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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 69: Panic · Oct 27, 2026

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Chapter List (304)

Page number / 7

51 Chapter 51: The Morning After 2026-10-27
52 Chapter 52: The Last Day 2026-10-27
53 Chapter 53: Before Morning 2026-10-27
54 Chapter 54: When Morning Comes 2026-10-27
55 Chapter 55: The Return 2026-10-27
56 Chapter 56: The Invitation 2026-10-27
57 Chapter 57: Seeing You Again 2026-10-27
58 Chapter 58: Moonlight and Consequences 2026-10-27
59 Chapter 59: Dangerous Things 2026-10-27
60 Chapter 60: Uncomfortable Things 2026-10-27
61 Chapter 61: Habits 2026-10-27
62 Chapter 62: Anticipation 2026-10-27
63 Chapter 63: Arrival 2026-10-27
64 Chapter 64: Appearances 2026-10-27
65 Chapter 65: Distance 2026-10-27
66 Chapter 66: After 2026-10-27
67 Chapter 67: Questions 2026-10-27
68 Chapter 68: No More Pretending 2026-10-27
69 Chapter 69: Panic 2026-10-27
70 Chapter 70: Eye Contact 2026-10-27
71 Chapter 71: Things She Never Asked 2026-10-27
72 Chapter 72: The Distance Between Them 2026-10-27
73 Chapter 73: The Cost 2026-10-27
74 Chapter 74: Tomorrow’s Answer 2026-10-27
75 Chapter 75: Standing Still 2026-10-27
76 Chapter 76: Tomorrow 2026-10-27
77 Chapter 77: Morning 2026-10-27
78 Chapter 78: The Last Quiet Evening 2026-10-27
79 Chapter 79: The Truth 2026-10-27
80 Chapter 80: The Name 2026-10-27
81 Chapter 81: I Don’t Agree 2026-10-27
82 Chapter 82: Consequences 2026-10-27
83 Chapter 83: After 2026-10-27
84 Chapter 84: The Morning After 2026-10-27
85 Chapter 85: Homeward 2026-10-27
86 Chapter 86: Home 2026-10-27
87 Chapter 87: Father 2026-10-27
88 Chapter 88: A Father’s Problem 2026-10-27
89 Chapter 89: The Missing Piece 2026-10-27
90 Chapter 90: What Happens Next 2026-10-27
91 Chapter 91: The Crown Prince’s Decision 2026-10-27
92 Chapter 92: Silence 2026-10-27
93 Chapter 93: Certainty 2026-10-27
94 Chapter 94: The Price 2026-10-27
95 Chapter 95: The Palace 2026-10-27
96 Chapter 96: Yours 2026-10-27
97 Chapter 97: Waiting 2026-10-27
98 Chapter 98: The Price II 2026-10-27
99 Chapter 99: The Answer 2026-10-27
100 Chapter 100: The Next Move 2026-10-27

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Panic

Marian walked away from the garden.

Calmly.

Gracefully.

With every ounce of dignity expected from the future Crown Princess.

At least until she reached the corner.

The moment Cassian disappeared from sight, all dignity immediately abandoned her.

”Oh, God.”

She covered her face with both hands.

Then kept walking.

Fast.

Very fast.

”Oh, God.”

The words escaped again.

Marian lowered her hands just long enough to make sure nobody was nearby.

Then immediately covered her face again.

What had she done?

No.

Better question.

What had possessed her?

She groaned.

The sound would have horrified every etiquette instructor she had ever known.

”If I walk away from that future, am I walking toward you?”

The memory arrived with perfect clarity.

Marian nearly tripped over absolutely nothing.

”No.”

She pointed accusingly at the nearest tree.

”No. We are not repeating that.”

Unfortunately, her memory ignored the instruction.

The words replayed anyway.

Word for word.

Marian made a strangled sound.

Then walked even faster.

Because apparently humiliation could be relived repeatedly.

Who said things like that?

Who?

Certainly not sane people.

And definitely not women attempting to preserve their dignity.

Marian buried her face in her hands again.

”Oh, God.”

Because now she realized something even worse.

Cassian understood exactly what she meant.

Every word.

Every implication.

Every terrifying possibility.

She had not confessed.

Technically.

And yet somehow she had managed to say something infinitely more dangerous.

Because she had not placed her feelings in his hands.

She had placed her future there.

Marian stopped walking.

Then immediately resumed walking because standing still was not helping.

Neither was thinking.

Unfortunately she seemed incapable of stopping either.

By the time she reached her room, she was prepared to spend the remainder of her life hiding beneath a blanket.

