Chapter 93: Certainty

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Certainty

The summons arrived the next morning.

"His Grace wishes to see you, my lady."

Marian looked up from the letter in her hands.

Immediately suspicious.

Because fathers who summoned their daughters rarely did so for pleasant reasons.

The maid, unfortunately, looked delighted.

A terrible sign.

"Good luck."

Marian narrowed her eyes.

"Whose side are you on?"

The maid considered.

Then:

"My own."

Traitor.

Marian left before she could say anything else.

Her father was waiting in his study.

Exactly where she expected him to be.

A stack of documents sat on his desk.

Untouched.

Which immediately worried her.

Because Duke Valmort only ignored paperwork when something occupied his thoughts.

Marian had a terrible feeling she knew what that something was.

"Father."

The Duke looked up.

Then gestured toward the chair opposite him.

"Sit."

Not encouraging.

Not discouraging.

Just... ominous.

Marian obeyed.

The Duke studied her for a moment.

Long enough that she became uncomfortable.

Which was probably intentional.

Then finally—

"How certain are you?"

Marian blinked.

The question caught her off guard.

"Father?"

"No."

His voice remained calm.

Measured.

Patient.

The voice of a man who had spent several nights thinking.

"I want an honest answer."

The study grew quiet.

The Duke folded his hands together.

"You are twenty."

Marian frowned.

"I know."

"I know you know."

A pause.

"But I am also old enough to know certainty feels different at twenty."

Unfortunately, that sounded reasonable.

Marian disliked it immediately.

The Duke continued.

"When I was your age, I was convinced I understood everything."

A pause.

"Then I became thirty."

Another.

"Then forty."

He leaned back in his chair.

"And discovered I had been an idiot at twenty."

"Father."

"I’m making a point."

Unfortunately, he was.

The Duke sighed.

Then looked directly at her.

"Let’s say I support this."

The room immediately became still.

Not because he had agreed.

He hadn’t.

But because those words mattered.

The Duke continued.

"Let’s say I take this matter forward."

"Let’s say it reaches the Emperor."

Marian’s heartbeat quickened.

Because suddenly this wasn’t theoretical anymore.

The Duke’s gaze remained steady.

"Once this becomes public, there is no undoing it."

No quiet retreat.

No pretending it never happened.

No changing her mind next season.

The Duke’s voice softened.

"What if six months from now you regret this?"

Marian opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

Because the question deserved better than a reflexive answer.

"What if a year from now you realize this was only excitement?"

The words weren’t cruel.

That was what made them difficult.

"What if Duke Ashford disappoints you?"

"What if you disappoint him?"

"What if marriage proves harder than either of you imagined?"

Silence.

The questions settled heavily between them.

The Duke waited.

Patiently.

Giving her time.

Because this mattered.

A great deal.

Marian lowered her gaze.

Thinking.

For a long while neither spoke.

Then finally—

"I don’t know."

The Duke blinked.

Apparently that wasn’t the answer he expected.

Marian smiled faintly.

"I don’t know what six months from now looks like."

The Duke listened.

"I don’t know what a year from now looks like."

"Or ten."

Her fingers tightened slightly.

"Maybe we’ll argue."

The Duke snorted.

"You will."

"Thank you for your confidence."

"You’re welcome."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Then Marian’s smile faded.

Becoming quieter.

More thoughtful.

"When I was with Adrian..."

She hesitated.

Choosing her words carefully.

Because she loved Adrian.

That truth had not changed.

"I always thought about the future."

The Duke remained silent.

Listening.

"The engagement."

"The palace."

"The responsibilities."

"The life we would have."

A pause.

"I was always looking ahead."

The realization felt strange.

Because she had never put it into words before.

Yet now that she did—

It felt undeniably true.

The Duke watched her carefully.

"And Duke Ashford?"

Marian immediately looked away.

Which answered far more than she intended.

The Duke sighed.

A father’s sigh.

One filled with disappointment in the universe.

Marian ignored him.

Mostly.

"When I think about him..."

She stopped.

Then laughed softly.

Because the answer sounded ridiculous.

Yet it was true.

"I don’t think about any of that."

The Duke stared.

Marian shook her head.

"I know I should."

"Probably."

"I know how difficult this will be."

"Good."

At least she wasn’t completely delusional.

Marian smiled.

Small.

Private.

Almost shy.

"But when I see him..."

The smile widened despite her best efforts.

"I just think about him."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The Duke stared.

Then slowly rubbed his forehead.

Marian pretended not to notice.

The Duke pretended she wasn’t pretending.

For several moments neither spoke.

Then Marian’s expression softened.

Thoughtful.

The forest.

The lake.

The countless conversations.

The way Cassian listened.

The way he remembered.

The way he looked at her as though she mattered.

Not because she was useful.

Not because she was a future crown princess.

Just because she was Marian.

Warmth spread quietly through her chest.

And suddenly she understood something.

Not for the first time.

But perhaps more clearly than before.

She had spent so much of her life thinking about where she was supposed to go.

What she was supposed to become.

What future waited for her.

Yet whenever she thought about Cassian—

Those questions seemed less important.

Not because the future disappeared.

Because somehow it no longer felt frightening.

For the first time in both her lives—

She had chosen someone.

Not a title.

Not a duty.

Not an expectation.

A person.

And perhaps that was why she felt so certain.

Not because she believed everything would be perfect.

Because she didn’t.

Not because she believed life would be easy.

Because it wouldn’t.

But because when she imagined the difficult days—

The uncertain days—

The painful days—

She still wanted him there.

The realization settled quietly inside her.

Steady.

Unshakable.

She looked up.

Meeting her father’s gaze.

"Father."

The Duke waited.

Marian took a breath.

Then spoke honestly.

"I don’t know what happens next."

A pause.

"But I know who I want beside me when it does."

Silence filled the room.

The Duke stared at her.

Long.

Thoughtful.

Measuring.

Weighing.

And for the first time since this conversation began—

He found himself with no immediate answer.