“They were all talking about you,” added Tessandra, catching up on their conversation. “I think I heard them say the Dragon Princess about a thousand times today.”
“Oh, we made sure to say it was your idea!” exclaimed Nana. “The Dorosef Tribe was happy to help, but none of this would have been done if Lady Cessilia hadn’t given us the confidence for it! My tribe has been making a lot of exchanges with the outside, but it was never really safe until today! I am so glad so many people got to eat my family’s beignets! Oh, and that we made friends with the Yonchaa too!”
“You forgot the Hashat. They were all looking at Cessi as if she’s the great priestess of medicine...”
“You g-guys are exaggerating,” muttered Cessilia. “I d-didn’t do that much. Without everyone’s help, I wouldn’t have b-been able to do anything... a-and we still have t-to pay them b-back too.”
“Pay us back? Surely not!” protested Nana. “These are our people! I don’t regret handing out a single beignet for free!”
“The soldiers were happy too,” chuckled Sabael. “To be honest, guarding the Outer Capital and making sure no one gets robbed or attacked can be exhausting. Most soldiers don’t want to be assigned there, but today, we had many guys volunteer to help out. Because food and tea were given for free, no one reported a single robbery. We even spotted the local thugs helping out the soldiers!”
Those words seemed to have Ashen thinking. While the trio behind passed the doors to the castle, Cessilia stared at the King, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“...Ashen? W-what is it?”
“I was just thinking... I never thought things would go so well today. I haven’t... visited the Outer Capital in a while. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate the situation outside.”
“You should,” bluntly said Tessa, who had once again heard that. “People don’t choose to become bandits or thieves. If you give them jobs and a paycheck, you’ll be putting them to work. A stable job is a safer way to get their stomachs full compared to daylight robbery.”
Cessilia was pensive. It was true. Even when they had slaves in the Dragon Empire, they still earned money. That was why their aunt had fewer issues abolishing slavery. People had simply stopped buying someone’s freedom, but there weren’t fewer jobs or workers, on the other hand.
“You should d-discuss with the families to have jobs c-created outside,” Cessilia muttered.
“I can’t possibly relocate everyone in the Outer Capital,” said Ashen. “I’ve thought about it. It isn’t safe enough, and there just isn’t enough time to build and get more businesses running.”
“I d-didn’t mean in the Outer C-Capital,” said Cessilia, “but in the K-Kingdom. Some villages c-can still be rebuilt and c-consolidated, and the security improved. If you p-pay men to protect those p-places and let the t-tribes own lands, they will expand and c-create more cities for p-people to gather.”
“You want me to give lands to the tribes?”
“You c-can have them p-pay you back slowly. The t-tribes have the businesses, and there are p-people willing to work hard, it c-can work. The families c-can also defend themselves, otherwise, they wouldn’t b-be able to live outside the C-Capital, right? B-but if you g-give them p-places they c-can own to settle, they c-can create even more p-places for their b-businesses and let the other p-people feel safe t-too. P-people can work t-together, you saw it...”
“It can work!” exclaimed Nana. “There are some villages where all the conditions are ideal to make great cities! Natural resources, perfect locations, and fertile soil! In fact, long ago, our history books show we had large villages that were quite flourishing. That was all before natural disasters and wars destroyed a lot of things there, of course...”
“Nana, do you actually eat the history and geography books you read?” chuckled Tessandra.
“I have a good memory!” she protested. “Plus, history is one of my favorite subjects of all. It’s fascinating! Did you know, my ancestors weren’t always fishermen? They used to be explorers, travelers, and architects! They were sent by the first kings to help shape cities and improve trade too!”
“That was until the wars had most of our cities destroyed and the tribes left, traveling non-stop to survive,” sighed Sabael. “What you’re talking about happened centuries ago, Nana. Nowadays, those places are mostly ruins.”
