Chapter 119

“Yes.”

Cassian slowly closed the distance, wanting to see her a little closer.

There were so many things he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to say. If everything she did to him was her will, he wanted to know what was the reason for doing that.

But at the same time, he also didn’t want to know. He was afraid the answer would be that he looked the same as the man in the portrait. The moment he ran into her, Cassian felt that way… the greed that he hoped she had been visiting him, not because he was looking for the man in the portrait.

“You came now?”

It wasn’t long before he started looking for her, and she blamed him. Perhaps, she wanted to find him sooner. If so, would this meeting have come a little earlier…?

“You didn’t hide on purpose, did you?”

The expression ‘hide’ might have been wrong because she had no reason to hide. The woman in front of him just wasn’t looking for him anymore. At that, the emotions that strangely twisted in his stomach tensed his body.

“Hide?”

A voice that did not hide her displeasure returned. Did he say something wrong…?

A belated regret came flooding in though it was already after the words had been spoken. Cassian slowly and unobtrusively captured her figure at a distance. While facing each other, he saw a strangely deviated focus.

He realized that the woman in front of him was looking at the man in the portrait through him.

“Who are you looking at?”

A voice filled with resentment came out, wondering if that was the reason. He shouldn’t show his emotions like this, but it was funny that he had done it already.

She took a step back as Cassian was within reach of her if he stretched out his hand.

“I am not that man.”

Hearing those words, the red eyes went away from him. Cassian resisted the urge to make her see him again.

It was a very strange thing to even think about. Well, the current situation itself was a series of strange things that it felt unreal. And from a while ago, the hand that tightly rolled up her robe was very concerning. Wanting to hold her prominent hand till it went white from his strength… like that.

‘Crazy…’

He quickly acknowledged my situation.

At some point, Cassian waited for her to allow him to meet, and the many kinds of emotions he had while waiting for the day he would meet her were woven into one. He had never been like this before, so there was no way it could be an illusion or denial.

It was the first time that he had felt something so intense.

“Lady?”

He called her because she didn’t answer.

She wouldn’t be a commoner, but it was funny to call her wizard. Since he didn’t know her name, it was disastrous to have to confirm that fact again. Maybe she knew everything about him, but he didn’t know anything about her.

“Elysia.”

“Ah…”

Did she allow him her name? Or was it not her name but a last name?

‘…Elysia.’

Cassian swallowed his voice, holding the name in his mouth again and again.

Elysia hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hand to her husband, and Cassian seized the opportunity and grabbed her wrist. She immediately felt regret.

He had wanted to hold her hand.

The body temperature he touched was cool. It was the body temperature that tickled his hair and touched his forehead. Because of that, Cassian unknowingly grabbed her hand and pulled it hard. As the distance got closer, he could see the brow furrowed again.

Was she dissatisfied with something?

Was it because it had been a while since they met, and his behavior was rude? He wondered if he might have gripped his wrist too tightly, so he slightly relaxed it. Her slender wrists seemed like they would break if touched.

“Call me Elysia…”

After a brief thought, he wondered if she had been talking casually with the man in the portrait. At the thought, Cassian gritted his teeth as he felt uncomfortable constantly comparing his current situation with the man in the portrait.

“Sir?”

“You know what my name is. It’s okay to speak comfortably.”

“…I see.”

It was evident on her face that she was really worried about whether she could do that. It didn’t matter if that was not the reason anyway. She was the Emperor’s important guest.

Whatever it was, he wanted her to have no hesitation in acting with him. It would be better if she could call his name.

“Call me.”

Was it said that it was the same name as the man in the portrait’s name?

“Um?”

Cassian gently lowered his hand as she urged him to call her, and Elysia held his hand tightly. Then, as he felt the touch of her finger, he lowered his gaze to see the ring on her little finger. It was worn on the little finger, so it must not have been given to her by a loved one.

He smiled smugly and gently touched the ring with his finger.

“Miss Elysia.”

This was also one of the moments he imagined alone. He couldn’t call her because he didn’t know her name.

She would turn around when he called her name, so they had to face each other. Would she promise to visit him often? Maybe, she would smile when he called her name. With just one name, all kinds of thoughts would branch out without knowing the end.

“Ah…”

Cassian was curious about how she would react if he called her name, but he immediately felt nervous with her frowning eyes. Why was she reacting like that?

“The hand…”

As she let go of his hand without saying a word, Elysia stepped back and distanced herself from him.

Blink.

Her eyes glancing at the doorway on the first floor, seemed to be trying to escape.

“Is it true that Miss Elisia pointed to me as an escort?”

He asked whatever question came to his mind, afraid to see her peeking through the door and disappear like she did when she came to his bedroom.

“….Right.”

“Is it because I look like the man in the portrait?”

Cassian regretted the words as soon as he uttered them. If not, he was the one who gave her an excuse to run away, and if yes, he wasn’t the same man… Didn’t he say with his own mouth that he was not that man?

Even so, he waited for the words to come out of those red lips. A self-pitying laugh came out, wondering what she was thinking in this short time.

“It may or may not be true.”

After catching her breath for a moment, Elysia pursed her lips as if to add an explanation.

“That’s enough.”

“…What?”

He couldn’t help it because he was afraid that she would say that he wasn’t the one she was looking for it. Cassian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What kind of stupid nonsense was this?

“Cassian.”

Even though he never thought his name would sound so sweet, Cassian swallowed what he wanted to say to be called one more time.

“Yes.”

“You can’t look at me with those eyes.”

Elysia raised the corners of her mouth, pouting, and she came closer.

“You seem to be misunderstanding.”

Rather close enough to touch the tip of her nose, he took a step back.

What misunderstanding? He couldn’t see her. How many times did he see her? Less than twenty times, maybe ten times… He didn’t know that short meetings at dawn made him like this. Why was he getting so angry because of such a trifle?

“If you would like to be involved in my life…”

Cassian approached again as far as he had retreated.

“You have to take responsibility.”

There were times when, on the day after Elysia’s visit, he waited with excitement as to when she would come to see him again.

She came whenever he was having a hard time or was sick, and from then on, whenever that happened, he thought of her. Although it never happened often, he pretended to sleep since when she came to see him, she knew when he woke up, so she would quickly be gone.

She sometimes took his hand carefully and then let it go, or her lips would touch his forehead.

“How?”

“In any way.”

Elysia smiled lightly and licked her lips before bringing their face closer.

“That is a foul. Then what if I get eaten?”

Having said that, she tilted her face slightly.

The eyes that were facing him turned downward as the look on his lips caught her breath.

Cassian clenched his fists tightly and grabbed Elysia’s waist. How could he dare to touch her? In the past, the only thing he grabbed was her sleeve…

“Ugh… Why is it so quiet? Is everything alright?”

At that time, Rand, who couldn’t wait, came to the first floor with the knights. Looking at the two of them, the body in his arms slipped out.

Cassian clicked his tongue at the uninvited guest who came at the perfect time.