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Volume : 1
Chapter : 9[9]; Catherine Von Habsburg
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"Hello...?"
There was a sound from his back.
It wasn't loud. Just soft enough to reach him, like someone gently touching the surface of water.
Aaryan turned slowly, almost like his body wasn't in a rush to notice whoever it was.
A few steps away stood a woman dressed in silver, light material flowing with the breeze. Her posture was upright, graceful, like she was out of place in a world that had grown tired. Her golden hair shimmered as the sun caught strands of it, moving like waves.
But what caught him, briefly, were her eyes.
Eyes that didn't just look at you, they carried things. Like stars trapped inside them. Blue, piercing, oceans deep. He wasn't sure what he felt.
Awed? No. Just... still.
Catherine von Habsburg.
He blinked. Then looked at her with something close to politeness, but distant, like standing across a river and knowing it's not worth crossing.
She hadn't exactly done anything yet, but he didn't trust the reasoning behind her approach.
Why was she talking to him?
And when he met her gaze again... it was blank.
Not vacant, just impossible to read.
A calm stillness that left him with nothing to work with. No warmth, no sharpness, no intention. After a small pause, he finally spoke, his voice just enough to be heard:
"May I ask, Miss… what brings you here?"
He didn't want to talk to her. She was engaged to the same man who, without blinking, would put him in harm's way if it served some bad intention toward him with purpose.
She hesitated. One hand slightly closed into a fist, the other playing with the corner of her dress.
"Aaryan... we've met before." she said. Almost as if she herself wasn't sure.
"Do you not remember me?"
He raised an eyebrow and gave her a smile that tried to be kind but didn't bother trying too hard.
"No, Madam. I'm afraid you must be mistaken."
He wasn't hostile.
Just honest. And he is sure.
He remembered people well. Faces, names, timelines. Whether in the UK, France, or anywhere along his path, a Catherine had never walked through it.
When he wasn't working late in scientific labs or quietly involved in political meetings… or simply spending time with Devika, he could trace back everyone he'd encountered. And this woman, she didn't belong to any of those pages.
Something in her face changed, ever so slightly. A twitch beneath the surface, like she didn't expect that answer.
She didn't say anything at first.
Just stood there. Still.
He noticed it.
Did he care?
No.
Even if she had fallen into the ocean right there, he wouldn't have flinched.
"I see… maybe I recognised you as the wrong person," she said at last.
"Forgive me."
She kept it even. But he saw what the wind didn't cover.
Her hand clenching tighter. The edge of her dress now gripped like it was something to hold onto in the absence of composure.
But it made no difference to him.
He nodded faintly, turned back towards the waves again.
Then, more quietly now, she added, "My name is Catherine von Habsburg."
Aaryan turned his head slightly, gave her a flat look.
Just enough attention to be polite.
"So, what can I do for Miss Catherine?" he asked, voice devoid of interest.
Flat.
Like food no one wanted to finish.
Catherine opened her mouth, and nothing came out at first.
Just silence.
A silence that began to grow, stretch, and weigh heavier by the moment.
Finally, with effort, she lowered her head slightly.
Her voice came soft, too soft for this open, breezy place.
"I... I came to say sorry, to Mr. Aaryan. On my fiancé's behalf. For... what happened in the saloon. And caused an chaos and trouble for you."
That was it.
All she had left to offer. Not an apology of her own. But of a man she was bound to, for life. A man caught in the middle of all the powers and games.
Aaryan turned to her again now. Eyes steady.
His jaw relaxed but his tone turned sharper as a mocking smile broke across his face.
"Apology?"
He said it again, like testing the word. "Apology…" A pause. "Apology…"
Three times.
Then came the words that crushed anything she might have been holding onto:
"I don't think that's necessary."
"It's not you who should be apologizing."
"It's him."
"And I don't want your apology."
His voice was colder. No anger, just distance. Icy, firm, like he was done even entertaining the exchange.
She didn't react. Just stood there.
He took a step away, gaze back toward the ocean, and quietly added:
"Go back, Miss Habsburg. This deck doesn't need royalty to feel overcrowded."
He walked away from there, wanting to be alone with the wind and the wide Atlantic in front of him.
Catherine just stood there, watching him going away.
It hurt her, the way he turned his back so coldly.
She never thought Aaryan would act like that.
Honestly, she didn't care about the Titanic itself.
All the fancy rooms and people meant nothing to her. She only got on this ship because of Aaryan. If he hadn't been here, she wouldn't be either here to enjoy this ship.
When his fiancée found out, she wants to come, which only made things more awkward. He even embarrassed him.
Now, Aaryan was treating her like a stranger, not even looking at her.
He seemed so far away, like she couldn't reach him at all.
She stared after him, remembering when they were younger and things felt good memories that sthey have enjoyed together.
She didn't understand why he wouldn't talk to her now, or he really forgetten herself.
A strange feeling came over her.
She squeezed the edge of her dress in her hand, not sure what to do.
She finally took a step forward and called out, maybe louder than she meant to,
"Aaryan! Wait, I need to talk to you. It's important!"
She tried to catch up, walking fast, but her foot got caught in her own dress.
She stumbled, losing her balance, and started to fall.
Before...she could cry in help, a strong arm grabbed her and she stopped falling.
Catherine eyes, that was closed in fear, opened it and looked at broad chest, and then she raised her head above and met the eyes of him.
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[End of the chapter, 9!]
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