Chapter 171: Chapter 87.1

“i’m going. i’m going.”

“yes, that’s what i was going to do. i was just kidding.”

yernia, who turned her head straight, hurried into the carriage. cassian, who was following yernia, moved quickly while chuckling.

“were you surprised enough to stutter?”

“why should i? you’re always like that everywhere.”

her surprised stutter was cassian’s fault. he once said he would keep his distance so she thought he would refuse even if she asked him to go with her. she didn’t expect him to say yes right away. in addition, his response was, indeed, a surprise. cassian was insensitive these days and their guidance was limited to holding hands. the carriage slowly exited their mansion.

“by the way, are you alright? it’s going to take a long time and you look already exhausted.”

she couldn’t care less about his condition for a moment because she was too busy defending herself against cassian’s taunts. she wondered if cassian, whom she had just kicked out, would be able to move after that.

“i’m not tired when i’m with you.”

“you’re just saying that to look good.”

“don’t you like it?”

cassian was so confusing that yernia wanted to die.

“it’s not like i hate it. i don’t get tired when i’m with you either.”

“what about you?”  he went on belatedly. “do you feel good every time i say it?”

as cassian stared at her face while sitting next to her, his lips quirked into a triumphant smile. did he really have to ask? last time, cassian said something significant as well. ‘just admit that you were jealous every time you saw me with her.’ what was cassian’s intention when he said that?

“i like it.”

yernia’s lips twitched but she deliberately turned her head out of the window to hide his expression.

“i’m also grateful that you asked me to go with you first.”

“nothing to be thankful for when i just bothered you.”

her mind kept jumping to conclusions. at the time when the original novel had changed, the male lead might have had a lesser chance of falling in love with the female lead. is that why cassian wasn’t attracted to herena?

“do you know where we’re going?”

yernia cut off the thought that followed. from now on, she had to find a house for herena. unfortunately, going to the countryside was time-consuming since it was far from the capital. it would take them a day just to go back and forth. now that herena had to go a long way to see cassian, perhaps it would be easier for cassian to like her. unlike her thoughts telling her not to do anything, her mouth kept moving as she pleased. did cassian ever like her? she would get in trouble if she even asked. it would be embarrassing if he said yes, and even worse if he said no. most of all, this was probably the second time for her to ask that question. she might have been able to pass it lightly at first, but she didn’t think she could do it after asking twice. not yet. even if she managed to convey her heart, there is no guarantee that cassian would accept it. if she didn’t know cassian’s mind and forced her feelings onto him, she would end up like yernia in the original novel. no. she didn’t want cassian to hate her. it wasn’t a good thing to say now that they had to travel a long distance together.

“i’ve been waiting for you to tell me. where are we going?”

“i’m looking for a place to stay.”

“for the slave, right?”

cassian’s brows furrowed in disapproval. slave?  that was true but his crooked tone made her look at cassian nervously for no reason. would he tell her to let herena live in their mansion and prevent yernia from searching for a place for her?

“yes. it will be hard for us to live in the same house all the time.”

cassian gave her a strange look.

‘please don’t just tell me to leave her alone and not bother her.’

yernia was feeling anxious until words came out of cassian’s lips.

“did she ask you to do it?”

“that’s not it.”

in fact, it was a decision she made without telling herena so that she wouldn’t feel burdened. she feared that she would refuse as well. yernia had felt uneasy every time she saw herena hanging around cassian all the time. from the look on cassian’s face, she must be right. cassian didn’t seem to have much feelings for herena yet but herena could be different. cassian must have looked like salvation to herena and it was perfect that they met by chance. however, a wife could be an obstacle to her and a heart would want what it wanted. even yernia, who was sure it would never happen, fell in love with cassian.

“no matter how much i think about it, you’re unnecessarily too nice.”

yernia smiled breathlessly. it didn’t sound like a compliment, but she kept smiling.

“why are you smiling like that? it’s not a compliment.”

“why? am i smiling too much?”

“yes.” cassian poked her cheek with a finger. she frowned a bit before smiling again.

cassian smiled as she looked at yernia.

***

“this is a place for newlyweds to live. welcome to pruna.”

the carriage stopped in front of the platform, and yernia and cassian got another ticket. she thought it would be difficult to get a ticket later. fortunately, there were enough seats on the train to pruna. after having a meal because she had nothing to bring with her luggage, yernia had just come to see the room by asking the real estate agent with cassian. it was a small villa. seeing that the grass was lush, it seemed like it had been a while since someone had lived there.

the broker opened the villa’s door and welcomed them with a wide grin. the greeting was a bit late but yernia was worried about something else. did she have to correct that? they were, if anything, newlyweds. however, they didn’t come to see the house where they could live. it was a house for a woman who was supposed to live alone.

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