Chapter 61: The Winthorp Legacy Dinner(6)

Catherine stepped closer without realizing she had moved.

Her hand lifted, reaching for Sebastian as if guided by instinct rather than thought.

Sebastian.

Her knight.

He had stood beside her when Bernice first brought word of the King of Velmont’s offer—when the world shifted beneath her feet and destiny demanded its price. When Bernice chose to follow her into an unknown land, Sebastian followed too, without question, without hesitation.

He had been there through every march, every loss, every sleepless night spent wondering who could still be trusted.

There had never been romance between them. Never desire.

Only loyalty—pure, unshakeable. The kind forged between a queen and the man who would die for her without ever asking for anything in return.

When everything else was stripped away, Sebastian became her certainty. Her shield. Her anchor.

Until that day.

The day she died.

Her vision blurred as memory surged, unbidden and merciless. She saw him as she had seen him last… standing outside her tent, spine straight, armor stained, hands clenched at his sides. His face had been rigid with restraint, grief pressed so deeply into him that it had hollowed his eyes.

He had been dead.

And yet he stood.

She remembered now… remembered seeing him there the night before. She had assumed he was keeping watch, as always. She hadn’t known when the life left him. Only that even in death, he had remained at his post.

To give her one final night of rest.

Her loyal knight.

The one she trusted with her life.

“Catherine!”

A hand closed gently around hers.

The world snapped back into place.

She looked up… straight into Maximilian’s face.

And hatred surged.

Hot. Sudden. Blinding.

Wasn’t it him?

Wasn’t Maximilian the one who killed her knight in their past life?

How could he stand there, calm and composed, and introduce the man he had killed as his friend?

How could he be so indifferent?

What kind of monster was he?

The room faded again as her past tightened its grip around her heart, squeezing until it hurt to breathe. She forgot where she was. Forgot why she had come. Forgot the rules she had so carefully written for herself.

And Maximilian felt it.

He felt the fracture that was sharp and immediate.

Not because of pain, but because something fragile between them shattered all at once. The closeness of the dance. The laughter. The way she had kissed him only the day before. The way she had stepped forward to shield him from his grandfather’s cruelty.

All of it… reduced to shards.

He trembled, eyes darkening with something dangerously close to agony.

Catherine saw it.

And another memory stirred.

That dream she saw. Steel flashing. Maximilian rushing forward, swords gleaming, striking at someone behind her.

Her breath hitched.

Could it be…?

Did he not kill Sebastian?

What really happened that day?

Her head throbbed as the questions crowded in. She remembered waking in pain that morning… crippling, unnatural pain… long before she had seen Sebastian’s body.

Something was missing from her memory.

Something vital.

And as Catherine stood there, suspended between past and present, a quiet terror settled in her chest.

The truth of that day had been stolen from her memory.

Not forgotten.

Taken.

And whatever it was—whatever had truly happened—she needed to uncover it.

Slowly, Catherine exhaled and drew a breath steady enough to pass for calm. The music of the hall drifted back into focus. The murmurs. The rustle of gowns. The world resumed as if nothing inside her had cracked.

She lifted her gaze to Sebastian once more and smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Sebastian,” she said.

Her tone was light, almost casual, but there was something too familiar in it, something warm and unguarded. He might not remember her. He couldn’t. But in her heart, he had never stopped being her friend.

Her brother-in-arms.

Her knight.

And this time, she would protect him.

Him. Bernice. Her family. Everyone she had once failed to save.

Maximilian released a quiet breath beside them, tension easing from his shoulders as he smiled, smoothly and effortlessly, meant to disperse whatever unease lingered in the air. Whether Catherine liked it or not, all eyes were still on her. He wouldn’t allow careless tongues to twist tonight into something cruel.

Sebastian, after a brief hesitation, asked her for a dance.

Catherine agreed.

She might not have noticed it… but everyone else did.

The distance between them. The restraint. The politeness that bordered on reverence. There was ease, yes. Comfort. Even warmth.

But romance?

No.

As they swayed, Catherine studied him quietly. “Do you consider him a good friend?” she asked, her steps light, controlled.

Sebastian blinked. “Yes,” he replied after a moment. “When I had no one… when everyone bullied me, it was Maximilian who stood by my side.”

Catherine didn’t soften her expression. “That’s because you’re a Remington,” she said calmly. “And you’re useful to him.”

Blunt.

Unfiltered.

She didn’t care if she sounded presumptuous. She didn’t care if she seemed rude. If sowing doubt protected Sebastian even a little, she would do it without regret.

Still, she smiled at him.

She couldn’t help it.

He might think her strange. Or improper. Or reckless. But seeing him alive… standing here, breathing… filled her with a joy so sharp it almost hurt.

Without thinking, she pressed her hand to his shoulder.

The gesture was unconscious. Familiar.

The way she had once rested a blade there… crowning him with duty and honor.

Sebastian stiffened.

The irritation that had been forming on his face vanished, replaced by something startled. His lips pressed together as he swallowed the sharp words he had been about to speak.

Even he didn’t understand why.

“Please be careful with him, Bash,” Catherine said quietly, abandoning formality altogether.

When the music ended, Sebastian returned to Maximilian, hand pressed to his chest, eyes distant. “I should be angry at her,” he muttered. “So why do I feel like I was… knighted?”

He shook his head, confused.

Then he glanced toward Catherine, who was already walking toward the powder room. “From the moment I saw her,” he added slowly, “I felt something strange. And it’s only getting worse.”

Maximilian frowned. “Strange… how?”

Sebastian didn’t look like himself. And Catherine… she seemed to have remembered something from the past.

What could it be?

And then it struck him.

Her knight.

Sebastian—called Bash the Ironheart.

The man no one could approach within ten meters of her without consequence. Always armored. Always at her side. Her champion.

Sebastian…? Sebastian, who likes to wear costumes, is that terrifying knight?

Even Maximilian faltered at the realization.

Meanwhile, Catherine stood before the mirror, dabbing at her lips, steadying herself.

Then a cold voice cut through the quiet.

“You think you’ll achieve something trying to seduce men left and right? You think they’ll fall for your schemes?”

Catherine didn’t need to turn.

Ashley Renfield had arrived.

She smirked.

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