A lot of planning occurred after that as we discussed the best way to expose the truth about Lady Marie. It was strange, although I knew that this was a serious matter, I could not help but to feel relieved in a way. I was here with the people I cared about, and we were working together to stop the one who would not stop until she gets rid of me, of my loved ones.

　　As we got closer to deciding what to do to Lady Marie, I was comforted about the future where things might be a little easier with my alphas by my side. Surely, I could not have gotten this far without them. Was I too confident to think that no matter the hardship that came for us in the future, we would be able to handle it as long as we worked together?

　　Once the meeting was over, everyone was ready to leave to do their designated roles. I watched as one by one they left the study, thinking that I should probably find some time to talk to them alone if the chance presented itself.

　　“Princess?” Gideon called out, snapping me out of my daydream. It was just the both of us left now.

　　“Ah, sorry, I’ll take my leave now as well.”

　　“You should go and rest.” He advised with a smile.

　　“I’m fine, Gideon, you don’t have to worry about me.”

　　“No matter where you are, or what you do, I am always worrying about you.” He suddenly admitted. “Princess… I know you believe that I have been using you as a pawn to go against Lady Marie, but you must know that I never wanted you to suffer. Even though the position you were in, I was overly confident that I would be there to protect you, that I would be there to make sure you never got hurt from Lady Marie’s schemes but even then…I failed to protect you.”

　　“Gideon… You did what you had to do for the sake of the kingdom.” I said.

　　He shook his head. “And yet, because of my decisions, it led you to experience something terrible. I should have put a stop to this when she attempted her first assassination on you and yet—”

　　“And yet nothing. I am not going to back down now, Gideon. Not now when everyone is united and ready to bring Lady Marie to justice. Whatever happened to me shall remain in the past. So please, let us focus on the future instead.”

　　Gideon smiled although there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “You have grown a lot in such a short amount of time. I am so proud of you.”

　　“And it’s time I grew stronger as well.” I stood up, ready to leave.

　　“They care about you, those three alphas. I’m glad to see that you managed to get along with them.”

　　I giggled. “It was rather hard to do so but, I think the four of us have found some form of common ground among each other.”

　　“Love?”

　　I froze at the mention of the word, memories of my complicated feelings for Isaiah came crashing down at me but no, it wasn’t just Isaiah, it was with Cassian and Augustus as well. I let out a defeated sigh. “I doubt it is possible to have that much love to spare for three different men.”

　　“I would like to think otherwise, princess. The three of them loathed you when you first met, laughable as it sounds to say aloud since now, they were willing to do anything to get you back to safety.”

　　“You must be overexaggerating this, Gideon.”

　　The old man smiled. “Maybe I am, maybe I am not.” He slyly said, causing me to start to overthink. He then walked towards the window and peered outside. “Either way, I truly am overjoyed at how far you and your three alphas have come. From spewing death threats to showing subtle affection like that, haha, how times have changed.”

　　“Stop that, you are making me embarrassed.” I muttered.

　　Gideon laughed. “Ah, it would seem that word had quickly reached a certain someone’s ears about you,”

　　I went towards the window to look at what Gideon was looking at only to let out a gasp and rush out of the study. I could hear Gideon call out to not hurt myself, but I could hardly care about that now as I made my way to the entrance. Just as the door was pulled open, I watched him walk in with a concerned expression only for it to shift into a relieved one when he spotted me.

　　“Your Highness!” he cried as he came up to me.

　　“Rodrick!” I happily called only to yelp in surprise when he suddenly kneeled on one knee and hung his head low in front of me.

　　“I have failed you as your personal guard, princess, I am not worthy to even hold the title of a royal knight…please, I beseech you to punish me for negligence.”

　　“W-What?! Rodrick, please raise your head!”

　　“I have failed you.” He repeated.

　　I quickly kneeled on the ground, grabbing Rodrick’s chin and forcing him to look at me. His eyes were wide as he was probably not expecting me to react this way. “None of this was your fault. I do not see any reason to punish you!”

　　“If I was there to protect you then you would not have been taken!” he argued.

　　“Rodrick. Everything is okay now. You do not have to worry about that anymore. I’m fine, everyone’s fine, you are still my beloved teacher and guard, I would not replace you for anyone!” I reassured him.

　　“Oh? What a touching sight.” A familiar voice said. I snapped to the source, staring at Isaiah as he looked down at Rodrick and I, both kneeled down on the floor by the main entrance. “Maybe the both of you should take your melodrama somewhere else.”

　　Rodrick was quick to react, standing up and pulling me along by my hand. “I apologise for the commotion.”

　　“Hm.” Isaiah walked towards us and took my hand away from Rodrick. “If you are down wallowing in your self-pity, I would like to speak with my wife now.” he said. He did not even wait for Rodrick to reply as he pulled me away.

　　“Hey… W-Wait a second, Isaiah!” I pulled back, feeling that it was rude to leave Rodrick behind when he was clearly expressing his guilt in letting me get kidnapped.

　　“I understand, I shall go make my report to Lord Gideon now. Good day, Princess Cordelia, Lord Isaiah.” Rodrick bowed and when he looked up our gazes met. I was about to say something to him, but he smiled and walked away.

　　“Why did you say that to him? Wallowing in your self-pity? That is rather cruel even for your standards.” I told Isaiah off.

　　He rolled his eyes and pulled me along. “My standards? If we were going by my standards, I would have killed him.”

　　“Isaiah!” I gasped.

　　“…only because he was touching you so freely.”

　　“What…?”

　　He let out an annoyed sigh. “Fine! I’m sorry I was rude to your guard, but it irritated me seeing how close you were with him and how he was just touching your hand like that.”

　　“Wait… you’re jealous?” I blurted out. Isaiah glared at me but remained silent. “Rodrick is just my guard and teacher.”

　　“I know.”

　　“So, you don’t have to worry about—”

　　“I know. I get it already!” he huffed, never once did he let go of my hand as he led me down the long hallway. I was not sure where he was taking me but knowing that he only reacted like that due to jealousy made me rather content.

　　“Isaiah,” I called out.

　　“What?”

　　“Where are you taking me?”

　　“Somewhere quiet.”

　　“Why?”

　　“Why are you asking so many questions?” he grumbled. He then stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder to catch my gaze. “Could it be, are you tired of walking?”

　　“N-No?”

　　“I could carry you.”

　　“No! It’s fine! Let’s just continue walking now.” I quickly told him, finding it rather embarrassing to be carried around the manor like a child. He studied my expression before turning around and walking once more.

　　When we reached the end of the hallway, he pushed open a door that led us to what looked like another study, but this one was cluttered with tall bookshelves. He let go of my hand to close the door and strangely, my hand started to feel odd without his warmth around it. I looked down at my open palm, trying to figure out why I was feeling this way only to watch Isaiah’s hand suddenly appear in my line of sight as he placed his hand onto my open palm. I looked up at him, realising how close he was standing.

　　I turned not to see flustered, casually looking around the look as though it was the most interesting thing I have ever seen. “W-Well, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” I asked, telling myself not to overthink this, especially when I could properly smell his scent and that alone was reminding me of that night.

　　“Cordelia, how much do you remember of that night?” he suddenly asked.