Cessilia had stopped staring at the King to shift her green eyes to the woman standing next to him. It wasn’t just that woman’s attitude that was shocking.

It was her olive skin tone.

The two cousins exchanged a quick glance, both disturbed. They had never seen anyone with a skin color this close to their mothers’ before. There had been a brief trend about women trying to lighten their skin, but it wasn’t anything like they were witnessing now. This woman by the King’s side was clearly mixed, like them, and more fair-skinned than dark. Although her hair was more likely to be artificially tainted, she couldn’t fake her skin color so easily, nor how her traits were reminiscent of a long-forgotten race of people, the same race both Tessa and Cessilia were descendants of.

The Rain Tribe.

“Welcome, Your Highness,” she said with that beautiful smile, “...and... I suppose I’m talking to the famous traitor, Sir Yassim. It must have been a long journey back from the Dragon Empire.”

The way she spoke, in a gentle and whispery manner, was troubling. Something in Cessilia’s mind told her this woman was acting polite, but not friendly. Even her attitude as she stood next to the King spoke volumes. She had no fear and displayed her pride and self-confidence without an ounce of hesitation.

Tessa glared at Yassim, hoping they’d get an explanation for this too, but the old man looked baffled. From that woman’s speech, he had visibly never met her in person. However, anyone could see how familiar she was with the King. If it had been the Dragon Empire, she surely would have been some sort of concubine, but here, the girls were unsure. Everything was new; they couldn’t be sure of anything. The rules and customs ought to be different from their homeland...

Instead, Tessa glanced around. In fact, all the nobles present were either ignoring that woman or looking upset by her. So, she wasn’t too popular with anyone here... Yet, she stood by the King’s side like this?

Meanwhile, Cessilia was still staring at the odd couple facing her. Her expression had changed, and her green eyes showed something bitter compared to before.

As a few seconds passed in silence, the red-haired woman sighed.

“Looks like I ruined the mood here. I am Jisel, the King’s attendant...”

Tessa raised an eyebrow. Attendant? This woman was clearly the King’s mistress.

The King suddenly sat back on his throne with a sullen expression. He was still staring at Cessilia and hadn’t reacted at all to Jisel’s appearance, but it didn’t seem to matter. The red-haired woman kept her perfect smile on and took a step back, standing just one foot behind the throne, her hands behind her back.

“Enough,” groaned the King. “Resume.”

In just two words, the whole atmosphere changed, every noble in the room eager to please. The soldiers that were flanking Yassim quickly moved aside, leaving the old man free for now. His shoulders visibly relaxed, but Yassim didn’t forget his primary mission. He was about to gently guide Cessilia and her cousin to the side when Jisel spoke up.

“Ah, the guests should take the empty seats. We aren’t waiting for anyone.”

Although that seemed like an innocent and considerate couple of sentences, both girls noticed how Yassim’s expression fell while hearing this, and the other nobles looked down too. Neither Cessilia nor Tessa moved, waiting for the old man to indicate how to react. Yassim silently clenched his fist and nodded painstakingly.

“...I see.”

“I’ll s-stand,” suddenly said Cessilia.

All eyes turned to her, visibly surprised not by her stutter, but by how openly she defied the King’s woman’s offer. She didn’t even look her way and wasn’t looking toward the King anymore. Instead, she simply stood behind old Yassim as he had moved aside, actually standing next to those two empty seats.

Tessa nodded and did the same, both young women standing behind Yassim. They weren’t so blind as to ignore what was going on completely. There were nine seats in this room, aside from the King’s, and Yassim had mentioned nine lords during their trip there. Judging from his shattered reaction and Jisel’s words, they could easily imagine what had happened, and why they shouldn’t sit in those seats. The reactions of the nobles weren’t all the same this time. Some kept staring at them, clearly intrigued, some subtly nodded, and some shook their heads.

“As you wish,” chuckled Jisel.

One of the nobles standing sighed, and stepped forward, taking the middle spot of the room they had stood in just before.

“Your Highness, with the addition of Princess Cessilia from the Dragon Empire, this now makes a total of ten candidates as to who your future Queen might be.”

The King wasn’t looking at the old man at all. Instead, his eyes were still fixated on the Princess, unblinking, with a frown on.

Cessilia, however, wasn’t staring his way at all anymore. She was slightly leaning toward Yassim, who had just whispered to her.

“This is Counselor Yamino, an old friend. He is a good man.”

Tessa and Cessilia slightly nodded, listening to Counselor Yamino’s words.

