CHAPTER 10. Prioritises

　　?

　　I felt faint, unable to figure out whether it was due to the corset I was wearing tightening around my waist as I inhaled sharply or the fact that the adrenaline rush from earlier was finally catching up to me. I plopped down on my bed in a rather unladylike manner, face buried into the soft pillow. I opened my mouth and screamed out my frustration, grateful that my voice was muffled by the pillow.

　　“P-Princess…” Anne called out hesitatingly. For a moment, I had forgotten that she rushed to my room behind me when I had left the council room in a hurry.

　　I pushed myself up into a seated position and turned to Anne. She stood a good distance from my bed, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. Her eyes kept flickering to mine and away, unsure if she should even look at me when I was throwing away every etiquette lesson down the gutter.

　　“I apologise that you had to see me in such an unbecoming manner, Anne.” I said in a soft voice, pretending that I was better now when my head was still a mess and my emotions all over the place.

　　“N-No, please don’t apologise about that!” Anne quickly said. “I heard from the guards who overheard everything that happened in the council room. It must be a sudden shock to you, princess.”

　　“I suppose shock is one way to look at it.”

　　“But I’m happy that you are finally standing up for yourself!” She beamed. “You told off Princess Lilian, did you not? You left her and the entire room speechless!” she fawned over that fact.

　　My gaze fell down to my hands, noting the red crescent shape outlines of my fingernails imprinted into my palms. “Standing up for myself? Is that how you see it?” I murmured, thinking that the others in the room at that time would probably deem me to be hysterical and utterly insane for boldly claiming that I would be a great empress. I had left before anyone could say anything after all.

　　“Of course! I’ve been by your side since you were little and I’ve seen how Lady Marie’s children treat you, and heard all the things they said to you. It was never my place to tell you how to react or what to do but I am incredibly happy to see you fight back.” She happily stated.

　　“Anne, you are too kind…”

　　My lady-in-waiting let out a cheerful giggle. “And I think you will be an excellent empress! The late emperor must’ve seen something in you that no one else did, so I hope that thought alone would make you more confident in yourself.”

　　“Ugh.” I groaned, flopping onto my side as I closed my eyes.

　　The anxiety was building up again, the reality of what had occurred merely 10 minutes ago was enough to make me sick to my stomach. I had not only agreed to become the next empress of the Southern Kingdom, I also basically severed any good ties I had left with Lady Marie and her children as well as agreed to the terms that I have to find a partner before my official crowning.

　　“Princess! Did I say something wrong? Or perhaps are you feeling ill?” Anne was by my side immediately. I could feel her hands stroking my hair away from my face.

　　“Will I be able to survive this?” I asked, more to myself than to the girl by my side.

　　“Pardon?” she asked as she did not hear my question.

　　Now that I think about it, it was rather comical how my life kept changing before my eyes. I was born with a weak body, being sick was the norm for almost half of my childhood and yet I was surrounded by people who had high expectations of me to be a proper alpha just because of the blood running through my veins, just because of the name I carried. But that is irrelevant now since I am not an alpha.

　　When I thought that I could just spend my life in the peaceful confines of my room after finding out that I am an omega, another change forces me to take charge of my own life yet once again. More expectations, more burdens to weigh on my shoulders—it was easy to tell Lady Marie, her children and everyone present in the council room that I will become an empress that the country needs but can I truly do that?

　　I relax under Anne’s soothing touch, my heart calming down for once as I tried to rest. The day had long ended, with the soft moonlight seeping through the parted curtains of my room. I wanted to just close my eyes and not think about anything anymore. But a sudden knock on my door only made the anxiety come flooding into me once more.

　　“Who could it be…?” Anne muttered to herself as she went to check the door. I pushed myself up, adjusting my dress and hair to seem well put together when I was far from okay. “Oh, Lord Gideon!” I heard Anne call out.

　　“Is the princess awake, Anne? We have a lot of work to do.”

　　*

　　Gideon had greeted me a good evening the moment I showed myself at the door. He did not waste any more time as he told me to follow him to the library promptly. I dismissed Anne, telling her to go rest for the day.

　　“Why are we going to the library at this hour? What did you mean by ‘a lot of work’?” I questioned Gideon as we walked down the quiet hallway.

　　Gideon chuckled. “Your eagerness reminds me of when you were a child. Always so curious about everything under the sun.”

　　I pouted. “Is this really the time to be reminiscing, Gideon?” I asked teasingly, not wanting him to continue as I found it incredibly embarrassing.

　　“Ah, forgive me, Your Highness. At this age of mine, I cannot help but to think back to the more fonder days.” He smiled tenderly, eyes glistening as nostalgia approached him. “But as for your earlier question, we are going to find a partner for you.”

　　I raised an eyebrow. “Now?” I asked as we approached the library door. “In the library?” I hesitantly asked, wondering if Gideon was about to introduce me to my future alpha in the dead of the night. I always knew Gideon walked quickly and meticulously, but 2 hours barely passed since the meeting.

　　Gideon let out a booming laugh. “You joke too much with this old man, princess.” He said, pushing the door open. I cleared my throat, pretending as though I was actually joking around instead of being absolutely serious.

　　The library of the castle was incredibly massive with tall shelves pressed against every crevice of any exposed walls. In addition to that, there were shelves that filled one half of the room in rows of two while the other half had tables and chairs neatly organised. This particular library was open to everyone who are deemed to be esteemed guests.

　　Although there were many books here, I still preferred the solitude of the private library my father built for my mother, Aiden and I as the three of us were fond of reading.

　　At the far corner of the library there was a table with multiple oil lamps around it and I guessed that it was where Gideon was before he came to look for me. The closer I got to the table, the more my face fell into disbelief. There were a plethora of books and documents littered on the surface of the table. Gideon quickly moved some documents away to clear one spot of the table for me. He gestured for me to take a seat.

　　“What are these?” I asked instead, gaping openly at the stacks of official looking papers.

　　“We’re here to find your future partner of course. I have collected the documents of every eligible alphas of royal background in all the four kingdoms. Naturally, you are here to pick who you would think is the most suitable and we shall write them a letter of proposal.”

　　“Um…” I started, already getting overwhelmed by everything Gideon was saying. “Could we not do this tomorrow?”

　　“There is no time to waste, Your Highness. The quicker we send out the proposals, the quicker you can claim the throne and that way, Lady Marie and her supporters will not have excessive time to plot against you.”? He explained.

　　I doubted his words, knowing that just as how Gideon and I were working under the cover of darkness to solidify our plan, Lady Marie must be with her supporters right now brainstorming how to stop me from ascending the throne. I let out a sigh and plopped down onto the chair.

　　I dragged a piece of empty parchment towards me and reached out for a pen. I could feel Gideon’s eyes observing what I was doing. I began to write down what my priorities were just to catch my bearings before I overwhelmed myself, especially now since I was tired and hungry. With a list in front of me, I would at least have a better idea as to what I had to do.

　　1.? Investigate father’s death

　　2. Find a suitable partner who would want to marry me

　　3. Claim the throne