the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Seeing You Again

Cassian Ashford had attended hundreds of formal dinners.

Possibly thousands.

After a certain point, they all became the same.

The same music.

The same nobles.

The same conversations.

The same mothers attempting to introduce daughters.

The same daughters pretending not to want introductions.

Nothing ever changed.

Tonight should have been no different.

Which explained why he had spent the last twenty minutes pretending not to look toward the ballroom entrance.

The situation was becoming embarrassing.

Even by his standards.

"Your Grace."

Cassian turned automatically.

Smiled automatically.

Answered automatically.

Years of practice made such things effortless.

The noblewoman speaking to him appeared pleased.

Cassian had absolutely no idea what she had been discussing.

Which was unfortunate.

Fortunately, she seemed too distracted by his face to notice.

A problem he had spent most of his life dealing with.

Normally it amused him.

Tonight it merely felt inconvenient.

Because his attention kept drifting elsewhere.

Specifically toward the entrance.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

The most handsome man in the Empire had apparently become incapable of basic self-control.

Then the ballroom doors opened.

And Marian entered.

Cassian forgot the conversation immediately.

The room disappeared.

The music disappeared.

The people disappeared.

Everything vanished.

Because Marian was standing there.

The pale blue gown.

The blonde hair.

The porcelain skin.

The blue eyes he knew far better than he should.

The sight struck him with surprising force.

Not because she was beautiful.

She had always been beautiful.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that now he knew things.

The way she laughed when she forgot to be careful.

The way she wrinkled her nose when annoyed.

The way she complained while secretly enjoying herself.

The way she looked when she first woke up.

The way she touched his face before dawn.

The memories arrived all at once.

Mercilessly.

And suddenly the elegant young lady entering the ballroom became impossible to separate from the woman who had spent three days beside him in the forest.

This was unfair.

Profoundly unfair.

--

Across the room, Marian froze.

Internally.

Externally she remained perfectly composed.

Years of noble education had not been wasted.

Unfortunately, her heart appeared determined to embarrass her.

Because there he was.

Cassian Ashford.

The most handsome man in the Empire.

A title Marian had always considered exaggerated.

Now she suspected it was entirely accurate.

The man looked ridiculous.

Not in a bad way.

In an unfair way.

A way that should have been illegal.

Dark hair.

Dark eyes.

Perfectly tailored formalwear.

Broad shoulders.

That irritating confidence that followed him everywhere.

The sort of appearance capable of destroying common sense on sight.

Marian had always mocked women who behaved foolishly around handsome men.

Now she owed several women an apology.

The realization was deeply unpleasant.

She immediately looked away.

Because she possessed dignity.

The fact that she looked back several seconds later was unrelated.

Entirely unrelated.

And then she made a terrible discovery.

She was disappointed when she found him talking to someone else.

The realization nearly killed her.

Immediately.

Violently.

Thoroughly.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

She had truly lost her mind.

"Lady Marian."

She smiled automatically.

Answered automatically.

Spoke automatically.

The next several conversations passed in a blur.

Because no matter what she did, she remained aware of one thing.

Cassian was in the room.

Somewhere.

Always somewhere.

The awareness followed her everywhere.

Like a second heartbeat.

Steady.

Constant.

Impossible to ignore.

--

Across the ballroom, Adrian watched her.

Not suspiciously.

Not possessively.

Simply attentively.

The way he had been trying to do ever since her return.

Marian smiled.

Spoke.

Laughed.

Everything appeared normal.

Yet something felt different.

Again.

That same strange feeling that had followed him for days.

As though something had shifted while she was gone.

Something he could sense.

But not understand.

Then Marian’s attention moved.

Only briefly.

A glance.

Nothing more.

Yet Adrian followed it instinctively.

And found Cassian.

The sight should have meant nothing.

Cassian was his cousin.

His closest friend.

One of the men responsible for helping search for Marian.

There was no reason whatsoever for the sight to linger in his mind.

And yet—

for some reason, it did.

The memory arrived unexpectedly.

Three days.

The thought appeared without warning.

Not three hours.

Not an afternoon.

Three days.

Three days lost together in a forest.

Three days searching.

Walking.

Talking.

Eating.

Surviving.

The realization felt strangely different now.

Not because the information was new.

He had known from the beginning that Marian and Cassian had disappeared together.

Everyone knew.

Yet until this moment, it had remained little more than a fact.

Now, for some reason, it became real.

Adrian suddenly realized he had never asked.

Not properly.

Not once.

He had asked whether Marian was injured.

Whether she was sleeping well.

Whether she had recovered.

But never:

What happened?

What did you do?

What did you talk about?

Three days was a long time.

Long enough for countless conversations.

Long enough to share fears.

Stories.

Silences.

Long enough to truly know someone.

The thought unsettled him.

Because while Adrian had been searching for Marian—

Cassian had been with her.

The realization landed oddly.

Not painful.

Not exactly.

Just uncomfortable.

Like a shirt buttoned incorrectly.

Something small.

Something irrational.

Something impossible to ignore once noticed.

Immediately Adrian pushed the thought aside.

Because it was ridiculous.

Marian was Marian.

Cassian was Cassian.

There was nothing strange about any of it.

Nothing at all.

Yet the feeling remained.

Quietly.

Persistent.

Lingering in the back of his mind long after the moment had passed.

--

The evening continued.

The music played.

The nobles talked.

The food was served.

The world carried on.

Yet somehow all three of them found themselves increasingly distracted.

Marian by Cassian.

Cassian by Marian.

And Adrian by a feeling he could not name.

--

Eventually Marian escaped to the terrace.

Not because she was overwhelmed.

Certainly not.

The fact that she immediately took a deep breath upon reaching fresh air was irrelevant.

Entirely irrelevant.

Moonlight spilled across the stone floor.

The palace gardens stretched below.

Silver beneath the night sky.

For the first time all evening, she relaxed.

Slightly.

Then a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"You survived."

Marian froze.

Immediately.

Because she knew that voice.

Of course she did.

She would know it anywhere.

Slowly she turned.

Cassian stood in the doorway.

One hand tucked into his pocket.

Watching her.

And suddenly every carefully prepared thought vanished.

Gone.

Completely.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

For several seconds neither spoke.

Neither seemed entirely certain how to proceed.

Which was ridiculous.

Three days alone together.

And somehow this was difficult.

Finally Marian smiled.

Small.

Genuine.

Dangerous.

"So did you."

Something softened in Cassian’s expression.

A familiar expression.

One she had not realized she missed until this moment.

And suddenly the ballroom.

The titles.

The distance.

The expectations.

None of it mattered.

Because for the first time since the forest—

they were standing together again.

And neither of them had any idea what came next.

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