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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 188: V2- - 7: An attempt · Oct 27, 2026

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Chapter List (304)

Page number / 7

151 Chapter 151: Yes 2026-10-27
152 Chapter 152: The News 2026-10-27
153 Chapter 153: A Request 2026-10-27
154 Chapter 154: Closure 2026-10-27
155 Chapter 155: The First Move 2026-10-27
156 Chapter 156: Wedding Plans I 2026-10-27
157 Chapter 157: wedding plans II 2026-10-27
158 Chapter 158: Wedding Plans III 2026-10-27
159 Chapter 159: wedding plans III 2026-10-27
160 Chapter 160: wedding plans IV 2026-10-27
161 Chapter 161: reception venue I 2026-10-27
162 Chapter 162: Reception Venue II 2026-10-27
163 Chapter 163: Invitation letter and program 2026-10-27
164 Chapter 164: wedding dress 2026-10-27
165 Chapter 165: of flowers, other arrangements, and a letter 2026-10-27
166 Chapter 166: food menu, wedding cake, and the second letter 2026-10-27
167 Chapter 167: Of Duties and Parting 2026-10-27
168 Chapter 168: the second move 2026-10-27
169 Chapter 169: one month before the wedding 2026-10-27
170 Chapter 170: decision to leave 2026-10-27
171 Chapter 171: the emperor falls ill 2026-10-27
172 Chapter 172: closed gates 2026-10-27
173 Chapter 173: the letter 2026-10-27
174 Chapter 174: a son who lost his father 2026-10-27
175 Chapter 175: The Succession 2026-10-27
176 Chapter 176: the emperor is dead 2026-10-27
177 Chapter 177: the minister of war 2026-10-27
178 Chapter 178: The Emperor’s Funeral 2026-10-27
179 Chapter 179: the report 2026-10-27
180 Chapter 180: the coronation I 2026-10-27
181 Chapter 181: the coronation II 2026-10-27
182 Chapter 182: V2- - 1: Her Return 2026-10-27
183 Chapter 183: V2- - 2: The Emperor 2026-10-27
184 Chapter 184: V2- - 3- Returning to soceity 2026-10-27
185 Chapter 185: V2- - 4: the marraige market 2026-10-27
186 Chapter 186: V2- - 5: an obvious choice 2026-10-27
187 Chapter 187: V2- - 6: the invitation 2026-10-27
188 Chapter 188: V2- - 7: An attempt 2026-10-27
189 Chapter 189: V2- - 8: The opening ball I 2026-10-27
190 Chapter 190: V2- - 9: The opening ball II 2026-10-27
191 Chapter 191: v2- - 10: the opening ball III 2026-10-27
192 Chapter 192: v2- - 11: the opening ball IV 2026-10-27
193 Chapter 193: v2- - 12: the opening ball V 2026-10-27
194 Chapter 194: v2- - 13: the opening ball VI 2026-10-27
195 Chapter 195: v2- - 14: the opening ball VII 2026-10-27
196 Chapter 196: v2- - 15: the opening ball VIII 2026-10-27
197 Chapter 197: v2- - 16: the opening ball IX 2026-10-27
198 Chapter 198: v2- - 17: the dance 2026-10-27
199 Chapter 199: v2- - 18: his private chambers I 2026-10-27
200 Chapter 200: v2- - 19: his private chambers II 2026-10-27

Three days later, Marian stood before her mirror.

Her gown had been chosen carefully.

Not because she intended to compete with every debutante in the capital.

Not because she needed the entire ballroom looking at her.

She simply wanted to look her best.

If she was going to do this, she would do it properly.

That had always been Marian’s way.

Once she made a decision, she rarely saw the point in doing things halfway.

Her maid adjusted the final fold of her gown.

Marian studied herself in the mirror.

Yes.

This would do.

She knew Adrian’s preferences.

After eighteen years, how could she not?

He had always liked it when she made an effort.

Beautiful gowns.

Carefully arranged hair.

Jewelry.

And especially when Marian looked beautiful without pretending that she didn’t know it.

A faint smile touched her lips.

She remembered.

Marian turned toward her maid.

”Have someone bring out the jewelry I left in storage.”

Her maid hesitated.

”The pieces from before?”

”Yes.”

There was no need to explain further.

