness annoying.
- How They Treat the Help: Camille and the rest of the Lafayette family are outright encouraged to treat their servants as nothing more than tools or livestocks, to the point of not even bothering to call them by their own names. It certainly did a number on them to vent out all of their frustrations onto Julia, no thanks to Camille’s obsessive love towards her. But Glen treats his servants very kindly and has no problem calling them by their names; in turn they’re just as grateful and loyal to him for his generosity.
- Insecure Love Interest: As much as Julia secretly reciprocates Camille’s feelings towards her, she tells him that she strongly feels unworthy of him, given their respective social class standing. Oh, how little she understood his “love”. That was the case, until he imprisons her in the Toy Room and beats her blood does she drop him like a hat, but is understandably terrified to tell him how she really feels about him.
- She eventually starts to feel unworthy of being in love with Glen, again with their social standing, taking advantage of his kindness, and worried Ophelia’s claims that they’re engaged. But Glen sets the record straight that they’re not officially engaged, just that he’s a strong candidate. Glen makes his feelings to Julia clear to her with a Big Damn Kiss.
- Jerkass: The entire Layfaette and their servants fit this like a glove towards Julia.
- Mama Bear: Celestine was this towards her daughter, Julia. After she’s raped by her lover’s father, she doesn’t hesitate to live in seclusion as a means to protect her unborn child from Maximillien‘s wrath. She loved her baby wholeheartedly, and didn’t hesitate to go to her lover’s father for protection. In her final hours, Celestine hid Julia away before Maximillien’s goons hunt them down. Julia managed to survive because of this.
- Nice Guy: Glen De Vestris is the first person to have treated Julia with real kindness. He found her severely wounded when she wonders by his carriage and passes out from fatigue, and when he sees her blood soaking his hand as he examines her, he immediately decides to take her home to heal her. Keep in mind that he’s a duke from one of the most powerful families of the country, and given the typical attitude of the average aristocrat, it would have been expected of him to dismissed a random peasant, but he does no such thing. He welcomes her as a guest to his estate, gifts her beautiful clothing, and has her waited upon by servants. While he is jealous of how devoted Julia is to Camille, his main motivation to keep her by his side is to protect her from the Lafayette family and their servants.
- Oblivious to Love: Julia is clueless that Glen has his heart set on her and can’t understand why a nobleman like Glen would be so kind and doting on a commoner like her, but is grateful to have a friend like him. Glen wishes they can be more than friends but doesn’t want to be forceful on his feelings towards her. Julia herself becomes this trope when Ophelia comes by and tears her down because she claims to be Glen’s “fiancée”. But this makes Julia confused over why her heart ached over Glen’s “betrothal” to her.
- That was the case, until Julia fell in love with Glen for real after he saves her from her torture and imprisonment from Camille’s love, with Glen more than happy to reciprocate her feelings.
- Official Couple: 3 months after Glen rescues Julia from Camille, he hosts a social gathering so that he can announce his engagement with her and prove she has Arcana.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Julia and Glen definitely fit this category; the former has a more of a blueish tint coloring of her hair, most likely to stand her out between Glen.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Julia is extremely beautiful on account of her gorgeous dark hair going past her waist and pale complexion, but unfortunately, her love interest, Camille, is a MAJOR Yandere and is good at hiding his true colors around her. As if she didn’t have enough trouble from the jealous servants who bully her because of Camille’s infatuation of her, she’s also beaten and on two occasions, nearly raped by Camille’s older brother, Gregory. Later on she’s accosted by an older man who was displeased from his recent visit from a local brothel because he thought the hookers at said brothel were old hags, and one look at Julia made the bastard try to force himself on her, but Camille puts a stop to it and takes her home. Just as Julia is happy to finally be together with Camille, he decides to lock her up in secret part of his home, just so he can keep her all to himself. Good thing Glen puts a stop to it.
- Spotting the Thread: In chapter 35, Glen is suspicious that Gregory could be capable of murdering his own family, especially Camille, since the latter is the only one of the brothers who has Arcana. Glen is especially suspicious when he reaches out to touch Gregory’s shoulder, which made him jumped in fear. He also noted that the corpse of “Camille” got his face completely smashed beyond recognition. Glen comes to conclusions that Camille is the true culprit, forced his brother to take the fall, and faked his own death. Sure enough, Camille comes back into the picture in chapter 38, alive and well. Camille’s inner monologue in the next chapter goes into details that he allowed his cousin to design the Toy Room so he can use to pleasure and torture as he pleased as Camille agreed to cover his cousin’s debts and one day return the favor, as Camille notices how strongly they resemble each other.
- Suddenly Suitable Suitor: While Glen is healing Julia after saving her from Camille’s imprisonment, he finds out she has traces of Arcana, which only those who are of the Blue Blood of the kingdom or ancient nobles can posses it. Julia eventually starts to fall for Glen, but is extremely insecure due their social standing and Ophelia’s threats to stay away from him. But Glen points out her memory loss and for all they know, Julia might be a princess. 3 months later, Glen hosts a social gathering to prove to the world that she does have Arcana, and he made sure to invite the crown prince in order to get the king’s blessings so that he and Julia can be married.
