Chapter 100

For the first time, Claire woke up to find herself all alone on their bed. Gentle sun rays were streaming in through the open curtains as she sat up and glanced at Lukas’ side of the bed to find it empty.
He had slept with her the night before, he had just gotten up extra early because he had to go on a short business trip. It was a little odd because it would be the first time that he would be going on a trip that would last days.
Claire got out of bed only for something on the side table to catch her eye, it turned out to be a bouquet of flowers. She picked it up with a smile, wondering when Lukas got the time to get her flowers. She peeked out of the door of the bedroom to ask a passing maid to get her a vase of water, only when the flowers were in the water did she go to the bathroom to clean up.
She was a little surprised not to see Rosie, she had gotten used to Rosie being the one to rouse her up when Lukas wasn’t sharing the same room as she was and instinctively expected to see her assistant now that Lukas was away on a trip.
She stepped into the dining room all alone to find a hearty conversation already going on between the three ladies.
“Luna Claire!” Lola said in excitement, coming around the table to hug her.
Claire returned the gesture, she hadn’t seen the secretary in a while, which was no surprise as she worked in a different area of the mansion. Lukas set up his secretaries in an office far removed from his, if he could have his way, they would have gotten an external office instead.
“We were expecting you,” Senite said with a soft smile.
Claire settled down on a chair after pleasantries were exchanged, and food was brought by maids. She knew exactly why they were expecting her, well for breakfast, but also for her wedding that would be held in two weeks.
“There isn't much to be done this time, seeing as the wedding would be done on a small scale but I wanted to bring Lola in nonetheless so she can get prepared." Senite explained.
"Alpha Lukas said that I should come to you for whatever decision that needs to be made regarding the wedding." Lola asked, her eyes practically glittering.
Claire would really like that, during their engagement ball, she had just been a passive part of it. Everything had already been set up and she was just taken along for the ride. "That's great! I'd be happy to do that."
Lola immediately launched into details, "There's fortunately not much to do, considering the scale of the event," She said thoughtfully, "Have you decided what colors you'd like the theme to be?"
Claire blinked, that was a very important part of it, they wouldn't even be able to make invitations without it. Well, not like invitations were necessary. The only ones outside of the mansion who would be attending the wedding would be her parents, there was hardly a need for invitation cards.
A theme would still need to be decided upon though because that would determine what decorations would be used at the venue… talking about the venue, they couldn't possibly hold the wedding in the ballroom?
She would get around to that though, first, she needed to make her very first decision concerning her wedding. She could ring up Lukas and discuss with him but she didn't want to disturb him on his business trip, not to mention, he had specifically said that she was free to make all of the decisions by herself.
Claire thought it over, she knew that the Royal colors of their country were black and red, as evidenced by the theme during their engagement ball, and the black and red ring sitting on her ring finger. Black and red were far too dismal for a wedding theme though but she didn't want to stray too far from the Royal colors.
"I think white and red?" She said hesitantly, looking around to get the reactions of the other women at the dining table.
Lola clasped her hands together, "That's perfect Luna Claire."
Senite nodded, "That's right, I would have gone with that choice myself."
Rosie instinctively did the note-taking, "So that means the theme is already decided on." She hummed softly, tapping away rapidly.
"Oh yes, Where's the wedding going to be held? It's going to be in the mansion, right?" Claire asked.
"Of course, there's a beautiful little room behind the house that would be the perfect venue for the wedding." Lola chimed in, gesturing with her hands. "I already got clearance to use the space as soon as I was informed that it would be a small affair. I could take you to it after breakfast if you'd like."
"Of course!" Claire agreed.
The conversation went back and forth between the four ladies. Lola was right when she said that there wasn't much to be done because, in a short time, they were all but done with the groundwork for the wedding.
"That reminds me," Senite spoke up when they were rounding up breakfast, "When are Julia and Matt coming over?" She asked, her excitement evident at the thought of Claire’s mother paying a visit to the mansion again.
"At the start of the new week," Claire quickly supplied. "My Mom wants to be present to help me pick out the wedding dress."
"That's wonderful! I'll make a call to her later today, I already have some magnificent wedding dress ideas to share with her." Senite said proudly.
Claire smiled, she should have known that both ladies would team up again. Although she was supposedly in charge of the wedding, she was quickly coming to find that there was next to nothing for her to do.
After breakfast was over, Lola led the way to the room in question that would be the venue for her wedding. It was on the second floor due to the nature of the room in question.
Claire found that she had seen the room when she got her first tour of the mansion with Rachel and Liv, the rude secretary who had made the tour an awful experience.
She hadn't paid much attention to it then but now she could see why it would make a gorgeous venue for her wedding. It was made in the manner of a modern sunroom, large glass windows covered the walls and even parts of the ceiling to let as much light in as possible.
It was summer though so it might be a tad uncomfortable to hold a wedding in a sunroom when the sun was at such a high intensity. Claire noticed this and spoke up about it.
"It might get too hot if we hold the wedding in the morning while the sun is rising. What do you say about moving it to dusk when the sun is setting?" She suggested, staring up at the bright blue sky through the parts of the roof that were glassed in.
Lola dropped the files in her hand and whipped around. "Luna Claire, that's a brilliant idea! I can't believe that I didn't think of that myself!" She hurried over, gushing the entire time.
"I can just picture the beautifully decorated venue against the backdrop of the sunset," She held out her hands, "I'm confident that this is going to be my best work yet."
Claire laughed, she was just being practical when she suggested that the time be moved to later in the day, it was for the best that everything worked out the way it did.
With that, they all separated to go about their day. Claire and Rosie returned to the Luna Queen's office in high spirits, Lola going off to get started on her job.
"I've got dinner with Mrs.Blackwell today, right?" Claire asked when they got to her office, settling behind her desk so she could start up her laptop.
"Yes, and other than that your schedule is clear for today." Rosie all too happily informed her.
Claire paused, "Are there any developments regarding the article that was posted?" She asked, worried that it would get blown out of proportion.
"Not at all, it quickly calmed down, and from the looks of things, the public is more interested in Lady Vaschell’s dinner party reboot."
Claire sighed in relief, she should have known that the public was extremely fickle and would jump on the latest fad of the moment.
With that, she decided to tackle as much college work as possible, knowing that she would probably not be able to get any more done in the coming week.
She managed to keep a steady pace till about lunch but by then she had started to feel the impact of Lukas' absence, so she decided to call him. One, to check up on him like she wanted to do all day but didn't because she didn't want to intrude on his working time, and two, to make sure he didn't skip meals while on his business trip.