“They might be ruins, but they would still be a great place to start! The soil should still be fertile, and the rivers are still going the very same way too! They are mostly occupied by all sorts of bandits, of course, but with the proper conditions, I’m sure it would be a piece of beignet to make them all amazing again! There are some impeccable drawings of what the cities in the west used to be like. I’m sure back then the trades with the Empire were going well too!”
“Nana, you should really become a counselor,” said Tessandra. “I’m not joking. You’re a walking library.”
“M-me? Well, I would like to try... I mean, I do dream of becoming a scholar, of course, but becoming a counselor is still a very difficult thing, it takes years of studies and some great achievements to achieve this. Plus, I’m a woman. I would want to have a family first, and it might be complicated...”
“How could having a family be an issue?!” protested Tessa. “Do you have any idea how much work my mother does in one day? And she raised both me and my sister alongside my father! My other aunt is also an amazing businesswoman while raising her three children!”
“Tessa, how many aunts do you have?”
“By the Great Dragon, way too many. The ones that matter are only... well, three or four, I’d say. Most of the others I have never met, and I don’t want to. The Empress kicked them out of the Imperial Palace the second she could. They all have nasty tempers anyway... It’s rampant in the family.”
“I can see that,” chuckled Sabael.
Tessandra blushed helplessly. Was he mocking her now? She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the glances he was sending her. His heterochromia eyes were both equally enticing, and she hated that effect he had on her.
“What do you want to become, then?” Nana asked, totally oblivious to her brother’s eyes on Tessa.
“What do you mean?”
“If Lady Cessilia becomes Queen! What will you do? Do you want a family too?”
Naptunie’s questions could be innocent yet deadly. Tessandra blushed even more and tried hard not to glance in Sabel’s direction. She had been so bashful recently, now she had lost all of her defenses against him! How was the hunter now the prey? It didn’t make sense. She tried to channel her inner dragon and calm her red cheeks, answering Naptunie without looking at her brother behind her.
“I don’t know yet. I do want children, but I also want a career. All the women in my family are impressive in their own fields... I know my mother wants me to inherit the family business, but I don’t want to. My sister can have it. Plus, Cessi is my best friend. If she stays here, so will I.”
“...Would you really be fine living here forever?”
Sabael’s question was less innocent than it seemed. She finally glanced at him, and immediately looked away. Of course, he was staring. Serious, but intense, as always. Tessandra silently thanked the gods she didn’t have a dragon. She could imagine the damn creature helplessly and shamelessly purring at each of the handsome soldier’s words and glances... Right now, the dragon was in her stomach, twisting it and rendering her mute. How was she supposed to answer him?!
“Maybe. I can travel, anyway.”
She had said that while stubbornly staring at the stones on the castle’s walls. There really was nothing to see on those walls, so she pretended to be absorbed in one of the tinted glass windows, but they quickly walked past it. They had accelerated their steps, even walking ahead of Cessilia and Ashen, and she was now wondering how far Sabael was going to accompany them. She was fine sharing her room or Cessilia’s with Naptunie, but being in the same room as Nana’s brother was a promise of disaster for her pride. She mentally harangued herself about that drunken night, for the twelfth time of the day. She had ruined all her efforts to appear like a calm, proud, and strong-headed woman to Sabael and made an embarrassment out of herself! She was so mad at herself, and she couldn’t even understand why Sabael had seemingly changed his attitude toward her. ...What had really happened that night? She couldn’t remember most of it after meeting the handsome soldier, only the most embarrassing part! For the daughter of a family with an alcohol business, it was a shame! Tessandra could endure anything, any insult made at her, and any attempt to ridicule her, except making a fool of herself. There was no way to win a fight with her most embarrassing self and no walking away either. She was stuck with her own betrayal. The absolute worst...
“Ah... I’m so tired,” groaned Nana. “I just want to lay down and sleep. Oh, and a hot bath too.”
“Great idea!” said Tessandra, feeling saved. “Let’s bathe together. Between girls. Cessi, do you think we could– ...Cessi?”
The three of them turned around, only to find no trace of the King and Cessilia. Tessandra grimaced.
