Chapter 208: V2- - 27: a small packet II

Adrian’s expression remained still.

He didn’t know which answer he wanted.

That realization irritated him.

He had given her the choice because he wanted to see what she would do.

Now that the choice was actually in front of her, he wasn’t certain there was an answer that would leave him satisfied.

Adrian watched as Marian poured the packet’s contents into the glass of water he had brought her.

She stirred it slowly.

The quiet movement seemed strangely loud in the silence of the room.

Adrian’s gaze remained fixed on her.

He had expected to feel relieved.

Instead, an unfamiliar tension settled deeper in his chest.

Marian lifted the glass.

Something in him tightened.

He almost told her to wait.

The impulse came and disappeared so quickly that he barely understood it himself.

His jaw clenched.

Marian drank.

She swallowed once.

Then again.

And lowered the glass.

Adrian remained silent.

The relief came first.

She had done what he had expected.

What he had wanted.

And yet the relief was followed almost immediately by something sharper.

Irritation.

A dull, inexplicable anger that seemed to have nowhere to go.

His eyes remained on her.

She had done nothing wrong.

That was what made it worse.

She had simply made the choice he had placed in front of her.

Adrian looked away for a moment.

He could not understand why seeing her obey him had left an ache in his chest.

He had wanted certainty.

She had given him an answer.

And somehow, he still wasn’t satisfied.

When he looked back at her, his expression had already settled into its usual composure.

"Good."

Marian lowered her eyes.

She accepted the word quietly.

Adrian said nothing more.

He wasn’t going to examine the feeling now.

Whatever it was—anger, disappointment, or something far less convenient—it could wait.

For now, he had his answer.

And Marian had made her choice.

Adrian reached for the bell.

A moment later, there was a knock.

"Enter."

One of his attendants stepped inside.

"Your Majesty?"

"Prepare my clothes."

The attendant bowed.

"And bring something suitable for Lady Valmont."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The attendant hesitated.

"Shall I have the bath prepared?"

"It already is."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The attendant bowed again.

Adrian glanced toward the bathing chamber.

"I’ll bathe alone."

The attendant understood immediately.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

She withdrew.

The door closed.

Adrian remained still for a moment.

Marian had not moved.

She was sitting quietly on the bed, the glass still in her hand.

Adrian looked at her.

Something had changed.

The brightness she had carried earlier was gone. Her eyes were slightly too still, her expression carefully composed in the way Marian always became when she was trying not to reveal what she was feeling.

He knew that look.

Eighteen years had taught him the difference between Marian being quiet and Marian trying very hard to appear unaffected.

He didn’t need to ask.

She was hurt.

He could see it.

Adrian could have said something.

He could have softened the moment.

Instead, he let her have the silence.

Not because he wanted to punish her.

He simply didn’t know what he could say without undoing what he had deliberately set in motion.

He turned toward the bathing chamber.

Whatever she was thinking, he would leave her to it.

He stepped inside and closed the door.

--

(Marian POV)

The moment the door closed, Marian finally let out the breath she had been holding.

Her eyes burned.

She looked down at the glass.

She had taken it.

She had done exactly what Adrian had expected.

So why did it hurt?

She had known they weren’t married.

She had known he had not promised her anything.

She had known this morning that he was still testing her.

And yet, before she drank it, some foolish part of her had hoped—

Stop me.

She had wanted him to stop her.

Not because she wanted a child.

Not because she wanted to force him into marriage.

She simply wanted him to want her enough that he would not let her take it.

But Adrian had watched.

And when she finished, he had only said:

"Good."

Marian’s vision blurred.

One tear slipped free.

She wiped it away quickly.

Then another followed.

She pressed her fingertips against her cheek.

No.

She wasn’t going to cry.

This was what she had agreed to.

She had told him she would prove herself.

She couldn’t turn away simply because the first proof had hurt.

Marian took a slow breath and looked toward the clothes the attendant had left for her.

She couldn’t remain in Adrian’s bed indefinitely.

Carefully, she rose and gathered the garments.

She dressed quietly while Adrian remained in the bathing chamber.

By the time she finished, she had managed to compose herself—or at least enough that she could face him without immediately breaking down.

She sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

The ache in her chest remained.

Perhaps that was the part she hadn’t understood.

Choosing Adrian was not going to be as simple as choosing him once.

She would have to keep choosing him.

Even when it hurt.

Even when she didn’t understand him.

Even when she wished he would simply tell her what he wanted.

The door opened.

Marian immediately lowered her gaze.

Adrian stepped out.

His hair was damp, a few strands falling loosely across his forehead.

He looked toward her.

She was already dressed.

Adrian stopped.

His eyes moved over her face.

The faint redness around her eyes told him what her carefully composed expression did not.

He knew her.

He knew when she had been crying.

He knew when she was trying not to show it.

For a moment, something tightened in his chest.

He had hurt her.

Perhaps not intentionally.

But he had.

And now she was asking to leave.

"I think I should return to my residence."

Adrian’s expression remained composed.

"If that’s what you want."

Marian looked at him.

She had expected more.

She didn’t know what.

Perhaps stay.

Perhaps don’t go yet.

But Adrian gave her neither.

She nodded.

"Yes."

Adrian watched her for another moment.

Then he said quietly,

"Very well."

Marian looked down.

Adrian turned toward the door.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether he had pushed too hard.

The thought irritated him.

He had wanted to know whether she would remain when things became difficult.

And she had.

She had taken the medicine.

She had not protested.

She had not accused him.

Even now, she wasn’t angry with him.

She was hurt.

Yet she was still here.

Still trying.

Still choosing him, even when she didn’t understand what he was asking of her.

Adrian paused with his hand on the door.

He looked back at her.

Marian was sitting quietly, trying very hard not to let him see what she was feeling.

Something in his chest tightened again.

Good.

The thought came quietly.

Not because he wanted her to suffer.

But because, despite the hurt, she had not turned away from him.

He opened the door.

"I’ll see you soon."

Marian nodded.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The door closed.

Marian remained still for several seconds.

She had held herself together while he was there.

Now there was no reason to.

Her lips trembled.

And the tears finally fell freely.

--

Tbc