Yes.

Yernia thought so.

Yernia didn’t respond and quickly tried to withdraw her hand, but Cassian tightened its grip.

She gave up on talking because it was impossible, so she decided to use her strength.

Yernia tried her best to pull her fingers from Cassian’s hand.

However, it was not enough.

Cassian didn’t even use much of his strength.

Yet, she had no idea why she couldn’t overpower him.

Yernia realized that she was weaker than she thought.

“Yernia, stop whining. Are you a puppy?”

Was he joking in this situation?

Why the hell is he laughing?

A shadow casting over Yernia’s head made her pause.

The time had come.

Now, she wasn’t angry with Cassian anymore.

Despair just wrapped around Yernia when she saw the senior’s mouth open.

“Yes.”

Don’t do it.

Don’t say anything.

“Yernia.”

The senior called her name.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

She could hear bells ringing in her ears, and she didn’t know where it came from.

Oh, Yernia wanted to die this instant.

What was the temperature of the Vaner River?

She hoped it was not too cold.

“I still like you after all this time. I only dated Daisy to forget you. You should know that I don’t want to marry any other woman aside from you.”

‘You crazy punk!’

“Do you want to go out with me?”

Yernia withdrew from his senior after that buttery confession.

Cassian stood in front of her, and she watched the back of his head.

“How many times do I have to tell you to understand?” His voice was filled with amusement.

“Me and Yena—-”

No way!

No freaking way!

Yernia instinctively knew that Cassian would get them into trouble.

“We are getting married.”

Cassian Lecardo was famous because he was the next in line for the Dukedom.

Everyone knew that he was part of the Ducal Household in this Empire.

“Oh,” someone breathed in.

Quite a few people had watched the next Duke of Lecardo with grudging admiration.

Pairs of eyes scanned Yernia from head to toe after discovering that she was the future duke’s fiance.

The quiet disturbance made Yernia’s ears tickle.

“Why do you keep trying hard to get Yernia’s attention?”

“…….”

“You make me mad. Do you know how tired Yernia is of you?”

Yernia was devastated during the senior faced humiliation.

He seemed foolish when he turned his attention towards Yernia.

“Yernia, you said no.”

“…….”

“You told me you weren’t getting married. Come on, Yernia. Look me in the eye and say it yourself.”

Things weren’t going his way again, so he showed his true colors.

The senior told the truth.

Yena had denied the marriage between them.

Cassian had suddenly announced their marriage in front of Daisy and her senior.

Yernia managed the situation and quickly shut it down.

“I’m not marrying Cassian, but you don’t have to worry about such useless things.”

After telling him that, she dragged Cassian out.

“Come out.” His voice growled low.

The senior seemed angry, but Yernia wasn’t scared of him.

She tried to go ahead, come out and judge her senior as he wanted, but Cassian squeezed their clasped hands a little stronger as if he wanted her to stay still.

He pulled out a weapon at the snarling senior hidden behind Yernia’s back.

The knife he pulled was his sharp tongue.

“Don’t be too delusional.”

“…….”

“You have bothered Yernia so much since you were in the academy–”

Cassian did not hide his contempt toward him.

Surprised that Cassian had brought their past histories, the senior tried to talk, but he was a little faster.

“—as if you were a stalker.”

Yernia closed her eyes shut and opened them after she felt the prickly stares poking her cheek.

There was nothing to think about.

If she denied Cassian’s wedding announcement here, she would be involved with that crazy senior.

She would hate him until the day she died.

Cassian must have done this because he knew what choice she would make.

If Yernia ran away after this, she would be the talk of the town.

After this misunderstanding, these people would continue to speak ill of her like she was poop that they avoided because it was dirty.

Why would she run away if she had nothing to say?

Yernia had stayed in the capital ever since she enrolled at the academy, so she had a rough idea of how public opinions went.

However, if she pinned her senior a stalker, he would be the one insulted by the crowd instead of her.

It was the perfect opportunity to avoid a dirty scandal.

“Yernia, are you getting married?” The senior stuttered after he was brutally injured with Cassian’s accusations.

Yernia was ready to go.

Soon, Yernia’s head peeked behind Cassian’s back.

The last person who slashed the senior’s neck was Yernia.

“Senior.”

Yena raised their interlocked fingers and squeezed their hands tightly.

She had no intention of letting  Cassian go.

“Stop it. It’s ugly.”

Yeah.

This can’t be helped.

She was self-destructing.

***

Both of them were now inside the carriage.

“When did you two get along so well?”

Seria clutched at her stomach, laughing as she wiped away tears.

She would have refuted it right away as usual, but Yernia was trapped in a daze.

“Seria, stop.”

Ivan, her kind brother, stopped her.

Like Yernia, Seria and Ivan had attended the wedding.

Since they weren’t close to Daisy, both of them didn’t bother entering the bride’s waiting room.

Both had greeted the nobles around them and sat at the guest seat.

So, Seria and Ivan had witnessed the debacle a while ago.