When Marian had become engaged to Cassian, she had put away the jewelry Adrian had given her.

She had not thrown it away. Much of it was far too valuable for that.

But she had not wanted to wear his gifts while preparing to marry another man.

A servant returned some time later carrying several small cases.

Marian opened them one by one.

Necklaces.

Bracelets.

Hair ornaments.

Earrings.

Then she saw them.

A pair of diamond earrings.

She picked them up.

She remembered exactly when Adrian had given them to her.

Her fingers lingered against the diamonds.

This was what she had been looking for.

If she was going to make the first attempt, she needed some way of knowing whether there was anything left on his side.

Adrian might still care.

He might not.

He might have moved on entirely.

Marian had no way of knowing.

But he would recognize these.

He had given them to her himself.

If he saw them tonight, he would understand that she had chosen to wear something that came from him.

That was enough.

She wasn’t going to ask him what he felt.

She would simply watch.

Marian looked down at the earrings.

Three years had passed since she had requested to end their engagement.

But the last time they had truly spoken about what existed between them had been much more recent.

Almost twenty-two months ago.

After her engagement to Cassian had been formalized, Adrian had still spoken to her.

She remembered that conversation clearly.

She remembered the questions he had asked.

She remembered the way he had looked at her.

And she remembered enough to know that, at that time, his feelings had not simply disappeared.

But almost two years was a long time.

Since then, everything had changed.

Adrian had become Emperor.

Marian had lost the man she loved and spent eighteen months away from the capital.

Neither of them was the same person they had been then.

She couldn’t know what remained.

The earrings, at least, would give her something to observe.

If his gaze lingered, she would know.

If something shifted in his expression, she would know.

And if there was nothing—

then she would know that too.

Marian smiled faintly.

”These.”

Her maid carefully took the earrings and fastened them.

The diamonds caught the light.

Marian looked at herself again.

She wasn’t dressing as though Adrian had already chosen her.

She wasn’t assuming that he would want her.

She was simply making sure he understood that she had chosen to be noticed by him.

The rest belonged to him.

Marian sat while her maid finished arranging her hair.

Her heart was beating faster.

She didn’t deny it.

There was no reason to.

She had loved Adrian for eighteen years.

Perhaps what remained now was different.

Her love for Cassian had been immediate and consuming.

With Adrian, there was history.

Affection.

Familiarity.

Trust.

The comfort of knowing someone almost as well as she knew herself.

And before Elena Hart, everything between them had been perfectly fine.

She had loved him.

She simply had not loved him in the same way she had later loved Cassian.

That distinction mattered.

But perhaps it didn’t mean that what she had once felt for Adrian was gone.

Marian looked at her reflection.

The nervousness in her chest was difficult to ignore.

It wasn’t only because she was about to see Adrian again.

He was no longer merely the Crown Prince she had grown up beside.

He was the Emperor now.

The man she had once expected to marry had become the most powerful man in the Empire.

And in a few hours, she would stand before him again.

Marian drew a slow breath.

She had spent the last three days thinking about this.

There was no point pretending she hadn’t.

She had made her decision.

Now she simply had to find out what remained.

Her fingers touched one of the diamond earrings.

She knew Adrian would notice them.

After eighteen years, she knew him well enough to be certain of that much.

And she knew herself well enough to read what came after.

She knew the way his eyes changed when something caught his attention.

The slight shift in his expression when he was pleased.

The subtle signs he showed when he was trying not to reveal what he felt.

That knowledge had not simply vanished because their engagement had ended.

Marian looked at herself one final time.

The gown.

Her hair.

The diamond earrings Adrian had given her.

A deliberate choice.

A quiet message.

She was here.

She was looking at him.

And now she would see whether he looked back.

She picked up her gloves.

If he did, she would continue.

She would see where it led.

And if he didn’t—

she would accept it.

There were other men in the capital.

She would not spend the entire Season chasing a man who had no interest in her.

But she also wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life wondering whether she had given up on Adrian without even trying.

This was about giving herself a chance.

Whatever Adrian chose to do with that was entirely up to him.

He owed her nothing.

If he chose not to take it, Marian would accept that.

At least she would know she had tried.

She smiled faintly.

One attempt.

One honest look.

That was all she needed.

She turned toward the door.

The opening ball awaited her.

Tbc

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