Chapter 68
“How was life without me? Did everything go the way you wanted?”
Was he mocking her?
Just as her temper threatened to flare again—
“It didn’t go well for me.”
“……”
His voice was even, but the emotion beneath it was thick and deep. Roseline couldn’t lift her head, couldn’t push away the hand still toying with her hair. She just stared at the edge of the blanket. She knew she should say something, but no words came.
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this. It’s already over.”
Her grip on the blanket was so tight her nails left faint marks as she dragged them across the fabric. Her voice was strained as she tried to untangle the mess between them.
“Over?”
“……”
“You can’t just decide that. The end isn’t yours to call.”
Her gaze, which had been fixed somewhere on the blanket, snapped back to him—somewhere between shock and disbelief. Her eyes, wide at first, slowly narrowed, and a clear line of frustration etched itself between her brows.
Are you joking?
She wanted to argue, to tell him how absurd that sounded—but then she remembered their last conversation at the banquet. He had never actually said it’s over.
“Do whatever you want. Live however you like.”
She had just interpreted his cold voice and retreating back as the end.
“You—!”
She had a mountain of things she wanted to argue, but she was so stunned the words wouldn’t come. Her thoughts tangled, her head spun, and the fever made everything feel hazy.
“Don’t touch me.”
The words came out like a petulant child’s. Roseline coldly swatted away the hand that had been toying with her hair and brushing her cheek, then pressed her burning forehead into her own palm. Just as Valen’s gaze turned icy at the rejection, she suddenly lifted her head.
“I don’t understand. Why are you really doing this? This morning, you were deliberately confusing me, then spent the whole day berating me—”
“I did?”
“Yes, you did. First, it was all ‘my lady’ this and ‘my lady’ that, blowing cold air on me, then suddenly acting close like nothing happened. And now you’re saying we were never even over? What exactly do you want from me?”
Her face was flushed, her breaths uneven as she glared at him. Valen studied her for a long moment before letting out a low, amused laugh.
“You’re upset because I didn’t call you by your name.”
“……”
“You want me to treat you better?”
A faint, knowing smirk played at his lips as he tilted his head to meet her eye level—like he was humoring a sulking child. She was speechless. For a second, she just gaped at him, utterly baffled by his interpretation. Then, with a heavy sigh, she averted her gaze.
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“……”
“Tell me. What do you want me to do?”
This was the moment she should’ve said, Don’t do anything. Just let me go. The words hovered at the tip of her tongue—but maybe it was the way he seemed willing to listen, to grant anything, that made her blurt out something else entirely.
“…If I tell you, will you really do it?”
Her tone had softened, testing. Valen nodded without hesitation. Roseline fidgeted with the blanket before forcing the words out.
“Let me go.”
“Where to?”
“No, I mean—just pretend you never saw me.”
“And then?”
“I’ll stay here, look for the Marquis, and if that doesn’t work… I’ll leave the territory and go somewhere—”
“Ah, running away again?”
His tone was flat, like he was just correcting a faulty assumption. Roseline bit her lip, fingers tightening and loosening around the blanket.
Truthfully, she didn’t know. She’d asked to be let go, to be ignored—but what did she actually want? How was she supposed to navigate this mess? The only clear thing in the whirlwind of emotions was that she didn’t want to die like this.
“Roseline.”
Valen pried her fingers open one by one, leaving her empty-handed.
“You know what you should be holding onto.”
“You should cling to me.”
His voice was soft, and the warmth of his hand covering hers was almost cruelly tender.
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billyjbradshaw
Bluesky