“I live here, I know where the kitchens are,” he chuckled at Cessilia’s surprised expression.

In record time, they had managed to gather a half-decent breakfast for the demanding older lady, and place it on the balcony’s table before sitting down with her. Ashen’s nervousness was written all over his face and, amusingly, he was alternating between avoiding Lady Kareen’s eyes and staring at her. Cessilia couldn’t help but smile behind her cup of tea. She rarely got to see him so tense and intimidated by someone... However, for a while, Lady Kareen didn’t say anything. She only drank and ate quietly, graceful as always, very slowly as if she was truly taking her time with the delicacies. For a long while, no one said a thing, until Cessilia put down her cup.

“Did you have a good evening, Grandmother?”

“Oh, I did. That Dorosef girl is incredibly smart and a great entertainer. I learned a lot more from just a few minutes with her than a whole hour with some older man that kept harassing me. She’s a great match for your brother too. I hope they settle down quickly, Darsan needs a kind girl like her to tame him.”

“Right?” Cessilia smiled. “Naptunie became our friend right away, she’s incredible. And very brave too.”

“Her whole tribe is pretty interesting. They offered for me to stay with them, and I might just take them up on their offer. This place you call a castle is no good! There is not enough light, the stone work is terrible, and those long corridors make no sense!”

Cessilia and Ashen exchanged a surprised look, and not because of Kareen’s appraisal of the poor castle.

“Grandmother, you plan to stay here? For how long?”

“As long as it pleases me!” she retorted. “Why not? I’m bored in the Empire, so I might as well take a vacation here. Unless I’m not welcome?”

She asked that last sentence while staring at Ashen, her thin eyebrows dramatically arched. He smiled nervously.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you wish, Lady Kareen,” he said. “I’m just surprised you wish to stay. It will take us weeks to renovate the Capital and clean up the aftermath of the battle...”

“Darling, I’ve seen way worse than this. In fact, if you plan on having my darling granddaughter and at least one of my grandbabies staying here, I have a few things to say about how you should renovate this pigsty you call a castle; even my stables get more light than this!”

Ashen nodded helplessly. Cessilia couldn’t help but be a bit happy about her grandmother staying for a while. Lady Kareen was an incredible support, and if she planned to stay, she would definitely whip the staff into shape and get the Capital back to its former glory in half as much time as it should take!

“...At least this room is decent,” she nodded.

“I gave Cessilia the best suite in the castle.”

“That’s good.”

It almost felt like he was trying to get his in-laws’ approval already. However, Lady Kareen liked to stay an enigmatic woman, sipping her tea with very little expression on.

“Grandmother, you saw Father and Mother then?” Cessilia asked. “Are they alright?”

“Almost half their children crossed the border and didn’t bother to send any news!” Kareen exclaimed. “Of course they are worried! Oh well, it’s not like they don’t trust you. You know that silly father of yours would have come in person if his presence wasn’t needed in the north... With Kassian and Darsan both gone from their positions, it must be chaos up there, and your mother’s got the younger ones to look after. Moreover, we wouldn’t want to cause a diplomatic incident.”

“We plan to reopen the border very soon,” declared Ashen. “I will reopen the negotiations with the Empress as soon as possible–”

“Fine!”

She suddenly slammed her cup down.

“I will make sure those negotiations go well,” Kareen suddenly declared, “and I want to have a residence built in the outskirts of the city for when I come to visit, at least twice a year. A nice location, not too far from the Capital, with gardens, and plenty of light.”

Cessilia almost spat her tea out. So that was her grandmother’s real aim after all... to house-hunt and find herself a secondary residence far from the Imperial Palace. She remembered the epic fights between Lady Kareen and her daughter, constantly arguing about her being under surveillance. No wonder she found going on the other side of the border would be the best way to flee from her daughter!

“Of course, I should have a room here as well,” she added, grabbing a new fruit. “A suite akin to this one in terms of size and decorations would be acceptable.”

“Grandmother, the repairs are going to take a while...”

“So what?! Am I not welcome until then?” she protested.

“You can’t impose on the Dorosef Tribe for so long,” muttered Cessilia. “Moreover, all the families are going to be busy repairing what was destroyed in the battle, too... How about you stay with us instead?”

“With us?” she repeated, frowning.

Her eyes then turned to Ashen with a serious expression.

“Young man. Do I understand that you plan on having my precious granddaughter remain here?”

“Of course,” Ashen retorted. “I have no intention of parting with Cessilia again.”

“Really? I heard she came to marry you, so why haven’t I heard of any wedding happening yet? You wouldn’t possibly be thinking of keeping the War God’s precious daughter, the Dragon Empress’ niece, and the sister of the future Emperor as a mere concubine, would you?”

“Grandmother!” Cessilia blushed.

However, neither Ashen nor Kareen reacted to her. Instead, the two of them were fiercely staring at each other, the older lady with a smirk on her lips. She was obviously testing the King, and he was not having it.

“No,” he muttered, anger in his voice.

“...Cessilia dear, leave us alone.”

“What? But–”

“Go and find Tessandra, that child drank way more than she should have last night.”

Cessilia wanted to protest some more. The atmosphere between these two did not seem like the conversation about to ensue was going to be pacific at all. In fact, her grandmother asking her to leave made her even more nervous about all this. They wouldn’t fight each other or something, right?

“...Don’t worry, Cessilia,” muttered Ashen, his eyes riveted on the older lady. “I’ll come and find you later, I promise.”

This was his own way of saying he could handle the matriarch of the Imperial Family on his own. Cessilia glanced at the two of them and slowly stood up, still quite nervous about leaving the table.

“Grandmother, please be nice,” she muttered.

“Always, darling, always.”

Cessilia sighed, but left a quick kiss on her grandmother’s cheek, and after one last glance at Ashen, she walked back inside, quickly grabbing a thicker shawl to cover herself with, and left the Cerulean Suite.

She couldn’t help but still be nervous while she went down the stairs. Her grandmother was probably here to play the role of proxy in her father’s stead, which was even more terrifying... It made sense that the War God couldn’t have come himself. Ashen’s relationship with her family hadn’t been left in the best state, but also the current geopolitical conflict between the two nations went far beyond the King’s wishes. Merely reopening the borders for trade would take weeks, if not months, and it would take far more than that for the trust to be reestablished between the two countries. While she kept walking down the castle’s stairs and corridors, Cessilia tried to imagine it. In a few years’ time, would the two nations find a common ground? Her brother was going to become the Dragon Emperor some day, probably in just a few years. If she became Ashen’s Queen, wouldn’t that make it all far easier? Although her heart was hopeful, Cessilia was also educated enough in politics to know not everything would happen soon. She now knew why her grandmother had come, instead of her father or aunt...

Walking down and outside the castle, into the fresh morning fog, Cessilia realized the damage done to the castle was worse than everywhere else, which was a rather good thing... Aside from the main streets, most buildings had held well against the attacks. Many doors and windows would have to be repaired, but the stone walls of the houses had remained sturdy. Where the fires had taken place, everything but the houses’ structures had gone up in flames. Which meant there was still something to rebuild on... unlike the collapsed parts of the castle. Cessilia glanced back. She had never really liked this castle, except for the Cerulean Suite. Maybe her grandmother was right, and they could rebuild something even better?

“Cessi!”

She turned around, surprised, and found Darsan running up to her. She would have been scared of her older brother’s giant figure if she wasn’t used to it. He hugged her like a gigantic bear would have, with his big arms circling her.

“Good morning, little sis!”