- The Caligula: Maximillien, the king of the main setting turns out to be this. He declares his mistress, Celestine, along with her whole family and anyone else acquainted, to be marked as rebels and executed. All because his father raped and impregnated her, but Maximillien blames her for this so-called “betrayal”. As for his new half-sister, Julia,he’s tried at one point to strangle her himself, and unapologetically orders her killed along with Celestine. Unbeknownst to him, Julia survives, but once the cat’s out of the bag, he decides right then and there to force her to be his new mistress.
- Wicked Stepmother: Glen himself has this in Duchess Suzanne. As a child, his mother was driven insane from his father, the former Duke, because he constantly gambled away their fortune and having multiple affairs, to the point of hitting her own son on some occasions, and Suzanne was always there to comfort him. One day Glen’s mother couldn’t take it anymore and drowned herself. But what shocked Glen the most was watching the Slasher Smile that Suzanne wore on her face. It was all her plan to woo Glen’s father for his wealth via marriage(they were already together by this point), by winning over his son and driving his mother to her death, and never cared a wit of Glen or her husband. But as her husband started ailing, he passed on his title to his son, instead of waiting to pass on as tradition goes. Suzanne hates the possibility that Glen could get married and thus, her title of duchess will be revoked. She’s livid when Julia is brought into the picture, and sics Ophelia on her.
- Yandere:
- Camille. BIG TIME. He’s in love with Julia, yet at the same time wants her to suffer from his servants bullying her because he wants to come off as a Prince Charming, thus make Julia even more in love with him and make her want to stay by his side despite the shit she goes through.
- Until his mother orders Julia to be whipped and kicked out of the estate, Camille SNAPS and threatens to kill the head maid unless Julia is brought back to him. The same head maid referring to Julia as “trash” and a “lowly servant” really didn’t help on what little sanity Camille had left on him. Once they reunite, he chains Julia up in a secret part of the estate called the “Toy Room” and keep her all to himself! This is what finally makes Julia see him for what he is, but is so terrified of Camille to speak out against her imprisonment, so she’s forced to lie that she loves only him.
- Camille reaches his breaking point when he beats up Gregory for trying to rape Julia, but the real kicker is that HE accuses Julia of seducing Gregory, as well as try to escape from the Toy Room, so Camille beats her bloody. And is even more furious when she pleads for Gregory’s mercy(she didn’t want the only other person who knew she’s locked up to die on her). One day Glen visit his family estate but little to his knowledge, it was because his father wanted to discuss the illness of losing their Arcana abilities. He angrily confronts Julia, accusing her of alerting Glen of her imprisonment, and rips off the top of her dress. We aren’t shown any details, but it strongly implied that he rapes her.
- Once he finds Julia again, she shields Glen from his drawing sword, but he stabs her to cut through Glen, heals her, then leaves Glen to die. Fortunately he survives, and Camille is utterly surprised over Julia’s instant submission to him once he gives his word to never harm anyone that dares to take her away from him. Once Maximillien comes into the picture, Camille finally understands Julia’s true heart lies with Glen and frees her while he Holds The Line against the royal army.
- His older brother, Gregory, is just as depraved towards his attraction to Julia as is Camille. As much as he loves to beat her up and insult her, deep down he’s captivated by her beauty, but at the same time extremely jealous and full of self-loathing of all the love Camille receives from everyone over him, and is especially jealous of Julia’s relationship with him. Gregory has tried to outright rape her, but gets his ass beaten just as his Camille walks in to put a stop to it. After Julia is flogged and kicked out of his family estate, Gregory beats up the servant responsible for this and threatens to kill him unless Julia is brought back to him so that he can keep her in the “Toy Room”.
- The princess of the country, Ophelia, is extremely possessive of Glen and all in name only sees him as her fiancé. When Suzanne alerts her of Glen taking such and beautiful and kind girl like Julia to live with him and dote on, Ophelia literally kicks her down, while wearing high heels, and threatens that she can order Julia killed unless she leaves him. Julia later confides in Glen of her fears over coming between him and Ophelia’s engagement, but he sets the record straight that he’s not Ophelia’s official fiancé, just that he’s a likely candidate. Ophelia goes off the rocker again when Glen host a social gather to prove Julia is nobility blood with her Arcana abilities and asks for the crown prince’s blessing for his and Julia’s engagement. Ophelia refuses this and tries to attack Julia, calling her a “thief” for winning over Glen, but fortunately her brother, the crown prince, stops her and orders her to back off. But when the palace also hosts its own social gathering, Ophelia uses her Arcana to brainwash several male servants to attack Julia while Glen is away with the crown prince.
- Camille. BIG TIME. He’s in love with Julia, yet at the same time wants her to suffer from his servants bullying her because he wants to come off as a Prince Charming, thus make Julia even more in love with him and make her want to stay by his side despite the shit she goes through.