Asena quietly finished her words and returned to her room.
The mont she shut the door and was left alone, her breath hitched uncontrollably.
"Haah...! Haa...!"
She couldn't catch her breath.
The scene she had just witnessed kept playing over and over in her mind like a cruel loop.
No woman could stay sane after seeing the man she loved entangled with another woman-especially if it had been his first ti.
Soone had left a mark on what was once a blank canvas. That imprint would now always follow Cayden.
Even if Cayden ended up being with her later, the mory would remain. He would, consciously or not, compare her to Judy.
And that was sothing she couldn't change.
In truth, Asena didn't care much about whether Cayden made comparisons. She had no intention of losing to Judy in the first place. So that wasn't the problem.
What hurt was the thought that, even while being intimate with her, Cayden might be reminded of Judy.
The idea that he wouldn't be fully present with her- that so part of him might be reaching back to soone else - gnawed at her.
From now on, whenever he recalled his first ti, it would be Judy's face that ca to mind. That mory would cling to him for a long, long ti.
-Crash!
Asena, unable to hold back her fury, grabbed a nearby glass and hurled it to the floor, shattering it.
Her heart for Cayden only grew deeper, and with it, her jealousy flared brighter.
She wasn't usually a possessive person. In fact, she didn't tend to want much in life.
Maybe that's why-because she had no greed elsewhere - her obsession with this one thing, this one person, was so all-consuming.
It was as if, in exchange for her lack of desire for anything else, the universe had allowed her to crave Cayden with a frightening intensity.
Even now, despite everything, she wanted him to look only at her.
She wanted to keep him tied to her. She wanted to be near him, always. She wanted him to think only of her.
Even though she had agreed to share Cayden with another woman, a selfish monster deep within her was howling in protest.
"...He's mine... He's my oppa..."
She found herself whispering without even realizing it.
The mories she shared with Cayden only made her chest ache more.
Just as he had witnessed her growth, she had watched his.
The boy who was once lanky and unremarkable had grown stronger, more mature.
He had beco more reliable, more kind than ever.
Every ti he treated her with tenderness, Asena dread their future.
Of marrying him, sharing a blissful honeymoon, exchanging their first experiences together, spending passionate nights with him, and one day having his child.
She had dreamt of that ever since she first learned how babies were made.
From the very beginning, there had never been anyone else for her but Cayden.
There were monts when it felt like that dream would fall apart - when they ca close being separated-but when Cayden accepted her, she was able to dream again.
But now, that dream had shattered once more.
She had been planning to spend the night with him before the wedding to Daisy, but quiet, seemingly harmless Judy had taken him first.
The image of the two of them lying naked in bed wouldn't leave her mind.
Each ti it surfaced, her heart pounded wildly, and her fists clenched tight.
She battled her inner demons for a long ti before trying to calm herself down.
What's done is done - spilled water can't be gathered back.
She took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing.
Yes... if it had to be soone, better that it was Judy.
Asena hadn't forgotten that she owed Judy a debt she could never repay in her lifeti.
That didn't an she wasn't angry-but she tried to console herself with that fact.
After all, if it hadn't been for Judy, Cayden might not even be alive.
She owed Judy a life, and that thought helped her push out the bitterness creeping in.
Had it been Daisy or Keirsey, she would've been even more furious. Not that it would've changed anything.
What mattered now was figuring out what to do next.
The one thing she had going for her - was that only she seed to truly grasp the gravity of the situation.
If she couldn't be the first... she had to be the second.
Keirsey and Daisy didn't know yet.
So she had to act before they did.
****
"...Mmm."
I scratched my head as I finished getting dressed. I had washed off all the sweat from the night before.
But my thoughts were completely consud by Asena.
She hadn't shown up since catching with Judy this morning.
She definitely seed upset... but I had no idea what to do.
Apologizing for sleeping with soone I was going to marry felt weird... But ignoring it wasn't going to work either. Asena didn't seem like the type to let things go easily.
Honestly, I was embarrassed. It was my first ti, and I didn't know how to handle this kind of situation.
We had all agreed to eat lunch and dinner separately for a while to ease the tension, but breakfast was still a shared al - so just the thought of it made my stomach tighten.
Apparently Judy felt the sa. She walked in, dressed and ready for breakfast.
"...Cayden."
"...Hey."
"...What should we do..."
