Chapter 64.1

Chapter 64.1

Didn’t you think about it?

Jasmine stared out the window. As time passed, many things happened, and the thoughts gradually faded to every few days, then once a week, and eventually to a couple of times a month. The process wasn’t easy.

Jasmine clenched her fingers and kept repeating to herself, “Pretend you don’t know. Don’t get swept away. It’s all in the past now. It’s all over… It’s that kind of thing…”

“So, what?”

She had already glared at him with cold eyes.

“What do you expect me to do just because you thought about me?”

Seeing his surprised face twisted her insides. Once, she used to be desperate to see that face every other day, but now she couldn’t stand the sight of it. Even hearing him say such things now was irritating. She spat out her words like chewing them.

“It’s all over anyway.”

“Over, huh?”

Richard muttered softly. She could tell from his eyes, which had grown colder, that her words had provoked him, but she couldn’t stop glaring at him. It felt almost like facing a predator she had been avoiding, an instinctive defense mechanism.

Richard stared at her intently. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in half a year, there wasn’t a trace of warmth in her gaze. He rubbed his forehead and laughed lowly.

“I wish I could learn that optimism of yours. It’s truly enviable how you brush things off easily every time.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“I’m serious.”

Richard raised his eyes. “Every minute, every hour, every second… I haven’t been able to take a single step since that night.”

“…”

“You seem so free. I’m glad for you.”

It was a statement mixed with bitter self-mockery. Jasmine kept her mouth shut. Richard stared intently at her stubbornly closed lips with downcast eyes.

“I just…”

“……”

“I just wanted to say that I missed you.”

It wasn’t that he wanted anything from her.

It was a confession, almost sighed out. Jasmine’s eyes wavered slightly, but that was all. She cut him off sharply.

“It’s too late.”

“……”

“There’s a right timing for everything, Duke. We didn’t catch that. The time to fix things, the chances—they’re all gone now. Maybe I didn’t know back then, but I’ve changed a lot since. Just like you have, Duke.”

Now, Jasmine didn’t want to be foolishly obsessed with one thing and stake everything on it. Hoping, enduring, and being anxious—all of it was unbearable. Hope was pathetic, patience was exhausting.

Putting herself first, even if she was resented for it, was easier.

Wondering if this way was better or that way was okay, regretting and lingering, worrying about others—it was all suffocating. It was either this or that. It was foolish to care about what was gone or what wasn’t hers.

Over the past six months, that’s what Jasmine had learned. Not to hold on to regrets.

“I understand you’re more sentimental because it’s been a while since you’ve been in the capital. But you’ll be fine soon. Time heals all wounds.”

Jasmine spoke smoothly as if recounting her own experience. Her face was now perfectly calm. She always appeared completely composed.

Richard stared at her face for a long time.

“Are you really better?”

The low murmur stabbed like a knife. Jasmine frowned.

“What do you mean?” She bit back.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re very fond of those flings you call lovers.”

Richard replied softly, leaning his upper body toward her. He was wrapped in a polite and smooth exterior, but there was a menacing air, like a predator beginning its hunt.

As always, he instinctively read her. His piercing blue eyes, moving within his finely chiseled features, seemed to stab her throat. Jasmine retorted coldly.

“That’s none of the Duke’s business.”

“Of course,” Richard added briefly. “How could someone like me dare.”

“If you know that, then don’t jump to conclusions.”

“But I’m a brutish beast who can’t understand my place.”

Jasmine’s brows furrowed slightly. There was a moment of a standoff. Richard moistened his parched lips as he watched her avoid eye contact. She was once again staring meaninglessly out the window.

A sudden, violent feeling surged within him.

He felt an urge to break that small window because he was so desperate for her attention. He wanted to make her turn her eyes towards him.

What an absurd jealousy. In the past, he would have scolded himself for such feelings. But his patience had long since run out over the past six months.

Unable to stand it any longer, he called her name irritably.

“Jasmine.”

She stubbornly ignored him.

“Look at me.”

Instead of answering, Jasmine bit her lips. Ah, those cold, merciless lips. Richard knew all too well what it was like to taste them, to pry them open and savor their flavor.