“I shall repeat the agreement for the Princess of the Dragon Empire. According to the rules agreed by the... seven noble families, each family and Royal Counselor is free to introduce any young woman of marriageable age as a King’s Candidate. Each candidate and her family shall receive ten thousand silver coins as compensation.”

Tessa silently smirked, glancing to the side to see which of the nobles had reacted to that sentence. So some of them had probably traded their daughters for some money...

“Each candidate will receive a room and stay for at least a month within the castle. During the time spent here, the candidates are free to access any area of the castle they please and use their free time as they will. However, they have the obligation to attend all the social events organized by the Royal Castle, the official meetings like this one, and obey each of the King’s orders. Any refusal or absence to any of the aforementioned rules will result in the elimination of the candidate, who will be sent home and have all the previous rewards confiscated.”

Cessilia grimaced, and so did her cousin. They had to obey all of the King’s orders? This rule felt horribly ominous...

“His Majesty will select his future bride among the candidates. The family of the chosen candidate will receive, among other presents, ten thousand gold coins and eternal glory. The new Queen will be the official Queen of our Eastern Kingdom, and mother to all the official heirs to the throne. She will assume all the responsibilities of her rank and position, and be the King’s left hand in all but military matters.”

Another rule that the War God’s daughter and niece did not appreciate at all. All but military matters? Now that they looked around them, all the women present looked very fragile and delicate. None of them looked like they could lift a weapon...

The Counselor took a deep breath, briefly glancing toward Cessilia before resuming.

“Today is the final call for all the selected candidates. If any candidate or her family wishes to withdraw, this is the last chance before they are officially entered. No punishment will be held against those who choose to retract now. I will call the names of each candidate and have them confirm, as well as their families.”

One by one, the Counselor called out each of the candidates. Surprisingly enough, they all answered loud and clear their will to partake in this competition to be crowned Queen, but only half of the said candidates seemed to actually be present here, aside from Cessilia. In each case, a member of the family gave an excuse for their candidate not being there, claiming she was ill or still on her way, and no one objected to this. Cessilia felt out of place listening to this. She hadn’t thought she was walking into a competition with other women... and she didn’t like it at all.

“Cessi, we can go home,” whispered Tessa as the Counselor was still calling out the others. “This is ridiculous, you’re a princess, there’s no reason for you to compete for that crazy guy...”

Cessilia knew where her cousin’s opinion came from. This indeed felt very foolish. However, now, it was clear her fate was intertwined with Yassim’s. Moreover, there were still too many questions pending, including why Jisel wasn’t called among the candidates. Cessilia had listened. For each candidate, they mentioned her name and her family’s, but Jisel never spoke, and everyone seemed to forget her for a few seconds. She wasn’t among the competitors...

“...The ninth candidate is Lady Naptunie, introduced by myself, and my niece is willingly partaking in this, she will arrive tomorrow. Finally, uh...”

Yassim glanced toward Cessilia. He knew his life was in her hands, and so did she. Their eyes met, and the young woman nodded slightly. The old man didn’t hide the wave of relief in his eyes, instead looking infinitely grateful. He turned to his former colleague, and stepped forward.

“The tenth candidate is Imperial Princess Cessilia of the Dragon Empire, introduced by myself, former Counselor Yassim.”

“...Princess Cessilia,” called out one of the seven lords, “are you really going to participate?”

“Yes,” nodded the Princess.

She hadn’t stuttered, nor was she hiding from their gazes. Instead, all the nobles quickly tried to glance the King’s way. Ashen had his hand covering his mouth, but his eyes were still fixated on the Princess. It was hard to understand what he was thinking, except for the way his fist was clenched on his throne...

“Well, we have ten candidates then,” nodded Counselor Yamino.

Suddenly, the King stood, and all the nobles seated stood one second after him. It was like a storm had suddenly broken into the room, putting everyone present in survival mode. Some were frozen by fear, others looked ready to run away. There was a general movement of stepping away from the throne and the man standing a step in front of it. However, Ashen didn’t say anything. He stood there for a couple more seconds, like a statue of ice with eyes of fire. After one last glare in Yassim and Cessilia’s way, he suddenly stormed out of the room.

No one said a word, and it took a couple of seconds after he was gone for anything to be heard, anyone to dare move. It had all happened so quickly, not everyone had understood what had happened.

The only one who could still keep a smile on was Jisel. If she had been shocked by the King’s sudden outburst, no one had seen it. She still had her little smile on, and her eyes met Cessilia’s. The Princess already didn’t like that woman, like a lioness who knew she was faced with a rival. Jisel gave her a little wink and quietly walked out while everyone else still seemed stunned.

The second person to react was Yassim. He turned around and looked at the two women.