?

　　Lady Marie observed me carefully, probably trying to see any change in my behaviour at her sudden arrival. I tried to feign ignorance while still remaining alert. I slowly moved away from the door, never once turning my back to her in a casual manner.

　　“I wanted to check up on you, of course. Since your mother is busy at the grand hall making sure everything is perfect for her daughter’s big day, I thought that you would need some… moral support. Is it not sad to be all by yourself right now?” She said with an innocent smile. “You must be very nervous since you will be marrying not only one but three men at the same time.”

　　I let out a polite chuckle. “Thank you for your concern, I truly appreciate it. But Lady Marie, you speak as if marrying multiple partners is a sin. It has been practised by my ancestors after all. I am merely following tradition.”

　　“And so you say, but we both know you are not marrying them for love, Cordelia.”

　　“Ah. Could it be another condition you are coming up with to hinder the process of me ascending the throne? First you force me to get married, then to hold my debutante party, which ended up as badly as expected, mind you. And now you want me to fall in love before I can claim my title? The very one my father left for me? I have a feeling that nothing would satisfy you, Lady Marie.”

　　“I did not say that. I only mean that…you are still young and you should have the freedom to do what you want, to marry who you want.”

　　I was not used to seeing her like this, sounding like a doting mother figure who only wants the best for me but I knew this was just a new tactic of hers to mess with my mind. There was no reason why this woman who had been cold and distant from me since my youth would suddenly care about me now.

　　“I am doing what I want and I am marrying who I want.” I said firmly.

　　“No. You do not have to pretend with me Cordelia. It is unfair, is it not? Why must you be forced to do this just because your late father said so? I’m here to tell you that it is okay for you to refuse. No one will blame you.”

　　“Lady Marie—” I started, but she cut me off almost immediately.

　　“You never showed interest in the throne before. I understand now that Gideon was insinuating many false hopes into you to persuade you to agree to his terms but look where that had led you. Marrying such indecent individuals! And you were even targeted by an assassin!” she said, eyes tearing up as though she was about to cry from my unfortunate circumstances.

　　I had to force myself not to break down into laughter and accuse her of sending the assassin in the first place. I knew there was still no solid evidence as to who the assassin worked for but I could not think of anyone else but her. It could have been her children of their loyal supporters but either way, she was involved one way or another.

　　But then again, here she was openly mocking my future husbands. I could see her fa?ade crumbling apart as she could not even stand to be nice to me or say nice things to me on her own volition. I decided to play along with her ruse for now, wanting to see if she was going to slip up and show her true colours even more.

　　“You hardly know me, Lady Marie. You have treated me and my family as though we were just scraps that my father had picked up and yet here you are proudly claiming to know my aspirations? My goals in life? I doubt you even remember my middle name.” I said with a small smile.

　　“I know enough.” She pressed, her lips pulled into a thin line. I wanted to laugh at how she did not even attempt to deny her mistreatment to my mother, brother and myself or anything else. At least she was aware of that.??

　　I sighed, growing tired of playing this game with her since I knew she would continue to deflect from the topic. “What did you come here to actually say, Lady Marie?”

　　“Do not throw your life away, Cordelia. You and I both know you are not fit to become a ruler of this kingdom.” Her words sounded familiar, as though she had said the exact same thing to me before.

　　“If this is your way of convincing to step down from claiming my rightful throne then I’m afraid you are too late. The wedding is today after all and it would be a mockery for me, our family name and our kingdom if I were to cancel it just because of you. What would our guests think? What would the public say?” I asked mockingly.??

　　She stepped forward suddenly whereas I stood still, showing her that I was unfazed by her threatening approach. “You insolent child.” She spat. “You will lead this country to ruin!”

　　“I know. You’ve told me this before.”

　　“And I am here to remind you once more. This is your last warning. An omega can never be a proper empress!” she particularly screamed at my face.

　　“Ah. Now, there’s the Lady Marie I know.” I giggled as I watched her face flush red from anger. “If there is nothing else for you to say to me then I would prefer if you left now.”

　　“One day… you will look back to this day and regret your choices you have made up to now. You could’ve lived a normal and carefree life, no need to fear those who would oppose you, no need to marry strangers for favours, and yet here you are digging your own grave. You will never find peace, Cordelia.” She threatened openly now, dismissing the entire nice act just to spit vile words directly at my face.??

　　I had to maintain my composure. No matter what she said or did, I could not show her that her words were affecting me. Even when she was saying all the things I already knew, all the things I was thinking about mere moments ago.

　　“I will find peace the moment you leave my room.” I said, pulling the door open for her. “I hope to see you and my half-siblings at my wedding, Lady Marie. We are family after all.” I politely said as she walked past me. She gave me a sideways glare before walking away.

　　I quickly shut the door, feeling my stomach churn. I knew she was right, everything she said was right and yet how could I throw everything away now? I went back to the mirror, staring at my reflection once more as though it could calm me down but looking at myself in this wedding dress, all dolled up and ready to be wed to three alphas it only made me feel sick.

　　Why did my father choose me as the heir? I asked myself over and over again until a soft knock on the door snapped me out of my trance-like state.

　　“Come in,” I said almost too quickly, knowing that I had to be alert as Lady Marie or whoever could be plotting something but the moment I saw Gideon’s face, I let out a heavy sigh of relief.

　　Gideon beamed, eyes focused on me in the dress compared to how panicked I must have looked earlier. “You look beautiful, Cordelia!” he said, approaching me with his hands outstretched to grab hold of my hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Anne said you called for me. Is there something wrong?”

　　I wanted to tell him about my encounter with Lady Marie but somehow having Gideon here was enough to make me think past that entire altercation. “How is everything?”

　　“Everything looks great. The hall is decorated beautifully and the guests have all arrived and are mingling in the northern hall.”

　　“And what of mother?”

　　“She is entertaining the guests.” He smiled.???????????????

　　“She has always been lively.” I said softly.

　　“Are you nervous?”

　　“Incredibly so.” I admitted. “What of my future husbands? Are they faring better than I am?”

　　“Isaiah and Cassian are their usual selves, greeting the guests whereas Augustus is nowhere to be seen.”

　　“Should I be worried?”

　　“No, no, I have sent someone to look for him. He was dressed in the appropriate attire so I do not think he will run away from the wedding.” Gideon reassured. “I suppose he is not a fan of crowds.”

　　“Hm.”

　　“What’s wrong, Cordelia?”

　　“Am I doing the right thing, Gideon?”

　　“Why are you second guessing yourself now, my dear princess? Once the wedding is over, it is time to plan for your coronation and then, Byron’s final wishes would be fulfilled.” Gideon said, his voice cracking at the mention of my father’s name.