I Got Cheated On and Ended Up in A Beast World

Chapter 171: Chapter 171

Cassian stood silently beyond the half-open doors.

No one inside the chamber noticed his shadow stretching across the threshold.

His eyes remained fixed entirely on Lin Wan.

She was still standing beside the brass wash basin, her small hand gripping its cold metallic edge tightly to steady her trembling frame. Her shoulders looked impossibly narrow and fragile beneath the oversized, mud-stained gray cloak she refused to part with.

On the table, the luxurious breakfast remained completely untouched.

The nourishing medicinal soup had already begun to cool, a thin film forming over its surface.

One of the younger maids clicked her tongue in open annoyance, tossing a rag onto her silver tray.

"Leave it."

"If the Female wishes to starve herself to death, that is her own decision."

Another servant quietly added, stacking a dish with a sharp clink, "His Majesty has already shown her more mercy than anyone else in this palace combined."

"Yet she only knows how to cause trouble and refuse his grace."

The eldest maid frowned deeply, her voice dropping. "Enough."

"But Sister Yun—"

"I said enough."

The younger maid reluctantly lowered her head, though the hot resentment burning in her eyes remained entirely unextinguished.

She shot a venomous glance toward Lin Wan’s hunched back.

"I simply don’t understand, our captain gave his life for the citadel, The entire palace maids and Vanguard mourns him."

"And for what?"

"A weak female who never even wanted to stay in the first place."

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room once more.

Lin Wan slowly lowered her head, her chest heaving as the words sliced through her.

Her fingers tightened around the rim of the basin until her knuckles turned stark white, her nails scraping against the metal.

"...I’m sorry."

This time... the apology wasn’t a whispered breath.

The words were clear and loud enough for everyone in the chamber to hear.

The maids froze, their hands halting mid-air.

Lin Wan never turned around to face them.

Her voice remained soft, trembling, yet carrying a profound, hollow weight.

"I never wanted Captain Jarek to die, i never wanted anyone to die because of me, If making an apology could bring him back..."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, her shoulders shaking. "...I would kneel on this floor for the rest of my life."

No one answered.

Even the most bitter of the younger maids found their tongues suddenly tied, the raw grief in the girl’s voice catching them off guard.

The eldest maid looked at the lonely, broken figure standing by herself and quietly sighed, a flicker of pity crossing her aged features.

Just then—

A deep, low voice broke the silence like a strike of thunder.

"Leave."

Every single maid in the room stiffened, their spines turning to ice.

The color instantly drained from their faces.

They spun around in a frantic rush to find Cassian standing directly in the doorway, his towering frame casting a massive shadow across the floorboards.

No one had sensed his arrival. There had been no sound, no shift in the air.

The spiritual pressure surrounding him was entirely calm... which somehow made it infinitely more terrifying than an outburst of rage.

All eight maids immediately threw themselves to their knees, their foreheads slamming against the hard jade floor.

"This servant greets Your Majesty!"

Cassian didn’t even acknowledge their existence.

His cold gaze swept slowly over the untouched meal.

Then, it drifted to the traces of shattered porcelain on the floor.

Then finally... it locked onto Lin Wan.

She had slowly turned around to face the door, her hand still anchoring her to the basin.

The moment their eyes met... the tiny bit of color remaining in her face disappeared entirely.

Her body reacted before her mind could think. She instinctively took a small, frantic step backward, her back pressing hard against the jade pillar behind her.

Cassian noticed.

Again.

Without thinking. Without any hesitation.

The very sight of him made her flee.

His chest tightened, a sharp, imperceptible pang striking behind his ribs.

"You may leave."

His voice remained completely even, stripped of all warmth.

The maids hurriedly scrambled backward, bowing repeatedly until they reached the threshold.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Within seconds, the chamber emptied completely.

The heavy golden doors swung shut behind them, sealing with a heavy, final click.

Only the two of them remained, Neither spoke a word.

The silence stretched out between them, growing unbearably thick, punctuated only by the faint crackle of the incense burner.

Cassian walked slowly toward the table, his heavy steps silent against the floor.

He reached out and picked up the small bowl of medicinal soup.

The porcelain was cool to the touch; the liquid inside was already cold.

His thick brows drew together into a harsh line.

