Tessa was dumbstruck, she was still trying to process the fact that her grandfather made her the successor of the Wood family, now she had to attend a bachelor's party and find a suitable husband.
Marriage wasn't on her list anymore, she didn't want to get married again, at least for the time being.
"I don't want to be the head of the Wood family, can't you....."
"Why don't you tell him yourself! you left and never came back for three years"
Sir Mateo's expression darkened, he extended the invitation card to Tessa.
"It has already been done, you will be the next head of the Wood family, and you must get married before your grandfather's commemoration ceremony, which is a month from now!"
Sir Mateo dropped the invitation card on the table and faced the exit, he voiced out before he left.
"The least you can do is to obey your grandfather's last request"
Tessa's eyes moved to the floor, she wished she could turn back time and stay with her grandfather before his end, she wished she could, but it wasn't possible, now she was stuck with a lot of regret.
Her father was right, this was the last thing she could do for him, to get married before his commemoration day.
Tessa stepped to the table, she picked up the special invitation card, she wasn't being forced to marry somebody, she had the right to choose who she wanted, but the person must be from the military.
Her eyes scanned the details on the card, it was a masquerade ball, and it was being held in the most prestigious hotel in Cherry City. Rose Berry Hotel.
She had never been to a party before, David never took her to a gathering, his mom always say she would disgraced him there. Then, she thought everything would change one day, that they would understand that she wasn't after David's money, who knew they were just playing her for a fool.
Tessa placed the card in her pocket, thank goodness it was a masquerade party, she would be covering her face.
Jeremy walked up to Tessa then.
"Your outfits have arrived, you should try them on if they fit, and if they don't, we can adjust them quickly"
Tessa wasn't worried about her outfit, anything would do, she was wondering why her grandfather wanted her to marry a military man, and why was a party like this being held for military bachelors.
"Any idea why grandfather wants me to marry a military person? It sounds strange to me"
Jeremy paused before he walked casually to the door. Tessa followed him from behind.
"You have been away for a while so you don't know. since Grandfather's death, and you went missing, our enemies, or should I say our rivals have gotten stronger. The Wood family is no longer the number one family in the underground society.
"We have been overthrown by several other families, I think grandfather wants you to restore the family legacy, and that is by marrying into a prestigious military family"
Jeremy and Tessa were outside at the entrance of the barn, Jeremy looked at the sky.
"He doesn't want you to face any problems, surely our rivals are our enemies, they would want to destroy us someday, so marrying a powerful person is the right way to keep the Wood family alive"
He faced Tessa.
"Tessa, the family needs you"
Tessa's attention moved to the clouds too, she understood Jeremy words, she wouldn't fail the family again.
Jeremy took a deep breath.
"Did you know that River Valley would've lost the war if the country didn't organize a special unit in the military, those special units were the ones that secured our victory"
Tessa was surprised to hear that, she heard the war was getting heated, and soon the military would have to carry out a mass enlistment, but suddenly the war ended, and the enemies surrendered.
It was surprising to everyone, they thought the military last operation did wonders.
Normal citizens like them would never get the full gist.
"And who are these special units, are they the ones attending this party"
Jeremy nodded to Tessa's words.
"They have been released from the military, but they hold several privileges and titles, they were all given ranks and medals for their service, the higher their contribution, the higher rank, and privilege they get, some of them are even better than the generals and captains in the military"
Tessa found herself interested in the discussion, after all, she was going to be dealing with one of them tonight.
"What is the highest rank, and what are the privileges"
"The highest rank is the God of War title, only five people were awarded the title of God of War. I don't know the privilege they would get, but the general privilege we know is that they have the power to control a small army of their own. They have connections and wealth, and they can give special orders in the military"
Jeremy tried to remember more details about them, but that was all he knew for now, their presence hadn't been announced yet, soon the public would know the heroes that won the war, before then, families like theirs had to move into action to get one or two into their family.
Since he didn't know all the details, he didn't want to misguide Tessa.
"All these vary though, depending on the ranks, the lowest rank might only be given a small token of money, and little or no power control. The most important thing is that the high-rank ones are quite untouchable"
Tessa finally got an insight into what she would be experiencing soon, and the importance of having someone like them, surely they know their worth, it would be difficult, but she didn't see herself failing to get any of their attention.
She would go for the highest rank person in the party.
"Do you have insight on who would be attending"
Jeremy answered calmly.
"There is a rumor that a god of war would be present but it's just a rumor, I heard that the five gods of war are not the ones to party, and nobody had seen them since they were given the prestigious title, so it's a zero percent chance any of them would come. Meanwhile"
Jeremy faced Tessa with a smile.
"A king of war would be present. King of war is the next rank after the god of war, there are more than ten of them, and we have information that one of them would be present today"
Tessa nodded to Jeremy's words, surely she wouldn't be able to get a god of war, their demand would be high, but she could try to get a king of war.
It would be difficult, but she knows her worth too.
"Time to get dressed"