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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 149: Reality Returns · 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 149: Chapter 149: Reality Returns

The applause gradually faded.

Conversation returned.

The ballroom resumed its rhythm.

Reality followed shortly afterward.

Cassian’s gaze moved across the room.

Then stopped.

Marian followed it instinctively.

The warmth lingering from the dance faltered slightly.

Adrian.

The realization arrived immediately.

Not because she had forgotten he was there.

Because she had.

For nearly ten minutes, the rest of the ballroom had ceased to exist.

The discovery was mildly embarrassing.

And deeply inconvenient.

”We should greet him.”

Marian’s smile faded slightly.

The suggestion was inevitable.

That did not make it appealing.

For a brief moment, she considered pretending she hadn’t heard him.

The thought lasted less than a second.

Avoiding Adrian now would only make things worse.

Unfortunately, approaching him did not seem particularly attractive either.

Marian released a quiet breath.

Then nodded.

Together, they crossed the ballroom.

Each step felt unnecessarily deliberate.

The realization settled heavily in Marian’s chest.

Because suddenly she found herself confronting a problem she had successfully avoided for months.

How was she supposed to speak to Adrian?

The question should not have been difficult.

They had spent eighteen years talking to one another.

Eighteen years.

And yet somehow that only made it worse.

Because Marian remembered exactly how things had ended.

The lodge.

The argument.

The look on Adrian’s face.

The realization lingered unpleasantly.

Not because she regretted her decision.

She didn’t.

But decisions and consequences had always been different things.

And for the first time in months, she was about to stand directly in front of one of hers.

Adrian saw them coming.

The realization irritated him immediately.

Because there was no reasonable explanation for the irritation.

Ashford was his cousin.

Marian was—

The thought stopped there.

Adrian found himself unwilling to finish it.

”Your Highness.”

Cassian inclined his head.

Adrian’s gaze settled on him.

”Ashford.”

Nothing more.

No welcome.

No mention of the northern campaign.

No acknowledgment of the months apart.

Just his name.

Polite.

Correct.

And somehow colder than outright hostility.

Beside him, Marian lowered her head.

”Your Highness.”

Only then did Adrian look at her.

The moment lasted no longer than a heartbeat.

Yet Marian found herself oddly aware of it.

”Lady Valmont.”

The title landed exactly as intended.

Formal.

Distant.

A reminder of everything that had changed.

Marian felt it immediately.

So did Adrian.

Neither acknowledged it.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The silence stretched.

Then Cassian rescued it.

”The capital seems unchanged.”

Adrian’s attention shifted back to him.

”Six months is not a particularly long absence.”

”No.”

A faint smile touched Cassian’s mouth.

”I suppose it isn’t.”

The conversation moved forward from there.

North.

Travel.

Politics.

Routine matters.

The sort of subjects men discussed at receptions every day.

Cassian answered calmly.

Adrian responded calmly.

Everything remained perfectly civil.

Which somehow made it worse.

Because everyone knew what they were not discussing.

Marian listened quietly.

At first because there seemed little reason to interrupt.

Then because she found herself watching Adrian.

The realization surprised her.

Not because she hadn’t seen him before.

Because she had not truly looked at him in months.

Not from this close.

Not like this.

He looked the same.

And yet not.

The thought settled uncomfortably in her chest.

At one point Adrian glanced toward her.

Their eyes met.

Neither looked away immediately.

Then Adrian returned his attention to Cassian.

The conversation continued.

Marian found herself oddly relieved.

The reaction made no sense.

Several minutes later, a viscount approached.

”Ashford.”

The older nobleman smiled.

”I was hoping to borrow a moment of your time.”

Cassian glanced toward the man.

Then toward Marian.

Then Adrian.

The look lasted only a moment.

Yet somehow Marian understood exactly what it meant.

”I’ll return shortly.”

Marian nodded.

Cassian inclined his head toward Adrian.

Then departed with the viscount.

And suddenly—

it was just the two of them.

The realization arrived with surprising force.

For a brief moment neither spoke.

The silence felt strangely familiar.

Not because it was comfortable.

Because it wasn’t.

Because once upon a time, silence between them had never required effort.

Now it did.

Marian folded her hands together.

Then immediately wished she hadn’t.

The gesture made her feel oddly self-conscious.

Which was ridiculous.

She had known Adrian almost her entire life.

”Your Highness.”

The title sounded absurd.

Adrian’s gaze shifted toward her.

For the first time since approaching him, they were no longer buffered by anyone else.

Marian discovered she disliked the feeling.

”I suppose calling you Adrian would be worse.”

Something shifted in his expression.

Not quite amusement.

But close enough to recognize.

”Considerably.”

A small laugh escaped her.

Brief.

Unplanned.

Gone almost immediately.

Yet somehow the tension eased.

Only slightly.

”It’s been a long time.”

The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

Adrian looked at her.

”It has.”

Neither looked away.

The realization felt unexpectedly heavy.

Almost a year.

Almost a year since the lodge.

Almost a year since everything changed.

And suddenly Marian found herself wondering how they had managed to avoid a conversation for so long.

The thought was uncomfortable.

”I hope you’ve been well.”

The words sounded inadequate the moment they left her mouth.

Adrian seemed to think so too.

Not because he looked offended.

Because something in his expression tightened briefly.

Then disappeared.

”I’ve been busy.”

The answer was simple.

Neutral.

Entirely Adrian.

Yet somehow it made Marian feel worse.

The musicians began another dance.

Couples slowly moved toward the floor.

Neither of them did.

The silence returned.

Not comfortable.

Not hostile.

Something else.

Something neither seemed willing to name.

Across the ballroom, Marian noticed Cassian concluding his conversation.

Relief appeared immediately.

Instinctively.

Without thought.

The reaction was so automatic that she didn’t even notice it.

Adrian did.

The realization irritated him immediately.

More than it should have.

Much more.

For one brief moment, he found himself looking toward the dance floor.

Then toward Marian.

The thought appeared before he could stop it.

Ask her.

The impulse struck with startling force.

Then vanished.

Adrian froze.

The realization followed immediately afterward.

What exactly was wrong with him?

The question lingered.

Persistent.

Unwelcome.

Impossible to answer.

Because the problem was not the thought itself.

The problem was that it had occurred to him at all.

Across the room, Cassian started walking back toward them.

The moment ended.

Yet somehow Adrian knew the conversation wasn’t over.

Not really.

Not after tonight.

Not after this.

The realization settled quietly in the back of his mind.

And this time, it refused to leave.

End Chapter 150

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