?

　　My feet took me to the end of the long hallway before I came to a halt to calm my heart. Everything happened so fast that I could not even determine what I should do next. Cassian was blatantly threatening me by revealing his biggest secret. I let out a sigh, remembering Augustus’ words from earlier.

　　If you are to wed a complete stranger that you must be aware of their deepest and darkest secrets. He had said during his interview and yet I was here overthinking about what secrets he was hiding from me while Cassian was openly revealing everything about himself.

　　“Princess Cordelia!” A voice called out in concern. I turned around, meeting Anne’s familiar and comforting eyes. “Are you alright? I was passing by as I was attending to my duties and saw you…did something happen?”

　　“No, I just needed some time alone.” I reassured her.

　　“I heard that the alphas who came to meet you are of interesting backgrounds. Could it be that they are…b-bullying you, princess?”

　　I smiled at her, a wave of gratefulness washing over me to have such a caring lady-in-waiting by my side. “Well-” I paused.

　　I noticed the door to the common room I was in a moment ago was pulled open. Cassian came striding out, one hand adjusting his collar. As though he knew I was looking at him, he turned his face towards my direction. We were a fair distance away from each other but our eyes met and for a moment neither of us looked away. He then smiled and winked at me before walking away.

　　“Princess?” Anne’s voice snapped me out of it.

　　“Don’t worry about me, Anne. Everything is going to be alright.” I told her. by the nervous expression she wore, it was obvious that she did not believe in my words. Rightfully so, because I found it hard to believe in my own words.

　　Just in time, I spotted Gideon making his way back to the common room. When he saw me standing at the end of the hallway with Anne, he raised his eyebrow and gestured his hand out as though he was asking me what I was doing.

　　“I have to go now,” I told Anne.

　　“Y-Yes! Good luck, princess.” She bowed.

　　“I’ll need it.” I said under my breath.

　　Gideon waited for me outside the door and the moment I reached him, we entered the room. “What were you doing? Where is Cassian?”

　　“He left.” I said, answering that latter question as I pointed to the direction of the other common room where the three alphas were waiting.

　　“How did the interview go?”

　　I contemplated if I should tell Gideon about Cassian’s true nature but held my tongue when I thought about the consequences. Cassian was the leader of the Hollows, the members of that group are skilled in many things and assassination is one of it. If I did not want to find myself targeted or get Gideon involved, it would be for the better if I kept it to myself for now one.

　　“It was fine.” I told him, flopping onto the couch once more. Gideon followed suit, dignified as usual.

　　“What are your thoughts about Cassian?”

　　“Can I ask you a question instead?”

　　“If it is about the urgent matter earlier, it was simply about-”

　　“Are you keeping anything from me, Gideon?”

　　“Pardon?”

　　“Why did you say nothing about being acquaintances with Cassian?”

　　Gideon opened his mouth and shut it again. I prepared myself to hear his excuse but he then suddenly gave me a gentle smile.

　　“I merely did not want to ruin your first impressions of him. People tend to gravitate towards others who we are connected to. I did not want you to sway your decision based on that.”

　　I pursed my lips. He was not wrong, if he had told me that he and Cassian were acquaintances, I would have probably dropped my guard because I trusted Gideon. “Hm.” I frowned.

　　“Are you not satisfied with that answer?”

　　“Let’s just move one to Isaiah now. Dealing with the Duke of Ashborne by myself cause me to use too much of my energy.” I said, desperate for a hot bath and to rest my sore and fatigued body.

　　Gideon nodded in agreement. “Position wise, Isaiah Faez is higher than both the Prince of the North and the Duke of Ashborne. Isaiah is currently the temporary monarch of the Eastern Kingdom.”

　　“Ah, I am aware of that. His older brother was the ruler until he passed away due to a mysterious circumstance,” I said, looking through his document.

　　“That’s right. Since the next in line to the throne is still not of age, Isaiah was tasked to handle the duties of his late brother.”

　　“Is it okay for him to be here then…?” I asked.

　　“Let’s see what he has to say, shall we?”

　　*

　　There was no doubt that Isaiah Faez was the most intimidating out of the three alphas just from his permanent scowl and size alone. He was incredibly tall and muscular and him merely sitting on the couch opposite us made him look out of place. His rough exterior was backed up with his crude words as I recalled from earlier.

　　Though I admired the freedom he had to speak his mind without thinking of the consequences. His tanned skin was worn and calloused, scars decorated the exposed skins of his forearms and I even noticed a scar on his neck. He was clearly a man who had been in countless battles and evidently had won many times. And yet I found myself drawn to those peculiar midnight blue eyes, they seemed as though they did not belong.

　　“Thank you for being patient with us, Lord regent.” Gideon greeted.

　　Isaiah’s scowl deepened as he leaned back on the couch, making himself comfortable. “Cut that crap out, old man. Just call me by my name.”

　　Gideon laughed at Isaiah’s forwardness. “Very well, Isaiah.”

　　“So, I’m guessing you sent multiple letters because you were not confident that someone was going to reply back?” he asked, looking around the room casually.

　　I was caught off guard by his sudden remark. “Does that fact bother you, my Lord?” Isaiah clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Isaiah.” I corrected myself immediately.????

　　“Hm, I don’t care what you do but I despise it when my time is wasted.”

　　I ignored him, wanting to get straight to the point already. “You are the temporary monarch of the Eastern Kingdom, but is it safe for you to leave behind your duties to be here?” I asked him.

　　“Naturally, I just delegated my duties to my trusted confidants. Besides, a union with the Southern Kingdom is a much more important prospect compared to me sitting behind a desk dealing with paperwork.” He huffed.

　　I wanted to laugh solely due to how honest he was but I forced myself to hold back.

　　“If I remember correctly, your nephew, the future emperor of your kingdom, is seven years of age.” Gideon started.?

　　“Yeah. And?”

　　“And, you still have time to hold the title of regent until he comes of age and takes over. If you were to get married, would you not need to balance your duties here and there as well?”

　　Isaiah sighed as he rested one leg over his strong thighs. “All I’m hearing right now is you doubting my capabilities, old timer.”

　　“I reassure you, I am not.”

　　“Then I don’t see a point in answering that question.”

　　“Very well, let me paraphrase my question.” Gideon nodded. “Why is the union between your kingdom and ours considered important?”

　　Isaiah gave Gideon a lazy look before he gave me a quick glance. “Look, I’m not here to sugar-coat anything. The letter you sent already explained that whatever this is will purely be for convenience sake. I am the most powerful man in my kingdom at the moment and you will be the most powerful woman in yours in due time. What else can I say? Is that not clear enough for you?”

　　“Ah.” An exclamation slipped out of my mouth. Isaiah properly looked over at me, waiting to see what I was going to say. “So your purpose for agreeing to this is for power?”

　　“Yeah.” He confirmed almost immediately.

　　“Understandable.” I beamed. By my side, Gideon looked at me with a confused look and in front of me, Isaiah looked as though I had just mocked his entire bloodline.

　　“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, the anger in his voice was evident.