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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 116: A Father’s Argument · 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 116: Chapter 116: A Father’s Argument

The question lingered in the room.

Simple.

Direct.

Dangerous.

”Why should I release Marian Valmort from her engagement to my son?”

The Emperor’s gaze remained steady.

Patient.

Waiting.

Duke Valmort did not answer immediately.

Not because he lacked an answer.

Because he had spent weeks preparing for this moment, and somehow none of the speeches he had rehearsed felt appropriate anymore.

Politics seemed inadequate.

Protocol seemed pointless.

The truth, he suspected, would serve him better.

So he gave it.

”Because she asked me to.”

The silence that followed was immediate.

The Emperor’s expression did not change.

Yet something flickered briefly in his eyes.

Interest.

Perhaps surprise.

The Duke continued.

”That answer probably sounds insufficient, Your Majesty.”

”A little.”

The honesty almost made him smile.

Almost.

”I thought so as well.”

The Emperor remained silent.

Allowing him to continue.

The Duke folded his hands behind his back.

Carefully.

Measured.

Not because he was nervous.

Because he needed something to do with them.

”If another noble had come to me with such a request, I would have advised patience.”

His voice remained calm.

Steady.

”If a political ally had sought my opinion, I would have reminded him of duty.”

A pause.

”If a vassal had approached me, I would likely have advised obedience.”

The Emperor listened.

Expression unreadable.

The Duke met his gaze.

”But it was my daughter.”

Silence.

The words settled between them.

Simple.

Undeniable.

The Emperor leaned back slightly.

”And that changes everything?”

”Yes.”

The answer came immediately.

Without hesitation.

Without apology.

”Yes, it does.”

The room fell quiet.

The Emperor studied him.

Not as ruler.

As man.

As father.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Because Duke Valmort was not presenting political arguments.

Not yet.

He was presenting something far more troublesome.

Conviction.

The Emperor folded his hands.

”You understand what you are asking.”

Not a question.

The Duke inclined his head.

”I do.”

”You are asking me to dissolve an engagement that has existed for eighteen years.”

”Yes.”

”You are asking me to release your daughter from a promise recognized throughout the Empire.”

”Yes.”

”You are asking me to reject my son’s wishes.”

The Duke paused.

Only briefly.

Then:

”No.”

The Emperor’s eyebrow rose.

For the first time since the audience began.

The Duke continued.

”I am asking Your Majesty to consider my daughter’s wishes as well.”

The silence stretched.

Long.

Measured.

The Emperor tapped a finger lightly against the desk.

A habit Adrian had inherited from him.

”I have considered them.”

The Duke believed him.

That was perhaps the most troublesome part.

The Emperor was not dismissive.

Nor was he cruel.

If anything, he suspected the Emperor had thought very carefully about this matter.

Which only made the conversation more difficult.

Because reasonable men were harder to argue against.

The Emperor’s voice remained calm.

”Marian loved Adrian.”

There it was.

Not an argument.

A fact.

The Duke nodded.

”She did.”

No hesitation.

No denial.

The Emperor watched him.

Waiting.

The Duke understood the unspoken question.

Then what changed?

The problem was that the answer wasn’t simple.

Human beings rarely were.

Still—

”There was a time,” the Duke said quietly, ”when I believed my daughter would marry your son and spend the rest of her life happy.”

The Emperor remained silent.

Listening.

The Duke’s gaze drifted briefly toward the window.

Toward the city beyond.

Toward memories.

”I watched her grow up loving him.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

Gone almost immediately.

”Frankly, most of the Empire watched her grow up loving him.”

The Emperor almost smiled.

Because that part was undeniably true.

Marian’s affection had never exactly been subtle.

The Duke continued.

”When she was six, she followed him everywhere.”

The Emperor’s eyebrow twitched.

”I remember.”

”When she was ten, she spoke of him constantly.”

”I also remember.”

The Duke exhaled slowly.

”When she was fifteen, I stopped worrying whether she loved him.”

The room grew quieter.

”Because by then I thought the answer had become obvious.”

The Emperor said nothing.

Because he had thought the same thing.

Most people had.

The engagement had seemed inevitable.

Natural.

The future had appeared settled.

Then the Duke spoke again.

And this time his voice carried something heavier.

Something sadder.

”I was wrong.”

The words lingered.

The Emperor watched him carefully.

Not because the statement surprised him.

Because of how difficult it had clearly been to reach.

The Duke looked down briefly.

Then back up.

Steady once more.

”Your Majesty, I spent a long time convincing myself this was temporary.”

The admission surprised even him.

Perhaps because he had never spoken it aloud.

”I thought she was angry.”

A pause.

”I thought she was confused.”

Another.

”I thought she would change her mind.”

The Emperor remained silent.

Because he had recently heard very similar thoughts from another man.

A younger one.

The Duke laughed once.

Softly.

Without humor.

”Then one day I realized I was no longer trying to understand my daughter.”

The room fell silent.

”I was simply waiting for her to become convenient.”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The Duke continued.

”That realization was unpleasant.”

”I imagine it was.”

The Duke almost smiled.

Almost.

Then the expression vanished.

Because this part mattered.

Perhaps more than anything else.

”My daughter has never been difficult.”

The Emperor’s gaze sharpened.

The Duke pressed on.

”She has never demanded much.”

True.

”She has never sought power.”

Also true.

”She has never cared about titles.”

Again true.

The Emperor knew all of this.

Everyone who knew Marian knew it.

The Duke’s voice softened.

”She has spent most of her life doing what was expected of her.”

The words seemed to settle heavily in the room.

Because they were true.

Painfully true.

The Duke remembered a little girl trying desperately to make everyone happy.

A teenager carrying responsibilities she had never requested.

A young woman smiling through obligations because she believed that was what good daughters did.

And suddenly he realized how fiercely protective he sounded.

The realization did not bother him.

Not today.

”If she were merely rebelling, I would not be here.”

The Emperor remained silent.

Watching.

Listening.

The Duke met his gaze directly.

”If she were acting out of spite, I would not be here.”

Another pause.

”If she were acting impulsively, I would not be here.”

The room grew still.

”Then why are you here?”

The question arrived quietly.

The Duke’s answer arrived just as quickly.

”Because this is the first thing she has ever truly asked of me.”

The silence afterward felt almost tangible.

Heavy.

The Emperor looked at him.

Really looked at him.

And for the first time since the audience began, something shifted.

Not agreement.

Not yet.

Understanding.

The Duke continued.

”My daughter has asked me for many small things throughout her life.”

A faint smile appeared.

”Books.”

The Emperor’s mouth twitched.

”Ridiculous quantities of books.”

The smile vanished.

”But never her future.”

The room fell silent again.

The Duke stood straight.

Proud.

Steady.

Certain.

”When she came to me, she wasn’t asking for permission.”

His voice lowered.

”She was asking whether I would stand beside her.”

The Emperor said nothing.

The Duke understood why.

Because there was nothing simple about that question.

Not for fathers.

Never for fathers.

The Duke held the Emperor’s gaze.

Unwavering.

”My daughter asked me for her future.”

The words echoed softly through the room.

Then:

”How could I refuse her?”

Silence.

The Emperor did not answer immediately.

For a long moment neither man spoke.

Two fathers.

Two loyalties.

Two children standing behind them.

And somewhere between them sat the future.

Waiting.

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