Shrugging, Cassandra ignored everyone\'s gaze including her cousin\'s. She approached the long rectangular table where the pastries were delicately placed with candle lights and peach ribbons. As to why they were using candles in the morning, she had no clue.

And she cared the least.

She could feel everyone\'s gaze around her, scrutinizing her pajamas that deeply contrasted their tailored dresses. Again, she didn\'t care. What she cared about was… the coffee.

"Where\'s the coffee?" she asked Almera whose eyes were already red. Was she about to cry?

"I thought… I thought you didn\'t like coffee so I only included tea."

She nodded.. "Of course. You love tea." She turned once she finished talking and grabbed a couple of Croque Monsieur before going toward the kitchen.

The absence of coffee was really making her grumpy.

"Where are you going, Lady Cassandra?"

Cassandra turned toward the speaker. It was a woman with long brown hair that reminded Cassandra of her own long hair.

"Everyone came for you."

"Why would they come? Did I invite them?" she asked.

"You— "

"How ungrateful."

She heard someone say.

"This party is not for me. Why should I stay?" Cassandra lifted an eyebrow. "I wasn\'t even informed. None of the food was my favorite. I never liked tea. As someone who grew up next to me, you should have known that."

"I…"

"The linens used were your favorites, the teacups were yours, even the food was something that you liked. How did it become a welcoming party?" she continued.

Squinting, she looked at the red-faced Almera. "Isn\'t this just a gathering to make me the center of your … gossip club?"

"Cassandra! You are going overboard."

"Am I wrong?" she asked. Seeing the embarrassment in everyone\'s eyes, Cassandra smirked. "Instead of coming in here and talking about someone like me, why don\'t you go home to your husband and children? I presume that is more important than coming here for breakfast just to get the latest gossip."

"Cassandra!" Almera hissed. "I was just trying to make you happy."

"Tea never made me happy." At the end of the day, she was angry because of the coffee. She needed her caffeine.

Seeing the full makeup of these women was just as worse as not having her coffee. Seeing that Almera was about to cry, Cassandra turned and strode toward the kitchen.

Seeing a twenty-five-year-old married woman cry just because of a damn party was… a little awkward.

Walking into the huge kitchen, her eyes immediately landed on the expensive coffee maker that her grandfather had gifted her on her twentieth birthday.

Sadly, she only wanted the cheap espresso maker next to it.

Smiling, she immediately started to make her coffee. Soon, the smell of freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air.

Almost immediately, as a smile on her face appeared, her mood turned lighter.

Coffee miracle.

She walked out of the kitchen and into the garden located at the back of the mansion. Unlike London, it wasn\'t that cold in Zealandia.

Of course, the heating mechanism at the columns that created the covered walkway toward the garden was another reason why it wasn\'t that cold.

She looked at the sea of roses as she sat on one of the covered benches that faced the garden. These types of benches were everywhere. They were arranged to surround the garden so guests could use them to relax and have a little tea time as they enjoyed the view.

"You didn\'t join Almera?"

Cassandra didn\'t have to turn around to know that it was her grandfather.

"You two… You just keep on fighting since you were teenagers. You are all grown up now. Can\'t you act a little more civil?"

Cassandra felt the old man approached her. "No," she answered without looking at him. "Besides, she is already married. Why is she still here?"

"She is about to start a divorce proceeding. She never told me the details but Steve found out her husband is having an affair with one of her friends. They are trying to keep it quiet. It would be a big scandal once they know that the Lord of Dalim is cheating on someone from the La Roche Family."

Cassandra snorted. She had warned Almera about that man before. But what did Almera do? She pushed Cassandra and told her she was jealous and that was why she was trying to break them apart.

Cassandra only showed concern because she saw the man kissing another woman in one of her episodes yet, she was labeled the jealous woman. Everyone in Zealandia soon called her that.

What they didn\'t know was the fact that Cassandra knew the man was cheating on Almera before they even married each other.

Cassandra learned that not many people would appreciate it if she told them about their morbid future. So she just stopped caring.

"How have you been? How was it? Living alone in the real world?"

Cassandra looked at her grandfather that sat next to her. "Peaceful."

The real world and Zealandia were just the same. The technology, phones, trains, cars, and everything were the same.

The only difference was the occasional disturbance from demons who wanted to cross the border from the Dark World to the Mortal world in Zealandia.

Of course, there was also the magic and knights, people who could manipulate elements just like her, and the fact that every time she was in Zealandia she would start dreaming again.

"Not much difference," she continued. "How\'s Zealandia?"

"Same old… same old." The old man let out a chuckle just as a thin gust of wind assaulted their senses. Since the old man was wearing thick clothing, the cold was nothing to him. But Cassandra shivered just from that wind.

"You should go inside and change your clothes. I can accompany you later to shop."

"It\'s fine. I can do it on my own."

"Hmmm. Visit the shop. They needed to get your new measurements for the ball."

"Ball?"

"The king\'s birthday."

Cassandra immediately lowered her eyes just as visions of the future started to thwack inside her head. She frowned, beads of sweat were already visible on her forehead.

"Cassie?"

"Hm?" Cassandra lifted her head and smiled at him.

"Did you see anything?"

She shook her head. "No…" she lied. "It must be… jet lag." Or the fact that she didn\'t eat anything aside from that Croque Monsieur.

Either way, she wasn\'t planning to tell her grandfather that he was supposed to die… on the king\'s birthday banquet.