Chapter 23: Chapter 13.1

As soon as Yernia found the letter in his hand, Cassian noticed too late that he was holding it.

He immediately folded the letter in half and shoved it in his pocket.

She was a little surprised that Cassian came in, running, after hearing that she was sick.

Cassian never did that before.

“I did it because you were avoiding me, Cassian.”

There was nothing she could do to meet him when he was so determined to ignore her.

Suddenly, he leaned down and brought his face closer.

Their eyes met, and Cassian’s hand reached out to remove the stray strand from her cheek.

“You’re smart, Yernia. You know how to get me here. Are you the only one who knows me best?”

What did he mean by that?

She wasn’t even sure if Cassian would come.

She had been friends with him for quite a long time, but she still found his personality unpredictable.

He was an impulsive kind of guy who did what he wanted.

Maybe, he was troubled about it because they were friends.

Yernia felt better for no reason.

Then, Cassian asked her out of the blue.

“So, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Oh, yes. Yes.”

Yernia smiled and made her enormous, round eyes half-hooded.

It was a lethal trap set by Yernia herself.

This so-called beauty and charm.

“Cassian.” She stared lovingly at him, and Cassian was visibly startled by her sudden behavior.

“What do you want me to do?” He murmured as if he had been lost in her beauty.

As expected,  no one could resist her seduction.

“With me….”

Yernia was afraid that he might run away, so she held his hand tightly.

She noticed him flinch for the second time.

His reaction was more pronounced now than when she had used her feminine charms on him a while ago.

Whether he liked it, Yernia continued, “Come to the temple with me.”

“I’ll do anything for you… What?”

“Let’s go to the temple. You. God. I.”

Her eyes shone brightly as if she had just asked him to pluck all the stars in the night sky.

After she invited him to the temple, the chuckle that followed was so dark and wicked as if she was planning to take his soul.

For a moment, Cassian thought he heard her wrong.

“Why would you want us to go to the temple of all places?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

“We haven’t even gone up the hill yet. Are you sure about this?”

“Oh. Right.”

Due to her desire to erase her fate right away, she forgot her promise to Cassian at Daisy’s wedding.

In addition to that, Cassian had been avoiding her, so she forgot all about it.

“Let’s visit the temple before going to the hill.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Yernia was a little worried.

After careful consideration, Yernia chose to tell him the truth.

“You know my name is currently engraved on your body, right?”

“What about it?”

“Let’s erase that.”

“What?”

Cassian’s hard, cold eyes darkened as he scowled at her.

“What did you say just now?”

“Do you remember when I told you that your destiny is not me, but someone else? I won’t mind if you erase my name.”

“Yernia.” He called her name in a deep baritone.

“Don’t say anything that doesn’t make sense.”

“What? Why do you hate it so much when I asked you to erase me as your fated guide?”

Yernia was confused.

“You thought I wouldn’t mind if I erase you? Who said that?”

“I mean… me?”

“Even if you don’t care, I care about it. A lot.  Don’t you dare say that again?”

Yernia’s brows furrowed at Cassian’s reaction, and it made her angrier for some reason.

Perhaps, she had made a huge mistake.

“Wait a minute, hear me out. You didn’t know you could erase your fate, right? I’ve looked into it a little. If you erase your destiny, you’ll be free to have other guides. If your fated guide did not appear in this lifetime, you would have no restrictions in choosing another. When she shows up, you will marry her.”

It’s that’s simple.

Yernia grinned, but Kashian’s face was cold.

“His Majesty is now waiting for my marriage.” Cassian’s face hardened when he spoke about His Majesty’s intentions.

It didn’t work anymore when she attempted to use her feminine wiles on him again.

Yernia withdrew her charms and turned serious.

“Can you imagine us getting married? Because I can’t. I want you to delay it as much as possible.”

How could a Lecardo not have so much power?

The Lecardo Household was a relative of the royal family, so they had close ties with the Emperor.

“If you want, I’ll guide you until your destiny appears.  I’m begging you to postpone our marriage.”

“Are you begging, or are you threatening me?”

“Both,”

“If you’re going to guide me, isn’t marriage better? How far would you go?”

His gaze on Yernia’s face slid down to her collarbone then below her waist before it returned to her face.

“How far, you say? I’m guiding by hand.”

All Espers and Guides were trained to practice guiding sagely.

There was also a course called   at the academy.

Since they lived in a conservative society, the guiding process is taught only superficially.

Most of them were taught at home.

The problem is that Yernia’s parents did not inform her of her responsibilities as a guide, so she assumed that it could only be done by hand.

Cassian was left speechless as he stared at her.

“So this is why you wouldn’t want to marry me, then.”

“You must live a life of freedom, alright? You can still meet a lot of girls, Cassian!”

“I don’t want to.”

Yernia was confused.

At this point, she thought that she could convince Cassian to remove his fate the instant she reached out to him.

“There’s nothing good about ‘fate,’ Cassian.”

Destiny.