"The food does not suit your taste?"

Lin Wan lowered her eyes, staring intently at his leather boots.

"I wasn’t hungry."

"You vomited."

She didn’t answer, her lips pressing into a thin, stubborn line.

Cassian looked down at her for a long, unreadable moment before placing the bowl back onto the table with a soft thud.

"The physician explicitly stated your body is very weak."

Silence.

"You need nourishment to stabilize your health."

Still... no response.

Lin Wan kept her gaze firmly fixed on the floorboards.

It was as though even looking at his face required a scrap of courage she no longer possessed.

Behind his back, Cassian’s large fingers slowly curled into a tight, frustrated fist.

He had interrogated the most hardened prisoners of war.

He had negotiated terms with ancient, ruthless clan leaders, He had commanded armies numbering in the millions without a single doubt in his mind.

Yet standing before this one silent, fragile Female...

The Great King found himself entirely at a loss for words.

Finally—he stepped a fraction closer, his voice dropping to a quiet, unfamiliar pitch.

"...Does your body still hurt?"

Lin Wan lifted her head, her eyes widening slightly in genuine surprise.

For the briefest moment... confusion flickered across her pale face.

She had expected his usual cold anger. Interrogation about her route. Punishment for the dead captain. Anything.

Not... this.

Before she could form a reply—a sharp, violent wave of nausea suddenly rose from her stomach once more.

Her breathing hitched, her chest heaving.

She quickly covered her mouth with both hands, turning her back to him as she doubled over the wash basin.

Cassian was beside her almost instantly, his massive frame closing the distance in a single heartbeat, His hand reached out automatically toward her trembling shoulder.

But the exact moment his fingertips brushed the rough fabric of her gray cloak—

Lin Wan flinched violently, shrieking as if she had been burned by fire.

"Don’t!"

The desperate word escaped her lips before she could stop it, echoing sharply against the high jade ceiling.

Cassian’s hand froze dead in mid-air.

Slowly... very slowly... his fingers uncurled, and he lowered his arm back to his side.

The chamber fell into a dead, suffocating silence once again.

Outside the sealed crystal windows, heavy snow began drifting gently across the palace gardens, blurring the horizon.

Inside... the invisible distance between them somehow felt greater than the entire journey she had made trying to run across the neutral valleys.

Neither of them moved a muscle.

Cassian stood exactly where he was, his hand hanging stiffly, awkwardly at his side.

Lin Wan kept her eyes pinned down, her breathing shallow and uneven as the wave of bitter sickness slowly passed. She leaned her forehead lightly against the carved jade pillar beside the basin, trying to ground herself.

"...I..."

She bit her lower lip until a bead of blood nearly broke the surface.

"...I’m sorry."

Cassian’s brows drew together, a flicker of irritation cutting through his calm facade.

"You apologize often."

His voice was smooth. Too smooth. Like ice covering a rapid river.

Lin Wan let out a small, bitter laugh, her shoulders bouncing weakly.

"What else can I do?"

The words were incredibly quiet, completely drained of life.

"I apologized to Captain Jarek before I left, and it didn’t save him."

"I apologized to Wei Xiang because he got hurt trying to protect me and now..." She turned her head slightly, looking around the magnificent, gilded prison of a chamber. "...I’m apologizing to you for breaking your cup."

Cassian followed her gaze to the empty space on the floor where the shattered porcelain had already been swept away.

"I wasn’t referring to the cup."

Silence settled heavily between them once again, thick and unyielding.

After a long moment, Cassian spoke, his tone turning firm. "You should rest."

Lin Wan slowly, deliberately shook her head, her fingers loosely detaching from the brass basin.

"I’ve rested enough."

"You collapsed in the woods."

"I know."

"You cannot keep exhausting your body like this, even if it’s to spite me."

A soft, mirthless laugh escaped her lips. There was absolutely no joy in it—only a profound, crushing exhaustion.

"My body stopped belonging to me a long time ago."

Cassian’s expression stiffened, his jaw locking tightly.

She continued quietly, her voice entirely monotone.

"You decide where I sleep."

"You decide what clothes I am allowed to wear."

"You decide whether I am permitted to stay or leave."

"You even decide whether I am allowed to look at the sky."

