Chapter 312: v4 - 13: tomorrow III

Chapter 312: v4 Chapter 13: tomorrow III

Cassian was quiet for a moment.

He understood what Lorenz was really asking.

They had spent weeks traveling through the Empire.

They had seen the roads.

The towns.

The wealth.

The order.

The stability.

And now they were only a day from the capital.

Milicia had been rebuilding.

But it was not in a position to challenge the Empire.

Not now.

Not over him.

Cassian looked toward Lorenz.

"Lorenz."

His voice was calm.

"You opened a road for me to come home when you had no obligation to do so."

"I am already thankful for that."

He paused.

"You don’t have to walk this road with me."

Lorenz remained silent.

Cassian continued.

"If Marian chooses me, I won’t remain Carlo."

"There would be no point."

"At some point, I would have to return to my own name."

"Cassian Ashford."

"Duke of Ashford."

Marcus watched him carefully.

Cassian’s expression remained composed.

"I was the Duke before I disappeared."

"The title reverted to the Crown because I was presumed dead."

"That does not erase my right to it."

"If I establish that I am alive, I can reclaim it through the proper channels."

Lorenz nodded slowly.

"And you believe they would allow it."

"They would have little choice."

Cassian’s gaze hardened slightly.

"Adrian might dislike it."

"But he cannot simply dispose of me publicly."

"Not if I return as Cassian Ashford."

Marcus understood.

Cassian was not merely a duke returning to his lands.

He was Adrian’s closest surviving male relative.

His father had been the Emperor’s father’s brother.

Which meant that, once Cassian’s survival became known, his existence itself would have political weight.

There would be people who would rally around him.

Others who would see his return as an opportunity.

Old loyalties could resurface.

New factions could form.

The court could become divided.

Cassian knew that.

He also knew he did not want any of it.

"I don’t know what happens after that," he admitted.

"There are too many possibilities."

"But whatever happens between Adrian and me, I will deal with it."

He looked directly at Lorenz.

"I won’t make it Milicia’s problem."

Lorenz smiled faintly.

"Cassian."

He leaned back.

His expression softened.

"It’s not as though I didn’t understand the implications when I brought you here."

"I knew what could happen."

"But seeing the Empire for ourselves..."

He paused.

"It does make the situation clearer."

Cassian nodded.

"Milicia cannot stand against the Empire at this time."

"Not without risking everything we’ve spent years rebuilding."

"I know."

Lorenz was quiet for a moment.

"But you are my friend."

His voice was simple.

"That doesn’t change because the circumstances are difficult."

Cassian looked at him.

"I cannot promise you what Milicia would do if this became a conflict."

"I understand."

"But if it ever comes to the point where you have nowhere else to go..."

Lorenz gave him a faint smile.

"You can always come back."

"To Milicia."

"Your place there will remain."

"Carlo will remain yours."

"I’ll keep the title for you until you’re ready to take it back."

Cassian was silent for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"Thank you."

Lorenz gave a small nod.

"Now."

He glanced toward the clock.

"We should stop discussing things that haven’t happened yet."

Marcus gathered the remaining documents.

"We should prepare for tomorrow."

Cassian stood.

Tomorrow.

The reception.

The Emperor.

The capital.

And Marian.

The three men exchanged brief looks before leaving the room.

--

Cassian returned to his chambers alone.

The fire had burned low.

He closed the door behind him and stood in the quiet.

Tomorrow.

The word felt different now.

Closer.

Real.

For almost six years, he had imagined returning to the Empire.

He had imagined Marian more times than he could count.

He had seen her in dreams.

Spoken to her in his thoughts.

Imagined the moment she would finally understand that he had never abandoned her.

Now there was no dream left between them.

Tomorrow, he would see her.

The real Marian.

Not the girl he remembered.

Not the woman preserved in his memories.

Marian was twenty-seven now.

An Empress.

A wife.

Adrian’s wife.

Cassian lowered his gaze.

That was the part he had tried not to think about.

Before he had ever entered Marian’s life, Adrian had already been there.

Eighteen years.

They had grown up together.

Been engaged for most of their lives.

Loved each other long before Cassian had ever become part of the story.

Cassian had only had a little over a year with Marian.

And even that had been fractured by distance.

Months apart.

Letters.

Uncertainty.

Then the short time they had actually shared together.

Compared with eighteen years, it seemed painfully small.

And now that she had been married to Adrian for almost four years, it felt smaller still.

Cassian leaned back against the edge of the desk.

How could he ask her to choose him again?

He could tell her the truth.

He would.

He needed her to know that he had never abandoned her.

That he had tried to return.

That he had survived.

But would that be enough?

Would Marian look at him and remember the man she had loved?

Or would she look at him and see a man from another life?

Cassian closed his eyes.

For the first time since leaving Milicia, he allowed himself to acknowledge how afraid he was.

Not of Adrian.

Not of the court.

Not of the political consequences of his return.

Those were things he could face.

He had survived worse.

Marian was different.

Her choice could not be fought for with a sword.

It could not be negotiated.

It could not be taken.

He could only stand before her and ask.

And that terrified him more than anything else.

Because every day he had survived had carried the thought of her somewhere inside it.

The arena.

The hunger.

The blood.

The years of uncertainty.

Helping Lorenz.

Becoming a Marquess.

Through all of it, there had been one thought that never completely disappeared.

Someday, he would see Marian again.

He had survived because he had wanted to return to her.

And tomorrow, he finally would.

But now that tomorrow was almost here, the question he had avoided finally returned.

What if she did not choose him?

Cassian stared at the floor.

He had no answer.

He had spent almost six years surviving because there had always been something ahead of him.

Something to reach.

Someone to return to.

If Marian rejected him, he knew he would survive.

He had survived everything else.

But what would he be surviving for?

The thought unsettled him.

He had never allowed himself to look that far.

Perhaps he would return to Milicia.

Perhaps he would remain in the Empire.

Perhaps he would simply continue living because he had learned how.

But none of those possibilities felt real yet.

Because for almost six years, survival had never been the destination.

It had only been the means of getting back to her.

Cassian shook his head.

There was no use being overly dramatic now.

Tomorrow, he would enter the capital as Carlo.

He would see her.

He would tell her the truth when the opportunity came.

After that—

everything would belong to her.

Cassian exhaled slowly.

He had survived almost six years to reach this moment.

Tomorrow, he would finally know whether everything he had survived for was waiting for him on the other side.

He turned down the lamp.

Sleep did not come easily.

Tomorrow was too close.

–

TBC