?

　　Isaiah did not waste any time after that as he came towards me and effortlessly picked me up in a bridal lift, causing the guards to panic at how carelessly he was handling me. I quickly grabbed onto his shirt, afraid that he was going to drop me.

　　“Let’s go.” Isaiah demanded but all I could do was blankly stare at him. Cassian let out a laugh as he clearly was bothered and entertained by this entire ordeal which caused Isaiah to glare daggers at him. “Louse.” He huffed at the auburn haired man as he walked past them and through the crowd.

　　“You don’t have to carry me…” I muttered.

　　“Shut up.” He was quick to say.

　　“…It was not your fault that the bowstring snapped,” I added quickly in case he was silently blaming himself. But then again, I doubt he even cared that I got injured. He was only doing this since there were a lot of witnesses.

　　“What part of shut up do you not understand?” he grumbled. I stayed quiet after that solely because I believe that he would definitely drop me once we were far away from prying eyes.

　　As we walked towards the doctor’s office in silence, I could not get rid of the nerves fluttering in my core as this was the first time I was pressed up this closely to him. I could feel his heartbeat, I could smell his scent that was enough to make my heart race. I truly wanted to curse the omega traits in me that were so drawn to alphas.

　　I tried to ignore all the prying eyes and curious whispers that filled the palace walls as Isaiah continued to carry me inside. I wanted to die from embarrassment so much that I was starting to squirm in his hold. I froze when I felt his grip on me tightened but he did not say anything. I pushed myself to look up at him, where he wore a stoic expression.

　　“Could you put me down now.”

　　“No.”

　　“My cheek is bleeding, that doesn’t mean I am unable to walk.” I said, hoping to talk some sense into him.

　　“I’ve never met anyone as annoying as you. Can’t you just sit still until we get to the doctor? Must you continue to make my life miserable?”

　　“Miserable?” I echoed. “Just admit that you are only doing this to embarrass me because I won the archery challenge earlier.” I muttered under my breath.

　　Isaiah came to a halt and I felt him slowly put me down to my feet. He then leaned forward, nearly bumping his face onto mine. “You need to learn when to stop talking, princess. You won one measly challenge and you think you are better than me?”

　　“I did not say that—” I tried to rebuttal but he did not give me the chance to finish.

　　“We both know I am still superior in every aspect and that challenge earlier was just a fluke. Clearly luck was by your side.” He scoffed as he brought up the luck thing again.

　　“Ah…” I started.

　　?“What?”

　　“It would seem that I am betrothed to a megalomaniac.” I said, staring directly at him. I was expecting him to fight back, to say something to hurt my feelings as he always did but he fell silent and it was not hard to notice that he was staring at my cheek, where it was still aching.

　　Isaiah pulled back but his hand came up towards me. I flinched, thinking he was going to resort in violence to get me to be quiet but his fingers merely brushed against my cheek, so lightly that I could easily mistake his touch for the passing breeze. He then rubbed his thumb over the cut and although the wound ached it was still bearable.

　　“You know your way to the doctor's office from here, right?” he suddenly asked, hand lingering on my face.

　　“Yes, I’ve lived here all my life.” I uttered.

　　“Okay. Go get patched up.” He said, pulling away. I noticed some of my blood was now on his thumb. He did not stay to say anything more nor do anything else as he turned to walk back where he came from.

　　I stared at his back from a moment as my hand unconsciously went up to my cheek, hovering over the cut as I could still feel the warmth of his hand on my skin. I could not in any way understand what had just happened, but the fact that Isaiah showed me a side of him that I would have never since otherwise was starting to make me paranoid of his true intentions.

　　As I continued to walk towards the doctor’s office, all I could think about was coming up with a reason why he even bothered to take me all the way here when he could have just brushed the entire situation off when I openly told everyone that it was not his fault. By the looks of it, Isaiah was the last person to care about what others thought about him.

　　I could not come up with one solid reason at all as I finally arrived at my destination. I knocked and pushed the door open and greeted the doctor, hoping that I could drop this train of thought and rid Isaiah of my mind.

　　*

　　No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I could not look past the fact that I had an adhesive gauze on my face now and according to the doctor, I had to wear it for at least 1 week for it to properly heal without leaving a scar behind. When Anne had seen me, she was at the brink of tears, apologising for not being there with me. I had to continuously remind her that she was not at fault and weapons grow faulty over time.

　　“It’s a good look for you,” Gideon said when he saw me with my bandaged cheek. “You look…more mature.”

　　“How could you say that, Lord Gideon!? The princess’s beautiful face was tarnished.”

　　“The doctor said that it will heal. You are being dramatic, Anne.” Gideon sighed. Anne pouted at him.

　　“So, why did you call me here? Do you want me to tell you what happened with Isaiah?” I asked Gideon. It was close to dinner time and I was looking forward to spending it with my mother and brother who I have not had the chance to be with due to my sudden busy schedule.

　　“I suspect that Lady Marie might want to talk to you today.” He said.

　　“Hm?”

　　“She is currently at the palace, while she would usually be out and about visiting her ‘friends’ at this hour.” He observed.

　　“What would she want to talk to me for?” I frowned, not seeing a reason why she would approach me unless it was to irritate me or give an excuse as to why I should not be the next empress. Lately it has been peaceful at the palace since Lady Marie and her children were hardly around but now… “Do you think she has a plan to stop me from getting married now?”

　　“Most likely, yes. Although I am unsure of what she has in store. I am just letting you know so you can be mentally prepared.”

　　I sighed. “Of course, thank you for that. Since it is still too early for dinner, I shall be resting in my room for the time being.” I told him.

　　“Very well, please take care of yourself.”

　　I nodded and headed towards the door with Anne rushing from the other side to the room to catch up with me. She was fast to pull open the door for me where it was revealed that someone was standing on the other side. Anne gasped from shock while I just stared at the person for a second longer before smiling and giving her a curtsy.

　　“Lady Marie, what a surprise.” I said loud enough for Gideon to hear.

　　“Hello. There is something I would like to discuss with you, Cordelia.” She said. I turned around to look at Gideon as we shared a look. “Alone.” She quickly added when she noticed Gideon inside the study.

　　“To be frank, Lady Marie, I do not trust you to be alone with the princess.” Gideon said.

　　“I do not know what you are trying to insinuate, Lord Gideon but this is a matter concerning Cordelia alone and not you.” She snapped back.

　　“There is no need for pointless arguing.” I sighed, growing annoyed that my moment of rest was taken away just so I could hear the two of them bickering like this. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Gideon, Lady Marie.” I pressed.

　　She let out a frustrated sigh. “And here I was trying to be thoughtful but very well. I came here to talk about how it would be unbecoming of a woman to get married before she has even held her coming of age ceremony.” She said.

　　“What?” I asked through gritted teeth. It seemed to me that Lady Marie had an excuse for everything at this point and would say and do anything to add to my growing predicament.

　　“To put it frankly Cordelia, you must debut in high society first before you are allowed to get married.”