Chapter 141 — Her Final Decision (The End)
"I had to marry you. As a princess, it was my duty to protect my people from harm," she said quietly. "The king left me no choice but to end the war between our kingdoms. Isn’t it laughable? I wanted to escape this hell at all costs, but I had to come back. I needed to avenge my parents, who were killed by King Valerian and Queen Isabella."
Lucian stared at her, stunned by her candidness. Both the Cynthia from his dreams and the one before him now seemed to share an unflinching honesty that left him reeling.
"Oh, don’t look at me like that," she scoffed, her tone sharp.
"Like what?.." Lucian blinked, puzzled by her words.
"I hate you too."
Her voice was firm, but Lucian couldn’t detect any true malice in it. He knew hatred intimately. He had faced it all his life and her words weren’t her true feelings.
"I wanted to deny that the person in those dreams was me," he said, his voice heavy. "But I’ve never felt so connected to anything else. Those memories, as painful as they are, feel real. And if they are, then I owe you an apology... for everything I did to you. I wouldn’t forgive myself either."
"So you admit it—you were heartless to me, Your Highness."
"Yes," Lucian said quietly. "I was. But... What else could I do? I had grown within the palace walls and on the battlefield, away from every social norm. Away from anyone who could teach me how to handle my emotions... I could merely remain calm and... ignore it," his words laced with anger and pain.
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Ignore everything... Even the times when I looked into your eyes, I felt bewitched, powerless. And if you had asked me to commit a murder, I would’ve done it without question. I couldn’t control myself... or my feelings."