🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 8
Yulia quickly finished washing up and, in the blink of an eye, gathered and put on all the clothes scattered across the floor.
She walked over and curled up on the chair placed near the hotel room door.
This chair seemed to be the farthest from the bed, making it the most suitable place to have a rational conversation with him.
‘Why did we take our clothes off in such a hurry and leave them lying around like this…?’
Filled with self-loathing, Yulia buried her face between her knees.
As she sat there listening to the sound of water coming from the bathroom, her mind became more and more tangled.
‘When did I even come into the room with Cassian…? I can’t remember anything… This is bad… I’ve gone crazy! Of all people, why did it have to be Cassian?!’
Soon, the sound of water stopped, and with the click of the bathroom door opening, Cassian walked out, still damp from his shower.
Tiny droplets of water clung to the tips of his black hair.
Cassian walked toward the mirror hanging beside the bed and dried his hair with a towel.
His eyebrows lifted slightly in confusion as he looked at Yulia through the mirror.
“Why are you sitting so far away? Come closer.”
He gestured toward the wide bed behind him.
“N-No! I’m fine here! We can talk from here.”
Yulia waved her hands frantically as she answered.
From a distance, Yulia slowly looked him over.
Seeing Cassian so defenseless right after waking up felt incredibly unfamiliar.
The Cassian she had always seen at school was neat and proper, dressed in a perfectly buttoned uniform with his black bangs slicked back without a strand out of place.
But the Cassian before her now was completely disheveled.
Especially his neck and upper body, covered everywhere with messy red marks that looked completely unlike him.
‘Don’t tell me… I did all of that…?’
Yulia shut her eyes tightly again, overcome with a strange sense of guilt.
It seemed that after drinking for the first time in a long while, she had completely lost control and done things she never should have done to him.
The damage was already done, but Yulia still felt some responsibility for leaving him in that state.
‘But…’
In the end, it had only been one night she could barely even remember.
She thought it wouldn’t be good for either of them to continue this relationship.
‘Most importantly… Cassian doesn’t have feelings for me anyway.’
Yulia decided to think of it in the most convenient way possible.
“Cassian, let’s forget about what happened today.”
“What?”
Yulia declared it boldly.
Through the mirror, she saw Cassian’s expression stiffen.
Still refusing to back down, Yulia continued speaking.
“I drank too many mixed drinks yesterday, so I can’t really remember anything. When I woke up, we were already like this. I don’t want things to become awkward between us, so let’s just forget everything that happened.”
Yulia tried to sound cool about it.
After all, it would probably be better for Cassian too if he didn’t get unnecessarily tangled up with her.
Cassian stood still for a moment with the towel in his hand before turning around to face her with a cold expression.
Then he spoke in a chilly voice.
“…You don’t remember?”
“Yeah, not at all… I’ve never had something like this happen before…”
Yulia nodded up and down like a broken doll.
It really was strange.
No matter how drunk she had been, how could all her memories disappear so completely?
“Ha… No wonder your expression looked strange when you woke up this morning.”
Cassian pushed his messy hair back from his forehead and frowned deeply.
Yulia held her breath as she watched him carefully.
She couldn’t understand why he disliked the situation so much.
Wouldn’t it be far easier and more convenient for him not to get involved with her?
“What if I don’t want to?”
Cassian lifted his head and met Yulia’s eyes again.
His handsome face had already returned to its usual calm, expressionless look, as if his irritation from earlier had never existed.
“Huh?”
“What if I don’t want to forget?”
He strode toward where Yulia was sitting.
Screeeech!
Startled, Yulia instinctively pushed herself backward with her feet, making the chair legs scrape harshly against the floor.
She expected Cassian to walk straight up to her, but instead, he bent down and picked up the white shirt lying beneath the bed.
“Oh… I see. Right, you might not want to forget!”
Yulia, who had become frightened in an instant, spoke in obvious panic.
It was a completely unexpected reaction.
“But… wouldn’t it still be better for both of us to forget? It was a mistake for both of us…”
“A mistake?”
“Yeah, a mistake.”
“It wasn’t one for me.”
