Chapter Seventy-two

Claire spent the next couple days hiding away in the bedroom, quite unaware of what was going on outside, it refreshed her. The only person she saw frequently was Rosie as well as Alec who made it a habit to visit her often, a very strange habit.
She had seen the Viceroy more times in the past couple days than she had in the whole time she had spent at the mansion.
By the fourth day, she was ready to resume her daily schedule. As much as it was peaceful avoiding her duties and spending her day lying down, she couldn’t keep neglecting things forever, she eventually had to attend to them.
It was a new week and like she used to, Claire was dressed up in black designer suit pants and a pale pink top, her blonde curls gathered up in an elegant bun.
Rosie was there to receive her, her personal assistant happy to see her back on her feet. Claire immediately settled at her desk, she was way behind on college work so she would have to work doubly hard to catch up.
“What's on my schedule for the day?” Claire asked Rosie who was still standing beside her desk.
“I kept your schedule clear today as well knowing that you would be too busy to attend any function.” Rosie was quick to say, sounding anxious like she expected Claire to scold her.
Claire was actually pleased by this, she didn’t need any distraction while she was attending to her schoolwork. “Thank you, Rosie.” She said sincerely, giving her personal assistant a reassuring smile.
Rosie regained her confidence after this, her shoulders lifting slightly. “There is however an important dinner party hosted by Lady Vaschell, a dignitary who owns a werewolf owned and operated makeup brand.” She explained.
Claire looked thoughtful, trying to place where she had heard that name before. “Is it holding today?”
“No, it’s in two days but the invitation was sent ahead.”
Claire actually wanted to go for the dinner party, she needed to show her face more in public after all. “That’s fine, accept the invitation and also accept whatever offers sent to me after the dinner party.” She added.
Rosie nodded briskly, taking notes on her pad before heading for her cubicles to make some calls.
With that out of the way, Claire settled in to get some work done. She only took a break to eat lunch, her thoughts drifting to the upcoming dinner party and once again she found the name of the host awfully familiar.
After they had lunch, Claire spoke up, “Rosie, could you draw up the guest list for my engagement ball?” She asked without putting much thought into her request.
Rosie looked surprised to receive this request but she acquiesced nonetheless, searching up the list on her pad and handing it over to the Luna Queen.
“You mentioned Lady Vaschell before and I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere so I wanted to check to see if I had met her at the ball.” Claire graciously gave an answer to the blatant question dancing in Rosie’s expressive hazel eyes.
Before Rosie could say a word, Claire perked up, “I knew it! Her name is here.”
Rosie smiled at her show of excitement, “I doubt you said much to each other, other than the customary ‘congratulations’.” She said logically. “You said her name sounded familiar and that might be because you use her makeup products.”
Recognition clicked behind Claire’s eyes, she realized then why the name was so familiar. “Wait, Rosie, how do you know what makeup brand I use?”
“It’s my job to handle everything, I also received a report from the maids the week before that they needed some new products.” Rosie said with a tinge of pride in her voice, it was clear that she really enjoyed what she did.
Claire on the other hand was stunned, she had guessed that there was definitely someone behind the scenes handling all of her needs because without even needing to ask, her toiletries were always stocked up and all of her needs were met.
So it had crossed her mind before, she had just never given it much thought. “W-Who handled it before you came on board?” She found herself asking in a small voice.
“Oh that would be Mr. Alec.” Rosie answered, ducking her head as she mentioned Alec’s name.
This made the air surrounding them become awkward and tense, Rosie quickly making herself scarce when that happened. She hurried to her cubicle, mentally beating herself up over acting strange whenever Alec’s name was mentioned.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t something she could help. After their odd meeting in her room the week before, Rosie found herself thinking about him more often than was professional. She was really a hopeless case.
Claire on the other hand was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice how odd Rosie was acting. *‘Had she been expecting it to be Lukas who was personally handling her needs?’* Of course not! He was far too busy for that.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Claire resumed work behind her desk, pushing all pesky thoughts of Lukas out of her mind.
For the next couple days, although Claire had come out of her shell and had resumed her daily duties, she didn’t run into Lukas even once.
Alec however didn’t stop his frequent checks on her wellbeing making Claire worry if the Viceroy thought she had fallen sick when she cooped herself up in her bedroom and didn’t come to her office.
It was already the day of the dinner party which was to be hosted by Lady Vaschell and Claire wasn’t nervous about the dinner party, not till Rosie came with extra information late in the afternoon, mere hours before she was supposed to leave for the event.
“Alina Costin is going to be there?” Claire repeated with a sour expression.
Rosie also looked troubled, she was well aware how bothersome the werewolf Princess could be. “Yes, unfortunately, she was a late invitee and I only just found out now.”
“It’s alright Rosie,” Claire reassured her, feeling a little better when she saw how worried her assistant was for her. “You’re coming with me, aren’t you? Plus we’ll be in public, I’m certain she won’t try any nasty tricks.”
Rosie didn’t look too convinced by this but it wasn’t like Claire could decline the invitation, it was already too late to do so. And the last thing Claire wanted was for the media to think that she and Alina had some beef of some kind, so they would be going.