“Beyond rudeness, what is this… Do you take me for? Am I a pervert? Do you think I’m some madman who gets excited by any woman?”

“Not just any woman, but Your Highness’s fiancée.”

“Even if we’re engaged, what’s not is not.”

“I’m fine with it.”

“I don’t like it.”

Hadn’t they had this conversation before? Cassian took a deep breath first.

“Even if we’re engaged, we should maintain boundaries, Miss Veronica.”

“That may be true, but to never give in to such temptation, really……”

The trailing words were ominous.

“……Impotent?”

“Veronica Hardness!”

Anger exploding to the tips of his hair, Cassian finally raised his voice.

“Why are you shouting? I’ve given my carefully considered, appropriate opinion.”

“It was not at all appropriate and I find it offensive. Extremely offensive.”

Cassian gritted his teeth. His whole body trembled from the insult.

If he had his way, he wanted to demand how this frivolous woman dared to call him impotent, and wasn’t the mental state of a man who easily falls for a woman without feelings even stranger.

But he held back, fearing that if this conversation continued, he might really grab the back of his neck in frustration.

“Fine. I’m okay with this too, so please consider it. I don’t want to die of frustration waiting for Your Highness’s feelings. After all, aren’t Your Highness and I not meant to marry? Come whenever you develop feelings. Or just come anyway. I’ll make feelings grow where there were none.”

“What vulgar……”

His head spun. Having such a strange conversation made him feel like he was becoming a strange person too.

Then the memory of his recent embarrassment suddenly popped into his mind.

Cassian thought.

This woman will pounce on me someday!

“You’re really rude.”

“What? What did you just say?”

“I said you’re being rude.”

“Are you talking to me right now? You, Veronica, to me?”

How could a person be so shameless? Who was pointing out rudeness to whom right now?

“Anyone can be honest about their desires. There’s no law saying you must only join bodies when hearts match, is there? You can join bodies first and then share hearts. It’s just a different order, but in the end isn’t it all about sharing hearts? Isn’t it narrow-minded to conclude that’s bad?”

Cassian was momentarily speechless at her bold assertion.

As she said, it couldn’t be deemed automatically wrong to share bodies first.

Many people had become lovers after sharing bodies and then connecting hearts.

But her attitude, as if he couldn’t even understand such things, made Cassian feel like he was truly a petty person.

Cassian barely held onto his reason that was about to fly away.

“Don’t twist words strangely. My will is not there.”

“You’re really not impotent, are you?”

“……One more word and I’ll overturn this engagement and everything else.”

The menacing look in his eyes conveyed his sincerity, so Veronica shut her mouth. Cassian grabbed his forehead instead of the back of his neck. His head throbbed.

“I’ve truly never met a woman like you before.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment. You said before you wanted to get close, was this your intention all along? Did you plan to manipulate people recklessly like this and twist them to your liking by exploiting their weaknesses?”

“That wasn’t my intention, but I have something to say too. I want to share hearts with Your Highness but you refuse, and I want to share something else but you reject that too, so what am I supposed to do?”

“Do nothing, nothing at all!”

Cassian, who had shouted, pressed his forehead again firmly. Not only did he have a headache, but nausea was rising.

He absolutely could not keep up with her mental world. He felt like he might go crazy at this rate.

“Enough. If you’re going to talk like that, don’t come anymore!”

“Wait. I still have more to say!”

Veronica reached out to grab him, but.

“Have you forgotten?”

Just then, a bell rang in the distance. It meant an hour had passed since meeting him. Cassian sharply knocked away her hand.

“Goodbye, Miss Veronica Hardness.”

And he coldly left.

Returning to the Hardness residence, Veronica irritably took off her coat and threw off her hat.

She also tore off the hair ornaments that had been intricately twisted and tossed them on the floor. She untied the strings of her tightly bound clothes.

The maids following behind picked up the items she had thrown one by one, tidying up, and then quietly left the room.

Veronica, standing with both hands on the dressing table, let out a deep sigh. No matter how much she tried to suppress it, irritation surged.

Was I too hasty? Should I have coaxed and appeased him more? Should I have talked it through better? But what did I do wrong? What does it matter whether we share bodies or hearts first? We’ll end up sharing both anyway.

She thought he would easily be swayed by the mood, but Cassian was unexpectedly the strict type.

