Chapter 83: The Regrets and Last Goodbye

[Imperial Palace — Inner Dungeon — Midnight]

“Ahh…”

The sound escaped Cassian before he could stop it.

Nora immediately withdrew her hand.

She had barely touched the wounds across his back, yet the slightest pressure had drawn another pained breath from him. She stared at the torn fabric clinging to his body, at the angry welts crossing his shoulders and the dried blood darkening his skin, and felt something inside her twist.

The dungeon beneath the Imperial Palace was cold enough to make her fingers numb. Dampness clung to the ancient stone walls, and somewhere beyond the narrow corridor, water dripped at slow, irregular intervals. A single oil lamp burned outside their cell, its weak flame throwing long shadows across the floor.

Nora tore another strip from the hem of her dress and dipped it into the small bowl of water beside her. Her hands were trembling; she tried to hide it. Cassian noticed anyway. “You’re shaking.”

Nora ignored him; she gently pressed the damp cloth against his shoulder and wiped away the blood. Cassian inhaled sharply as she whispered, “I know, I’m trying to be careful.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”

She continued cleaning the wound.

Her once-beautiful dress was now stained with dirt, dust, and blood. Her hair had come loose during the arrest, and several strands clung to her pale face. She no longer looked like the daughter of one of the most powerful houses in Qashmar.

Neither did Cassian look like the heir who had once walked through the imperial court with nobles bowing before him.

They were simply two prisoners now; two people are waiting for the Emperor to decide what would become of them. Nora looked at the wounds again; tears gathered in her eyes.

“How can they be so cruel?”

Cassian’s gaze shifted toward her. Nora’s voice broke. “How can they—”

She stopped herself; there were too many words, too many accusations, and too much helplessness. She lowered her head and continued wiping the blood from his shoulder.

Cassian watched her quietly; after a moment, a faint smile appeared on his battered face.

“Nora.” She didn’t look up. “I owe you an apology.”

Her hand paused.

“For what?”

“For this.” His gaze moved around the cell. “For bringing you here.”

Nora finally looked at him. Cassian lowered his eyes, and his voice became quieter. “If I had respected your decision back then… if I had accepted that you didn’t want this marriage…you would never have become part of House Voss.”

Nora stared at him

“I should have let you go.” A bitter smile touched his lips. “I should have allowed you to hate me from a distance instead of making you live through all of this.”

Nora slowly shook her head. “I don’t regret marrying you.”

Cassian looked at her; she held his gaze, and her fingers tightened around the cloth.

“I regret what this marriage became. I regret your father. I regret everything House Voss did, but I don’t regret you.”

Cassian said nothing. Nora looked away. “You were forced into things you never wanted.”

A long silence followed.

“I know you were.”

Cassian’s expression changed slightly. “You don’t know everything.”

“No.” Nora’s voice softened. “But I know enough.”

She moved closer and carefully wiped the blood beneath his shoulder. “I saw the way you changed whenever your father entered the room.”

Cassian looked down.

“I saw you become someone else whenever he spoke.” His jaw tightened. “You were terrified of him.”

Cassian remained silent. Nora’s eyes filled with tears again. “And I hated you for it.”

He looked at her.

“I thought you were choosing him over me.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I know that now.”

The words came out quietly.

Cassian looked away. “I tried to protect you.”

“You never told me that.”

“I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

Cassian hesitated, then he gave a tired laugh that ended in a wince. “Because my father had a way of making every choice feel like a death sentence.”

Nora’s expression softened. “You were afraid.”

“Yes.”

“Of him?”

Cassian nodded. “Of what he would do to you.”

Nora went still. Cassian looked at her. “That was always the part I was most afraid of.”

The dungeon seemed quieter after that. Nora stared at him, suddenly remembering all the moments she had misunderstood, every time Cassian had pushed her away, every time he had refused to explain himself, and every time she had thought his silence meant indifference.

Perhaps it had never been indifference; perhaps it had been fear. Her fingers slowly loosened around the cloth.

“You should have trusted me.”

Cassian gave her a sad smile. “I didn’t know how.”

Nora swallowed. “You could have learned.”

“I was trying.”

“You were terrible at it.”

A faint laugh escaped him.

“Yes.”

