Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 470 - 470: Near, Yet Far

Anastasia felt a small tingle of happiness amidst her anxiety and fear when Caspian suddenly stopped her from leaving.

She gulped and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

"Anna?" Caspian called her name again.

Anastasia looked over her shoulder to see Caspian expectantly looking at her. He wasn't letting go of her hand.

"Yes, umm…" She looked ahead again. Her guards were still standing at the door, waiting for her to come out of the room. So, she ordered her guards first, "Please wait for a moment. And could you close the door?"

The guards sensed that the King and the Queen had some unfinished conversation. So, they bowed and quickly pulled the door close as they were asked.

The moment the door was shut, Caspian let go of his grip on Anastasia's hand.

Then the two of them slowly turned around to face each other.

"Yes? Did you want to say something? Or… ask something, perhaps?" Anastasia looked Caspian in the eyes and asked in a hopeful manner.

She was hoping that she could finally clarify everything to her husband. She thought that maybe he wouldn't be as mad at her if he knew that she had been deceived into coming to Sorvando in search of a cure. Or maybe he would be even madder…

Nevertheless, she wanted the two of them to be on the same page.

"Yes. Uh…" Caspian wanted to ask Anastasia to sit down for a proper talk. But his voice got stuck in his throat now that he was standing before her forlorn figure.

Anastasia was looking at Caspian with bated breath, waiting for him to say something. She didn't dare to speak because she didn't really know what Caspian was thinking and what he really wanted to say.

The tension in the air was rising by the second.

However, both of them couldn't think of a way to start the conversation without offending the other.

In the end, Caspian ended up asking in an emotionless voice, "How long until you return?"

Anastasia felt her hopes of amending things with Caspian crumbling. It was as if she didn't know him anymore. He just felt so… distant. Even though he was standing right in front of her, she felt as if he was very far away from her.

'Well, I deserve this…' she thought to herself when she failed to see her own reflection in Caspian's eyes.

"Er…" Anastasia tore off her gaze and looked down uncomfortably before mumbling to Caspian, "I don't know yet. It will depend."

Caspian tightly clenched his fists because of his inability to ask a simple question or express his desire to finally have that talk that his wife had offered to have when all hell broke loose on that pivotal night.

And instead of asking what he really wanted to, he questioned her somewhat sternly, "It will depend on what?"

"On the quality of conversation I have with my friend?" Anastasia knitted her brows together and heaved a sigh in disappointment.

Thinking things would only go downhill from there, she said in a decisive tone, "If there's nothing more that you want to ask then I would like to leave now." She didn't have the energy to have another fight or get scolded by Caspian right now.

Thus, before Caspian could say anything else, she bowed her head as if she had been talking to the King and not her husband, then she turned on her heels and walked towards the door while saying, "John, open the door, please."

The doors immediately flung open on her command.

After stepping out of the room, Anastasia looked at her husband's figure from the corner of her eyes and muttered, "Rest assured, I will be back before nightfall."

Caspian didn't like how Anastasia was being so rude by walking out on him when he took the initiative to come to her chamber even when she was the one who had been in the wrong and owed him an apology.

He quickly walked out to the corridor and shouted while staring at Anastasia's back, "Don't make me come and fetch you like the last time. Leave the Warmane Mansion before 4 PM."

Although he meant no harm by those words and he was only saying it out of concern for his wife's safety, the way he said it made it sound as if he was limiting Anastasia's freedom.

Needless to say, Anastasia didn't like the tone of his voice. But she wasn't angry at him. How could she?

She simply turned her head and gave a gentle bow to Caspian before leading the way.

Her guards who were closely following behind her looked at each other in disappointment. They had really hoped that the two monarchs would soon resolve the issues between them. However, it didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon.

Upon walking out of the main exit of the castle, Anastasia saw the carriage waiting for her. She looked behind her to see if any guards other than John and Isaac were coming after her. She didn't see anyone else joining them.

When the Queen didn't get inside the carriage even after about five minutes had passed, John came forward and asked, "Are we waiting for someone?"

Anastasia craned her neck to see the exit and said, "The King said that he would send some more guards. Do you hear anyone coming?"

John was glad to hear that they would have some more company. More guards meant less work for them and more security for the Queen. But he didn't hear any coordinated footsteps coming toward them.

So, he shook his head and asked the Queen, "Shall I go and check with the King? Maybe he is yet to give out the order. Or maybe the guards are getting ready."

Anastasia pursed her lips and let out a sigh. She didn't feel like waiting any longer because the vampires who walked past them were giving her weird glances.

"Um…" She turned to face the carriage and said while climbing it, "It's alright. Let's go without them. They can join us later."

John clicked his tongue and gave a questioning look to Isaac as if asking him to quickly run to the King and check if some others were joining them.

However, Isaac shrugged and spoke under his breath, "If the King ordered the others to join us then as the Queen said, they can catch up with us on the road."

The two of them didn't have time to argue further on the topic because the carriage had taken off by now.

They had no choice but to keep up with the carriage.

John clenched his fists and spoke through his gritted teeth, "Let's just hope that those bastards won't be fool enough to plan another ambush."