Cassian tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear before leaning down to give me a peck on the lips while his hand lingers near my cheek. He pulled away, smiling down at me while I copied his expression.

　　He dropped his hand to his side but before he could leave, I reached out and wrapped my hands around his neck as I pulled him into an embrace. He immediately stiffened but after a hesitant second, he wrapped his hands around my waist and held me tighter.

　　“I would appreciate it if you were to warn me before kissing me like that.” I whispered in his ear.

　　“That was hardly a kiss, sweetheart.” He whispered back.

　　“You are insufferable,”

　　“I could say the same about you.”

　　We parted from the embrace, still smiling, and looking as happy as we would ever be. “Have a great day today, Cassian.”

　　“Do not miss me too, my sweet Cordelia.”

　　I giggled playfully before turning around and walking away. I could feel him watching me which prompted me to look over my shoulder and wave at him. Cassian waved back as he took a step back to walk away.

　　I walked towards the corridor and the moment I was out in the open, my entire demeanour shifted. It has been a week since the scandal happened and ever since that I have had to pretend to be infatuated with Cassian whenever we were alone. The rumours had slowly died down due to how people were starting to say that it was impossible for Cassian to cheat on me as he was completely smitten with me and vice versa.

　　But according to Anne, Gideon had told her to spread the rumour that Cassian and I were in love and that only worked after a handful of the maids working under Lady Marie were all mysteriously dismissed from their duties. I had a feeling that this was Gideon’s plan on getting rid of those loyal to Lady Marie and her family, but I did not expect him to go this far.

　　After things were slowly getting back to normal, I had asked Gideon if I could stop pretending with Cassian, especially since I had two other husbands. It would be rather awkward if people were to start accusing me of playing favourites, but Gideon merely told us to keep the act up a little longer.

　　“Princess! Princess Cordelia!!” Anne’s shrill voice echoed through the corridor. I turned around only to find her rushing towards me at an ungodly pace. Seeing her react made me instantly think that something bad must have happened.

　　“What is it, Anne?”

　　She forced herself to come to a sudden stop to prevent running into me and without missing a beat, she spoke. “You are wanted in the common room in the main palace! A letter from the Northern Kingdom arrived for Prince Augustus and it seems urgent! Really urgent!”

　　“How do you know this?”

　　“Because the messenger said so. And, because Lord Gideon was with Augustus when the letter arrived, and he told me to tell you.” She said without any pauses. She then took a deep breath to calm herself.

　　“Very well, thank you Anne. I shall head over immediately. Please rest for the time being.” I told her. Anne leaned against the wall and gave me a weak smile and thumbs up. I then turned and rushed to the common area.

　　There were many things that could be considered urgent matters but there were only two that came to my mind as I pondered what letter Augustus received. The death of a relative is always top priority but other than that, a sudden uprising could be considered dangerous as well. Especially to the royal family.

　　When I reached the door, it was suddenly pulled open. This caused me to jump backwards from shock. I looked up only to find Augustus’ flat expression looking at me.

　　“Augustus,” I called out, ready to ask him if everything was alright but he merely sidestepped away from me and walked away. I was about to call out to him when I noticed Gideon inside gesturing to me to enter instead. I walked into the room with a frown. “What happened?”

　　“It’s a rather complicated matter.” He sighed. My gaze fell to his hand, where he held onto a parchment.

　　“Is that the letter?”

　　Gideon nodded. “After reading it, Augustus just dropped it on the table and walked away.”

　　“It must be an emergency then.”

　　“Yes, it is. Emperor Leonidas was critically injured in a hunting expedition. Empress Veronica has written to Augustus asking him to return to the Northern Kingdom to visit him in case he…” Gideon’s words trailed off.

　　“In case the emperor passes away?” I stated the obvious.

　　“Yes. The letter says that Emperor Leonidas is not in good condition at all.” Gideon then sighed. “That’s not the only alarming matter.” 

　　“What? What do you mean, Gideon?”

　　“Well, as you saw for yourself earlier, Augustus walked away.”

　　“To get ready to depart to the Northern Kingdom, yes?”

　　Gideon shook his head. “He refuses to go.”

　　“What…?” I asked, baffled. I knew that Augustus did not have the best relationship with his family but to completely ignore the letter and his dying father seemed rather harsh. I turned to the door, ready to give chase to Augustus.

　　“Princess!” Gideon called out firmly, stopping me in my tracks.

　　“I’m going to talk to him and convince him to go.”

　　“I know you think you are doing the right thing, but you must understand where Augustus is coming from. His family completely cut ties with him due to his unconventional birth and appearance. That must be the reason why he is reluctant to go.”

　　“I… I am aware of that but what if Augustus grows to regret this decision? If his father passes away… I…” I choked on my words when my voice cracked. I’m not even sure why I was getting emotional. I’ve only met Emperor Leonidas once and Augustus and I did not have the greatest relationship at the moment. We were barely acquaintances.

　　“Princess,” Gideon cooed.

　　“I will mind my words, do not worry. All I’m going to do is talk to him.”

　　He nodded. “I understand. I’ll leave this matter to you then,”

　　I walked at a hurried pace out of the room and went towards the direction where I last saw Augustus. I knew where this corridor led and if I had to guess, Augustus must have gone towards the library. Truthfully, if I was in his position, I would find solace in the quiet library as well. Far away from prying eyes, far away from everyone.

　　I slowly pushed the door to the library open and realised how I have not been here ever since Gideon, mother, Aiden, and I spent hours trying to decide on potential spouses for me. That day feels as though it was years ago.

　　“Augustus.” I called out as I looked around the empty space. It did not seem to be occupied in the slightest but where else could he have gone. “Augustus? Are you here?” I called out once more.

　　“What do you want?” he called back after a moment. I followed the source of his voice only to find him leaning against one of the shelves with an open book in his hand. He did not even bother to look up at me as I approached him.

　　“Are you alright?” I asked hesitantly. I never knew how to comfort people when topics like this were involved and Augustus' relationship with his estranged family was making this harder. Would he want me to comfort him? Would he want me to tell him that everything was going to be alright or would he want me to just leave and pretend nothing had happened?

　　“What a strange question. Do I appear to be not alright to your eyes?”

　　“That’s…um, well, Gideon told me what happened.”

　　“And?”

　　“And are you really not going to go visit your father?”

　　Augustus slammed the book shut; the loud sudden sound echoed throughout the quiet library. I flinched back from the sound and watched as Augustus finally turned to look at me. If he was upset or angry at my words, I would not know due to how well he was holding his stoic expression.

　　“I do not see how this is any of your concern.”

　　“You are my husband.”

　　“Do not forget that it is only by paper. Do not overstep your boundaries. There is no reason for you to pretend to care about my life, especially behind closed doors where the public cannot see.”

　　“I am just worried about you. Is that so unfathomable to you that I could truly care about what you are going through?”

　　“Be quiet.” He snapped. There was no anger behind those words and yet I involuntarily took a step away from him and held my tongue. “You are only here to convince me to go see my dying father. Do not pretend this is anything else.”