Chapter 24: A Perfect Proposal

The bracelet rolled.

Before Catherine could react, Maximilian bent and picked it up.

Still sulking, Catherine held out her hand. “Give it back.” That bracelet was her favorite. They didn’t make it like this anymore.

Maximilian glanced at her palm, then smirked and pulled the bracelet out of reach.

“Give it back,” she repeated, stepping closer and trying to snatch it.

Instead, he caught her wrist.

Effortlessly.

Her protest cut off as he turned her hand over, his grip was warm, firm, and utterly unyielding.

“Hold still,” he said.

“I didn’t ask~”

He ignored her.

And for a heartbeat, memory surged.

A bath perfumed with steam… His hands offering her a bracelet… A vow whispered like salvation.

And then…

Her chest tightened.

She turned abruptly, intending to leave. She didn’t care for that bracelet anymore. She didn’t want it. Didn’t want him.

But he stepped in behind her.

So close she could feel him without seeing him.

The heat of his body pressed against her back, the faint scent of ink and clean wool closing around her like a trap. His fingers brushed her skin as he guided the bracelet around her wrist.

The touch was careful.

Almost reverent.

The clasp clicked softly into place.

“There,” he murmured.

Her breath betrayed her, catching despite herself.

His thumb lingered, just a fraction too long, resting against her pulse, as if he could feel it racing. As if he liked knowing he’d caused it. She yanked out of his hold, and he hissed as his finger got caught in the clasp before letting her go.

Catherine closed her eyes.

His breath grazed her ear. His warmth seeped along her spine. He wasn’t touching her anymore, and yet she felt completely enveloped by him.

“What do you want?” she asked, exasperation threading through the tremor in her voice.

He drew in a slow breath. The air cooled and warmed her skin all at once. His lips hovered so close to her ear that every nerve in her body screamed.

“I want to kiss you for the rest of my life,” he whispered, voice rough, unsteady. “I want to marry you. I want you bound to me… our children, our years, our bones growing old together. I want to watch every mark time leaves on you, until the day my hands can no longer hold a book or turn a page. And when there is nothing left of the world… I want to lay my head in your lap and end there…”

It would have been a perfect proposal. But for Catherine, who had once imagined this life with him, it was torture. Her teeth clenched.

And yet, despite the rage clawing up her throat, one terrible thought surfaced.

Maybe he truly doesn’t remember.

Otherwise… why would he use the same method again?

She turned to face him.

Her gaze was steady, even as betrayal and pain burned beneath memories buried deep enough to survive.

“I do not want to marry you,” she said firmly. “So stop asking.”

Her voice trembled, just slightly, but she refused to let it break.

Whatever had driven him to hunt her in her last life, she wouldn’t allow it to continue in this one.

She was scared.

Yes.

She hated him, and she feared him too. In her past life, she had exhausted herself trying to outmaneuver him. She had failed every time.

And so… if there was a way to end this peacefully, she would take it.

Desperately.

She searched his eyes. The rims were reddened, emotions swallowed so completely she couldn’t tell what remained.

She didn’t care.

“Let me go,” she said. “I’ll never fall for you in this life.”

Maximilian’s lips trembled.

The emotions in his gaze drained away, leaving behind a cold, aching blue. He blinked once. Swallowed.

Catherine clenched her fists.

Just let me go, she begged silently.

Then Maximilian looked up. The coldness vanished.

The smile he wore in this lifetime slid back into place… easy, familiar, unsettling. A faint twinge of violet glimmered in his eyes.

“Buy me lunch,” he said.

Catherine blinked. “Wh—what?”

“Let’s have a meal together,” he said calmly. “As repayment.”

Her breath hitched. He could act as though nothing had happened. Repayment? For what? Two hundred dollars? For saving her from embarrassment?

Then what about everything he had taken from her in her last life?

How was he going to repay that?

“Will you let me go after the meal?” she asked.

She didn’t want to be near him anymore. But if a single meal could buy her freedom, she would risk it.

One last time.

His jaw tightened. She noticed his brows draw together before he spoke.

“Yes,” he said.

She stared at him.

She didn’t dare ask for a promise. She knew how good he was at breaking them while smiling.

“Fine,” she said, clinging to the fragile hope that he would leave her alone afterward.

They entered the restaurant and were led to a scenic table. She wondered, again, if he truly didn’t remember the past.

Because the last time she shared a meal with him… She curled her fingers into her palms, steadying her breath.

Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled, but it was her heart that pounded the loudest.

“The venison,” she ordered. “Medium rare.”

“The salad,” he said smoothly, “if the peaches are fresh. And bring us the best red you’ve got.”

She scoffed inwardly.

“What? Did your boyfriend call you fat?” she asked. She never thought she’d see the most bloodthirsty warlord she’d known choosing a salad.

Maximilian smiled. That innocent smile she remembered from his youth.

But she could feel the thoughts spiraling behind his eyes. Whatever crossed his mind, he revealed nothing.

He never did.

He was the same man as before.

Back then, when she came seeking a ceasefire for the sake of their three kingdoms, he listened. He nodded. He smiled. He acted as if he were happy to see her.

That night, over dinner, while he poured her the finest wine…

He sent his men to kill her toddler son.

While her child was butchered for carrying her blood, this monster sat across from her, smiling gently, lifting his glass in a toast.

Yes.

He was a monster.

And no matter how tender his touch felt… No matter how sincere his voice sounded…

She would never trust him again.

The waiter served the food.

Catherine stared at her plate, throat tightening. The scent of meat and wine turned her stomach. She forced herself to swallow once, then set her fork down. Nausea churned low and relentlessly.

Her vision drifted… and then sharpened.

Someone was watching them.

A figure dressed in dark clothing, seated at a distance too deliberate to be accidental. The outline was slender. Still. A woman, most likely. Her gaze never wavered from their table.

Who is she?

“It looks like you aren’t that hungry,” Maximilian said quietly after a while.

Catherine didn’t answer.

She looked at her plate that was barely touched, and realized the wine had already gone to her head. She wiped her mouth, then rested her hand in her lap.

Her vision blurred.

Tears slipped free before she could stop them, sliding down her cheek and falling onto the bracelet.

*Boom*

The moment her tear fell on the bracelet, lightning tore across the sky. Thunder followed so close it rattled the restaurant windows, silverware trembling against porcelain.

And Catherine…

Catherine could have sworn the bracelet glowed.

A faint pulse of light shimmered beneath the emeralds, and the metal tightened around her wrist, just enough to be felt.

Her breath hitched.

The storm outside raged on.

And for a fleeting, terrifying second, she thought she saw a whisper of violet buried deep within the emeralds as the bracelet glimmered.

But before she could look closer…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep