?

　　Nasir cleared his throat when he came to the realisation that he was being rather rude to laugh at me like that even though I do not mind it. If he found whatever I said to be amusing then so be it but I was curious as to what made him laugh in the first place.

　　“Did I say something amusing?” I questioned.

　　“Oh no, no, pardon me Your Highness. I just never imagined hearing those words in the same sentence.”

　　I frowned, clearly not understanding what he meant. But before I could ask him for an explanation, he stopped walking which prompted me to stop too. I noticed the Eastern Kingdom guards stationed outside the room, their gazes not once turning to me as though they were trained to stay stoic. Nasir knocked on the door two times before taking a step back.

　　“Who is it?” Karim’s small voice called out from the other side.

　　“It’s me and I have a guest with me.” He said.

　　A moment later and the door was pulled open by little Karim. He peaked out of the small gap from the door, eyes widening when he saw me.

　　“Hello.” I smiled. Karim then quickly pushed the door shut as I stared blankly ahead.

　　“Ugh…please don’t be offended, princess. He is a very shy boy!” Nasir quickly said just as I could hear commotion from inside the room and urgent footsteps rushing towards the door.

　　I let out a chuckle. “He is adorable, how could I ever get offended by him.” I said cheerfully as the door was pulled open with such force that I thought it was going to be ripped from the hinges.

　　“Princess!” Empress Yara greeted, the surprise in her voice was evident. “Good morning, how do you fare on this fine day?” she beamed. “Please come in!” she said, gesturing us in. As we entered, I could not help but to admire how her beautiful skin was glowing from the natural light that seeped in from the window.

　　“I apologise for visiting unannounced.” I said, watching as Nasir went to Karim who was hiding behind the couch. He was telling him something that I could not hear.

　　“No, no, I am truly sorry of how my little Karim treated you earlier—”

　　I stopped her from continuing. “I understand why he would be cautious of me after what happened last night. I apologise if the disturbance caused made you or your son uneasy.”

　　“Oh my dear, things like that are a common occurrence in the Eastern Kingdom. Everyone wants wealth, fame and power which would lead to assassination attempts from every corner. Could it be that last night was your first?” she asked casually.

　　“Y-Yes?”

　　Yara giggled. “My dear Hassan, may he rest in peace, always used to say that you know you made it when there are people out there wanting to kill you. You are not the empress of this kingdom yet but it would seem there are many who are intimidated by you.” She said.

　　I was not sure if I wanted to agree with her statement but somehow I found comfort from her words, reassurance even. After chatting for a little while, I took my leave to go look for the Western and Northern rulers. I could not help but to wonder if they were going to react as calmly and nonchalantly as Yara did.

　　When I reached the room where Emperor Herman should be in, the guards outside his room tensed up significantly from my presence. I did not want to think too much about their strange behaviour as I approached one of them.

　　“Hello, I would like to speak to Emperor Herman if he is available.”

　　“His Majesty currently has a guest inside, Princess Cordelia.”

　　“Oh…” I muttered, wondering who it could be. I then thought that it would be better to move on to Leonidas and Veronica instead but paused when the door was pulled open.

　　Cassian looked at me as though he had seen a ghost and I felt myself at a loss of words, mainly due to me not expecting him to be here this early in the morning. My eyes then glanced past him as movement from inside the room caught my attention. Herman was there with Leonidas, both speaking in a hushed tone. My view was blocked when Cassian fully exited the room and pulled the door shut behind him.

　　“Good morning.” He greeted me. “Are you here to see Emperor Herman?”

　　“Yes but I can come back later…” I said, averting my gaze from him, hating how my heart was beating fast and adrenaline pumping at the sheer sight of him. I could feel the guards watching us and realised that maybe they were aware of what had happened between Cassian and I.

　　“I don’t think they would mind if you wanted to enter.”

　　“No, no, I would not dare intrude. Well, if you would excuse me.” I said, curtsying before turning to walk away.

　　“Wait. Can we…talk?” he muttered and it was truly a strange sight to see him timid and quiet. His normal bravado was nowhere to be seen and I started to wonder if he was blaming himself for what happened.

　　“Alone?” I blurted, instantly regretting why I even asked that in the first place.

　　“If you are not comfortable being around me then we could as a guard to—”

　　“N-No! Let’s go…” I said, leading him away from the corridor. Cassian followed me from behind at a good distance until we reached the edge of the gardens. It was quiet but this open pathway to head towards the garden had a lot of people walking to and fro.??

　　When I turned to Cassian, my eyes dropped to his hand where it was bandaged. Cassian’s other hand rested on it, as though he was trying to block it from my view. He then cleared his throat, making me turn to him.

　　“About last night, I am truly sorry about how I behaved.”

　　“That’s…” I started but truthfully the events of last night when my heat arrived was a complete blur. I recall fragments of what had happened but not every detail. I remember Cassian on top of me, I remember how feverishly his touch felt and I remember how he was seconds away from biting me before Rodrick and the others arrived. “It was something neither of us had any control over.” I said logically but even then I was finding it hard to meet his eyes.

　　“That’s true and I heard that your heat only came because the dagger had some kind of drug on it. How are you feeling now?”

　　“I’m feeling fine, thank you.” I said, trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere building up. It was strange to see Cassian be this nice and considerate, it felt as though I was speaking to a completely different person. “And your hand…?”

　　“Doctor said I’ll heal in no time.” He said with a small smile.

　　“That’s good…”

　　“Cordelia. You haven’t met my eyes this entire time.”

　　I swallowed a thick lump that formed in my throat and forced myself to meet his gaze. His earthly orbs bore into me and glimpses of his desire filled gaze from last night came to memory. I barely maintained eye contact with him for a few seconds before looking down at my feet.

　　“It’s just…difficult right now.”

　　There was a long pause until Cassian spoke again. “I shall maintain my distance from you from today onwards. I do not like that? my presence is making you uncomfortable.”

　　“Please do not do that. The last thing we need is for people to start talking about the sudden shift in our relationship.”

　　“You are clearly afraid of me.”

　　“I have always been afraid of you.” I admitted with a sharp tone, the adrenaline pumping inside me was not helping me think calmly about what I was saying. I forced myself to look at him. “You threatened me, remember?”

　　?“That’s—” Cassian’s lips parted to speak but I was not done yet as I allowed my frustrations to get the better of me.

　　“I do not want you to feel bad for what had happened between us because we were not in control of ourselves and I would appreciate it if you would drop the compassionate act.” I told him with a glare.

　　He blinked once before a smirk formed on his lips. “Very well, I was just trying to be a gentleman and see if you were alright but it seems to me that I worried for nothing. If seeing me be ‘compassionate’ is such a vile sight to you then I truly apologise for subjecting you to such.”

　　“You are twisting my words.”

　　“I bid you a good day ahead, Princess Cordelia.” He said monotonously as he bowed his head to me before turning around and walking away. I watched him leave as my mind played back what had just happened.

　　I knew that I was in the wrong for saying things like that to him when he was trying to apologise but a part of me refused to believe that he was capable of being nice to me because that would only mean that there was a chance I would grow affectionate towards these men and…that thought alone was frightening.