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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 112: What do you want? · Oct 27, 2026

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Chapter List (304)

Page number / 7

101 Chapter 101: I Missed You 2026-10-27
102 Chapter 102: A Moment of Peace 2026-10-27
103 Chapter 103: The End of Questions 2026-10-27
104 Chapter 104: Beside Her 2026-10-27
105 Chapter 105: The First Move 2026-10-27
106 Chapter 106: The First Ripple 2026-10-27
107 Chapter 107: The Crown Prince Moves 2026-10-27
108 Chapter 108: The Last Olive Branch 2026-10-27
109 Chapter 109: Between Storms 2026-10-27
110 Chapter 110: The Name 2026-10-27
111 Chapter 111: The distance between us 2026-10-27
112 Chapter 112: What do you want? 2026-10-27
113 Chapter 113: Just Cassian 2026-10-27
114 Chapter 114: Then What? 2026-10-27
115 Chapter 115: The Audience 2026-10-27
116 Chapter 116: A Father’s Argument 2026-10-27
117 Chapter 117: And What of My Son? 2026-10-27
118 Chapter 118: Why Him? 2026-10-27
119 Chapter 119: If I Refuse 2026-10-27
120 Chapter 120: The Future 2026-10-27
121 Chapter 121: The Weight of a Crown 2026-10-27
122 Chapter 122: My Son Deserves Better 2026-10-27
123 Chapter 123: For the Best 2026-10-27
124 Chapter 124: Good News 2026-10-27
125 Chapter 125: The Road Ahead 2026-10-27
126 Chapter 126: Letting Go 2026-10-27
127 Chapter 127: The Proceedings 2026-10-27
128 Chapter 128: His Nephew 2026-10-27
129 Chapter 129: How Did This Happen? 2026-10-27
130 Chapter 130: My Brother’s Son 2026-10-27
131 Chapter 131: The Price 2026-10-27
132 Chapter 132: The Cost 2026-10-27
133 Chapter 133: Ashford House 2026-10-27
134 Chapter 134: Patience 2026-10-27
135 Chapter 135: Yours 2026-10-27
136 Chapter 136: Spring 2026-10-27
137 Chapter 137: The Invitation 2026-10-27
138 Chapter 138: The Season 2026-10-27
139 Chapter 139: Afterward 2026-10-27
140 Chapter 140: Questions 2026-10-27
141 Chapter 141: Attention 2026-10-27
142 Chapter 142: Answers 2026-10-27
143 Chapter 143: Waiting 2026-10-27
144 Chapter 144: His Grace, Duke Ashford 2026-10-27
145 Chapter 145: Home 2026-10-27
146 Chapter 146: Welcome Home 2026-10-27
147 Chapter 147: The Space Between Them 2026-10-27
148 Chapter 148: This Dance 2026-10-27
149 Chapter 149: Reality Returns 2026-10-27
150 Chapter 150: The Ring 2026-10-27

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: What do you want?

The silence lingered after Adrian’s final words.

”I don’t understand.”

Neither of them spoke.

The Emperor remained seated behind his desk.

Adrian sat opposite him.

The city stretched beyond the windows.

Unchanged.

Indifferent.

For several moments, the only sound in the room was the distant ticking of a clock.

Then the Emperor exhaled slowly.

Thoughtfully.

And for the first time since the conversation began, the father receded.

Not completely.

Never completely.

But enough.

He had heard the story.

The emotions.

The regrets.

The mistakes.

Now came the unpleasant part.

Reality.

The Emperor folded his hands.

”The request can be denied.”

Adrian looked up.

The statement was simple.

Matter-of-fact.

Not a threat.

Not a promise.

A fact.

”The audience can be delayed.”

Silence.

”Duke Valmort can be pressured.”

Another pause.

”The matter can remain unresolved for months if necessary.”

The Emperor’s gaze never left him.

”The court would support such a decision.”

Which was true.

No one would openly oppose the Crown Prince.

Not in a matter like this.

Not when Marian was the one requesting release.

Not when Adrian had done nothing visibly wrong.

The Emperor continued.

”Politically, your position is stronger.”

Adrian said nothing.

Because that was also true.

The Emperor leaned back slightly.

Then added:

”Cassian can be reassigned.”

The room grew still.

”The capital is not the only place in the Empire that requires capable men.”

Silence.

The Emperor watched carefully.

Very carefully.

There.

A reaction.

Small.

Subtle.

But present.

Interesting.

The mention of Cassian had provoked more visible emotion than anything involving Marian.

The Emperor stored the observation away.

Then finally:

”What do you want?”

The question settled between them.

Simple.

Direct.

Not as Emperor.

As father.

What do you want?

The answer came immediately.

Without hesitation.

Without thought.

As though Adrian had known it all along.

”I don’t want to let her go.”

The Emperor nodded once.

”I know.”

The admission seemed to drain something from Adrian.

Not relief.

Nothing so simple.

Merely exhaustion.

Because saying it aloud made it real.

Made it impossible to hide behind explanations.

Or logic.

Or pride.

That was the truth.

The ugly truth sitting underneath everything else.

The Emperor was silent for several moments.

Then:

”And Marian?”

Adrian frowned.

”What about her?”

”What do you want for her?”

The question caught him off guard.

