CASSANDRA
Bile rose up my throat and my eyes nearly fell out of my head at this suggestion.
The idea of marrying Kaleb sounded crazy in so many ways, not to mention terrifying. My body stiffened involuntarily at Ronald’s
suggestion and | felt as if | were about to lose consciousness. Was this truly the only way he would coborate with
me:
Yet, Ronald made a good point when he said that Kalch wouldn''t let me know anything if | went against him. The more |
cooperated, the more privy to information | would be.
As it stood right now, Kaleb might not want to mistreat me, but he was unpredictable. The longer | dragged the situation out, the
worse things could beter.
And now that Kaleb knew my true identity... like it or not, he would make use of it and use my real name and social standing as a
way to manipte me. There was only one option: to take the initiative and use my circumstances to get more information.
But as | stared out at the fortress surrounding Viokwell, my mind drified to Asher.
What would the Alpha King of Wega think if he knew | was to marry the cruel and conniving king of Yurene?
Knowing Kaleb’s ir for the dramatic, there was no way Asher wouldn''t find out about this. He might even get an invitation to the
dreaded affair.
The idea made my stomach twist even further still.
As usual, my life was far moreplicated than | wished it could be. | needed to take some time and consider the pros and cons
before | delivered a finite answer to Ronald.
The next day, | was still pondering the idea of marrying Kaleb when | received an invitation from Helene.
Aletter was hand-delivered to me by a young servant girl in the early afternoon, and when | read the contents of the paper. 1
found myself quite confused.
My prior meetings with Ronald had been held in the name of Helene to avoid extra attention. | didn’t know if Kaleb was even
aware of these meetings, but just in case, we had done everything in our power to make it seem as if were were just twodies
meeting with one another.
But as | stared down at Helene’s letter, | found myself confused, Ronald had mentioned to me as we parted the day before that
he would be away visiting friends. He said he would be gone for a few days and wanted me to use that time to consider
his offer
So why would his fiancee request my presence anyway?
Despite my confusion, | asked Erika if she would watch Finnick in my absence, and after she happily agreed, | followed Helene’s
maid
When we stepped outside of the building. | was surprised to see that someone else was waiting for me. The weather was quite
cold, so the person was wearing arge ck coat with a white fur hood thar concealed their face. It wasn’t until | walked closer
and the person dropped the hood that | recognized it was Helene herself.
Ronald''s fiancee greeted me with a warm smile
1/3
Find CRM For Small Businesses
L
11:47 Fri, Feb 23
“Hello, Ca ssandra, she greeted me. “Thank you for meeting with me”
“Hello,” | greeted her kindly but cautiously, and | nced around. “What’s going on?”
Helene simply smiled. “Since it’s such a lovely day, | would greatly love for you to apany me to the nearest town. | went to
ce some orders for my wedding and would love somepany”
| fought the urge to frown in confusion as my brows tried to knit sogether. It was not a lovely day at all. It was chilly and the sun
was hidden behind some thick clouds, rendering the sky a muted, dreary gray
| supposed that Helene’s request wasn’t very honest as well. | wasn’t sure if | was allowed to leave the fortress, but | decided to
nod my head anyway. This was a good chance to test if | was as much of a prisoner as | suspected.
Fortunately. | didn’t seem to be strictly grounded to the walls of Viokwell. We smoothly walked past the iron gate after Helene
showed a pass of some sort to the guards. The guards even stamped their chests and saluted us respectfully as we moved past,
so clearly, things weren''t all that they appeared.
Acar was waiting for us outside of the iron gate. It wasn’t asrge as the one that had brought us to Yurene from Wezi, but it
was still rather nice, and the driver held the door open for us. Helene and | climbed in, and once we were settled, the car started
and drove down the road
As | stared out the window and the castle vanished in the distance. | wanted to shake my head in disbelief. | couldn’t believe I’d
just left the fortress so easily. Though it wasn’t as if I''d escapedpletely, | was still amazed.
“| thought it was impossible to leave, | uttered before | could stop myself.
Helene smiled at me. | understand how you feel. Life in the fortress can certainly seem... oppressive. But Ronald gave me a
pass
She reached into her pocket and retrieved the thin paper she’d shown the guard. “Sometimes Ronald allows me to have some
fun in town when things get too dull.”
“| wish | had a pass like that, | joked
Helene offered me a thin smile but didn’t say anything further.
The rest of the car ride continued in silence. Even though we weren''t in the castle anymore, | noticed that Helene didn’t seem all
that rxed. Though she sat quietly with a smile on her face, her caramel brown eyes kept ncing at the rearview mirror. She
was on edge about something, though | wasn’t sure what.
Half an hourter, we arrived at the town. It was a nice little ce- not very modern, but charming all the same. There were a
great number of coffee shops and bakeries everywhere, which made pleasant aromas fill the cold air. It was much more
developed than Glolis, the small town we''d stayed in the night we''d arrived in Yurene.
Helene asked the driver to stop on a popted street and then turned to me once the car came to a halt.
“| ced an order with a jewel dealer on this street and want to see the progress,” she exined to me. “Once we''re finished
there, we can just walk around and see if there are other shops we’d like to go to”
“Sounds great,” | offered
Helene asked the driver to find a ce to park, and after he agreed, we stepped out of the car. Helene’s young maid had
upied the passenger seat and got out with us She led us down the street and once we reached the jewel shop, she held the
door open for usBelongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.
When we walked in, the owner, a tall man withrge sses grees d us warmly and then ushered Helene over to a ss disy.
They exchanged a few words and then he stepped away and returned with a small velvet box. When he opened it. 1 was
surprised to ser a gold ring with arge gemstone on it
Find CRM For Small Businesses
11:47 Fri, Feb 23
It was a beautiful, deep greep jewel that gleamed under the light.
“It''s from the South, the owner exined in a deep. heavily ented voice. “Quite precious. Would you like to try it on
Helene nodded and then slipped it onto her finger. She admired it and then showed it to me. “What do you think. Ca ssandra?
“It''s exquisite.” | uttered as | studied it. It was one of the most gorgeous gems I’d ever seen,
Helene smiled and then turned to the owner. “It’s lovely, but | worry it’s toorge for a ring. Could it be fashioned into a
ne?”
“Of course, the owner nodded happily.
Helene gestured to her maid, who instantly produced a small brown sack from her pocket. When it jingled. | knew it contained
coins, and likely quite many of them
The owner epted it and then fawned over Helene. “Is there anything else | can do for you, mydy?”
Helene considered the idea and then shook her head.
“| can’t think of anything at the moment.” she said politely. “But I’ll let you know when | have an idea. Thank you for your help
SEND GIFT
3/3
Find CRM For Small Businesses
COMMENT