Yassim was intrigued too. He hadn’t thought he’d return to see his King had really taken a mistress... He felt horrible about it, after he had brought Princess Cessilia all the way here. That woman was the worst outcome he had imagined in his plan, and he also didn’t like her already... He turned to Yamino, who rubbed his round cheeks with a sullen expression.

“Ah... That Jisel woman, I am not too sure, to be honest with you. I heard rumors about her here and there from the servants, and then I began seeing her in the castle. She’s... just acting as if she had always been here. She greets us, but I’ve never seen her talk with anyone but His Majesty. She’s most often by his side, to be honest. I quickly found out she’s been with him for a while now, but no one seems to know where that woman came from.”

The two cousins exchanged a look.

“M-Mother said there were other p-people from the Rain T-Tribe...” muttered Cessilia.

“Yeah, she and my mom searched for some of them, but she only found a handful of slaves scattered in the Dragon Empire...”

“Rain people?” repeated Yamino.

“White-skinned people,” said Tessa, “like our moms.”

“Oh... I have never seen white-skinned people, but... people like you, I do.”

“Seriously?!” exclaimed Tessa, slamming her armchair and making the old men jump.

“Y-yes,” mumbled Yamino. “W-well... I mean, their skin isn’t as fair as yours, but the Hashat Family’s heir is... definitely closer to your skin color than mine. They haven’t met the King yet, but I met the Hashat’s Lord’s heir at a party not long ago. I almost thought you were his people until Yassim spoke earlier...”

“Hashat,” repeated Tessa, turning to her cousin again. “Hashat, Hashat... Cessi, didn’t Auntie use to sing that old song, when we were kids, remember? She taught us those lyrics from her native language, and hashe was definitely the word for...”

“...It m-means rain.”

The two girls remained quiet for a little while, seriously shaken by that news. They had always seen their mothers trying to find more people from the Rain Tribe who had survived the slaughter three decades ago. Each time they had found other white-skinned women or their mixed children, their mothers were seriously shaken and thrilled. Both Tessa and Cessilia knew how much it meant to find people of that supposedly exterminated group.

“C-can you t-tell us more about th-those p-people? The Hashat Family?” asked Cessilia.

“Of course, my lady,” nodded Yamino, a bit surprised by their reactions. “Although, there isn’t much. The Hashat were never a very powerful family, but they did get more noticeable following the previous civil war. While a lot of our Kingdom was ravaged, their people became famous as miraculous healers...”

Cessilia felt her heart stop upon hearing this.

“Their medical knowledge is the most advanced in the land,” nodded Yassim. “Their tribe went from village to village to help heal the people, and thus, they made a reputation for themselves. They never earned much for it, but their will to save even the poorest of our citizens became well-known throughout the land. It is known that the Hashat will heal even those who can’t pay, as long as no one is hostile to them.”

“Once the war ended, His Majesty rewarded them for their good actions. They were gifted a lot of money, and some lands that had been confiscated, although they decided to remain an itinerant tribe. I believe they have a couple of houses in the Capital, but they never stay long. Only a handful stay to partake in the nine lords’ meetings, but the leader’s heir and oldest son is usually traveling with the rest of their family...”

“It is probably also for their safety,” nodded Yassim. “A lot of people were upset that a nameless tribe suddenly got so much money and land from the King...”

“Well, for once, your King sounds like he did a good thing,” said Tessa, crossing her arms. “But that medical knowledge is something the Rain Tribe was known for. My guess is that the Hashat became so good because they took in some of our Rain Tribe’s people.”

“C-can we meet them?” asked Cessilia.

“Of course, my lady. As I said, their leader resides in the Capital. I can ask Counselor Oroun to arrange a meeting with them; they are very kind people, only a bit secretive, for obvious reasons...”

Cessilia nodded with a little smile.

Yassim was always surprised at how polite, quiet, and gentle the young Princess was. In fact, despite their very brief meeting, he could see a lot of her mother in her. He could easily see why her cousin was so outspoken, in comparison, and always ready to jump to her defense. Despite her size, Cessilia seemed rather fragile on the inside...

“...Do you have any other questions about the other families and tribes, my ladies?” asked Yassim, visibly a bit nervous.

“How will the competition go?” asked Tessa. “I imagine it’s not like there’s going to be a sword fight or something?”

