Her parents eyes turned bright at the sight of their daughter, beckoning her to come in, "Ah, my daughter is here, come, come, we have many things to discuss."

            Her father pat down on the sofa cushion by them for her to sit down on, she walked in gracefully, responding on with a, "Yes, father." Hearing her say that made him miss her younger years when she called him dad, but he supposed bringing it up now would be pushing it.

            Her father took a deep breath and said, "You're of eligible age now and I know that the talk of marriage was recently sprung on you. The main suitor is Duke Theodore Chelvion... however if things do not work out between you two, then there are some others...but I feel they're lacking in some aspects."

            Her father was holding a stack of papers in his hands, presumably the candidate files, she held out her hands, "Please hand them to me, father."   

            He handed her the stack of papers, Duke Theodore Chelvion's being right at the top which she purposefully avoided. There was a marquis who was almost a decade older--his looks were decent but he had already been divorced once, which gave everyone a bad vibe. The next sheet was a newly appointed Viscount, he had no achievements and next to nothing in his name which showed there'd be financial difficulties but, he was also two years younger and would be a lot easier to influence. At the end of the stack, there was a baron who wasn't much older but not only was he related to Bella Blanche's maternal side, there was also an ongoing investigation revolving him, as he's suspecting of doing illegal activities. Even if there wasn't suspicion of illegal activities, the fact that marrying him would mean she'd been essentially related to someone as trite as Bella was far too horrible to imagine.

            She could see it now, at family gatherings, having to play nice to her, she shuddered in disgust. The fact that she was already marrying her best friend's brother was already troublesome enough. She sat the papers down on the coffee table and sighed, "I can see why you're having difficulties, a divorced marquis, a young, easily manipulated viscount and then...this baron. I can see why you chose Duke Theodore Chelvion as the best candidate, however...I do not wish to marry him."

            Harold looked at his daughter with wide eyes, "Are you sure you still want to meet the others?" Her mother looked at her worriedly and she bit her lip again.

            "That's not it...I briefly met him at the Clandence's estate during the tea party and I don't think our personalities complement each other." She had hoped that her reasoning would push off the whole talk off marriage for a little while.

            Her parents chuckled a bit, her mother adding, "Well of course you would think that over one brief encounter, but you can't judge him off of that alone."

            She had hoped that her parents would be more lenient but wasn't surprised at this answer, she suspected that overlapped their lucky marriage with her future one, thinking it'd be the same. She felt that nauseating feeling again, the arguments, her leaving, and his tombstone again. Why was everything dead-set on not going her way? She ventured a guess that the angels were probably laughing at her.

            If not for the fear of a possible natural disaster, she would shout angrily at the sky, she turned back to her parents with resolute eyes, "I will meet with him, but if things don't work out don't hold it against me. If that is all, shall I take my leave?"

            She was about to stand up when her father said, "No, that isn't all, please stay seated." Concern ran through her because she wasn't sure what this was about--was it the dress? She didn't buy it though, honest! His face looked a bit grim and even though his wife placed a hand in his, it didn't console him. Suzette had hoped that their family wasn't actually falling into ruin like Bella predicted.

            "What else is there to be discussed?" She couldn't stop her surprise from showing on her face. 

            "Dear," Lucinda called out to him, as if to encourage him to come forth with the issue. Harold sighed, and combed his fingers through his hair for a moment as if to collect himself.

            "I've been informed by staff already but if you see anyone suspicious around the area inform us and the head staff, effective immediately!"

            "Did a spy infiltrate?" She blinked.

            "No, I hope not at least. As you already know, your sister is only ten years old but she's already getting marriage proposals from questionable people. No matter how many times I refuse and burn the letters...it just increases by tenfold. I want to ensure that none of those questionable people takes drastic measures towards her, she is but an innocent child after all."    

            Still a bit shocked, it took Suzette a bit to process this information, "I understand, what of her personal guards?"

            "She still has four of them as none have retired or resigned, but I can't deny that I'm worried for her wellbeing, I would like to assign more to her...but your brother is a danger to himself...he needs all the knights he can get. I would like to hire more knights but...I do not wish for questionable people to slither in under my radar."

            "I understand, I'll pay special attention to her, and assign some of my guards to her, as well." Suzette smiled, but it was more teetering on anxiety.

            He let out a breath, "I didn't inform you so that you could be unprotected...if you're adamant about it, at least keep two guards with you at all times."

            "We're sorry to spring this on you, dear." Lucinda looked at her, she was worried and...she seemed so tired most likely due to her worries. Her and Theodore never had children in their previous future so she couldn't imagine all of what her parents were going through. She felt like she was being a petulant child, adding onto their worries like this. Now she understood why they were hopefully about her possible marriage with Duke Theodore, with all his wealth, she would never have a need again--a part of her wished that they knew of the future, then again, she wanted to spare them the heartbreak this time. She could only imagine how hard it was to endure her wails.

            More pressingly, Suzette didn't recall this happening in her previous past, unless of course her parents didn't trust her with that information, which if that were the case that would hurt. She was also disgusted by the fact that both her and her sister were the targets of questionable, perverted old men. Suzette felt like she already knew one of the reasons, not only was the McGrowen family around during the empire's founding, their mother, Lucinda was also considered the queen of high society. She was beautiful, graceful, full of poise and wisdom, and she never turned her back on anyone, even though high society is a battlefield. She had remembered hearing how many potential suitors asked for her hand, however both her and her father Harold were engaged and were in love at the time.

            They're probably projecting mother onto my sister and I, aren't they...? Suzette sighed, that had to be the case, even as she grew older her mother was still one of the most beautiful women in the empire. Even now, she overhears the maids gabbing on about how her mother received another letter from a 'secret admirer'. 

            Eventually, she was dismissed and decided to head out into the garden. She sat at a table, holding a romance novel in her hand with refreshments of tea and desserts. The novel itself was actually more of smutty romance novel than an innocent one. It was based around a journalist and a knight turned investigator that were at odds. They got off on the wrong foot at first but began to trust one another. She began reading one of the steamier scenes in the later part of the novel and had to put the book down to fan herself off.

            Why must he pop up in my head? Suzette clicked her tongue, if she knew she was going to imagine her 'future' husband as the investigator during said smutty scene, she wouldn't've bothered to read the book to begin with. Beatrice, who wasn't far away came up and asked her if she needed a parasol.

            "No, I'm okay, thank you. Continue to enjoy your break, Beatrice, you deserve it." Suzette smiled at her as she tried to calm her beating heart. Her mind had other ideas though, as her husband kept flashing through her mind, she shook her head to try and be rid of those thoughts but it was proving difficult. Eventually she gave up reading more and focused solely on her tea and desserts.

            Eventually, she looked up and noticed that her sister, Cynthia was in the distance, surrounded by her personal knights.