She finally lifted her chin, forcing her dull eyes to meet his piercing golden ones.

"The mountains are beautiful..." Her voice caught, nearly breaking down right there. "...I can see them through your glass."

"...But I can’t touch them."

Cassian remained completely silent.

The raw accusation in her words settled like lead inside the room.

He had ordered the open balcony completely sealed with jade.

He had ordered the crystal windows reinforced with spatial arrays.

He had doubled the elite guards outside her threshold.

He had truly believed, in his own possessive way, that he was protecting her from the dangers of the outside world.

But listening to her now... it sounded entirely different.

Lin Wan slowly walked past his frozen frame, her cloak dragging slightly as she moved toward the sealed crystal window.

The snow drifted peacefully beyond the shimmering barrier, completely untouched by the turmoil inside. Tiny white flakes danced through the winter air before settling on the distant, jagged palace roofs.

"I used to think the sky belonged to everyone equally," she whispered, resting her fingertips lightly against the transparent barrier.

Ripples of faint golden formation light pulsed gently beneath her touch, warning her to back away.

"Back home..." A faint, ghostly smile touched the corners of her lips, as if she were remembering a life from a completely different incarnation. "When I wanted fresh air... I simply opened a window."

Her gaze softened, turning distant. "Weiwei used to complain whenever I stayed outside in the cold for too long."

The fragile smile quickly faded, replaced by a sudden, aching emptiness.

"I wonder where she is now..."

Cassian quietly watched her from the center of the room, his mind narrowing on the unfamiliar name. And the thought of finding the Weiwei to make Lin wan happy sprouted in his mind, but he quickly doused it.

"Weiwei."

The name lingered uncomfortably in his thoughts, smelling of another part of her life he had no control over.

"Who is she?"

Lin Wan’s fingers paused against the pulsing golden barrier.

For a single heartbeat... she almost answered him.

Then, a cold splash of reality hit her.

Weiwei had been suppressed and there was no way to connect with her. Even now, as she searched her own mind, there was absolutely no response inside her consciousness.

The familiar, comforting warmth of her system was entirely gone.

Leaving behind nothing but a terrifying, empty silence.

"...Someone important," she whispered, offering no more than that.

Cassian did not press her further, sensing the invisible wall she had just thrown up between them.

Instead, he closed the distance with slow, deliberate steps, coming to stand just a few paces behind her.

The two of them faced the snow-covered mountains together through the glass.

Separated by only a few feet of space.

Separated by an immeasurable, cosmic distance.

After a long, agonizing silence, Cassian finally spoke, his voice dropping into a low growl.

"You won’t escape again."

It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t a question. It was a absolute statement of reality.

Lin Wan nodded faintly, her forehead gently resting against the cool pane of the window.

"No."

For the very first time since her capture at the river... a small flicker of relief passed through his eyes.

Until she quietly, hollowly finished her sentence.

"Because I can’t."

The brief flash of relief vanished instantly from his face.

She tapped her fingers against the glowing barrier once more, watching the golden light ripple out. "You’ve made entirely sure of that."

Cassian looked at the countless ancient formations hidden within the jade walls.

At the shadow of the elite guards standing outside the door.

At the room he had ordered torn apart and rebuilt overnight.

A room no one could leave. A room no one could enter without his express command.

A fortress he had personally designed... specifically for her.

Lin Wan slowly turned away from the window, dropping her hands to her sides.

"I’m tired... I want to sleep."

Without waiting for his permission, without a single glance back, she climbed back onto the enormous bed of spirit jade and pulled the thick silk blanket over her shoulders.

She lay down, turning her back completely toward him and made no attempt to speak another word.

Cassian remained standing exactly where he was in the center of the vast, quiet room.

His heavy gaze rested on the small, unmoving figure curled tightly beneath the blankets.

She hadn’t shouted at him this time, hadn’t begged for her freedom, She hadn’t struggled against his presence.

Yet somehow... her quiet, total surrender felt far heavier than her wildest attempts to escape.

Outside the heavy golden doors, the twelve Shadow Guards stood their silent, eternal watch.

Inside the glittering room...

The King remained awake long after the Female had closed her eyes, utterly unable to understand why the victory he had fought so ruthlessly to reclaim felt so strangely hollow.