He had a clear sense of chastity, disliked extramarital relationships, and even had a romantic side that spoke of true love.

This was the same man who had cut people’s necks without hesitation.

Veronica recalled Lady Arin’s advice from before.

Although her advice wasn’t without exaggeration, Veronica also thought she couldn’t stay like this.

This relationship, showing no signs of recovery, would never change unless someone took the initiative. So she steeled her resolve.

Veronica was confident. Confident that she could capture Cassian’s heart.

And for good reason – Veronica was pretty. Not out of arrogance, but she was actually beautiful.

Since childhood, she had heard to the point of boredom that she looked like a doll, and her ears were worn out from hearing that she’d be perfect if she just kept her mouth shut.

Even compared to the woman called the best bride candidate in high society, she was not inferior in looks.

She was really confident. Confident enough to overcome a man who had been like an enemy. It was this confidence that led her to dress up prettier than usual to meet Cassian.

She had gotten hold of what was said to be a “perfume to seduce men” famous among noble ladies these days and sprayed it generously. Just in case, she had also read some romance novels in her spare time.

But it all failed. Rather, he openly showed disgust and even got angry.

‘With a face like this, I should be worth looking at.’

Veronica examined her face in the mirror. Rubbing her cheeks, she assured herself of her beauty.

There was a clearly different vitality compared to when she had been rough and tired from emotional and physical struggles.

Her father Harry had also said she was the prettiest in the world. At least she had never heard anyone say she was ugly, so it must be true.

For a woman like this to seduce him and he doesn’t fall for it.

“Is there really something wrong with him?”

If there was a problem, there could be an outer one, and an inner one. Perhaps…

“Does he like men?”

It wasn’t just a strange hypothesis. Didn’t he peculiarly stick close to his half-blood relative?

While there was a cold wind blowing with other brothers, he was especially close with Asher.

Asher also knew that Cassian thought of him specially. It was a bit much to dismiss it as simply childhood guilt. He even showed wariness towards her who was engaged to Asher. Maybe?

Veronica shook her head.

“No way. It can’t be.”

She had never heard that Prince Cassian Theron Diastara had such tendencies. Of course, there were rumors, but they were at a level to be dismissed as false.

He had a predetermined fiancée, and it was hard to say he didn’t have someone he was sharing his heart with separately.

She hadn’t discussed such topics with Asher so she didn’t know in detail, but. If she had known it would be like this, she should have taken more interest.

She felt like she was having all sorts of thoughts. Originally, she wouldn’t have spent time on such seemingly pointless thoughts.

Veronica tilted her head back and let out a sigh. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind for a moment.

“It’s okay. There will be many opportunities.”

Let’s try again. It will surely work out. Veronica once again steeled her determination.

But after that day, Cassian began to avoid Veronica even more blatantly.

Getting appointments rejected was basic, and every time she went to meet him, he was nowhere to be seen.

She went to his personal training ground and the glass palace he frequented, but it was the same.

In official settings, he avoided time alone with her as much as possible, evaded conversation, and eventually wouldn’t even make eye contact.

Veronica tried to initiate conversations gently while linking arms, but he didn’t respond at all. It was thorough ignoring.

Today too, she went to meet him but was rejected.

Honestly, wasn’t it too much to run away right in front of her? Sending a servant to tell her to go back after embarrassing her was even ruder.

That night she stayed in his room until late, but he never returned.

In the end, she had to trudge back to the Hardness residence late in the early morning.

Leaning on the dressing table, Veronica thought.

“Was seducing a man always this difficult!”

Looking back, Veronica had never seduced a man before.

The men she had met so far showed interest from the first meeting, so there was no need, and the only man she had courted was Asher.

Even that had no difficulties after receiving his proposal.

By this point, it was humiliation and frustration.

It was about a month later when she finally came face to face with Cassian.

News spread that the imperial family had brought in a precious work of art from across the sea. A banquet was held for it.

Holding a banquet just to show off one piece of art. It was truly an expensive boast, but Veronica attended anyway.

The reason was simple. She knew Cassian would come too.

“……”

Cassian really looked like he didn’t want to come. Veronica greeted him cheerfully.

“Prince Cassian.”

“Don’t say a single word. Not one word.”

“……”

The warning was fierce.