Both Ashen and Cessilia exchanged a surprised look. What could there possibly be that Ashen missed that Kassian had to tell him? After what had happened the last time they saw each other... Cessilia glanced back at her other brother, but Darsan also had a serious expression on, his lips pinched as if he had something unpleasant on his mind.
“...K-Kassian?”
“It’s not something you need to hear, Cessi. ...You should get going.”
“I’m coming too!” exclaimed Naptunie. “I’m curious about the Cheshi Clan... It’s probably fine if I come along, right...?”
“Don’t worry, I’m coming too!” added Darsan with a bright smile, completely misunderstanding her question. “Nothing to fear!”
Tessandra rolled her eyes.
“Fine... I’ll make sure those two don’t kill each other while you’re gone, Cessi. You should probably get going soon.”
“...I did not agree to this,” groaned Ashen. “No offense, Kassian, but I don’t think there’s anything to add to what happened back then. You and your father were pretty clear when you banished me.”
“Ashen...” muttered Cessilia, squeezing his hand.
However, right now, he was still furious at her brother. Cessilia couldn’t help but feel a bit choked up. To Ashen, Kassian was tightly linked to his memory of leaving the Dragon Empire, and the hell that had come after. Even if he had heard Cessilia’s side of the story, there was probably nothing that would relieve how he felt toward her father, who had deliberately sent him away. Yet, Kassian’s expression wasn’t that of someone who felt regret or even guilt, which made the tension between them even worse.
“No,” he said. “Father should have told him the truth back then, and he allowed me to tell him now.”
“K-Kassian, what are you t-talking about? What t-truth...?”
“...I’m slightly curious to hear too,” muttered Tessandra.
She glanced to the side, but Darsan had gone back to that sour expression. Kassian looked at his sister, but it was clear she wouldn’t leave before she heard this too. He sighed, uncrossing his arms.
“...Father didn’t want to send you away, Ashen. He only realized he had no choice.”
“Why?”
“When you came to the Onyx Castle, we would regularly find foreigners trying to cross our borders. They were coming for you, assassins paid to cut off your head and bring it back to the Eastern Kingdom.”
“...What?”
This time, all traces of anger were gone from Ashen’s face. He was simply shocked, and so was Cessilia. She exchanged a look with her cousin, but Tessandra was dumbfounded as well. Only Darsan knew the truth too.
“It wasn’t that big of a problem,” he scoffed. “Most of them were weak, and we got rid of them before they got close.”
“We were shocked by how it never stopped, though,” continued Kassian. “Father had already captured and interrogated some to find out what they wanted, so we knew they were after you and who had sent them. But they were still getting closer and closer to our family. Some of our siblings were still very young at the time, the youngest wasn’t even a year old. We even found spies lurking around, probably trying to find out why you weren’t dead yet, to bring the information back to your father.”
Ashen’s expression was slowly sinking. Even Cessilia was in shock. She had no idea about any of this. Darsan was only a year older than she was, and Kassian was the same age as Ashen. That meant her older brothers had been protecting the two of them for years without them even having the slightest idea...
“Our aunt reinforced the defenses at the border, and we sent some of our younger siblings to stay with our grandmother too, but we could never be at ease. We always had to keep an eye out. That night... when Father found out you and Cessilia had snuck out of the Onyx Castle, he became furious.”
“Wait... you mean he wasn’t furious because I was with Cessilia, but because...”
“You and our sister had put yourselves in danger,” nodded Kassian. “We... Father, Darsan, and I had argued about it, but he was too angry and decided to tell you to leave. He knew you’d be strong enough to survive after your training, and just like me and Darsan, you’d have no difficulty fighting those people off. But he couldn’t endure Cessilia, Mother, or one of our siblings being in danger any longer.”
“He kicked your butt right out because it was simpler,” added Darsan, “and he figured a certain someone would follow you too...”
His eyes went to Cessilia, who was slowly realizing the truth. The memory she had tried to bury deep inside all this time was re-emerging. The men who had captured her and tortured her and Cece had said some things about a prince they had to kill... For the longest time, she hadn’t thought much about it. At that time, she had no idea about Ashen’s background, and she was part of the Imperial Family. She had thought they were talking about one of her brothers or her father. She had never thought...
“Wait...” muttered Ashen, livid.
His dark eyes kept going to Cessilia, to the large scar on her throat. He was also slowly starting to understand the truth about that night. Kassian and Darsan exchanged a glance, the latter crossing his arms with a pissed-off expression.
“Yep,” he grunted. “Our little sister did exactly what we had feared she’d do...”
“We found out too late that she wasn’t in her room,” muttered Kassian. “We went after her as fast as we could, but... I take it that you heard the rest of it already.”
His eyes went to Cessilia, who was still in shock.
“Th-the men who attacked me and C-Cece were... after Ashen?” she muttered.
“Yeah,” said Darsan. “Seems like they were fine using a girl and her dragon as the side prize.”
A long, heavy silence ensued. No one dared to say a word, all a bit shaken up or affected by their story. Cessilia and Ashen’s hands had parted. She had tears of anger in her eyes. She had no idea how long those people had been targeting Ashen. How could they repeatedly send someone to kill a teenage boy?! Meanwhile, Ashen was as still as a stone, his eyes on the floor, completely stunned.
“...That’s so sad,” muttered Nana, breaking the silence, tears in her eyes.
“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it anymore,” said Tessandra. “...You guys should really get going now. I’m sorry about what happened to you two, but right now, my man is still waiting in the middle of the city to be killed or saved. So, let’s get going and see what the Cheshi have to offer, or we’ll have a lot more fucking tragic love stories.”
They closed the door of Bastat’s safe house behind them, dark expressions in their eyes. While Naptunie walked ahead, a bit excited to see the Cheshi, Cessilia was much slower behind her, still dismayed by the revelations Kassian had just divulged. They had parted without a word, and Ashen had remained mute, in complete shock, not even giving her a glance...
“Don’t worry,” suddenly said her older brother’s voice.
She lifted her eyes to see Darsan smiling at her. He put his big fur cloak on her shoulders, and his large hands after that, patting her gently.