He had expected discussions of politics.

Of strategy.

Of consequences.

Not this.

The answer came naturally.

Instinctively.

”I don’t want her harmed.”

The Emperor wasn’t surprised.

Not remotely.

Not once during the entire conversation had Adrian suggested punishment.

Not once had he spoken of consequences for Marian.

Not once had he expressed anger toward her.

Frustration.

Certainly.

Confusion.

Absolutely.

But not anger.

Interesting.

The Emperor asked another question.

”And Cassian?”

The change was immediate.

Small.

Subtle.

Yet impossible for a father to miss.

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

His eyes hardened.

Not dramatically.

Not enough for most people to notice.

Enough for the Emperor.

Silence stretched.

Then:

”He knew.”

The words emerged quietly.

Almost cold.

The Emperor remained silent.

Allowing him to continue.

”He knew she was engaged.”

A pause.

”He knew who she was.”

Another.

”He knew what she meant.”

The room grew quiet.

The Emperor understood immediately.

Not the words.

The difference.

Because Adrian had spent the entire conversation explaining Marian.

Defending Marian.

Excusing Marian.

She had been hurt.

She had been angry.

She had been confused.

She believed she loved Cassian.

Every explanation had been for her.

Not once had Adrian offered the same courtesy to Cassian.

Not once.

And suddenly the Emperor understood something important.

Adrian had already assigned blame.

Not consciously.

Not deliberately.

But he had.

Marian was someone to forgive.

Cassian was not.

The realization settled heavily inside him.

Because it explained everything.

Adrian wasn’t fighting for an engagement.

He was fighting for Marian.

And somewhere deep inside, he still believed she could come back.

That was the difference.

The Emperor folded his hands.

”You believe she made a mistake.”

It wasn’t a question.

Adrian’s gaze lowered.

Then:

”Yes.”

Simple.

Certain.

The Emperor nodded slowly.

”And Cassian?”

A long silence followed.

Long enough that another man might have avoided answering.

Eventually:

”I don’t know what he was thinking.”

The answer sounded honest.

Brutally honest.

”I keep trying to understand it.”

His jaw tightened.

”I can’t.”

The Emperor watched quietly.

Adrian stared at the floor.

At memories.

At regrets.

At possibilities.

At futures that no longer existed.

Then:

”He should have stayed away.”

The words escaped before he could stop them.

The room fell silent.

Adrian closed his eyes briefly.

Because there it was.

The truth.

Not the polished version.

The real one.

”He should have known better.”

The Emperor listened.

”He knew who she was.”

Another pause.

”He knew she was promised.”

The frustration finally surfaced.

Not explosive.

Not loud.

Worse.

Quiet.

Controlled.

Years of discipline wrapped around hurt.

”And he still stepped forward.”

The room grew still.

The Emperor understood.

Not because he necessarily agreed.

Because he understood how Adrian saw it.

Cassian had entered through a door Adrian believed should never have been opened.

And once opened—

Everything had changed.

The Emperor remained silent.

Allowing the emotion to settle.

Then finally:

”And if I send him away?”

The question arrived unexpectedly.

Adrian looked up.

The Emperor held his gaze.

Steady.

Calm.

”If I transfer him.”

Silence.

”If I remove him from the capital.”

Another pause.

”If I separate them.”

The room felt smaller.

Heavier.

The Emperor watched carefully.

Waiting.

Adrian’s answer did not come immediately.

For the first time, uncertainty appeared.

Not because he didn’t want it.

Because he had imagined it.

More than once.

Cassian gone.

Distance restored.

Everything returning to the way it had been.

The fantasy was familiar.

Comforting.

Dangerous.

Then Adrian exhaled.

Slowly.

And something strange happened.

For the first time in the entire conversation—

he hesitated.

The Emperor noticed.

Of course he did.

And suddenly the realization struck him.

His son wasn’t imagining a world without Cassian.

He was imagining Marian’s reaction to it.

And that reaction troubled him.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The Emperor leaned back.

The pieces finally beginning to fit together.

Marian.

Cassian.

Adrian.

Not politics.

People.

Always people.

And people were infinitely more difficult than politics.

The silence stretched.

Then finally the Emperor spoke.

Quietly.

Thoughtfully.

”You’re asking me to keep her.”

Adrian looked up.

The Emperor’s gaze remained steady.

”Not the engagement.”

A pause.

”Her.”

The words settled between them.

Heavy.

Unavoidable.

For a moment, Adrian couldn’t answer.

Because for the first time, someone had spoken the truth plainly.

Not the engagement.

Not tradition.

Not politics.

Marian.

The woman herself.

And after everything—

all the explanations,

all the arguments,

all the regrets,

all the mistakes—

the answer remained unchanged.

”Yes.”

The word was almost a whisper.

Yet somehow it filled the room.

The Emperor closed his eyes briefly.

And for the first time since returning to the capital, a headache threatened.

Because now he understood the problem completely.

His son did not want revenge.

He did not want punishment.

He did not want political victory.

He wanted Marian.

And that was the one thing no Emperor could simply place into another person’s hands.

The room fell silent once more.

Heavy.

Thoughtful.

Dangerous.

And for the first time, the Emperor wondered whether there existed any solution that would not leave someone broken by the end of it.

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