Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 432 - 432: Straight-Forward Question

Anastasia's eyes and jaw were wide open when Tilla told her that Vincent was really serious about the marriage and that he was even ready to travel to Orsenia just so he could get formal permission from Tilla's mother.

"Oh, heavenly father!" Anastasia pulled Tilla close to her chest and wrapped her arms around her dear friend. "I can't believe this is happening! I am so happy for you, Tilla."

Tilla giggled somewhat shyly and whispered, "I can't believe it too… I never imagined I would find my suitor in this Kingdom. But I did. And I will forever be grateful to heaven for writing this happiness for me."

Anastasia felt a slight prick in her heart, not because she was unhappy with her friend or because she was jealous of her. But because the same heaven had treated her like a step-child whom it disliked greatly.

She quickly pushed that thought aside and then looked at Tilla. She held Tilla by her shoulders and then said from the deepest corner of her heart, "I am very happy that you found happiness here. And I am relieved to know that there is someone who is going to be by your side. Forever."

Tilla slightly tilted her head to the side. Her eyes turned moist because she read between the lines and understood the unspoken words of Anastasia.

"I wish you would also do the same…" She uttered as the tears dropped down her cheeks and down to her chest. "I wish you would also be by my side forever."

Anastasia smiled helplessly and tried to hide her obvious pain. However, the tears that rolled down the corners of her eyes exposed her pain.

"We both know that it's just wishful thinking now…" The whole room was enveloped by gloominess in an instant.

Tilla had also accepted by now that the 'cure' that they were after was just someone's sick joke. She threw herself in Anastasia's arms. Then she began crying while hugging her best friend tightly as if Anastasia would disappear into thin air if she didn't hold her tight enough.

"I wish there was something we could do about your condition…" Tilla wailed while burying her face into Anastasia's chest. "I am not ready to lose you, Anna… We came here so that you would… so that you would…"

Tilla was crying so much that she began to choke on her own tears.

"Shhh…" Anastasia rested her chin on Tilla's head and began to gently pat her back. "We all knew what was coming. And we were already prepared for this."

Tilla abruptly looked up to meet Anastasia's eyes. And she frowned while questioning Anastasia, "You thought we were all ready? We just pretended to be, Anna! We just put a mask on our face whenever we were around you."

She gulped hard and then continued to ramble in a heartbroken voice, "Then that stupid letter arrived, shooting up all of our hopes. But it just turned out to be a stupid joke and nothing more! And now, it's even harder to accept the reality because… I really hoped you would somehow be cured."

Anastasia could only watch Tilla in pain as tears kept on flooding down her eyes.

"I had already dreamed about us chatting together while sitting in the beautiful garden, our hair white, our face wrinkled, our heart content…" Tilla wiped her tears with both of her palms and sniffled.

She then wistfully looked at Anastasia's face and carefully examined it. Her rosy cheeks looked smudged and artificial; her chin seemed sharper and thinner; her eyes slightly sunken, damp, and red.

Tilla had always found those pair of emerald-green eyes very beautiful and sparkly. Now they looked like they had lost all their charms as if Anastasia had already given up.

Her eyes slowly trailed down to Anastasia's neck. Though she was wrapping a warm muffler around her neck, Tilla was sure that it now looked even thinner than before.

A sudden wave of fear washed over her. It made her realize that Anastasia was indeed approaching the literal deadline, that too at a faster rate.

And she began crying and mumbling again, "But it's going to be just that… a dream that will never come to life! And it is more painful than before. And I hate it!" She moved closer to Anastasia and embraced her again. And whispered in a defeated tone, "I hate it! I hate to think that I am going to lose you…"

"Oh, Tilla…" Anastasia's lips trembled. She couldn't say anything more. She just wiped her eyes and cheeks with her palms and kept on hiccupping and sniffling.

Anastasia wiped her tears once more. She wanted to say something to Tilla when her eyes suddenly caught the sight of someone's shoes poking through the small gap in the door that wasn't properly locked.

Her eyes widened and her heart instantly dropped down to her stomach when she realized that someone was listening in to their conversation since god knows when.

"W-Who's there?" she asked while trying to sound brave, but in reality, she was close to losing her mind due to fear.

"There's someone?" Tilla also looked behind, afraid that the person might have heard all of their conversations.

The door creaked open. And Vincent was standing there with a shocked expression on his face.

"L-Lord Vincent…" Anastasia stuttered. Her throat immediately dried up, and her heartbeat began to accelerate like crazy.

Now, Anastasia was even more terrified. Her mind instantly thought of countless scenarios where she and Tilla suffered at the hands of Caspian because their lies and deceits were discovered.

"Umm…" Vincent stepped inside the room and then closed the door behind him. He looked at the terrified faces of both Anastasia and Tilla.

He heaved a deep sigh and said while trying not to sound too shocked, "I came to check because I heard you both crying and I wanted to make sure that you two were okay. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Tilla quickly turned around to face Vincent and sat while defensively hiding Anastasia with her own body. "D-Did you hear what we were talking about?"

Vincent looked down and hesitated for a while. He didn't want to meddle in the ladies' business. However, he couldn't stay quiet for long since the business in question also involved his friend, Caspian.

A tinge of anger surged through his heart when he looked back at Anastasia.

However, he suppressed that rising storm in his chest and asked the Queen while frowning slightly, "I apologize if I sound rude, my Queen, but," he took a deep breath before completing his sentence in a much straight-forward way, "are you going to die soon?"

Tilla got offended by the way Vincent asked that question as if it were no big deal. "Excuse me!" She got up from her seat and reprimanded him, "You cannot ask such a sensitive matter with such great ease, Vincent!"

Vincent didn't sugar-coat his expression and his tone anymore. He pointed at Anastasia and said in an accusing tone, "But she IS going to die, isn't she? AND SOON. Wasn't that why you were crying your heart out?"

Tilla looked down at the floor. Anastasia wasn't able to raise her head either. Neither was she able to say a word in response.

The silence was enough of an answer for Vincent.

So, he clasped his palms together and asked again, hoping that he wouldn't be disappointed this time, "My Queen, please tell me that Caspian already knows about this."

Deafening silence filled the room again.