Introduce Cassie Officially Tonight

But the fact was that... I already knew what she wanted to know.

"Don't be concerned, my bride. I'm the beast you shouldn't fear. I'm the beast that won't kill you. Rather I'm the beast that would do anything to save you. You don't have to save yourself from me, my little bride. I won't hurt you."

"You lied to me," she mumbled.

"I never lied to you, my bride," I said calmly.

"You said you can't read my mind. But you can_ every time."

"That's not the matter, my bride. I just_ know you more than anyone else. I can read people, but you're the one I know most perfectly."

"How?"

I did not say anything. How could I tell her that I had spent so much time observing her that I knew what she wanted, what she thought, without even asking her? I just smiled at her and took her to my study.

"It's your study," she said, gazing here and there. "It's so perfectly decorated. You must have a lot of servants."