The plan seemed reasonable.

She entered.

Closed the door.

Then immediately buried her face in a pillow.

”This is your fault.”

The pillow offered no defense.

Marian glared at it anyway.

Then groaned again.

Because there was nobody else to blame.

She had said the words.

Voluntarily.

With her own mouth.

The realization was deeply upsetting.

And strangely wonderful.

That was the worst part.

Because beneath the embarrassment.

Beneath the panic.

Beneath the overwhelming desire to disappear forever.

There was relief.

For months she had carried those thoughts alone.

Questions.

Doubts.

Fears.

What if?

Today she had finally stopped asking herself.

And asked him instead.

The realization made her stomach flip.

Marian immediately buried her face in the pillow again.

”No.”

The pillow remained unsympathetic.

Meanwhile, Cassian Ashford remained standing exactly where Marian had left him.

Which was unfortunate.

Because he was supposed to be thinking.

Instead he appeared to be staring at absolutely nothing.

A highly unproductive activity.

”Am I walking toward you?”

The words replayed again.

And again.

Cassian closed his eyes.

That had actually happened.

Marian had actually said that.

The realization remained difficult to process.

Not because he doubted her.

Because he didn’t.

Not after that.

Not anymore.

For months Cassian had wondered.

Carefully.

Cautiously.

Never allowing himself too much hope.

Never allowing himself to assume.

Never allowing himself to imagine.

Today Marian had destroyed all of that.

Completely.

Thoroughly.

Without even realizing it.

For a moment, Cassian simply stood there.

Because there was another realization he had not yet allowed himself to examine.

Marian had chosen him.

The thought felt absurd.

Impossible.

Yet there it was.

Not a guess.

Not a hope.

Not wishful thinking.

A fact.

Out of everyone she could have turned to.

Out of every future available to her.

Out of every man in the Empire.

She had looked at him.

Him.

And asked whether he would be there.

The realization sent a strange warmth through his chest.

Part astonishment.

Part disbelief.

And, if he was being completely honest, a dangerous amount of satisfaction.

Not because Marian admired him.

Because Marian knew him.

And had chosen him anyway.

A laugh escaped him.

Soft.

Disbelieving.

Because suddenly an image returned to him.

Not the conversation.

The aftermath.

Marian walking away.

At first calm.

Composed.

Elegant.

Then reaching the corner.

Then very obviously fleeing.

Cassian laughed again.

A real laugh this time.

Because for ten minutes she had stood before him looking brave enough to challenge fate itself.

Then immediately panicked the moment she escaped.

The realization warmed something inside his chest.

Because beneath the courage.

Beneath the intelligence.

Beneath the determination.

She was still Marian.

And somehow that made him like her even more.

Which was a problem.

A very serious problem.

Because he was already in enough trouble.

The smile faded slowly.

As reality returned.

Because there had been another part.

The important part.

The dangerous part.

If I walk away from that future...

Am I walking toward you?

Cassian looked toward the distant hunting lodge.

Toward the room where Marian was undoubtedly hiding from her own embarrassment.

And for the first time, he truly understood what she had given him.

Trust.

Not affection.

Not attraction.

Trust.

The kind that could alter lives.

The kind that could destroy them.

And now she was waiting for an answer.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

But eventually.

The realization settled heavily inside his chest.

Because Marian had spent months preparing herself for that question.

He had spent months avoiding it.

And now avoidance was no longer an option.

That evening Cassian attempted to read.

This failed immediately.

The book remained open.

The same page.

For nearly twenty minutes.

At one point he became aware that he had not actually read a single sentence.

An embarrassing discovery.

He closed the book.

Then leaned back in his chair.

And stared at the ceiling.

Because there was no point pretending anymore.

The answer to Marian’s question mattered.

More than anything else.

And for the first time, Cassian allowed himself to imagine it.

Not the feelings.

Not the attraction.

The future.

A real one.

Marian beside him.

Years from now.

Not as a possibility.

As a choice.

The image arrived so naturally that it startled him.

Because he had expected uncertainty.

Expected hesitation.

Expected doubt.

Instead he found himself wondering something entirely different.

Not whether he wanted that future.

But whether he was brave enough to reach for it.

The realization lingered long after darkness settled outside his window.

And somewhere else in the hunting lodge, Marian was probably still trying very hard not to remember what she had said.

A completely hopeless effort.

Cassian smiled despite himself.

Then looked out into the night.

And wondered whether, for the first time in his life, his heart had already made a decision before the rest of him managed to catch up.

AN: the Chapter where i was smiling all the way.

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