the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Tomorrow

For several moments, neither of them moved.

The night remained quiet around them.

Their hands remained joined.

Neither seemed particularly willing to change either fact.

Which was a problem.

A very pleasant problem.

But a problem nonetheless.

Marian became aware of it first.

Or rather, she became aware that she was still holding Cassian’s hand.

Very aware.

Painfully aware.

The realization arrived all at once.

And immediately turned her into an idiot.

Because now she could feel everything.

The warmth of his hand.

The calluses against her palm.

The way his fingers remained loosely intertwined with hers.

As though letting go simply hadn’t occurred to him.

Or perhaps it had.

And he didn’t want to.

The possibility sent another wave of heat rushing to her face.

Marian stared determinedly at the path.

As though the gravel had suddenly become fascinating.

Beside her, Cassian was suspiciously quiet.

Which meant he had noticed.

Of course he had noticed.

The man missed absolutely nothing.

Especially when she was embarrassing herself.

A terrible trait.

One she strongly disliked.

Mostly because he possessed it.

Then, slowly, she attempted to withdraw her hand.

Not because she wanted to.

Because she was beginning to forget how breathing worked.

Unfortunately, at the exact same moment—

Cassian’s fingers tightened slightly.

Instinctively.

The movement lasted less than a second.

Then both of them froze.

Marian looked up.

Cassian looked down.

And for one brief moment neither knew what to say.

Then Marian laughed.

A helpless sound.

And to her immense satisfaction, Cassian laughed too.

The awkwardness dissolved instantly.

Leaving something softer behind.

Something warmer.

Something infinitely more dangerous.

"So," Marian said.

Cassian raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

"So what happens now?"

The question escaped before she could stop it.

Not because she wanted an answer.

Because she genuinely wanted to know.

Cassian considered it.

Then said:

"I have absolutely no idea."

Marian blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Then stared.

"You don’t?"

"No."

"You?"

"Me."

"The Duke of Ashford?"

"Unfortunately."

Marian looked genuinely offended.

"I thought you had a plan."

Cassian sighed.

"I had a plan."

"You did?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"It involved not falling in love with my cousin’s fiancée."

Marian immediately covered her face.

Because that was completely unfair.

And entirely true.

The worst combination.

Cassian’s laughter followed.

Warm.

Unrestrained.

The sound made her smile despite herself.

Then gradually the laughter faded.

The silence returned.

Gentler this time.

Comfortable.

Neither rushing to fill it.

Marian lowered her hands.

Her gaze drifted toward their joined fingers.

Still there.

Still intertwined.

Still real.

The sight made something ache pleasantly inside her chest.

Then, quietly:

"I don’t regret it."

Cassian turned toward her.

Marian continued before courage could abandon her.

"I don’t regret asking."

A pause.

"I don’t regret any of it."

The forest.

The conversations.

The smiles.

The waiting.

The answer.

Everything.

Cassian watched her for several moments.

Then his expression softened.

Not dramatically.

Just enough.

Enough that Marian felt her heart squeeze.

"Neither do I."

The words landed gently.

Yet somehow they carried the weight of every conversation they’d shared.

The forest.

The snowstorm.

The garden.

Everything.

And Marian suddenly remembered another conversation.

Do you regret saving me?

Never.

The memory made her smile.

Somehow the answer felt exactly the same.

Before either could say anything else—

Voices drifted through the night.

Faint.

Distant.

But unmistakable.

People.

Looking for them.

Reality had finally caught up.

Marian groaned.

Softly.

As though personally offended.

Cassian looked equally unimpressed.

Which made her feel better.

Only slightly.

The voices grew closer.

The spell gradually broke.

Not completely.

Just enough to remind them that the world still existed.

The lodge.

The guests.

The engagement.

Tomorrow.

All of it.

For the first time that evening, neither looked particularly enthusiastic about returning.

Then Marian hesitated.

Because there was one question she almost asked.

The question.

The future.

What came next.

Would she break the engagement?

Would they tell Adrian?

What happened now?

The words rose to her lips.

Then stopped.

Because somehow she already knew.

This was not the place.

Not the time.

Not tonight.

Tonight had already changed everything.

The difficult conversations could wait until tomorrow.

Cassian seemed to reach the same conclusion.

Because after a moment he simply said:

"Tomorrow."

One word.

Yet Marian immediately understood.

Not avoidance.

A promise.

Tomorrow they would talk about the future.

Tomorrow they would face reality.

Tomorrow they would decide what came next.

But tonight—

Tonight belonged to them.

Marian smiled.

A small smile.

Then nodded.

"Tomorrow."

Reluctantly, their fingers separated.

Slowly.

Neither particularly happy about it.

Then they began walking back toward the lodge.

The lights grew brighter as they approached.

The sounds of the gathering returned.

Reality waiting patiently for them.

By the time they stepped inside, several people had already noticed their absence.

Fortunately no one seemed particularly concerned.

A duke and a noble lady taking a walk.

Perfectly respectable.

Perfectly ordinary.

Marian doubted anything had ever felt less ordinary.

The remainder of the evening passed in a blur.

She remembered conversations.

Probably.

At least she assumed she participated in them.

People responded to her answers.

Which suggested she had spoken.

Beyond that, everything was vague.

One thing she remembered clearly.

Adrian.

At some point he approached her.

Concerned.

Gentle.

"You’re smiling."

Marian blinked.

Then immediately tried to stop smiling.

Which failed.

Completely.

Adrian looked amused.

"I take it you’re enjoying yourself."

The question should have made her feel guilty.

Instead she felt something much worse.

Awkward.

Because she was enjoying herself.

Far too much.

"I think I’m tired."

The excuse emerged quickly.

Not entirely untrue.

Emotionally, she was exhausted.

Adrian’s expression softened.

"You should rest."

Marian nodded immediately.

Far too quickly.

Fortunately Adrian didn’t seem to notice.

Or perhaps he simply chose not to comment.

Either way, she was grateful.

A short while later she escaped.

Retreating to her room before anyone could stop her.

The moment the door closed behind her—

Marian froze.

Silence.

Complete silence.

Then she walked to the bed.

Sat down.

Stared at the wall.

For approximately three seconds.

And promptly collapsed face-first into a pillow.

A muffled sound emerged.

Then another.

Then several more.

Because she had finally reached her limit.

The happiness she’d been holding together all evening exploded at once.

She rolled onto her back.

Covered her face.

Then immediately uncovered it again.

Because that somehow made it worse.

Her hand drifted upward.

The same hand he had held.

Marian stared at it.

Then remembered—

I don’t think I’ve been standing anywhere else for a very long time.

She buried her face back into the pillow.

Immediately.

Without hesitation.

Because absolutely nobody should be allowed to say things like that.

It was unfair.

Completely unfair.

And if she thought about it one more time—

She might never recover.

The thought should have been alarming.

Instead, Marian found herself smiling into the darkness.

Tomorrow.

For the first time in a very long time—

She was looking forward to it.

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