We walked back to the lounge room together. On the way, Noah acquired a laptop from one of the guards.
Mom and Violet were still in the room but this time, they were combing through some papers. Alexander wasn't back yet. Noah sat beside me and booted the laptop. I tried to peak at the screen but he gave me a look and I went back to my work.
At least with Noah on board, it would be easier to help Alexander. It felt as if he was doing the most sleuthing since he had access to a lot more than I did.
"I got some pieces of the attendant's face," he suddenly said. "If I can reconstruct his face, we'd have a lot more to go on."
"How long till that happens?"
He shrugged. "Depends on how good I am."
I raised an eyebrow.
He grinned at me. "Don't worry, I'm very good."
"Shouldn't the security team be doing this?"
"Yes but that hasn't gotten us anywhere. "
I glanced around. "Won't you-know-who get mad though?"
"Since when has that stopped you?"
It hadn't but maybe I needed to be more careful. Maybe with Noah taking most of the load off my shoulders, they wouldn't pay too much attention to me. But I couldn't back off that easily. I had to keep going.
Unfortunately, it was now a matter of waiting. With the bidding ceremony on the horizon, we didn't have much time for much. We spent the rest of the day catching up on school work.
Noah kept us updated on the progress but it wasn't often. Alexander went as far as to say how it was good we were getting along. Plus, it was good for our image. Everyone getting along meant no wild rumors would appear, hopefully.
After our lunch date, half way through the new week, Lisa caught me after school. I didn't have my internship and Alexander had gone home early to deal with work.
"Rin, got some time?"
I spotted Joseph by the car.
"Sorry," I said. "I completely forgot- "
"No worries," she said. "You do look like you need a break."
"Yeah but I don't have time."
Lisa hooked her arm with mine. "Let's get some ice-cream and I can call Cassidy so we could all chill."
I bit my lip. "I don't know."
"Come on. It'll be fun."
Ice-cream did sound good right about now.
"Okay."
Joseph was a little wary of Lisa at first but, soon enough, they were chatting like long lost friends.
On the way to the restaurant, I managed to doze off. My body gave in to the soothing drive. When we arrived, Lisa shook me awake and we headed inside.
It was a small establishment. With one or two families inside. I found a booth while Lisa got our sweets. We didn't talk until I finished four scoops of chocolate ice-cream.
"Better?" Lisa asked, nibbling her special made cone.
"Yeah,'' I said. "Thanks. So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing," she replied with a grin. "Saw how you and the Prince have been busy and wanted to give you a break."
"So all that stuff about Cassidy-?"
"It's true and I can call her if you want."
"I thought that's what you were going to do."
Another grin. "It is."
I watched her call Cassidy. Lisa put it on speakerphone.
"Hello?" came Cassidy's voice.
"Hey, I got Rin here."
"How are you doing?" Cassidy asked.
"Feels like I got no life," I replied.
"I know," she said. "so, there two reasons why I wanted to speak to you. I don't have much time."
Frowning, I looked. "We're in public."
"It's fine," Lisa assured me.
"First, has there been any news about the assassination attempt? I'm worried that I haven't heard anything."
I hesitated. "No one has been caught," I replied carefully.
"Hopefully it's only a matter of time. How is Prince Rothchester holding up?"
"Busy with the bidding event and our ceremony."
"I'm sure. Speaking of which, that's the second reason I called."
"Yeah?
"You need to participate in the event," she stated. "If you're to stand next to Prince Rothchester, you need to have experience under your belt."
"The ceremony is," I began.
"Now is perfect," Cassidy interrupted. "It doesn't have to be a big role. You can be part of his entourage. Hold his papers or something. Make yourself known."
I sighed. Cassidy was making a lot of sense. Plus, I did want to do more too. Was it really okay?
"He won't say no," Lisa added. "If you could only see all the googly eyes he makes at you when you aren't looking.
"I mean, everyone sees it at school. He doesn't use Allure anymore like at all. Tells me he wants people to notice."
Panic surged through me. What if the vampires noticed something wasn't right? Despite my fear, Lisa didn't comment about it any further.
"True," I said, "I could ask."
"Good," Cassidy said, "which brings me to the second point but the most important part."
"Which is?"
"You need Prince Rothchester's mother approval."
My heart stopped. Or I thought.
"What?"
"You need his mother's approval," Cassidy repeated. "Without her, the ceremony isn't going to mean anything."
I gaped at the phone for a long time.
Leaning in, I whispered. "Is that even allowed? What about Violet?"
"Violet controls influence out in the open," Lisa said.
"The prince's mom controls influence in the not so open places," Cassidy added.
"Alexander has never talked about her that much," I began.
"It's not my place to say," Cassidy replied. "I don't know the whole story. However, if you're serious, you need her approval."
I rubbed my forehead. My to-do list just got longer.
"Why are you helping me?"
"You helped me," Cassidy answered. "I've got to go. Talk to you later."
Then the call ended, Lisa pocketed her phone. I eyed her.
"This wasn't a break," I told her.
Lisa chuckled. "But I gave you ice-cream. I think it counts."
I scraped the last miniscule pieces of ice-cream and licked the spoon.
"Let's get you some to go," she said. "I have a feeling your workload just doubled."
Sighing, I leaned back against the booth. How was I going to convince Alexander to let me meet his mom?