?

　　The sounds of urgent footsteps could be heard approaching our direction. Just before Cassian’s teeth could dig into my neck, the door was particularly smashed open. The familiar faces of the royal guards appeared and in an instant Rodrick pushed Captain Evander away from the door.

　　“All alphas get out of here! Now!” he commended when he realised what was happening.

　　“Argh…” Evander groaned as he shakily ordered the alphas to move away from the room before my scent overwhelmed them.

　　I caught a glimpse of both Isaiah and Augustus as they looked down at me with such lust in their eyes before the beta guards had to escort them away. The commotion made Cassian snap out of it, pulling his body away from me just as Rodrick rushed towards us. I watched as Cassian brought his hand to his mouth and bit hard, breaking flesh until blood trickled down. Rodrick stood between us as a few more guards entered to take Cassian away.

　　“Princess!” Rodrick called out, kneeling in front of me as I stared at Cassian in a daze.

　　If the guards had not arrived, if they were a second late, I would have been marked by him. I would have been bound to him and at that very moment, Augustus’ words came back to haunt me. It would have been a forced bond, forced to crave for each other’s bodies just because of one mistake.

　　“Princess? Can you hear me? Did the Duke hurt you?” Rodrick questioned as his hand hovered in front of me as though he was too afraid to touch me.

　　I finally turned my attention to Rodrick, his features blurry due to my tear-filled eyes. “Rodrick?” I called out, my throat aching.

　　“I’m right here, Princess. Did he hurt you?” he repeated.

　　“No. He didn’t.” I said, completely out of it. I kept thinking about Cassian, about how he bit his hand to stop himself from biting me. My eyes trailed down to the marbled floors where his blood painted the white tile. “It hurts…” I whined, unsure if I was referring to my wounded arm or my body experiencing my heat. I then felt my body falling to the side. Rodrick was quick to catch me before I painfully landed on the floor.

　　“Cordelia!” A familiar voice called out. “Lady Isabella, Aiden, please leave for now.” I could hear Gideon.

　　“Is she alright?” my mother’s concerned voice was muffled and I could imagine that they had to maintain their distance from the room. They were ultimately still alphas.

　　“I need to check on her but the both of you cannot be here when she is in this state. Please retire to the common area for now.” he firmly said.

　　I allowed myself to fully rest in Rodrick’s strong hands, finding a form of comfort within them. I slowly reached out and clasped onto his sleeve. “Sorry, Rodrick.”

　　Before Rodrick could say or do anything, Gideon kneeled next to him as he moved my messy hair away from my neck to see if I had gotten bitten. “We need to get her to the doctor. Immediately.” He said to Rodrick.

　　“What about the alphas? Are they still around? If all of them get affected by her scent then—”

　　“Don’t worry, they have all cleared the vicinity thanks to Evander. Only the beta royal guards remain.” Gideon said to Rodrick before I could feel his hand caressing my hair affectionately. It was indeed calming to feel his warm hand on my skin. “Rest now, Princess. We’ll protect you.” He cooed and hearing that was enough to make my chest tighten as more tears stained my cheeks.

　　*

　　“The princess does not seem to have any other injuries besides the cut on her arm. I have stitched her up and it will heal in due time.” A voice spoke as I stirred awake. I struggled to open my heavy lids, struggled to even move my hands that were by my side. “The suppressants seem to be working swiftly and the princess will be good as new tomorrow.”

　　“There were no bite marks on her body?” a voice that sounded like Gideon asked.

　　“Thankfully no. I had treated the Duke earlier over his self-inflicted wound. It would seem that he managed to stop himself before he marked the princess.”

　　?“How could this happen… not only was she attacked by an assassin during her debutante party, her heat also started all of a sudden.”

　　“It’s not uncommon for omegas to have unpredictable heat cycles, especially one who is surrounded by alphas on a daily.”

　　“Even so—” Gideon stopped talking when there was a firm knock on the door. A moment later I could hear it open and soft footsteps could be heard approaching.

　　“Rodrick, how is the interrogation going?”

　　“The assassin has not mentioned anything about who had hired him but he did reveal that the dagger was spiked with a drug.”

　　“Drug?”

　　“It would seem that this drug has been circulating in the black market. It has properties to induce an omega’s or an alpha’s heat. The assassin claimed that he coated the blade with the drug.”

　　“That would make sense why the princess’ heat arrived all of a sudden.” The doctor noted.

　　“Where are the alphas?” Gideon asked.

　　“They are in one of the common rooms. Evander is in there with them but I believe they should have calmed down by now. I shall go check up on them shortly.”

　　“And is the Duke alright?”

　　“He seems…shaken. I’m not necessarily sure since he has been quiet ever since we escorted him out the room.”

　　There was a long pause after that and I attempted to wake up but no matter how much I pushed myself, my body was not listening to me. I feel as though I had just undergone an intense training session with Rodrick, that was how much my body was aching.

　　“How could this happen Rodrick…? Security detail was perfect and yet we allowed an armed assassin to sneak into the palace where many notable figures were around.”

　　“And yet the assassin only targeted the princess. It is clear as day that someone hired an assassin to attack the princess. That is the only explanation.”

　　“You think this was an inside job?”

　　“Yes, Lord Gideon. How else could the assassin enter, guised as a nobleman?”

　　“Gentlemen, as much as I would like to get to the bottom of this for the sake of the princess, I would advise that you keep your voices down and allow her to rest.” The doctor interrupted, causing the room to fall silent once more.

　　“Sorry, doctor.” Rodrick muttered under his breath.

　　For a long moment, there were only soft sounds of rustling and shuffling footsteps. After a moment, the door was pulled open and shortly after that was closed shut. I had assumed that everyone had left but I could not open my eyes to even check.

　　I felt the side of the bed dip, realising that someone came to sit on the edge of the bed. A warm hand was placed on my forehead. “We have to investigate this thoroughly, Rodrick. For the sake of our future empress.” Gideon said, voice filled with despair.

　　“Yes, Lord Gideon. I will do my best to get to the bottom of this.”

　　“And I shall help you in any way I can.” He sighed, pulling his hand away. “She must’ve been so scared being alone in that room with an alpha.”

　　“Princess Cordelia is a strong young woman. I want to believe that she would’ve done anything to fight back from the assault.”

　　“Yes, I believe that too, but I’ve seen how omegas lose their rationality when they are experiencing their heats and I’ve seen how alphas lose control. In the end, both of them did their best to stop themselves from letting their primal instincts take over.” Gideon explained.

　　“Yes, I agree.”

　　“Let us leave her to rest. I would like to speak to Cassian if he is willing to talk.” Gideon said as he got off the bed.

　　“Allow me to accompany you.” Rodrick said as I could hear their footsteps and voices growing softer the further they walked away from me.

　　“Thank you.”

　　“But Lord Gideon, about the guard who locked the both of them inside that room. I have a theory as to who it might be.”

　　I wanted patiently, curious to hear what Rodrick had to say but the sound of the door closing shut was all I heard until once again I was greeted by an uneasy silence around me. I finally managed to open my eyes, staring blankly at the high ceiling as my senses came crashing back to me.

　　This was just the start of my new hectic beginning. I knew from the start that my path to ascend the throne would not be an easy one but even so, was I not annoyed to cry out my frustrations and anxiety? How am I going to get rid of the constant paranoia that will haunt me from this day forth at the thought that anyone and everyone could be one step away from killing me?