“Ah…”
Cassian calmly replied while slipping his arms into the shirt and buttoning it up.
The white fabric stretched tightly over his body.
“Why? Is spending the night with men by mistake something you usually do?”
His sarcastic tone was unusually sharp.
Yulia felt offended for a moment, but she had no excuse.
She had once harshly criticized a man who slept with her friend and then tried to pretend it never happened…
‘Ugh… and now I’m doing exactly the same thing…’
Yulia felt like unrecyclable trash.
‘And this is the first time I’ve ever seen Cassian show his emotions this openly…’
The Cassian she had always known was expressionless, indifferent, cold, or distant.
Seeing this unfamiliar side of him made guilt slowly rise inside her.
“Um… anyway, let me apologize first. I’m sorry… I really don’t remember anything.”
Yulia cautiously watched his reaction as she spoke.
“…But think about it carefully. You can’t seriously start dating me after this, can you?”
She couldn’t imagine Grand Duke Cassian seriously dating or marrying a woman he had only spent one night with.
Besides, nobles were people who entered loveless contract marriages for the sake of their families and casually kept several lovers on the side.
Maybe he would just toy with her until the heroine from the original novel appeared and then throw her away.
“Serious dating…”
Cassian repeated her words in a low voice.
The dangerous atmosphere around him softened slightly.
Thinking he agreed with her, Yulia hurriedly continued.
“I don’t want to start a relationship when I already know how it’s going to end.”
“What kind of ending are you talking about?”
“Well… I mean, you’re not going to marry me, right? No matter how high-ranking a noble is, I have no intention of becoming someone’s mistress.”
“Mistress?”
The calm he had regained instantly disappeared as he frowned again in disbelief.
“Who said I was going to make you my mistress—!”
Knock knock.
At that moment, a light knocking sound came from the hotel room door behind her.
“Yu… li… a…!”
Jerome was knocking on the door to Room 207.
Startled by his sudden voice, Yulia jolted upright from the chair.
“W-What time is it now?”
She looked at the watch on her wrist while grabbing her bag from the floor.
If she hesitated any longer, Jerome might walk in and see Cassian.
“Then… I guess we’re done talking, so I’ll head out first! Maybe I’ll see you again someday!”
‘Though we absolutely won’t!’
Yulia screamed the last part only in her mind as she quickly turned around.
She didn’t want to continue this uncomfortable conversation any longer.
Now that they had graduated from the academy, there was no reason left for her to become involved with Cassian Isheide ever again.
Well, maybe if she joined a company related to imperial work, they might pass each other occasionally.
Just before leaving, Yulia glanced back at Cassian.
“……”
Cassian was still standing there motionless, staring at her.
His expressionless face looked as though he were deeply lost in thought.
I’m sorry, but this can’t be helped… We shouldn’t get involved anymore.
When you meet the heroine from the original novel later, heal your wounds with her! You’ll probably thank me then.
Forcing herself to look away from him, Yulia carefully opened the door.
Through the small gap, she saw Jerome standing there with a smile.
If she opened the door fully, Jerome would definitely notice Cassian inside the room.
So Yulia squeezed herself through the narrow opening and immediately slammed the door shut behind her.
“Jerome! You woke up early? Let’s go!”
Jerome, worried she might trip while rushing out so frantically, firmly caught her wobbling arm.
Maybe because she had hurried out due to his knocking, the ends of her brown hair were still damp.
As he steadied her, Jerome noticed the earring barely hanging from beneath her thick hair.
She must have put it on in a hurry without looking in a mirror because the clasp wasn’t fastened properly.
“Yu… Yulia… w-wait…”
Jerome stopped her.
“Jerome, I’m hungry! Let’s hurry downstairs!”
Yulia anxiously looked back and forth between Jerome’s face and the door to Room 207.
Ignoring her words, Jerome kept holding both her arms firmly.
“What’s wrong? Let’s go already! We need to call for a carriage before it gets too late!”
Yulia stamped her feet nervously.
If they didn’t leave immediately, there was no telling when Cassian might open that door and come out.
Jerome quietly looked at her before gently tucking her hair behind her ear.
Then he lightly touched the pearl earring underneath.
