the Villainess they took for granted

Two days later, Marian stood before the entrance of another crowded ballroom and wondered whether she had lost her mind.

The reception was already well underway.

Music drifted through the open doors. Light from hundreds of candles spilled across the polished floors, and beyond the entrance, the court moved in its usual glittering circles of silk, jewels, titles, and carefully measured smiles.

Marian took one breath.

Then another.

She had known she would have to face them again.

She simply hadn’t expected the rumors to have grown so quickly.

She had barely entered when she caught the first whisper.

”That’s Lady Valmont.”

”I thought His Majesty had chosen Lady Rosemont.”

”He danced with Lady Rosemont again.”

”And Lady Valmont?”

A quiet laugh.

”Apparently she still hasn’t learned.”

Marian kept walking.

Another voice, lower this time.

”Perhaps she imagined the Emperor’s attention meant more than it did.”

”After all these years, one would think she might know better.”

”She has always loved him.”

”And apparently she still does.”

A few people laughed softly.

Marian’s fingers tightened around her fan.

She did not turn around.

The words were cruel, but not entirely unexpected.

After the opening ball, the court had been given an easy story.

Marian had disappeared with Adrian after the intermission.

Then, at the following event, he had been seen dancing with Lady Rosemont again.

To some, that was enough to turn everything between Adrian and Marian into something smaller than it was.

They knew the history.

Everyone did.

Marian had been promised to Adrian since infancy. The court had grown up watching the two of them together, and no one had ever doubted how deeply Marian loved him.

But that engagement had eventually ended.

She had gone on to become engaged to Cassian Ashford, and until his disappearance, she had been preparing to marry him.

For a time, everyone had believed Marian’s future lay elsewhere.

Now she had returned to Adrian.

And that changed the nature of the gossip.

Because Adrian was not simply a man whose affections might be won.

He was the Emperor.

His marriage would determine which family gained an Empress, which relatives gained influence at court, and which house might one day stand closest to the throne.

There were families in that ballroom with unmarried daughters.

Families who would gladly see Marian step aside.

So the whispers were not born entirely from dislike.

Many of the people who smiled at Marian still liked her.

But affection became a different thing when interests collided.

And suddenly, her history could be twisted into something humiliating.

She loved him all her life.

Then she was going to marry another man.

And now she has gone back to the Emperor.

Perhaps the old engagement meant more to her than it did to him.

Perhaps Adrian’s attention had been nothing more than an old attraction resurfacing for a night.

Perhaps Marian was simply clinging to something that no longer belonged to her.

Marian felt the sting of it.

But she kept her head high.

She had told herself she would approach Adrian tonight.

She had promised herself that she wouldn’t repeat the mistake she had made before.

Yet now that the moment had arrived, the thought suddenly seemed much more frightening.

Because this time, everyone was watching.

She looked across the ballroom.

Adrian was there.

Of course he was.

He stood near the center of the gathering, surrounded by ministers, nobles, and several ambassadors who had come to pay their respects.

He was not merely another gentleman attending the event.

The room moved around him.

People waited for him to finish speaking before they spoke.

Servants watched for the smallest gesture.

Nobles approached only when there was an appropriate opening.

Even those who outranked almost everyone else in the room measured their words around him.

He was the Emperor.

And Marian was about to walk directly toward him.

Her stomach tightened.

What if he rejected her?

Not privately.

Here.

In front of everyone.

The whispers would become unbearable.

She could already imagine the laughter.

She really did think he wanted her.

Marian lowered her gaze for a moment.

She could turn away.

She could wait.

She could tell herself that Adrian was occupied and that approaching him would be improper.

It would be perfectly reasonable.

But then she remembered the garden.

You could have come anyway.

She looked at him again.

If she truly intended to choose him, then she couldn’t allow the court’s opinion to decide whether she would.

So Marian drew a slow breath.

And began walking toward him.

The conversations around her seemed to grow quieter.

Perhaps it was only her imagination.

Perhaps it wasn’t.

Either way, she could feel eyes following her.

She kept walking.

Adrian saw her.

Their eyes met from across the room.

He did not move.

He simply watched.

Marian’s heart began beating faster.

For one terrible moment, doubt returned.

She was almost close enough now that she could no longer turn back without making it obvious.

Then she reached the edge of his circle of conversation.

One of the ministers noticed her.

”Lady Valmont.”

Marian smiled politely.

”Good evening.”

The minister inclined his head.

Adrian remained silent.

Marian looked at him.

She had no idea what he was thinking.

But she had come this far.

So she stayed.

And waited for him to decide what to do with her.

For one brief moment, the entire ballroom seemed to hold its breath.

Then Adrian’s gaze moved over her face.

Something changed in his expression.

He extended his hand.

Marian’s breath caught.

He didn’t say a word.

He simply reached for her.

She placed her hand in his.

Adrian drew her toward him until she was standing at his side.

The gesture was simple.

Almost effortless.

But the effect on the ballroom was immediate.

The whispers stopped.

Marian felt something warm rush through her chest.

He hadn’t rejected her.

He hadn’t made her stand there alone.

He had chosen to bring her beside him.

In front of everyone.

And suddenly, all the cruel little remarks she’d heard upon entering seemed very far away.

Marian looked down at their joined hands.

Her lips curved into the smallest smile.

She had trusted him.

And he had answered that trust.

Adrian turned back toward the minister as though nothing extraordinary had happened.

But his hand remained around hers.

And Marian stayed beside him.

For the first time that evening, she no longer cared what anyone in the ballroom was saying.

They could whisper.

They could speculate.

They could decide whatever story they pleased.

She was standing beside the Emperor.

And he had been the one to bring her there.