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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 207: v2- - 26: a small packet I · Oct 27, 2026

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Chapter List (304)

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201 Chapter 201: v2- - 20: his private chambers III 2026-10-27
202 Chapter 202: v2- - 21: choose me, everytime 2026-10-27
203 Chapter 203: v2- - 22: certainty 2026-10-27
204 Chapter 204: v2- - 23: breakfast I 2026-10-27
205 Chapter 205: v2- - 24: breakfast II 2026-10-27
206 Chapter 206: v2- - 25: breakfast III 2026-10-27
207 Chapter 207: v2- - 26: a small packet I 2026-10-27
208 Chapter 208: V2- - 27: a small packet II 2026-10-27
209 Chapter 209: v2- - 28: free to choose 2026-10-27
210 Chapter 210: v2- - 29: the second test I 2026-10-27
211 Chapter 211: v2- - 30: the second test II 2026-10-27
212 Chapter 212: v2- - 31: the second test III 2026-10-27
213 Chapter 213: v2 - 32: the second test IV 2026-10-27
214 Chapter 214: v2- - 33: the second test V 2026-10-27
215 Chapter 215: v2- - 34: The second test VI 2026-10-27
216 Chapter 216: v2- - 35: the third test I 2026-10-27
217 Chapter 217: v2- - 36: the third test II 2026-10-27
218 Chapter 218: v2- - 37: the fourth test 2026-10-27
219 Chapter 219: v2- - 38: the fifth test I 2026-10-27
220 Chapter 220: v2- - 39: the fifth test II 2026-10-27
221 Chapter 221: v2- - 40: the fifth test III 2026-10-27
222 Chapter 222: v2- - 41: aftermath 2026-10-27
223 Chapter 223: v2 - 42: the emperor’s decision I 2026-10-27
224 Chapter 224: v2- - 43: the emperor’s decision II 2026-10-27
225 Chapter 225: v2- - 44: the emperor’s decision III 2026-10-27
226 Chapter 226: v2- - 45: the emperor’s decision IV 2026-10-27
227 Chapter 227: v2- - 46: the emperor’s decision V 2026-10-27
228 Chapter 228: v2- - 47: more than sufficiently 2026-10-27
229 Chapter 229: v2- - 48: morning after I 2026-10-27
230 Chapter 230: V2- - 49: morning after II 2026-10-27
231 Chapter 231: v2 - 50: Morning after III 2026-10-27
232 Chapter 232: v2 - 51: lunch 2026-10-27
233 Chapter 233: v2- - 52: a moment of peace 2026-10-27
234 Chapter 234: v2 - 53: a father’s concern I 2026-10-27
235 Chapter 235: v2 - 54: a father’s concern II 2026-10-27
236 Chapter 236: v2 - 55: a father’s concern III 2026-10-27
237 Chapter 237: v2 - 56: a father’s concern IV 2026-10-27
238 Chapter 238: v2 - 57: days in passing 2026-10-27
239 Chapter 239: v2 - 58: the Imperial wedding 2026-10-27
240 Chapter 240: v3 - 1: the man who survived I 2026-10-27
241 Chapter 241: v3- - 2: the man who survived II 2026-10-27
242 Chapter 242: v3- - 3: the arena I 2026-10-27
243 Chapter 243: v3- - 4: the arena II 2026-10-27
244 Chapter 244: v3 - 5: arena fighters I 2026-10-27
245 Chapter 245: v3- - 6: arena fighters II 2026-10-27
246 Chapter 246: v3- - 7: Arena fighters III 2026-10-27
247 Chapter 247: v3 - 8: The deathly course I 2026-10-27
248 Chapter 248: v3- - 9: the deathly course II 2026-10-27
249 Chapter 249: v3 - 10: the deathly course III 2026-10-27
250 Chapter 250: v3 - 11: the deathly course IV 2026-10-27

Eventually, Adrian had carried Marian from the dining table back to the bed, where they remained together beneath the sheets.

The intensity of the morning had finally quieted.

Marian rested against him, still warm and languid, her thoughts pleasantly unfocused.

Adrian held her for a while.

He had no particular desire to move.

But eventually, duty began pressing its way back into his thoughts.

The palace had not stopped simply because he had.

There would be ministers waiting.

Reports to review.

Petitions requiring his attention.

Decisions that could not be postponed merely because he had spent the morning in bed with Marian.

