the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Distance Between Them

The hunting party departed shortly after noon.

The forest paths gradually swallowed groups of riders as nobles split off into smaller parties.

Some followed the eastern trails.

Others rode toward the river.

A few pursued more ambitious routes deeper into the woods.

Cassian was unsurprised when Adrian remained beside him.

Equally unsurprised when everyone else slowly drifted away.

Neither acknowledged it.

The result was the same.

For the first time in a long while, they were alone.

Or as alone as two heavily guarded noblemen could ever be.

For a while neither spoke.

The forest was quiet.

The weather pleasant.

The horses steady beneath them.

Eventually Adrian broke the silence.

"We haven’t done this in years."

Cassian glanced toward him.

"Hunted?"

"No."

A faint smile touched Adrian’s face.

"Talked."

That caught him off guard.

Because Adrian was right.

They saw each other often.

At court.

At family gatherings.

At official functions.

Yet somehow they rarely spoke anymore.

Not like this.

Not as cousins.

Not as boys who had once climbed trees and disappeared into forests to avoid their tutors.

The realization was oddly uncomfortable.

"Life became busy."

Adrian snorted.

"A convenient excuse."

"It happens to be true."

"It usually is."

A brief silence followed.

Then Adrian laughed softly.

"Do you remember the old lake near the western estate?"

Cassian immediately groaned.

"No."

"You nearly drowned."

"I slipped."

"You fell out of a boat."

"I was pushed."

"You were not."

"I have chosen to remember events differently."

Adrian laughed.

A genuine laugh.

For a moment the years fell away.

No Crown Prince.

No Duke.

Just two boys again.

Then Adrian’s expression gradually settled.

The laughter faded.

The conversation shifted.

Naturally.

Inevitably.

"Marian seems happier lately."

Cassian’s stomach tightened.

Only slightly.

Enough.

He kept his gaze forward.

"Does she?"

"I think so."

The answer surprised him.

Because Adrian sounded uncertain.

Adrian rarely sounded uncertain.

The Crown Prince adjusted the reins.

Then added quietly,

"Sometimes."

That single word carried more weight than the sentence before it.

Cassian said nothing.

Adrian continued.

"Other times I can’t tell."

The forest suddenly felt very quiet.

"I used to know."

A faint smile appeared.

Melancholy.

"I always knew."

Cassian looked toward him.

Adrian wasn’t really speaking to him anymore.

He was thinking aloud.

"When she was angry."

A pause.

"When she was worried."

Another pause.

"When she wanted something."

The smile widened slightly.

"Especially when she wanted something."

Cassian almost laughed.

That sounded exactly like Marian.

Then Adrian sighed.

"And now I don’t."

The words lingered between them.

Not accusation.

Confusion.

Something far more difficult.

Because confusion implied effort.

Adrian was trying.

Trying and failing.

For the first time, Cassian felt genuinely sorry for him.

Unfortunately that did not solve anything.

After several moments Adrian spoke again.

"You spent three days together."

There it was.

Not suspicion.

A fact.

Cassian nodded.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Direct.

Simple.

The sort of question only Adrian could ask.

Not because he was rude.

Because he expected answers.

The privilege of princes.

Cassian considered his response carefully.

"We got lost."

Adrian stared.

"Obviously."

"We argued."

"I would have been shocked if you hadn’t."

"We nearly froze."

Adrian winced.

"That part I already heard about."

A pause.

Then Cassian added,

"We talked."

For some reason, that answer made Adrian quiet.

Longer than before.

Finally he said,

"I figured."

The reply was soft.

Too soft.

Cassian suddenly understood something.

Adrian had not spent weeks wondering whether something happened.

He already knew something happened.

He simply didn’t know what.

The realization made this conversation significantly more dangerous.

"Did something happen?"

Adrian asked.

Cassian’s heartbeat slowed.

Not sped up.

The reaction surprised him.

Because suddenly the question felt inevitable.

The answer was yes.

Overwhelmingly yes.

Everything had happened.

But Adrian wasn’t asking the question Marian would hear.

He was asking:

Was there danger?

Was there conflict?

Was there something I should know?

Cassian chose his words carefully.

"Nothing happened that shouldn’t have."

Technically true.

Painfully true.

Adrian studied him.

Then nodded slowly.

The answer satisfied him.

Partially.

Which was worse.

Because Adrian wasn’t finished.

"I asked Marian."

Cassian looked at him sharply.

The Crown Prince noticed.

Of course he noticed.

"She said something similar."

Silence.

Then Adrian smiled.

Without humor.

"Which means neither of you answered the question."

Cassian almost laughed.

Because that sounded exactly like Adrian.

Sharp.

Observant.

Persistent.

The qualities that would make him a formidable Emperor someday.

Unfortunately those same qualities made him difficult to deceive.

Adrian’s gaze returned to the trail.

Then, quietly:

"Did she say something to you?"

Cassian froze.

This question was different.

Not what happened.

Not the forest.

Not survival.

Trust.

That was what Adrian was asking about.

Trust.

"She talks to me."

The answer came carefully.

"That wasn’t my question."

No.

It wasn’t.

For the first time, Adrian looked directly at him.

Not as Crown Prince.

Not as future Emperor.

As Marian’s fiancé.

As his cousin.

As a man.

"Did she tell you something she wouldn’t tell me?"

The truth struck like a blade.

Yes.

More than Adrian could possibly imagine.

Cassian looked away first.

The movement answered more than words would have.

Fortunately Adrian interpreted it differently.

Or perhaps not.

The Crown Prince exhaled slowly.

Then laughed once.

A tired sound.

"I suppose that’s my answer."

Guilt settled heavily inside Cassian’s chest.

For a while neither spoke.

Then Adrian said something that changed everything.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

Simply as a statement of fact.

"Marian matters to me."

Cassian closed his eyes briefly.

Because that was the problem.

Of course she did.

She mattered to Adrian.

She mattered to him.

And somehow those two truths had become incompatible.

Adrian’s voice remained calm.

"If there’s a problem, tell me."

"There isn’t."

The answer came immediately.

Adrian glanced at him.

Then asked quietly,

"Then why do I feel like there is?"

The forest offered no answer.

Neither did Cassian.

And for the remainder of the ride, both men carried their silence like a burden.

Because for the first time, Adrian had stopped speaking as a Crown Prince.

And started speaking as the man standing on the other side of the choice Marian had placed before Cassian.

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