“Oh, no, my lady. In fact, there won’t be any open competition. It’s only about inviting all the candidates, and His Majesty will choose one to be his wife.”

“Nice, so we don’t actually need to kill the others to win?” asked Tessa, raising an eyebrow.

A bit shocked to hear a young woman say such a thing, Yamino glanced at Yassim, his mouth open. Did he just hear this? Yassim chuckled nervously. After all, Lady Tessa was also the War God’s and the Empress’ niece...

Thankfully, two of the triplets returned then, and they had actually already gathered everything Tessa had asked. They poured some tea for all four of them, and Tessa jumped on the meat buns. They hadn’t eaten since leaving that morning, so the four of them gladly ate some breakfast while the triplets happily served them.

“...I want t-to visit the C-Capital, if p-possible,” said Cessilia after a little while.

“Of course!” said Yassim with a smile. “I’ll personally walk you around this morning, my lady. It’s actually a market day, so it will be even more thriving than usual.”

“Lady Cessilia,” said Yamino, licking his fingers after his third meat bun, “I would like to introduce you to my niece, Naptunie, if you’d agree. That child grew up here in the Capital, she’ll escort you as well, if you’d like. I’m sure she will be able to show you the young people’s favorite places.”

“I’d love th-that,” nodded Cessilia.

She had a little smile on her lips that she couldn’t hide. Cessilia was a bit impatient to explore more of this Kingdom. In fact, she had never been the adventurous type, and her family had always watched her a bit more closely. She lived her life between the Imperial Palace and her father’s castle, sometimes visiting her grandmother too. But she had only accompanied her brothers to the North Camp once, and she rarely went anywhere without her family. She wasn’t like Kiera, who couldn’t stand being watched and would flee anytime she could. Perhaps because she was the oldest daughter, Cessilia was always very obedient. Only once had she broken the rules. She had betrayed her parents’ trust just one time and paid a heavy price for it...

“Shall we start with a tour of the castle?” offered Yamino, patting his round belly. “This way, we can go see my niece, and then you younglings should be off to the Capital!”

“...What about the rest of your, uh... luggage, ladies?” asked Yassim, suddenly remembering the Black Dragon.

“Oh, he’ll be back when he’s full,” shrugged Tessa.

“K-Krai likes to g-go hunting first th-thing in the morning,” smiled Cessilia. “He will nap somewhere and c-come b-back later...”

Yassim tried to smile a bit awkwardly. He was a little bit worried as to where the large Black Dragon would set its new hunting ground...

“Oh, let’s go now,” announced Tessa, standing up and stretching. “I need to walk to digest all this. I’m curious about this castle too. It’s so tiny!”

Yamino and Yassim felt a bit defeated by the young woman’s honesty, but she probably had very different standards, considering where she came from. Yassim had witnessed himself that the War God’s residence was about as big as their King’s...

“We can take care of your luggage if you want!” quickly offered one of the triplets, running to the bags they had put down at the entrance.

Before she could put her hands on it, a knife flew right by her fingers, missing them only by an inch. The cutlery stabbed the wall next to her. Nupia froze and fell back in fear, her eyes wide. Her younger siblings, who were respectively holding the teapot and a full fruit plate, glanced at Tessa, both just as shocked.

“If you touch our things, I’ll cut your fingers off,” said the young woman.

“I-I’m sorry!” quickly said Nupia, backing away from their bags.

The two Counselors were in awe. Not only because they had barely seen the action, or that this kitchen knife had been thrown with such speed, strength, and precision that it literally got stuck in a wall, but also because Cessilia had barely reacted to this. In fact, her eyes had quickly gone to each of the triplets before she had taken her teacup to sip quietly as if her cousin’s action was completely normal.

“M-my lady,” said Yamino, a bit confused. “There’s nothing to worry about, all the castle’s servants are trained since childhood to serve well–”

“Th-they are not just servants,” suddenly said Cessilia.

Once again, the two old men were utterly confused, but the young Princess’ green eyes were on the two younger triplets. It was as if her previously gentle gaze had turned into an emerald-colored stare. This time, Yassim could clearly see something of her father in Cessilia’s eyes. She didn’t look so fragile anymore, all of a sudden, but she had the piercing gaze of someone who knew how to watch out for threats.