
i'm so confused too i wanna know, but i like your theory about him being able to know her true thoughts in her past life. maybe because he was the owner of the sword and he retained his memories from his past life, he also retains the swords memory? so that whole journey of her fighting and scouring to find all the swords just to reverse time, he witnessed that and fell in love??

I don't think he completely remebers his past life
He sees them as fragments and is unsure if they are true or not
And about him loving eki
Idk it was not like that in the chapters I've seen
But yeah he might have had a crush on her
And if you think about it love at first sight also exists so he doesn't have to be a masochist or anything to like her
And even if he didn't liked her I think it was just in his nature to give someone a chance plus it wasn't easy to kill her she was strong enough to beat them all
But since he gave her too many of them I would love to conclude that he liked her (not loved her cuz for that they fr needed to have some communication)

If you want to read the novel, here's the link— https://fourseasonsforest.wordpress.com/the-flower-with-a-sword/
The chapters are being uploaded up to side stories when I read the novel, but I don't know why the chapters are being removed, then re-uploaded again.

i said the masochist thing because it felt like the only other time he could have fallen in love with her was when she was literally attacking him and killed his ahh if he completely remembers the past, came back to the currently timeline and is in love with her why SHOULDNT i think his ahh is a masochist

SPOILER
Yurien found out that the reason why the bardergiosa went to the Roaz estate was just because he looked at Eki for a short minute because he saw that out of all the people there, Eki is the only one with a pure fire or orb like ember spirit, or it might been purple but you know something that caught his eye. And then his brother the 2nd prince noticed it and targeted the Roaz for their plot to bring down Yul. some time or years passed when Eki already got possessed by the bardergiosa, Yul recognized Eki because of her spirit color and how even though it was being swallowed by malice, her spirit still tries to fight it and that's the reason why he saved and kept her in the dungeon and gave her a chance of survival. Every time he visits her, he checks her spirit and it shows that she is definitely fighting her way to breaking free. He was silently hoping that she wins her battle with her malice so he can learn more about her since he is genuinely interested with her.
Then when he was away, you know that time when Eki got out of the dungeon and murder everyone in the city including Yul. That time Yul was meeting with the first prince and learned that the 2nd prince was behind it all and he was able to put two and two together as to why the Roaz was chosen to bear the bardergiosa. He was filled with guilt and he felt the he was responsible as to why Eki turned into a monster by the bardergiosa. That's why when he was killed by Eki he did not get mad or anything instead he felt sorry deeply sorry for Eki and that he wished he didn't look at her at that banquet. and when he woke up after that his giosa showed him how Eki collected all the giosa and how Eki cried and kept apologizing for killing him and all the wrongs she did.
TBH, he really was just curios with her first but then that curiosity turned into much more especially that part when he saw how her spirit was the brightest that he saw. Not to mention anyone who holds the bardergiosa gets mad and dies but Eki was able to wield it for many years even when mad. That shows how great Eki's innate talent was. He really idolizes her even before he knew it himself.
I also love the part where he keeps checking on her in the dungeon and waiting for her to regain her sanity so Eki can tell him her name and it was also the same with Eki. Even without words they both want the best for each other.
I just love this story that I really paid a translator app so I can read it HAHAHAHAHAH ( P.s this is all from how I remember it so that's why I can't really remember some details. )
okay genuinely what in the world could have possibly made yurien fall in love with eki?? cuz as the leader of the knights back then there’s no way he wasn’t informed of the true identity of the owner of the sword and we’ve already confirmed that he has his memories from before she turned back time. and there was little to no opportunity where he could’ve fallen for her before she turned back time too like unless he’s some sort of a masochist who likes women who kill him or are stronger than him there’s no other explanation i fear or maybe during the time she was locked up in the dungeon she could hear her voice and heard what she was saying about how she will try her best to break free from the cursed sword BUT if that were the case why didn’t he talk back to her if he can hear her voice??? like genuinely someone explain this to me i don’t care if it’s a spoiler i just need to know when he fell in love with her cuz the storyline ain’t lining up