Adrian exhaled quietly.

Then he pushed himself upright.

Marian watched him.

He reached for his robe and put it on before walking toward the dining table.

The remains of breakfast were still there.

Adrian picked up a clean glass and filled it with water from the carafe.

Then he returned to the bed.

Marian looked up at him.

Adrian reached toward the nightstand and opened the small drawer.

He took out a small packet.

Marian’s eyes followed his hand.

He placed the packet in her palm, then held out the glass.

”Take this.”

Marian looked down at what he had given her.

She frowned slightly.

”What’s this?”

Adrian met her eyes.

”A contraceptive.”

Marian went still.

For a moment, she simply stared at the small packet in her hand.

A contraceptive.

She understood what Adrian was saying.

They had been together twice now.

And he had no intention of leaving the possibility of a pregnancy to chance.

It was sensible.

Practical.

Perhaps even necessary.

She knew that.

So why did something inside her hurt?

Her fingers tightened around the packet.

She looked up at him.

Adrian’s expression gave nothing away.

He wasn’t angry.

He wasn’t accusing her.

He was simply waiting.

And somehow that made it worse.

A small, foolish part of Marian had imagined something different.

Perhaps she had imagined him waking beside her and seeing not merely a woman he desired, but the woman he had once intended to marry.

Perhaps she had imagined that after last night, after this morning, something between them had shifted enough that he might no longer be thinking in terms of precautions and boundaries.

It was ridiculous.

She knew it was.

Yet hope had never needed permission to exist.

It had simply remained there, quietly alive beneath everything she told herself.

She knew what Adrian had told her that morning.

She knew they weren’t married.

She knew last night had not erased everything that had happened between them.

She had listened to him.

She had even told herself that she understood.

But somehow, those had only been words.

Words she could acknowledge and still quietly hope around.

This was different.

This was Adrian placing the consequence of his decision directly into her hands.

A contraceptive.

He hadn’t merely told her that he hadn’t chosen her yet.

He had acted on it.

Marian looked down at the small packet.

Her fingers tightened around it.

The hurt was sudden and surprisingly deep.

She had thought she was prepared for this.

She wasn’t.

Because some small, foolish part of her had still believed that after everything they had shared since last night, perhaps his feelings had already carried him further than his words admitted.

But Adrian had drawn the boundary himself.

Not with another speech.

Not with another reminder.

With this.

And now that boundary was sitting in her palm.

Marian swallowed.

She looked up at him.

Adrian was watching her.

He said nothing.

And suddenly she understood that he was waiting to see what she would do.

If she refused, what would he think?

That she had deliberately allowed the possibility of pregnancy?

That she wanted to make herself impossible for him to put aside?

That she wanted the Emperor badly enough to secure her place beside him?

Marian’s chest tightened.

She couldn’t bear for him to think that.

Not after everything.

She had already promised him that she would choose him.

She wouldn’t give him another reason to doubt her.

Marian opened the packet.

(Adrian POV)

Adrian watched Marian open the packet.

He had expected her to take it.

He had wanted her to take it.

They were not married, and he had no intention of allowing a pregnancy to complicate matters before he had formally made her his wife.

Not because he was uncertain about what he wanted.

He knew what he wanted.

That part had never truly been uncertain.

But he had learned not to mistake what he wanted for what Marian wanted.

So he watched her.

Marian turned the small packet over in her hands.

Adrian said nothing.

At first, he thought only of the practical matter.

They had been together twice now. He had no intention of leaving something so consequential to chance.

Then he noticed the way she was looking at the packet.

The hesitation.

The slight tightening of her fingers.

And something shifted inside him.

He found himself wondering what she would do.

If she refused, what would he think?

That she wanted a child?

That she wanted to make herself impossible for him to put aside?

That she had deliberately allowed the possibility of pregnancy because she believed it would force his hand?

He didn’t like any of those possibilities.

But then another thought came.

What if she refused for an entirely different reason?

What if she simply wanted a child with him?

What if, beneath everything she had said and done, she wanted the life they had once been expected to have?

Adrian’s expression remained still.

He didn’t know which answer he wanted.

That realization irritated him.

He had given her the choice because he wanted to see what she would do.

Now that the choice was actually in front of her, he wasn’t certain there was an answer that would leave him satisfied.

Yet as he watched her lower her eyes, something inside him twisted. He wanted to reach for her, but pride kept his hand still.

Tbc

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