the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: The Question

The remainder of the ride should have been awkward.

Marian had expected awkward.

She had prepared for awkward.

She had earned awkward.

After all, she had just admitted that she and Cassian were deliberately seeking each other out.

A perfectly reasonable thing to say.

If one happened to be completely out of one’s mind.

Yet somehow, the awkwardness never quite arrived.

At least not in the way she expected.

For a few minutes, certainly.

There had been silence.

The sort that followed after saying something one could not take back.

The sort that made Marian suddenly fascinated by trees.

There were many trees.

Thousands, probably.

A remarkable number of trees.

Anything was preferable to looking at Cassian.

Unfortunately, Cassian appeared equally determined to avoid looking at her.

Which somehow made everything worse.

Then, inevitably, one of them spoke.

Marian could not later remember who.

Only that the conversation resumed.

And once it resumed, it became frighteningly normal.

That was the problem.

Not the tension.

Not the attraction.

Not the awareness.

The ease.

The terrible, dangerous ease.

Because talking to Cassian had somehow become effortless.

A realization Marian hated.

Especially because another realization followed immediately behind it.

Talking to Adrian had never been effortless.

Not because Adrian was difficult.

Because Adrian was careful.

Measured.

Responsible.

Every conversation with him carried weight.

Purpose.

Expectation.

Cassian simply talked.

And somehow that felt more dangerous.

The thought lingered long after she tried to dismiss it.

Eventually the group reached a clearing overlooking a valley.

The organizers declared it an opportunity to rest.

Which appeared to mean that nobles immediately scattered in every direction.

Some sought food.

Some sought scenery.

Some sought opportunities to be admired.

Marian suspected the last category was the largest.

The riders dismounted.

Servants appeared.

Conversations resumed.

The clearing slowly transformed into a temporary gathering.

Marian led her horse away from the largest crowd.

Partly because she preferred quieter places.

Partly because she needed a moment to think.

Partly because she was becoming alarmingly aware whenever Cassian entered her field of vision.

An entirely unreasonable condition.

The horse seemed sympathetic.

At least it didn’t judge her.

Unlike herself.

Marian walked slowly along the edge of the clearing.

The valley stretched below.

Green hills rolling into the distance.

Beautiful.

Peaceful.

Dangerously good for thinking.

Footsteps approached.

Marian didn’t need to turn around.

She already knew.

Which was becoming another problem.

Cassian fell into step beside her.

Leading his own horse.

Neither spoke immediately.

The silence felt different this time.

Not awkward.

Not comfortable.

Something in between.

Something waiting.

For several moments they simply walked.

Then Cassian spoke.

"Can I ask you something?"

Marian immediately regretted existing.

An unfortunate but familiar feeling.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"Whether I like the question."

To her immense disappointment, he laughed.

"Fair."

The sound settled somewhere inconvenient inside her chest.

Marian chose to ignore this.

As usual.

The strategy continued to fail.

Cassian was quiet for another moment.

Then:

"About earlier."

There it was.

The dread.

Immediate.

Absolute.

Marian suddenly became very interested in her horse again.

The horse offered no assistance.

Traitor.

"When you said we were doing it deliberately."

The words hung between them.

Neither moved.

Neither looked at the other.

Marian’s pulse began behaving strangely.

Again.

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

Cassian exhaled slowly.

Then asked:

"What do you want to happen, Marian?"

The question struck harder than she expected.

Not because it was unfair.

Because it wasn’t.

Not because it was intrusive.

Because it wasn’t.

Because she genuinely didn’t know.

Marian stared ahead.

Toward the valley.

Toward the horizon.

Toward literally anything except the man beside her.

What did she want?

Another dance?

Another conversation?

Another walk?

His friendship?

His attention?

His affection?

The terrifying thing was that every answer felt partly true.

And none of them felt complete.

Silence stretched.

Long enough that Cassian finally looked at her.

She could feel it.

Without seeing it.

Without needing to.

"What do you want?" he asked again.

Quieter this time.

Marian swallowed.

"I don’t know."

The admission escaped before she could stop it.

Honest.

Painfully honest.

For once there was no argument.

No clever remark.

No escape.

Just the truth.

She didn’t know.

Cassian studied her for a moment.

Then looked away.

Toward the valley.

Toward the distant hills.

As though considering something.

When he spoke again, his voice was calm.

Perhaps too calm.

"Neither do I."

Marian’s breath caught.

Because somehow that answer felt worse.

Not better.

Worse.

The honesty of it.

The fact that he didn’t have answers either.

The fact that he was standing in the same uncertainty she was.

Neither of them spoke for several moments.

Then Cassian said quietly:

"I don’t think this can stay exactly where it is."

Marian’s grip tightened on the reins.

There it was.

The thing both of them had been avoiding.

The thing neither had named.

The thing growing between conversations and dances and accidental meetings that weren’t accidental anymore.

He was right.

She knew he was right.

That was the problem.

Because if it couldn’t stay here—

then where was it going?

The question settled heavily between them.

Marian opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

For perhaps the first time in her life, words failed her completely.

Then—

"Marian."

Both turned.

Adrian approached from across the clearing.

One hand resting on the reins of his horse.

The afternoon sun catching against his silver hair.

The Crown Prince looked faintly amused.

As though he had been searching for her.

Which, apparently, he had.

"Everyone’s preparing to leave."

The moment shattered instantly.

Not dramatically.

Not violently.

Simply gone.

Like a stone dropped into still water.

The ripples remained.

The surface changed.

Yet the moment itself disappeared.

Marian looked back toward Cassian.

Only briefly.

He had already stepped away.

Not far.

Just enough.

The distance felt deliberate.

Necessary.

Adrian reached them a moment later.

Entirely unaware.

"Have I interrupted something?"

The question was innocent.

Casual.

Harmless.

Marian nearly laughed.

Cassian, somehow, looked perfectly composed.

"Not at all."

Liar.

The realization arrived immediately.

And judging by the brief flicker in Cassian’s eyes—

he knew she was thinking it.

For one absurd moment, Marian almost smiled.

Then the group began moving again.

The opportunity vanished.

The conversation ended.

The question remained.

What do you want to happen next?

For the rest of the ride, Marian could not stop thinking about it.

And the worst part?

For the first time, she suspected there might not be an answer that left everyone unharmed.

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