“No fucking way! You stay out of that red-haired vixen’s way!”

“Red-haired? No, the other one!”

“...Wait, you mean Nana?”

They kept arguing while leaving the room, and Bastat left after them.

Now that she was alone with Kassian, Cessilia sighed and stepped away from the table to wash her hands. Her brother did the same next to her. For a while, neither of them said anything as they went to sit on the little bench Tessandra and Darsan were on earlier, opposite Ashen. They naturally sat very close to each other, and Cessilia let her head rest on her brother’s shoulder. Kassian smiled and put an arm around her shoulders.

“So... You’ve been busy, huh?”

“Yeah... This K-Kingdom really has a lot going on.”

“You know, for someone whose lover was almost killed and had to flee after a fight, you seem happy.”

Cessilia suddenly lifted her head off his shoulder, staring at her brother with a shocked expression.

“Happy?” she repeated.

Kassian nodded.

“Yeah. I was surprised. I don’t think I’ve seen you like this in a while. Not since Cece left your side... Do you even hear yourself? You barely stutter anymore, Cessi. The last time we saw each other, you barely spoke at all, and never so clearly either. The only way to hear your voice was for you to read something... Now, not only do you barely stutter, but you speak a lot to others. It sounds like you made a good handful of friends and allies too.”

Cessilia was shocked. Was that really the conclusion her brother had come to, in such a short time? She tried to replay that evening in her head. She had indeed... changed. Before, she wouldn’t have gotten involved in any fight. She wouldn’t have confidently spoken to someone like she did to Jisel and Bastat. She was always one of the shyest among her siblings, and losing Cece had made that worse. She took a deep breath.

“There has b-been some good... and b-bad things.”

“Like what?”

“I f-fought someone today.”

“...One-on-one?”

Cessilia nodded.

“I lost c-control again. I almost... k-killed her.”

“But you stopped.”

“No... Ashen was the one who s-stopped me. ...I p-panicked. I’m still so s-scared to fight and k-kill someone I didn’t mean t-to...”

“Cessi... With what I’ve heard and seen, it was probably a real enemy, not a training partner.”

“B-but what if it’s really not someone I want t-to kill, next time? K-Kassian, I can’t fight until I c-can trust myself again.”

“You don’t trust yourself because you think you need Cece. It’s not true. Dragons are a reflection of our inner selves. Losing Cece might have been hard, but it doesn’t mean you’re as broken inside as you think you are, Cessi.

“B-but Uncle said people without their d-dragons go mad...”

Kassian sighed, shaking his head.

“Uncle Opheus said that years ago, and he probably didn’t mean they became crazy. More like they went mad from... sadness, I think. Even Grandma told you that was wrong. Just... ignore what he said, Cessi. You’re not going to go crazy. Plus, you heard what Mom said, there’s a chance she’ll come back... so think about it this way, if that helps you.”

Cessilia frowned and lowered her head.

“You know... S-sometimes, I’m...”

“What?”

“No... It’s n-nothing.”

Kassian waited, hoping she’d change her mind and open herself up, but it didn’t happen. He sighed and pulled her to rest on his shoulder again. When she refused to speak, his sister was harder to open than a dragon’s maw. Kassian was the closest to her among their siblings, yet he knew nothing but time would be able to have Cessilia speak. He looked forward again, at Ashen lying on the table.

After hearing from Nebora that their parents had let Cessilia come here, he had been completely stunned, and even mad at them. They all knew how unstable the situation was in the neighboring Kingdom. Even if they had sent her with a dragon, he was surprised they had agreed to this at all. Yet, their father had said Cessilia needed this. That sentence had been an enigma until now. He had thought all along that her heart had been closed by Cece’s loss, the key dropped in the Imperial Palace’s lake, but perhaps, he had been wrong. Perhaps it could actually be healed here... with one man’s help. For him as an older brother, it was a bit frustrating, but he was glad he had come to support her.

“It will be alright,” he said, patting her head.

“Yep. The cavalry has arrived!” exclaimed Darsan with a huge smile, his arms full of beignets.

“We got you some,” sighed Tessandra, handing them a plate each, “and some information too. The Yekara have seized control of the Inner Capital, and not calmly either. A lot of people are getting arrested for protesting. They are talking about making some public executions in the morning...”

“They want t-to execute them?” exclaimed Cessilia. “All of th-those people?”

“Those who protested, at least. I think they want to make an example of them, to dissuade people from resisting.”

“That’s what I’d do too,” nodded Darsan, his mouth full. “Intimidation strategy is rather efficient among military tactics. Especially if there are no fighters to resist. People don’t like having their... Oh. ...Sorry.”

After getting glares from three pairs of eyes, he grimaced and went to sit in a corner with a sorry expression. Meanwhile, Kassian shook his head and turned back to Tessandra.

“If I understand right, we don’t really have any other... fighters we can rely on?”

“Not necessarily. The Pangoja Clan was the only other one with an official position as fighters, if they survived... There are the non-corrupt Royal Guards too, and probably a few mercenaries here and there.”

“...Th-there were a lot of m-mercenaries outside of the C-Capital,” said Cessilia.

“Yeah. Bad people, Cessi, remember?”

“Not n-necessarily. They d-didn’t become mercenaries by choice...”

“They are still probably not fond of the King who kicked their butts out of his Capital, Cessilia. I wouldn’t count on them too much.”

However, Cessilia was still frowning, thinking deeply about this. Kassian smirked.

“There’s that Cheshi Clan we need to check out too. Am I the only one who noticed they probably don’t just handle books?”

“We noticed too. That girl she revealed as a spy? She’s a sister among triplets, and all three of them are trained fighters, at the very least. I would say... assassins.”

“...That makes sense,” nodded Kassian, “and explains how their clan really survived so long... No one really makes it through centuries in an unstable nation with just books.”