My hurried footsteps echoed throughout the hallway as I went towards the main common room where the alphas were waiting. My heart was beating incredibly fast, maybe from anticipation, maybe from fatigue since I was just training with Rodrick a mere second ago.

　　“Princess! Maybe you should change first!” Anne pointed out as she particularly had to jog to keep up with me.

　　“I’ve already been keeping them waiting for far too long.” I countered. Being tardy was already deemed to be rude, especially when I had to deal with alphas who all shared the same self-absorbed and head-strong traits among each other. I silently prayed that the three who came to accept my proposal would at least be understanding.

　　“But you are wearing trousers!” Anne complained.

　　It was not uncommon for ladies to wear the garment but I was too busy worrying about the alphas getting agitated to bother to dress nicely. It was not like I was completely bare after all.

　　I stopped outside the large closed doors of the common room as Anne finally caught up to me, standing by my side. I took a moment to catch my breath, feeling my sweat trickle down my neck. Who lies behind these doors? Who out of the seven potential alphas replied? The more I stood outside pondering about these questions, the more I could feel my stomach knotting up as nerves caused me to clench against my blouse.

　　I nodded at the guards by the door who simultaneously pulled open the doors for me. I held my breath in anticipation only for my face to drop when the first people I spotted were Lady Marie and her children, Frederick, Elina and Lilian. The three ladies were seated by the long couch, donning their best dresses as they politely drank tea and ate desserts. Frederick stood by his mother’s side, the air of confidence oozing out of him.

　　I wanted to question what they were doing but it was obvious by their forced laughter and praises that they were here to greet the esteemed alphas.

　　Lilian was the first to spot me standing by the door. “Oh, look who has finally arrived.” She said, voice filled with mockery.

　　“I hope you don’t mind that we came to keep your guests company, Cordelia. After all, you were making them wait for quite some time.” Lady Marie added.

　　I smiled at them politely, bowing to greet them. “I appreciate that you were here to entertain my guests, Lady Marie.” I replied.

　　“We would expect you to be properly dressed since you were taking so long but you come to greet your guests in trousers? Cordelia you surely are a trickster.” Elina giggled as Lillian followed suit.

　　My smile remained as I turned my body towards the guests of honour, praying that no ounce of my annoyance was tainting my face. “I apologise for my tardiness…” my words trailed off when I spotted them. I had not noticed that the three of them stood up from the couch the moment I entered but now as my eyes flickered from one of them to the other, I could hardly breathe.

　　I opened my mouth but all memory of my etiquette seemingly vanished. One of them, a beautiful man with short auburn hair, walked towards me. His smile was so charming to the point where I could not look away from him.

　　He had to be Cassian, the Duke of Ashborne of the Western Kingdom. Gideon had informed me about his seductive nature and even with that warning at the back of my head, I could not help but to admire his beauty.

　　“It is good to finally be able to meet you, Princess Cordelia.” He said, bowing slightly as he reached for my hand. I watched in silence as he brought my hand to his lips. I tensed as he pressed his soft lips against my knuckles. “Even since I have received your letter, not a day went by without you occupying my thoughts, my fair princess.”

　　“Ah…” I muttered, finding it hard to even reply to him over his flirtatious words.

　　“Hey now, don’t act as if you are the only one here to see her, Cassian.” One said with an aggressive tone. He came towards the two of us, towering me and standing taller than Cassian by a full head. I blinked up at him in complete awe. Our eyes locked, his midnight blue eyes seemed to darken as he gave me a firm nod. “Princess.” He grunted as though he was forced to be nice to me.

　　“H-Hello…” I managed to say.

　　Cassian tugged my hand to pull me closer to him. He raised his eyebrow at the tall and tanned man. “Honestly, what is a brute like you even doing here, Isaiah?” Cassian questioned.

　　“Huh?” Isaiah fumed. “I got a letter just like you, promiscuous Duke.” He hissed.

　　“My, my, your words truly wound me.” He said in a completely monotonous tone, as though he was completely used to being called that. I pondered if the two of them were close since they referred to each other by their first names.

　　Before Isaiah could argue back, my attention fell on the third alpha who had quietly approached us. He was just as Gideon had described, from his sickly pale skin to his silver hair and to those unique grey eyes.

　　“I extend my greetings to you, Princess Cordelia.” He spoke, voice deep and gentle.

　　“Prince Augustus.” I called out, the surprise in my voice was definitely evident.

　　“Hold on!” someone cried. The four of us turned to Lilian who was now standing up, face red as she clenched down onto the skirt of her dress. “You sent the marriage proposals? And here I thought they had come to ask your hand in marriage. Surely you are not that desperate to claim the throne that you would stoop so low, sister?” she spat.

　　“Lilian.” Frederick warned I assumed that he was trying to stop her from showing her antagonism to the three alphas in the room instead of stopping her from degrading me.

　　I was ready to give her a response but Cassian beat me to it. “It does not matter who proposed first, it only matters that I am here to accept your proposal, my princess.” He smiled, his grip around my hand tightened as he leaned closer to my body. I took a step back to add some distance between the both of us but he merely closed the gap once more.

　　A large hand appeared, pushing Cassian away from me. “Get away from her, you sex-crazed fiend. Don’t pretend as if we aren’t here for the same reason as you.” Isaiah grumbled.

　　“I’m amazed that you of all people would want to get married,” Cassian scoffed.

　　“I could say the same to you. As if you would want to be tied down to only one woman.”

　　Cassian laughed. “I assure you that I am a changed man,” he stated proudly.?

　　“This is ridiculous.” Lady Marie called out. “Surely you did not send a letter of proposal to three different men?” she gaped at me.

　　With a swift tug, I finally managed to free my hand from Cassian’s grip. “I actually sent out seven,” I admitted, which was truly the best thing I have ever said since I got to watch Lady Marie and her children’s expressions fall into complete shock. Even the three alphas, Augustus, Cassian and Isaiah could not help but to widen their eyes upon hearing my remark but they were quicker to control their disbelief.

　　“Are you mad?!” Lady Marie snapped.

　　I held back from explaining my reasoning, since admitting that I had only sent out seven letters because I had no confidence in receiving a reply would be too humiliating to say aloud. Before I could come up with a smart comeback to Lady Marie’s question, Isaiah let out an annoyed sigh.

　　“Look here, you people just waltzed into here and started to talk about stuff no one cares about just because we were waiting for the princess to arrive. But now that she is here, I don’t see why you four aren’t leaving.” He said without a care in the world.

　　“My word! How rude!” Elina gasped.

　　“You are just as the rumours say you are, Lord Isaiah. The lack of manners is truly absurd.” Lady Marie snapped.

　　“Rumours huh? Well then, would you like to tell me what other rumours you’ve heard about me so I can make them come true? Huh?” he fumed, hands clenching into tight fists.

　　“Yikes…and here I thought you had changed after becoming the temporary monarch of your kingdom.” Cassian commented.

　　“Shut your mouth, pretty boy or I’ll shut it for you.” Isaiah growled.

　　“Oh the horror.” Cassian let out a tired sigh.

　　“Cordelia! These are the kind of people you invite into our palace?!” Lilian said, pretending as though she was not just fawning over them a mere minute ago.

　　“What does that supposed to mean., huh?” Isaiah turned to her.

　　“Eek! M-mother…!” Lilian sat back down as she leaned towards her mother for protection.

　　I was ready to try to calm my guests down or even tell Lady Marie and her children to leave but? the door was suddenly pulled open, making me turn to see who had arrived.