Nora almost smiled, then she saw the pain on his face, and the smile disappeared. Her fingers moved toward his cheek; she hesitated before touching him.

Cassian didn’t pull away; her palm rested gently against his bruised face. “You look terrible.”

“I’ve looked better.”

“Much better.”

“I suppose being beaten half to death has that effect.”

Nora’s lips trembled. “Don’t joke.”

The faint smile disappeared from Cassian’s face. “I wasn’t trying to make you cry.”

“I wasn’t crying.”

He glanced at the tears running down her cheeks. “You’re a terrible liar.”

She wiped them away angrily. “Be quiet.”

Cassian smiled again… It was small and weak, but it was the first genuine smile she had seen from him in a very long time.

Nora stared at it; something inside her ached. She had spent so long being angry with him that she had forgotten what it felt like to simply look at him.

Not as the heir of House Voss, not as the man who had dragged her into a marriage she hadn’t wanted.

Just Cassian, the man sitting beside her, the man whose hand she had once held before everything became complicated, the man she had slowly, painfully, and unknowingly begun to care for.

Her fingers slipped from his cheek. “I don’t want you to die.”

Cassian’s smile disappeared.

“Nora…”

“I mean it.” Her voice shook. “I don’t want you to die.”

He stared at her; she looked down at their hands. “I don’t care about House Voss anymore.”

Cassian’s fingers slowly moved toward hers.

“I don’t care about the estates.” His hand closed gently around hers. “I don’t care about the title. I don’t even care what His Majesty decides about me…I just want you to live.”

Cassian’s expression softened; for a long moment, he simply looked at her. Then his thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re making it very difficult for me to accept what may happen.”

Nora’s eyes widened. “Don’t talk like you’re already dead.”

Cassian looked toward the iron bars; beyond them, the corridor was empty, dark, and silent.

“I heard the guards earlier; they were discussing the execution.”

Her breath caught.

“No.”

“They said it would happen anytime.”

Nora stared at him for a moment; the world seemed to stop.

“No.”

“Nora—”

“No.”

She shook her head. “They wouldn’t.”

Cassian didn’t answer.

“They can’t.”

“Nora.”

“I’ll speak to the Emperor.”

“You may not get the chance.”

“I will.”

She suddenly stood. “I’ll tell him everything. I’ll tell him you were forced by your father. I’ll tell him you never wanted this. I’ll tell him—”

Cassian caught her wrist.

“Nora.”

She stopped; his grip was weak, so weak that she could have pulled free without effort, but she didn’t. Cassian looked up at her.

“Stay.”

Her eyes trembled.

“Cassian…”

“Please.”

That single word broke something inside her; she slowly sat beside him again. Cassian released her wrist and took her hand instead.

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” His voice was quiet. “But I know I don’t want to spend whatever time I have left being afraid.”

Nora stared at him. “And what do you want to do?”

Cassian looked at her for a long moment, then he smiled. “I want to remember this.”

“Remember what?”

“This.” He lifted their joined hands. “You’re sitting beside me.”

Nora’s eyes filled again. “I should have told you sooner.”

“Told me what?”

Cassian’s gaze softened. “That somewhere along the way…I stopped seeing you as the woman I had been forced to marry.”

Nora’s breath caught. “I started seeing you as the woman I wanted beside me.”

She couldn’t speak. Cassian lowered his eyes. “And by the time I understood what that meant…we had already lost too much.”

A tear slipped down Nora’s cheek; she leaned closer and rested her forehead against his. Her voice broke.

“I think…I began feeling the same.”

Cassian closed his eyes; neither of them moved. For once, there was no argument between them.

No resentment, no House Voss, and no duty. Only the warmth of two foreheads touching in a cold dungeon beneath an imperial palace. Outside, somewhere far above them, the bells of Qashmar began to toll midnight.

Seeing Cassian hurt more than any wound on his body because she had spent so long waiting to hear them, and now she might only have a few hours left.

Nora leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. Cassian winced as her embrace touched his wounds, but he didn’t pull away.

Instead, he slowly wrapped his arms around her. They remained that way in the darkness, two prisoners, two hearts that had found each other far too late and beyond the iron bars; the palace guards continued their watch.

The night continued to pass. Nora’s arms tightened around Cassian, and soon the execution will be in process.