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Chapter 5

Two mornings later, Seb comes to me with an offer.

"Cassandra." He knocks on my bedroom door.

It's 7 in the morning. I just got out of bed and I'm looking at an email Chrystal sent last night. "Hey, Seb. Come in."

He opens the door. "I came by with a question."

"What's wrong?" I sit up slightly on my chair.

"What's your schedule for today?"

I sigh deeply. "Visiting a fishing town with Kat. We're supposed to talk to the locals, pretend to like fishing, and get pictured touching bait." I shudder.

He laughs. "How about I save you? You can shadow me for today."

I'm stunned. "Really? I can do that?"

"Of course, how else will you learn how to run a government?" He says it so offhandedly.

My heart starts beating. "Seb, I...I don't think I'll be the next monarch. I don't want you to waste your time or make things weird..."

He surprises me by laughing. "Cass, that doesn't matter. I'm not the monarch and I'm still in charge of certain areas of the government."

I rub my arms. "Still, that probably would never be me. I shouldn't."

He points at me. "You're coming. Be ready in half an hour."

"Half an hour? Why are you telling me this now?" I walk away from my vanity table and towards my closet.

"I didn't want you to panic." He smiles and shuts the door, drowning out my complaints.

I'm left with a heavy heart. How can he expect me to go work with him in half an hour? I don't even know what his job is.

I can't believe I don't know what Seb does. I know what Aunt Freya does. But it won't be the same job as Seb. Right?

I text Kat good morning. She reads my message but doesn't reply. She calls me instead.

"Hey, Cass," she sings. "And no, the worm smell won't come off after three washes. It takes at least seven." She laughs.

"I'm actually not going to that anymore. Seb wants me to go with him to work." I reveal.

"Wait, really?" Kat asks. "That's...so great. I'm happy that he trusts you that much." Her tone doesn't match her words. She sounds exactly like she did when she congratulated me on getting my crown.

"Yeah," I start cautiously. "Sorry I can't come today."

"I'll be fine. I'll just have to feign enthusiasm by myself." She sniffs. "But it's alright, I'll bring Myles. It'll be fun."

"That's good." There's a small pause. "So, any tips for today?"

She hisses. "I'm so sorry, Cass. I'm expecting a call from Myles. We'll talk later this evening, okay?"

I nod even though she can't see me. "Sure. Goodbye, Kat."

"Goodbye." And she ends the call.

I don't bother walking up to Grey's room, I know he isn't up yet. He doesn't get up till noon on mornings he doesn't have any functions planned.

I instead rush into the shower. I now have twenty-five minutes to get ready. Great.

I'm out of the shower in less than ten minutes and pulling out a completely different outfit. It's a blush pink suit with a matching skirt. I match it with a pearl earring set and necklace, and black pumps.

I put on very light makeup in five minutes, grab a black purse, and am running down the stairs with twenty seconds to spare.

Lilian is in the foyer. "He's waiting in the car." She gives me an appraising look and hums.