“My grandmother can easily pay forward for her palace,” said Cessilia. “What if we asked the Dragon Empire, my aunt the Empress, to lend the money for the new city?”

“You want the Kingdom to take out a loan?!”

“We are going to reestablish trade between the two countries,” smiled Cessilia. “What better way to reopen communications than a mutually beneficial deal between them?”

Nana’s jaw dropped.

“That’s...” sighed Lady Bastat. “I can see your goal, but would that really work? I mean, for a deal to be mutually beneficial, we need to give something to the Dragon Empire, what could that be?”

“The Dragon Empire’s capital is starting to have an overpopulation issue,” explained Cessilia. “Not only that, but there are many crafts and domains which haven’t evolved in a long time as well. Reopening trade between the two nations would be a big opportunity for the Dragon Empire to improve its own economy. Many merchants and artisans could move between the two nations. Moreover, that loan isn’t much for the Dragon Empire, but if the Eastern Kingdom caught up in terms of economy...”

“It would spare them a future financial crisis,” nodded Naptunie. “In the past, there were many cases in which the Empire or the Kingdom’s economy was improved simply by introducing new trades. Moreover, an economy doing too well for too long isn’t good either, it creates stagnation which is bound to collapse at the first crisis!”

“...As educated as I am in trade,” muttered Bastat, “I’m afraid I don’t follow...”

“It’s like two pots of water,” explained Nana. “If water keeps being poured into only one, it will eventually overflow. But if instead, that pot shares the water it receives into another pot, an empty one, it will last longer before it overflows!”

“That sounds awfully simple, but I understand what you mean, I think...”

“The idea is simply to use that loan,” said Cessilia. “This way, the Dragon Empire gets new opportunities of trade and for our commerce to get to a new era, sharing both countries’ knowledge, while the Eastern Kingdom gets back on its feet. If the two nations are bound to trade, it is even better if they can do so on an equal footing. Moreover, if the Eastern Kingdom accelerates its growth, we will reduce the issues at the border, and the whole Kingdom will flourish and be on par with the Dragon Empire even sooner.”

“Now that sounds great,” nodded Lady Bastat, “but how do we guarantee the idea will please the Empress? We’re talking about a huge loan...”

“That’s why I think we should come up with the best artisans to convince her... the best merchants and the brightest minds.”

Cessilia smiled, and the two young women suddenly understood.

“You want us to represent the Kingdom!” exclaimed Nana.

“Nana, you’re the smartest person I have ever met,” smiled Cessilia. “You should become a Royal Advisor, not just stay hidden in a library... and you, Lady Bastat, have incredible talent for trade as well. I have no doubt you can pick the finest merchants and create a Merchant’s Guild that could rival that of the Dragon Empire!”

“...Will His Majesty agree to this?” frowned Bastat.

“I think it might be the best way to rebuild the Council of the Lords,” she nodded. “The Lords will have to change, and instead, we need to find ways to represent everyone in the Kingdom, not just the strongest clans or tribes. This should start with every trade, every line of work being represented.”

“I like the sound of that,” nodded Nana. “I’m sure I can convince Uncle Mino and the Dorosef Tribe Leader!”

“I’ll need to discuss it with our merchants and artisans,” said Bastat, “but I have high hopes, too...”

Cessilia chuckled, pleased to see the two capable young women agree to her plan.

“We still have time,” she said. “For now, the repairs and sorting out the aftermath of the battlefield will probably take us quite a while, but I think the castle and the outskirts will both need to be rebuilt next, and by capable architects... I’m sure you two already know names of people who could help with that. Can I ask you to get a headstart on this? Then we can put our plan in motion as soon as this battle is really behind us.”

The two young women nodded immediately, and Naptunie’s eyes were literally shining with excitement. Cessilia knew those two would be more than capable and up to the task.

“Alright then, I will go and meet with the Cheshi Clan, see how we’re doing for now,” she smiled.

“Oh, Lady Aglithia was also looking for you,” said Nana. “I think it’s about the prisoners...”

“I’ll go and see her then. Thanks for the beignets, Nana!”

“Always!” the young girl chuckled.

The three of them parted ways, Nana and Bastat heading downtown in the same direction Tessandra and Darsan had taken before. Meanwhile, Cessilia turned around, heading to the Cheshi’s main residence to find Aglithia.

“Cessilia.”

She turned around, surprised to see her older brother appearing. Not only that, but Kassian was wearing a thicker coat too, looking ready for a journey. Cessilia walked up to him, curious. He hugged her quietly as a greeting, and she could smell he had been given some of the delicious Dorosef signature breakfast.

“Good morning, big brother. ...What’s going on?”

“I’m going to fly home this morning.”

“What? ...Already?”

He chuckled and nodded, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“You’ve been gone for a while already, and our parents probably need to hear you’re alright. And now that Grandmother’s here, our aunt might be bothered as well. I’m just going to tell them everyone’s alright, and take Krai home too. We left our dad with only Dran, not the best combo...”

Cessilia nodded. Indeed, now that Kassian was mentioning it, she was just realizing several days had passed already since she had left their home. Moreover, even if her parents knew Cece was back and the dragons were fine, it couldn’t match up to an actual explanation. She felt a bit guilty for not realizing how many days had passed since their parents had last heard from her... She had never been away from both of them for so long either. Because of her parents’ respective duties, she was used to traveling from one of their familial residences to another, or to her grandmother’s, but with their dragons, it only took a few hours for the longest ones. Not only that, but Cessilia thought about her younger siblings too.

“I hadn’t realized,” she muttered. “It’s been over a week already...”

“It’s alright,” Kassian chuckled. “Don’t fret over it. You, Darsan, and I are already adults, they wouldn’t have allowed you here if they didn’t trust you. Plus, Kiera has disappeared for longer than that once or twice...”

Cessilia smiled at the mention of her infamous runaway sister. She knew Kassian wasn’t meaning to make her feel guilty, but she did owe a bit of an explanation to their parents, and to return Krai to her father too. Although she was a bit sad for him to leave, she knew they’d see each other again soon enough.

“So you’ll tell them about Ashen?” she tilted her head.

“I’ll have to. He’s the main reason Father couldn’t really come... I may have made peace with him, but it’s not exactly like they parted on good terms.”

This time, Cessilia was the one to smile.

“Tell them I’ll come back home soon... with Ashen and Cece.”

“I guess we can consider the Eastern Kingdom’s skies as reopened to our dragons then.”

“Careful what you wish for!” exclaimed a familiar voice behind them.

They both turned around to see Lady Kareen coming down the road, elegant as always. Surprisingly, she was able to walk with her high heels on the more than bumpy road as if it had been perfectly flat. She walked up to the two of them, her arms crossed, and her shoulders covered with a thick fur cape to protect herself from the cold.

“Grandmother,” said Kassian, surprised to see her. “...I was wondering where you’d been.”

“Since when do I have to report to you?” she shrugged.

“You drank a lot last night,” he said, “...on purpose and despite us trying to stop you. And this morning, you were gone already. Were you trying to elude us?”

“Oh, leave an old lady to have some fun!” she slapped his shoulder. “Don’t be so uptight, I hate that I am old enough for my grandchildren to be the ones to scold me!”