?

　　“I’m willing to help you with the planning of your debutante ball since you are still a dear family member of mine.” Lady Marie smiled politely after dropping the fact that I had an extra hurdle to pass through before I could continue with my wedding plans.

　　Gideon had not said anything which only met that what Lady Marie said was valid. I’ve never heard of anyone in high society who had gotten married before they were officially introduced, engaged yes but not married. I was slowly starting to get irritated at how Gideon and I failed to see that this would have been made into a big issue if Lady Marie had not told me.

　　“There is no need for that, Lady Marie.” I looked up only to stop my mother. “If anyone should help my daughter plan her debutante ball, then it would be me.”

　　“Mother…”

　　“Oh, Lady Isabella, I mean no offence! I was merely offering Cordelia my support.”

　　“Support? Do you think that to be strange after you had openly stood against her and her claim to the throne?” My mother was firm and was not about to deal with Lady Marie’s ruse.

　　“You must understand the pressure that my children and I are going through when Byron decided to make an omega his heir. I was only against Cordelia because of the other noblemen’s influence!”

　　For a moment, I had caught myself believing in Lady Marie’s words but I was quick to notice how the timing seemed rather off. Why would she only approach me now and say these things now when I was about to get married and was one step closer to officially becoming the empress?

　　I met my mother’s gaze for a moment, knowing that we both had the same thought process about what Lady Marie had said.

　　“We appreciate your willingness to support Cordelia now but nonetheless, as her mother, I would like to plan the party. I hope you can understand this since you are a mother as well.”

　　I glanced down at Lady Marie’s hands as they were balled up into tight fists and yet her features were soft and graceful. “Of course, how thoughtless of me to want to take that special moment away from you and Cordelia. Well then, now that I have spoken my piece, I look forward to your debutante party. “she gave me and my mother a small bow before walking away, her lady in waiting following her closely.

　　Mother and I watched as the two of them disappeared around the corner before mother hastily made her way inside the study, beckoning Anne to shut the door.

　　“I am glad I came here in time.” My mother huffed. “I was heading for a stroll to get some fresh air when I overheard Elina and Lilian talking about how Lady Marie was going to go talk to you.? I was worried that she might try something.”

　　“Hm, it is strange that she even offered to help Cordelia plan the party.” Gideon finally spoke.

　　“Well, a debutante party is rather important in everyone’s life since you are making your first impressions to a lot of royalty and noblemen. I do not want to think negatively of Lady Marie’s intentions but she could easily sabotage Cordelia’s party if she was involved in the planning.” Mother explained.

　　Gideon nodded in agreement. “That is true. Thankfully you came just into time, Lady Isabella.”

　　“But even if mother had not come, I would not have agreed to allow Lady Marie to help. From the start, I was wondering if she was going to use it against me in the near future and I do not want to owe her anything.” I said with a sigh. “But I cannot believe that she would stoop so low as to play the family card…she never once considered me family before.”

　　Mother reached out and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “There’s no need to worry now, Cordelia.”

　　“Thank you, mother.” I beamed.

　　“Now that is out of the way, I must ask you a serious question my dear daughter.”

　　“Yes?”

　　She then reached both hands to cup my cheeks. Careful to avoid the bandage. “What happened to your face!?”she shouted.

　　I let out a nervous laugh. “I’m guessing you have not heard of the events from earlier today…?”

　　“Did one of the alpha boys do this to you?” she jumped to conclusion.

　　“No! It was just a faulty bowstring that snapped.” I admitted. Mother stared at me for a long moment before finally nodding and gently stroking my cheek.

　　“We would need to plan the party to be held once you have recovered.”

　　“Right, of course.”

　　“But for now, we have plenty to do. There’s invitations to be sent out, decorations to be bought and of course the most important thing is to get your dress!”

　　“M-Mother, please calm down…” I said, sensing that she was already eager to start the planning of my sudden debutante party.

　　“I agree with Lady Isabella, there is no time to be wasted.” Gideon called out.

　　At that moment I could feel my heart sink at just the idea of all the work I had to deal with and at the same time I had to maintain a good relationship with the three alphas. Now that I think about it, I feel that our relationship was only growing more tense then before.

　　Augustus still acts as if he does not want to deal with me unless we are talking about books. Cassian seems to view the entire situation we are in to be free entertainment for him. Whereas Isaiah is unpredictable and with that temperament of his, he was surely a ticking time bomb.

　　“Shit…” I muttered under my breath, feeling both mentally and physically tired.

　　*

　　It has been a while since mother, Aiden and my three alphas had been in the same room. Surprisingly, everyone was present for dinner today and I could tell by Cassian’s and Isaiah’s surprised expression that they were not expecting me to be here.

　　I took a seat next to my mother with Cassian on my other side while Aiden, Augustus and Isaiah sat on the opposite side of us. I glanced over to Aiden and Augustus as they were deep into a conversation although they were speaking in hushed voices that I could not hear properly. But I could have sworn I heard Aiden say the name of a book. It would seem that Augustus can be talkative and civil when the topic at hand involves books.

　　When dinner was served, I could not get comfortable in the slightest since I could feel Isaiah’s eyes on me. Whenever I would glance over to him, he would look away. I wanted to just ask him aloud if there was something the matter but knowing him, he would probably deny even looking in my direction.

　　I then cleared my throat to make an announcement to them. “Since the three of you are here today, I would like to inform you of something important.”

　　“Is this about our wedding?” Cassian asked.

　　“Ah, well, yes and no. We’ll have to postpone the wedding because there has been a major change in plans. It would seem that I’ll have to debut in high society first before I can get married.”

　　“You haven’t debuted yet?” Isaiah raised an eyebrow.

　　“If she did, do you not think we all would have met her before?” Cassian jested. Isaiah chose to ignore the smirking man.

　　“I haven’t, that’s why I have to do it now.”

　　“How exciting!” Cassian, who seemed to match my mother’s eagerness from earlier had said with a beaming smile. “If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

　　“Thank you, Duke. But I would like to inform the three of you that I will be inviting the members of royalty from your respective kingdoms…” I said, glancing over to all three of them for their reactions.??

　　Augustus looked over at me lazily while Isaiah was busy stabbing his steak with his fork as absentmindedly as he was clearly thinking about something.

　　“Right…naturally.” Cassian muttered under his breath but since he was seated next to me, I heard him.

　　“I hope that would not be a problem.” I said after the strange silence.

　　“Why would it be? Are they not family and respected figures? This could be a chance for you to properly introduce yourself to your future husbands’ family too, Cordelia.” Mother said excitedly while the four of us who were aware of the circumstances just let out awkward laughs and forced nods.

　　“When are you planning on holding your debutante party?” Cassian asked.

　　“Well…” my words trailed off since I did not get the chance to properly talk it over with Gideon and mother earlier.

　　“Next week.” My mother answered instead, causing all of us to turn to her in surprise.

　　“What?” I blurted out in shock.

　　“The debutante party will be held next week.”