Chapter 149: Reality Returns

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Reality Returns

The applause gradually faded.

Conversation returned.

The ballroom resumed its rhythm.

Reality followed shortly afterward.

Cassian’s gaze moved across the room.

Then stopped.

Marian followed it instinctively.

The warmth lingering from the dance faltered slightly.

Adrian.

The realization arrived immediately.

Not because she had forgotten he was there.

Because she had.

For nearly ten minutes, the rest of the ballroom had ceased to exist.

The discovery was mildly embarrassing.

And deeply inconvenient.

"We should greet him."

Marian’s smile faded slightly.

The suggestion was inevitable.

That did not make it appealing.

For a brief moment, she considered pretending she hadn’t heard him.

The thought lasted less than a second.

Avoiding Adrian now would only make things worse.

Unfortunately, approaching him did not seem particularly attractive either.

Marian released a quiet breath.

Then nodded.

Together, they crossed the ballroom.

Each step felt unnecessarily deliberate.

The realization settled heavily in Marian’s chest.

Because suddenly she found herself confronting a problem she had successfully avoided for months.

How was she supposed to speak to Adrian?

The question should not have been difficult.

They had spent eighteen years talking to one another.

Eighteen years.

And yet somehow that only made it worse.

Because Marian remembered exactly how things had ended.

The lodge.

The argument.

The look on Adrian’s face.

The realization lingered unpleasantly.

Not because she regretted her decision.

She didn’t.

But decisions and consequences had always been different things.

And for the first time in months, she was about to stand directly in front of one of hers.

Adrian saw them coming.

The realization irritated him immediately.

Because there was no reasonable explanation for the irritation.

Ashford was his cousin.

Marian was—

The thought stopped there.

Adrian found himself unwilling to finish it.

"Your Highness."

Cassian inclined his head.

Adrian’s gaze settled on him.

"Ashford."

Nothing more.

No welcome.

No mention of the northern campaign.

No acknowledgment of the months apart.

Just his name.

Polite.

Correct.

And somehow colder than outright hostility.

Beside him, Marian lowered her head.

"Your Highness."

Only then did Adrian look at her.

The moment lasted no longer than a heartbeat.

Yet Marian found herself oddly aware of it.

"Lady Valmont."

The title landed exactly as intended.

Formal.

Distant.

A reminder of everything that had changed.

Marian felt it immediately.

So did Adrian.

Neither acknowledged it.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The silence stretched.

Then Cassian rescued it.

"The capital seems unchanged."

Adrian’s attention shifted back to him.

"Six months is not a particularly long absence."

"No."

A faint smile touched Cassian’s mouth.

"I suppose it isn’t."

The conversation moved forward from there.

North.

Travel.

Politics.

Routine matters.

The sort of subjects men discussed at receptions every day.

Cassian answered calmly.

Adrian responded calmly.

Everything remained perfectly civil.

Which somehow made it worse.

Because everyone knew what they were not discussing.

Marian listened quietly.

At first because there seemed little reason to interrupt.

Then because she found herself watching Adrian.

The realization surprised her.

Not because she hadn’t seen him before.

Because she had not truly looked at him in months.

Not from this close.

Not like this.

He looked the same.

And yet not.

The thought settled uncomfortably in her chest.

At one point Adrian glanced toward her.

Their eyes met.

Neither looked away immediately.

Then Adrian returned his attention to Cassian.

The conversation continued.

Marian found herself oddly relieved.

The reaction made no sense.

Several minutes later, a viscount approached.

"Ashford."

The older nobleman smiled.

"I was hoping to borrow a moment of your time."

Cassian glanced toward the man.

Then toward Marian.

Then Adrian.

The look lasted only a moment.

Yet somehow Marian understood exactly what it meant.

"I’ll return shortly."

Marian nodded.

Cassian inclined his head toward Adrian.

Then departed with the viscount.

And suddenly—

it was just the two of them.

The realization arrived with surprising force.

For a brief moment neither spoke.

The silence felt strangely familiar.

Not because it was comfortable.

Because it wasn’t.

Because once upon a time, silence between them had never required effort.

Now it did.

Marian folded her hands together.

Then immediately wished she hadn’t.

The gesture made her feel oddly self-conscious.

Which was ridiculous.

She had known Adrian almost her entire life.

"Your Highness."

The title sounded absurd.

Adrian’s gaze shifted toward her.

For the first time since approaching him, they were no longer buffered by anyone else.

Marian discovered she disliked the feeling.

"I suppose calling you Adrian would be worse."

Something shifted in his expression.

Not quite amusement.

But close enough to recognize.

"Considerably."

A small laugh escaped her.

Brief.

Unplanned.

Gone almost immediately.

Yet somehow the tension eased.

Only slightly.

"It’s been a long time."

The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

Adrian looked at her.

"It has."

Neither looked away.

The realization felt unexpectedly heavy.

Almost a year.

Almost a year since the lodge.

Almost a year since everything changed.

And suddenly Marian found herself wondering how they had managed to avoid a conversation for so long.

The thought was uncomfortable.

"I hope you’ve been well."

The words sounded inadequate the moment they left her mouth.

Adrian seemed to think so too.

Not because he looked offended.

Because something in his expression tightened briefly.

Then disappeared.

"I’ve been busy."

The answer was simple.

Neutral.

Entirely Adrian.

Yet somehow it made Marian feel worse.

The musicians began another dance.

Couples slowly moved toward the floor.

Neither of them did.

The silence returned.

Not comfortable.

Not hostile.

Something else.

Something neither seemed willing to name.

Across the ballroom, Marian noticed Cassian concluding his conversation.

Relief appeared immediately.

Instinctively.

Without thought.

The reaction was so automatic that she didn’t even notice it.

Adrian did.

The realization irritated him immediately.

More than it should have.

Much more.

For one brief moment, he found himself looking toward the dance floor.

Then toward Marian.

The thought appeared before he could stop it.

Ask her.

The impulse struck with startling force.

Then vanished.

Adrian froze.

The realization followed immediately afterward.

What exactly was wrong with him?

The question lingered.

Persistent.

Unwelcome.

Impossible to answer.

Because the problem was not the thought itself.

The problem was that it had occurred to him at all.

Across the room, Cassian started walking back toward them.

The moment ended.

Yet somehow Adrian knew the conversation wasn’t over.

Not really.

Not after tonight.

Not after this.

The realization settled quietly in the back of his mind.

And this time, it refused to leave.

End Chapter 150