the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 176: Chapter 176: the emperor is dead

(Cassian - Outside the Capital)

Cassian received the news shortly after dawn.

The messenger found him at the inn where he had been staying since arriving outside the capital.

He had spent the past several days waiting.

Waiting for the gates to open.

Waiting for news of the Emperor.

Waiting for word from inside the city.

There had been little of either.

Cassian had learned to accept the silence.

He had also learned not to mistake it for good news.

He took the sealed message from the messenger.

His eyes moved over the first lines.

The Emperor had died.

For a moment, Cassian simply stared at the page.

His uncle was gone.

He lowered the letter.

He had known the Emperor was gravely ill.

He had known the situation was serious.

But knowing that death was possible was different from seeing the words written before him.

Cassian closed his eyes briefly.

He remembered his uncle as he had always known him.

Not only as Emperor.

As family.

A man who had been present throughout his childhood.

A man he had respected.

A man whose approval had always mattered, even when Cassian had pretended otherwise.

He folded the message carefully.

"Has the succession been proclaimed?"

The messenger nodded.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Cassian looked toward him.

"His Highness?"

"His Majesty Emperor Adrian has assumed the throne."

Cassian was silent.

Adrian.

His cousin was Emperor now.

The thought felt strange.

Only weeks ago, Adrian had been the Crown Prince.

Now the entire Empire belonged to him.

Cassian looked toward the window.

The capital was still visible in the distance.

Its gates remained closed.

"Has anything changed?"

The messenger hesitated.

"Not yet, Your Grace."

Cassian nodded.

He understood.

The Emperor had died.

The succession had changed.

The mourning period would begin.

The investigation would continue.

And Cassian was still outside the gates.

He did not need anyone to explain why.

If he entered the capital now, people would notice.

They would question his presence.

The Emperor’s nephew.

The son of the Emperor’s brother.

Second in the line of succession.

Entering the capital immediately after the Emperor’s death could easily be interpreted as something more than a nephew coming home to mourn.

Even if he had no such intention.

Especially now that Adrian had inherited the throne.

Cassian would not give anyone a reason to misunderstand him.

He looked at his secretary.

"We remain here."

The secretary nodded.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Cassian turned back toward the window.

"Until the proper authorities permit entry."

"Of course."

He dismissed them.

When the door closed, Cassian remained standing.

His thoughts turned immediately to Marian.

The wedding.

He had returned to the capital intending to marry her.

He had arrived too late.

And now the Emperor was dead.

He wondered what Marian had been told.

Whether she knew he had reached the capital.

Whether she knew he had been waiting outside.

Whether she had received the letter he sent her the day he arrived.

By now, it should have reached her.

At least, he hoped it had.

Cassian walked to the desk.

There was no point writing another letter.

Not while the capital remained sealed.

Any correspondence would be subject to scrutiny.

And he had no idea whether anything he sent would reach her quickly enough to matter.

He looked at the calendar.

The wedding date was already behind them.

That realization hurt more than he expected.

He had spent weeks thinking about October 8.

Now it had passed without him standing beside Marian.

Without the ceremony.

Without the vows.

Without the life they had been preparing for.

Cassian closed his eyes briefly.

He would have to tell her himself.

When he was allowed inside.

He would explain everything.

He would tell her that he had come back.

That he had tried.

That he had been waiting outside the capital because there had been no other choice.

And then—

he would take her home.

Cassian opened his eyes.

He would wait.

There was nothing else he could do.

The Empire had lost its Emperor.

His cousin had inherited the throne.

And for the moment, the gates remained closed.

Cassian would respect that.

But the moment they opened, he would go to Marian.

He had already lost their wedding day.

He would not lose another day unnecessarily.

--

The news reached Valmont House in the afternoon.

Marian was in the sitting room when her father entered.

She knew from his expression that something had happened.

"What is it?"

Duke Valmont closed the door behind him.

"The Emperor has died."

Marian stared at him.

For a moment, the words did not seem to register.

"He..."

Her father nodded.

"This morning."

Marian lowered her gaze.

She had known the Emperor was gravely ill. She had known that his condition had worsened.

But knowing someone might die was different from hearing that they had.

The wedding had already passed.

Days had gone by since October 8.

And now the Emperor was dead.

"What happens now?"

"The succession will be formally proclaimed. The funeral arrangements will follow."

"Adrian?"

Her father nodded.

"He is Emperor now."

Marian was quiet.

Adrian.

Her childhood companion.

The man she have once loved.

The Crown Prince who had always been destined for the throne.

Now Emperor.

Then her thoughts went immediately somewhere else.

"Cassian."

Her father looked at her.

"Have you heard anything from him?"

"No."

Marian’s fingers tightened together.

She had been expecting that answer.

The capital had been sealed.

Communications had been restricted.

There had been no way for them to know what was happening outside.

But Cassian had come back.

She knew he had.

He had told her he would.

And Cassian was not the kind of man who would simply disappear after everything they had planned together.

"He must be outside," she said quietly.

Her father didn’t answer.

"Don’t you think so?"

"We don’t know where the Duke is."

Marian nodded.

Of course they didn’t.

But somehow, she could picture it.

Cassian arriving at the capital.

Finding the gates closed.

Being told that no one could enter.

And then waiting.

Because he would understand the situation.

Because he would know exactly what it meant to force his way inside now.

Because he was Cassian.

"He’s probably trying to get in," she said.

Her father remained silent.

Marian looked toward the window.

The capital stretched beyond it, its streets quieter than they should have been.

Somewhere beyond those walls, Cassian might be waiting.

Perhaps in an inn.

Perhaps with one of his political allies.

Perhaps somewhere she would never be able to find him.

She stood.

"I could send someone to look for him."

Her father looked at her immediately.

"No."

The answer was quiet, but firm.

Marian stopped.

"Father—"

"Not now."

She understood why.

The Emperor had just died.

The circumstances surrounding his illness remained uncertain.

Adrian had only just inherited the throne.

The capital was still sealed.

And Cassian—

Cassian was the Emperor’s nephew.

The son of the Emperor’s brother.

Second in line to the throne.

Older than Adrian.

Any attempt to secretly send a person beyond the gates to locate him could be interpreted in ways neither of them intended.

Marian lowered her eyes.

"I know."

Her father came closer.

"For now, we do nothing."

She nodded.

There was no point arguing.

She understood the political reality as well as he did.

Still, her thoughts refused to settle.

If Cassian was outside, he would be waiting.

And if he was waiting, he would be thinking of her.

She trusted that much without hesitation.

He had promised he would return.

He had returned.

The fact that she couldn’t see him did not change that.

Marian looked once more toward the windows.

"I just wish I knew where he was."

Her father said nothing.

Neither of them knew.

And that was the hardest part.

Marian had spent days believing Cassian was simply delayed.

Now she knew he had made it back to the capital’s vicinity.

Yet the walls between them remained.

She sat down again.

The wedding had already passed.

The Emperor was dead.

The capital was still sealed.

And somewhere beyond those walls, she could only hope Cassian was waiting for her too.

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