the Villainess they took for granted

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The garden had grown quieter around them.

Marian remained close to Adrian, her breathing gradually settling as the intensity of the moment faded into something softer and more uncertain.

She was still trying to gather herself when Adrian finally moved.

He reached for her dress and began putting it back into place with the same unhurried composure he seemed to possess after everything else.

Marian watched him silently.

There was something strangely intimate about the contrast.

Only moments ago, he had been looking at her with barely contained hunger.

Now he was fastening the back of her dress as though this were an ordinary thing to do.

When he noticed the faint trace at the corner of her mouth, his expression changed almost imperceptibly.

He took out his handkerchief.

Marian’s cheeks warmed.

”Adrian...”

He didn’t answer.

He simply wiped the corner of her mouth gently, then folded the handkerchief away.

The small gesture left her strangely shy.

He helped her settle the rest of her clothing, making certain she was properly dressed before stepping back.

Marian looked at him.

For a moment, she thought perhaps he would say something.

Something about tonight.

Something about what had happened between them.

Instead, Adrian glanced toward the palace.

Then back at her.

”You should go home.”

Marian went still.

She understood why.

She could hardly return to the ballroom like this. Her hair was disordered, her dress hastily refastened, and there was no concealing that she had been away from the reception for far longer than propriety allowed.

Adrian had already been absent long enough.

He was the Emperor.

Of course he couldn’t simply return to the ballroom with her as though nothing had happened.

She knew that.

She understood it perfectly.

And yet, somehow, the words still hurt.

Because he could have chosen differently.

He could have asked her to remain in the palace.

He could have taken her back to his chambers.

There were countless other arrangements he could have made.

Instead, he was sending her home.

Marian lowered her eyes.

”Yes.”

She tried to make the answer sound effortless.

It wasn’t.

A small, foolish part of her had wanted him to say something else.

Stay.

Even if she couldn’t return to the ballroom, even if propriety made it impossible for them to appear together again tonight, she had wanted him to want her to remain.

And that was what made his simple instruction sting.

Her thoughts drifted unwillingly toward the women who had come before her.

Was this how it had been with them?

They came to him.

They shared his bed.

And afterward, they left.

Marian’s chest tightened.

She immediately hated the thought.

Because she wasn’t one of them.

She couldn’t be.

Not after everything that had happened tonight.

He had come after her.

He had been jealous.

He had told her he wanted her.

He had asked her to tell him she was his.

Those things had to mean something.

Didn’t they?

Perhaps that was why he was sending her home.

Perhaps it truly was only because he had been away from the reception too long.

Marian drew a slow breath.

She refused to let the doubt settle too deeply.

Adrian turned toward the path.

”Come.”

Marian followed.

They walked through the garden together.

Neither spoke.

The night air had softened, and the sounds of the palace grew clearer as they approached the main building.

Marian glanced at him several times.

Adrian seemed completely composed again.

As though nothing unusual had happened.

That, somehow, bothered her almost as much as his words.

She didn’t know what she wanted him to say.

Perhaps she wanted him to tell her that tonight had been different.

Perhaps she wanted him to tell her that she mattered.

But Adrian said nothing.

Soon, the palace entrance came into view.

Her carriage was waiting beyond the steps.

Marian stopped.

Adrian stopped with her.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

Then Marian gathered enough courage to ask the question that had been troubling her since he had told her to leave.

”Were you testing me tonight?”

Adrian’s expression didn’t change.

”Did you think I was?”

Marian stared at him.

She hadn’t expected the question to be returned.

”I don’t know anymore.”

Adrian remained silent.

Marian searched his face.

There was nothing there she could easily read.

And perhaps that was the answer.

Or perhaps it was another test.

She couldn’t tell.

Adrian looked toward the carriage.

”Go home, Marian.”

Something in her chest tightened again.

But she nodded.

”All right.”

She stepped toward the carriage.

Before she climbed inside, Marian looked back at him.

Adrian was still standing there.

Watching her.

She couldn’t read his expression.

Marian lowered her eyes and stepped into the carriage.

As it began to move, she leaned back against the cushions and let out a slow breath.

She knew where she had gone wrong tonight.

She had been given an opportunity to choose him openly.

Adrian had been occupied, but he had been there.

She could have approached him.

Instead, she had hesitated.

Then she had watched him dance with Lady Rosemont, allowed herself to be hurt by it, and finally walked away.

She had failed.

Perhaps that was why Adrian had sent her home afterward.

Perhaps, despite everything that had happened in the garden, he still wasn’t satisfied.

The thought made her chest ache.

But then she remembered what had happened afterward.

He had come after her.

He had told her exactly what had bothered him.

And she had been given another chance to show him that she had chosen him.

Perhaps that was what tonight had been.

A failure followed by an opportunity to prove herself again.

Marian closed her eyes.

She couldn’t change what had happened in the ballroom.

But she could change what happened next time.

She wouldn’t wait for Adrian to approach her.

She wouldn’t stand at the other side of the room wondering whether she should go to him.

She would go to him first.

If that was what he wanted from her, then she would give it to him.

Marian opened her eyes and looked out at the darkened capital passing beyond the carriage window.

Perhaps she had failed tonight.

But she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

And somehow, that decision made the uncertainty inside her feel a little easier to bear.

--

Tbc