The Villainess Woke Up Mid-Confession novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: The Villainess
Kyrian looked down at her for a long moment.
"That's three months away."
"You've waited longer for less."
The corner of his mouth went.
"I'll be there," he said.
"I know you will."
"I'll be there too," said the Emperor from the throne. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
The Spring Ball fell on the first warm night of the year.
Every window of the imperial ballroom stood open to the gardens.
Ravielle wore red and her mother's sapphires.
Liliane came in on their father's arm in pale gold, the heir of Ardentis, with her chin up.
The duchess walked on her other side.
Hanne had Ravielle's wrap over her arm and her new shoes on her feet.
The court parted for them, and for the first time in her life it didn't part out of fear.
The whispers died as Ravielle reached the middle of the room, and a dozen fans stopped moving at once.
Kyrian was at the far end of the floor in black and green, by the musicians' gallery, with Mirabelle at his elbow.
When he saw her, he straightened, and started across the floor.
Ravielle started first.
She walked fast, with her skirts in her fists, and reached the middle of the room before he did.
The musicians faltered.
Kyrian stopped an arm's length away, looking at her with deep suspicion.
"Ravielle. What are you doing?"
"Stand there," she said. "Don't move."
She turned to the court.
"Two springs ago," she said, "on this floor, the Duke of Vaelhart was released from his promise to me, in front of all of you. I've been told it was very gracious."
People shifted on their feet.
"I'm taking it back," she said. "All of it. I'm not gracious, I've never been gracious, and I don't release anything I want."
She turned round to him.
His face had gone perfectly still.
"Kyrian Vaelhart," she said. "Marry me."
The whole ballroom stopped breathing.
"I was going to ask you," he said.
"You were too slow."
"I was walking."
"You were walking slowly."
Mirabelle's goose laugh burst out across the floor, huge and helpless, and the whole court started laughing with her.
Kyrian didn't laugh.
He reached out and took Ravielle's face in both his hands, the way she had taken his in his study.
"Yes," he said, quietly, under all that noise.
Then he kissed her in front of three hundred people, and didn't stop for a long time.
When he finally lifted his head, the Emperor was standing at the top of the dais with a folded paper in his hand.
"A licence," he called down. "Signed and sealed. I thought you might be quick about it."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Villainess Woke Up Mid-Confession are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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