She bit her lip nervously as she stepped into my room. She looked so fidgety and restless, like she'd committed so kind of cri-and it helped feel a bit more like myself again. "...Lady Asena seed really angry..."
"Yeah. What if she tries to pick a fight with you?"
"...Ugh."
My lighthearted joke seed to weigh heavily on Judy. She flinched, shrinking in on herself.
Seeing her like that, I stopped joking and gently pulled her into a hug.
"It's just a joke. Really. It's not like it makes sense to get mad just because I slept with the person I'm going to marry. Asena knows that too. That's why she walked away without saying anything."
"If anything happens, I'll protect you. So don't worry."
"...Are you putting above Lady Asena?"
"...I'm just trying to be reasonable. There's no logic in her being mad at us."
Judy slowly nodded her head.
Even though I sounded confident... in truth, I only said those things to reassure her.
Knowing Asena's jealousy and obsession the way I did, wasn't hard to imagine how deeply upset she must been.
"And you-stop walking on eggshells around Asena. You used to act so cold when you talked to ."
Judy opened and closed her mouth a few tis, then gave up trying to respond.
Honestly, I already knew the reason. This was her true self.
Back when we were in the knight training course, she had acted so bluntly because we had nothing to do with each other.
Asena, on the other hand, was soone Judy had guarded for a long ti. The hierarchy had already been established between them, and through , they had beco family. That's why Judy treated her so cautiously.
It made sense when you thought about how she was raised in the Ice family. I could still clearly rember how quiet and timid she had been during our formal family eting-sitting there in complete silence, unable to speak.
She'd probably grow more comfortable over ti, but I'd need to help her through it too.
Even as she leaned against , she still looked anxious. Watching her like that, I raised my hand.
Then, with just enough strength to sting a little-but not enough to hurt-I smacked her lightly on the butt.
- Smack!
"Hyaah!"
Judy jumped back with a yelp, holding her backside in surprise.
She had tolerated my teasing plenty of tis before, but this was the first ti it had turned physical.
Still, I could tell the little stunt had worked.
Even though she glared at , her reddened cheeks and the slight curve of her lips betrayed her true feelings.
We had just spent the night together. There was no way a bit f playful skinship like this would actually offend her.
"Don't worry too much. Everything's going to be fine. They're probably waiting - so let's go eat."
I smiled back at her, and together, we headed for the dining hall.
****
I had figured Asena wouldn't be openly hostile toward Judy... but even I hadn't expected this level of calm.
Asena acted like nothing had happened-eating her al as if it were just another day.
She even made light conversation with , without the slightest hint of anger or discomfort in her expression.
I wondered if she had matured sohow. Maybe she had prepared herself emotionally from the mont she started pushing for our marriage.
Even Judy looked surprised. She kept giving confused glances, clearly unsure of how to process it.
No problems arose.
Daisy kept her usual bright smile, trying to keep the atmosphere pleasant. Keirsey, anwhile, still clung to the sa desperate attitude she'd shown when she'd co to a few days
ago.
It felt like only Asena was keeping what had happened between and Judy a secret.
It wasn't sothing that needed to be hidden, necessarily, but it also wasn't sothing that needed to be announced.
In that sense, I was grateful for her choice.
The al ended uneventfully.
The al ended uneventfully.
I spent the rest of the day with Daisy, going through the seemingly endless paperwork for the wedding.
Aside from Keirsey showing up with a packed
or , the other won didn't appear at all.
Asena's silence was almost unsettling.
It took an entire day to ntally process everything.
After wrapping up the paperwork with Daisy, I went out to practice with my wooden sword, worked up a sweat, and took a shower.
Lying in bed, I finally started to believe - Maybe Asena really is letting it go.
It felt like everything we had been through had changed her.
She, too, had-
-Knock, knock, knock.
Just as my thoughts were drifting, a knock ca at my door.
"...Huh."
Before I could even say anything in response, the door creaked open.
-Creeeak...
And there she was-Asena.
Her chest rose and fell, as if she were trying to suppress the sound of her breathing. But I could tell it was ragged, like she'd been holding it in all day.
The heat I had seen in her eyes that morning-rage and obsession-was back, burning just beneath the surface.
She stepped inside the room without a word and quietly closed the door behind her.
-Thud.
"...Asena?"
-Click.
Without hesitation, she locked the door.
End Of The Chapter ...
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