HLnovel Chapter 405 --405
Chapter 405 --405
*You are currently playing the role of a shadow guard. Act like one! Why are you leaking your jealousy all over the room every single time another man breathes in my direction?*
She let out a heavy, incredibly annoyed sigh, completely dropping her polite aristocratic facade for a split second.
"Guard," Heena snapped, her voice cutting through the air like a physical whip.
Samuel stiffened, his massive frame snapping to rigid attention.
"Go and stand outside," she ordered coldly, pointing a slender, manicured finger directly at the sliding wooden doors. "Your restless shifting is disturbing my peace and ruining my conversation."
Through the narrow slits of the painted cat mask, Samuel stared at her. The sheer, agonizing reluctance radiating from him was palpable. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was leave his wife alone in a locked room with a ridiculously pretty man who had just openly declared his intentions to marry her.
He hesitated for a fraction of a second. Then, moving his hand away from his ruined sword hilt, Samuel flashed a swift, highly subtle hand signal—a tactical gesture used by the provincial military, silently asking if she was absolutely certain she wanted him to leave her unsecured.
Heena didn’t blink. She gave a single, definitive, and unquestionable nod. *Out.*
Samuel’s broad shoulders slumped infinitesimally in defeat. Bound by his absolute obedience to her every command, he had no choice. He turned around, his leather boots heavy against the bamboo mat, stepped over the threshold, and slid the heavy wooden doors completely shut behind him.
The study was suddenly plunged into a much lighter, significantly less murderous atmosphere.
Heena took a deep breath, smoothing away her irritation, and turned her attention entirely back to the Third Groom. Orion was still sitting perfectly on his cushion, his doe-like eyes watching the door close with a mild, polite curiosity.
"My apologies for the interruption," Heena said smoothly, picking up her teacup once again. "Good help is so incredibly hard to find these days. Now, where were we, Mr. Orion?"
With the door closed, Heena finally had a moment to truly study Orion.
He sat there with flawless posture, looking undeniably much more noble and refined than Kavien or any of the other grooms she had met so far. He carried himself with an air of absolute dedication. But Heena wasn’t a naive little girl who could be swayed by a handsome face.
In fact, as she looked at his incredibly fair skin and perfectly red lips, the only dark, twisted thought running through her mind was how much she wanted to see that pretty face completely distorted in pain. She absolutely did not believe that a single one of these bastards living in the Marchioness’s estate was a good person.
Still, she had to admit, she found him quite interesting.
"So," Heena began, resting her chin on her hand as she dropped the polite act completely. "May I ask what the ’real’ reason is for you to come here? Let us be honest—it is not like we are so madly in love that you desperately need to make me remember who you are, or else you would drop dead from a broken heart. So, what is the actual reason?"
Orion paused. The soft, gentle smile on his face didn’t falter, but his dark, doe-like eyes sharpened just a fraction.
"To make sure my fiancée remembers me," Orion replied smoothly. "Is that not reason enough?"
Heena let out a breathy, mocking laugh. "Wow. I cannot believe it. I am actually quite surprised, you know. Looking at you, it seems like you really do think of me as your beloved fiancée and all."
Orion tilted his head slightly, leaning into the act. "If not for that, then why do you think I live in this house, my lady?"
"Well, that is a very feasible excuse," Heena nodded, her eyes glinting with cold amusement. "But you see, the truly comedic thing is... from my childhood up until the accident, I do not remember a single person being this deeply devoted or close to me."
She leaned forward just a bit, her gaze piercing right through his perfectly crafted sweet facade.
"Tell me, Orion," she challenged softly. "Did you suddenly become my deeply loving fiancé only ’after’ I fell off a cliff and lost my memory? Or did you just forget to act like this when we were children? Because as I recall, this marriage arrangement was set when we were just kids. You were brought into this house specifically for that purpose. Yet, before my accident, I never saw even an ounce of this overwhelming affection from you."
Orion remained silent, his beautiful face perfectly still as he listened to her tear his logic apart.
Heena waved her hand dismissively, leaning back against her cushion. "Anyway, I am not going to blame you or anything. You have your roles to play in this house. But do not try to play that card with me, because I think this whole ’devoted childhood sweethearts’ act is utter nonsense."
Orion’s gentle smile remained, but it no longer reached his doe-like eyes.
"You are showing your cards entirely too fast, my lady," Orion said softly, his melodic voice taking on a very subtle, calculating edge. "You are already telling me exactly what you think of me. Do you not think that is a mistake? If you wanted to act like a good, benevolent person—the perfect, beloved heiress of this estate—you should perhaps hide your disdain a little better."
Heena stared at him for a split second.
And then, she literally burst into laughter.
"Haha! Hahaha!" Heena bent forward slightly, bringing a delicate hand up to cover the lower half of her face as her shoulders shook with genuine, unfiltered amusement. The sheer audacity of his statement was simply too funny.
Orion sat perfectly still, his fair skin tightening slightly as he watched her laugh right in his face.
After a moment, Heena caught her breath. She wiped a fake tear of mirth from her eye and sighed. "Oh my. I am so, ’so’ sorry," she purred, her voice dripping with lethal sarcasm. "Look at where my etiquette has gone."
Suddenly, every trace of amusement vanished from her face.
She lowered her hand, her dark eyes snapping wide open to fix him with a chilling, dead-eyed glare. "But tell me," she whispered, her voice dropping into a freezing register. "Do you actually think I need to wipe your ass to prove I am the heir to this house?"
The temperature in the study seemed to instantly plummet. The air turned heavy, suffocatingly cold.
Heena leaned forward, resting her forearms on the low wooden table. "Just because my parents refer to you parasites as their ’sons’—the precious sons they could never have themselves, and whatever other nonsense they spout—have you grooms completely forgotten what you actually are?"
Beneath his luxurious, flowing sleeves, Orion’s perfectly manicured hands tightened. His knuckles popped as he clenched his fists against his thighs.
"Listen to me very carefully," Heena said, her tone absolute and unyielding. "There is absolutely no need for me to be your wife. It is ’your’ desperate need to make me your wife. If your pretty little head cannot understand that, let me make it incredibly simple for you. I am the sole, unquestionable heir to this Marquisate. I do not need ’you’ to be my groom. I could go out right now, drag a random stray dog or cat off the street, and declare it my groom. And do you know what would happen?"