?

　　I held onto Cassian’s arm as we made our way to where Herman and the rest were. They immediately turned their attention to the both of us when we approached them. Herman had a rather friendly face but it was easy to notice the authority he had behind that charming smile. Cassian’s father on the other hand was a complete contrast. He was openly irritated and had frown lines around his face. But even so, I could see that this would be how Cassian would look if he was older.

　　My gaze then fell on a petite young lady besides her Herman and it was obvious that she had feelings for Cassian by the way her eyes were drawn to him without even sparring me a glance.

　　“Your Majesty, Father, I would like to introduce you to Princess Cordelia, heir to the Southern Kingdom’s throne and also my future wife.” Cassian lovingly introduced me.

　　I curtsied politely and offered them a smile. “I apologise for not greeting you soon, Emperor Herman, Grand Duke Charles, and Princess Olivera.”

　　Herman raised his hand and waved off my words. “No matter, it is your debutante party, you surely have a lot on your plate.” He said, surprisingly more understanding than I thought. “My daughter had her debut into high society not too long ago as well, so I am aware of how taxing it must be for you.”

　　I looked over to Olivera only to catch her staring at where my arm rested on Cassian’s. “I hope that you had enjoyed your time at your party, Princess Olivera.” I said, snapping her out of it to finally look me in the eyes.

　　“Y-Yes.” She cleared her throat. “I sincerely apologise for not extending an invitation to you, Your Highness, since omegas are not—” she paused, allowing her words to trail off. She looked almost in a panic as she glanced over to her father.

　　“I apologise if my daughter had offended you with her casual mention of your second gender,” Herman was quick to cover after his daughter’s slip of words.

　　I giggled. “There’s no need to apologise. I am fully aware of how people view omegas but even so I am grateful that you decided to attend this party of mine.”

　　“Of course, Bryon was a dear friend of mine. May he rest in peace.” He muttered under his breath. There was a moment of silence until the Grand Duke Charles shifted between his feet.

　　“Can I be frank with you, Princess Cordelia?” he said, voice almost a carbon copy of Cassian’s minus the flirtatious attitude.

　　“Yes, Grand Duke. Please speak freely.”

　　“With all due respect, you already have two very capable young alphas to be your husbands, must you truly take a third?”

　　All of us turned to look at Charles. I refrained from showing my shock from his words on my face but could not help but to feel Cassian’s arm flex under my touch.

　　“Father,” he started, clearly tired that he had to listen to this all over again.

　　“Cassian is a na?ve boy and quite troublesome to deal with, Princess Cordelia. When he told me he was going to accept your marriage proposal without even knowing you, it seemed preposterous to me.”

　　“But many marriages are done between strangers after all. If I am not mistaken, your parents met each other through an arranged marriage.” I said matter-of-factly. “Are you saying it is preposterous only because I am an omega?”

　　Charles did not look impressed by my knowledge of his history and scowled at me, probably because I was putting him in a tight spot right now. He was about to open his mouth once more when Cassian stepped in.

　　“There’s no need for you to bring up my past, father, after all I am happy with Princess Cordelia.”

　　“Even if you are technically going to be her concubine?” his father snapped.

　　“Now, now Charles, that’s not very nice to say.” Herman chimed in. Although I was finding it hard if he was trying to be nice or sarcastic.

　　“You will hold a higher position if you were to marry Princess Olivera!” Charles harshly whispered, as though I was not standing there and able to hear him.?

　　“I am happy with my fiancée. Does my happiness not mean anything to you father? Or are you going to demand that I break this engagement?” Cassian was firm. He then turned to Herman. “And what of you, Your Majesty, are you going to order me to get married to your daughter?”

　　The two men fell silent, exchanging glances with each other and even looking over to me as they carefully thought of their answer but I spoke out first before they had the chance.

　　I leaned my head affectionately against Cassian’s arm. “Surely, you would not do something as cruel as to be against this union? I was looking forward to upholding my father’s hard work at building such a good relationship with the Western Kingdom. It would be a shame if we were to ruin that because you do not approve of Cassian and I?” I asked, knowing that I sounded as though I was threatening him.

　　Herman looked at me for a long moment before bursting into laughter. “At first I thought that Cassian had gone and fallen for another pretty face but it would seem that you are fond of him as well.”

　　“It was love at first sight.” I smiled as I looked up at Cassian lovingly. He looked back at me, matching my gaze that for a second I had to remind myself that this was a ruse.

　　“Promiscuous omega…” someone said, causing us to snap our attention towards Olivera. She quickly gasped in surprise as though she had not realised the words that came out of her mouth. “I’m… I apologise I don’t know what got into me…” she rambled.

　　“Please forgive my daughter’s words, Princess Cordelia. She does not mean any harm. She is just fond of Cassian as well since they grew up together.” Herman defended her once more.

　　I looked at Olivera for a long moment, basking in the fact that she did not dare look me in the eye.

　　“I would appreciate it if you would respect my lovely fiancée and treat her as you would treat me. We are all particularly family here after all and I want us to get along.” Cassian said.

　　“I am sorry…” Olivera hastily apologised to me, bowing her head low.

　　“Don’t worry—” my words trailed off when I felt a harsh shiver run down my spine. I looked away, towards the direction where I felt eyes on me but all I saw was the elegantly dressed guests as they mingled around. My eyes scanned through the crowd as though I was looking for someone but had no idea who this someone was.

　　Cassian leaned down over to me. “What’s wrong?”

　　His voice snapped me out of it as I turned back to look at the confused faces of Herman, Olivera and Charles. I slid my hand away from Cassian’s arm. “Please forgive me but I have another matter to attend to. Thank you for such an enlightening conversation.” I beamed as I offered them a tiny bow.

　　“I’ll come with you.” Cassian said.

　　“No, stay and talk to your family.” I told him but he just looked at me, clearly perplexed.

　　“Is something the matter, princess? You look as though you have seen a ghost.” Herman added.

　　My heart was racing as though I did. I could not pin point what I had felt but I was certain that there was someone with murderous intent in this very hall. I know this feeling because it was the same feeling I would get whenever Rodrick sparred with me with the full intent of harming me.

　　“N-No…” I muttered as I tried to think of a better way to convince them I was fine.

　　“Cordelia?” Cassian frowned as he reached out his hand to touch me but I quickly took hold of his and slowly dropped it to his side once more.

　　“There’s nothing to worry about, I shall take my leave now. Excuse me.” I said as I turned to walk away but at that very moment, there was a loud crash of several glass breaking. I turned to the source, hearing someone yell from surprise.

　　Everything after that happened so fast as a man I did not recognise charged towards me with his hand holding something that glimmered under the lights. Someone called out my name, the desperation and fright in their voice was something I was not familiar with. I felt myself freeze as the unknown man got closer and closer until I saw the dagger in his hand. Everything happened so fast that I did not know what to do.