?

　　“What are you wearing!?” Anne shrieked the moment I walked out. I frowned at her loudness before looking down at my attire.

　　“It’s my nightwear.” I told her.

　　“Why are you not wearing the nightgown I prepared for you, princess?”

　　“I just wanted to dress comfortably tonight.” I said, not seeing the attire I was wearing was any bad that she would react in such a way.

　　“It’s boring!” She pouted.

　　I sighed, not really about to tell her that my motivation to seduce my husbands were non-existent today. “It’s practical.” I said as I wore a long cardigan to keep me warm. Before Anne could protest any further, I quickly went to the door. Before I left, I gave her a smile and a small wave of goodbye.

　　As I made my way to Cassian’s room, I started to wonder why I was the one who had to go to them, walking at such a distance was rather tiresome and doing three times in a row was starting to get irksome. But then again, I knew that if they had to come to my room, our nightly meetings would never happen.

　　When I reached Cassian’s room, I was surprisingly less nervous compared to the prior nights when I felt as though my heart was about to stop on me from just the nerves gathering at the bottom of my stomach but now, I felt almost carefree. Could it be because I’m here without the intention to sleep with him or could it be something else? As I pondered over this detail, I knocked on Cassian’s door.

　　There was no immediate answer which led to me calling out his name. Only silence followed and then I could hear footsteps from the other side of the door but instead of it getting closer, they were getting further. Without much thought, I pushed open the door only to be greeted by a harsh gust of wind. Strands of my hair flew over my face as I quickly pushed them back.

　　Cassian was standing by the bannister of the balcony, looking at me as though I had just caught him red-handed at something he was definitely not supposed to do.? “What are you doing?” I called out to him as I quickly closed the door.

　　“I’m going on a stroll!” he called back. “But feel free to rest in my room for tonight, princess.” He beamed as he turned his back to me, looking over the balcony.

　　“Cassian!” I called out urgently, afraid that he was about to jump, but he completely ignored me. I rushed forward as he jumped over the bannister and stood by the ledge. Before he could jump down, I grabbed a fistful of his tunic, pulling me back so hard that he had to quickly steady himself.

　　“What the—” he started but I was quicker.

　　“What are you trying to do!? Do you hate me so much that you are willing to end your life?!” I scolded him.

　　“Um…” Cassian started. “I’m not trying to do that, princess. Are you forgetting that I’m on the second floor?”

　　“You can still get seriously hurt!”

　　Cassian then sighed, one hand reaching behind him to grab hold of my hand. He pried them off his clothes and proceeded to turn around to look at me. “And here I was thinking I could make my great escape.” He said.

　　“What are you talking about…?” I frowned.

　　“Look, I have some business to attend to and I knew you were coming to my room tonight but sadly I cannot entertain you tonight, princess. So, why don’t you be a good girl and just go to sleep while I sneak out of the palace, hm?”

　　“Why the elaborate scheme? You could have just told me earlier today that you had prior plans… I would have—”

　　“You would have gone to someone else’s room?” he asked and for a swift moment, I was sure that there was a hint of hurt in his voice.

　　“That’s…”

　　Cassian laughed. “I was simply teasing you. Now then, I’ll head off. Goodnight, princess.”

　　“Wait!” But he did not listen to me as he shoved my shoulder, I stumbled back just in time for him to hop off the ledge. I quickly went to the bannister and looked over it, where Cassian landed on the ground below without much hassle. It was strange, I would not have cared if he wanted to run away or sneak away for whatever reason but this time was different. He seemed reluctant or maybe that was just in my imagination.

　　He looked up, catching my gaze before a small smile formed on his lips. He mouthed ‘goodbye’ at me and that was enough to make me act recklessly. I pushed myself up over the bannister and stood by the ledge. Cassian’s expression fell into one of panic.

　　“What are you doing?!” he cried, sounding as concerned as I was prior to this.

　　“I’m coming with you.”

　　“Don’t be stupid, Cordelia.” He warned, sounding serious for once in his life, that it sent shivers down my spine, or was it the harsh cool wind blowing through my hair that was making me cold. Either way, I was going to jump whether he liked it or not. If he could jump and land safely, I was confident that I would be able to as well. “Don’t!” he shouted just as I jumped off the ledge.

　　But reflex I closed my eyes and instead of landing on the ground, I felt myself getting caught by strong arms instead. My hands went to his shoulder unconsciously and when I finally opened my eyes, I met with his annoyed glare.

　　“You caught me.”

　　“I would get executed if people found out I was the last to see you alive.”

　　I pouted. “If you didn’t die from that height then I most certainly won’t.” I told him but he just continued to glare at me.

　　“What is your problem? Do you want me to bed you so badly that you are willing to jump off the balcony to follow me?”

　　“Not really.” I said, slowly wiggling out from his grip until my feet touched the ground. Cassian took a step away from me as we had our hands to ourselves now.

　　“Then, please tell me why you are so willing to follow me to such an extent.”

　　“The business you have to attend too, is it regarding the Hollows?” I asked.

　　Cassian paused before answering. “Yes. Now you know that it’s dangerous for you to follow me.”

　　I thought about it for a moment, wondering if I should bring this up to him now even though I know our relationship was not on good terms with everything that happened between us. But, he was the closest thing I had to answers about my father’s death. Even after so long, Gideon had still not found any evidence that could proof that my father was murdered but the more I thought about it, the more impossible it was for my father to have dead of an illness.

　　He was healthy, throughout his time as emperor, he had never even caught the common cold. He was someone who valued a healthy lifestyle and it bothered me how no one, not even the royal doctors knew about this ‘illness’ my father had. Something was happening under the shadows of the royal family and if Cassian and his mercenaries could help? solve this mystery then I would be a fool to not take this opportunity.

　　“Fine. I’ll leave and head back to the room.” I told him. He was about to give me a smug smile of triumph but I did not give him that chance. “Under one condition.” I added.

　　Cassian’s face fell in an instance to express his annoyance with me. “You are not in any position to bargain with me, princess.”

　　“You are technically running away from your royal duties.”

　　“I did not know that my royal duties included fucking you.” He spat, growing annoyed by every second that passed.

　　I blinked at him as I tried to ignore his vulgar words. I softly cleared my throat. “I need something from you, Cassian.”

　　“If this is your big plan to persuade me to go to bed with you then I assure you that you should change your tactic. I’ll probably consider it if you were to beg—”

　　He was starting to get on my nerves at how he thought I wanted to have intercourse with him so desperately. I wanted to put him at his place but I knew that would only jeopardise our relationship even more. So, I had to be straightforward and hope that he took me seriously.

　　“I need your help to investigate my father’s murder.” I blurted out, interrupting him before he could even finish his sentence.