“You should have seen the look on Sab’s face!” Tessandra exulted. “I had never seen him like this, he ate the whole plate and didn’t even leave a single crumb! I could have won a hundred battles and not been prouder of myself. Mom’s recipe is dragon-proof, I swear.”
Cessilia smiled, happy for her cousin. Since Tessandra came back a couple of days before, she had been looking incredibly happy and energetic. She was now all too happy to tell Cessilia about every meal she had prepared, following her mother’s instructions, but seeing Sabael content was probably her biggest reward. For the first time, she was even following Cessilia to her herb garden, curious about which plants she would actually be able to use for cooking. It was quite a big change, and both Cessilia and Nana were happy to witness her happiness first hand.
“Did your mother teach you a lot of different recipes?” Nana asked, curious. “You only went back for a few days!”
“I felt bad leaving Sab alone any longer,” Tessandra grimaced. “Plus, my parents are always busy, even if they said otherwise while I was over... My mom still managed to teach me about a dozen though. Actually, she said it was the ones she learned the fastest, but she said it’s enough to begin with. They are surprisingly easy, and once I master them all, I’ll probably be good enough to cook anything and try new stuff. I think I’ll do better if I just try to improve by myself now. It’s always been the same with training too. Once I get the basic movements, I much prefer to train alone!”
“That’s good,” nodded Nana. “My mom is a good cook, but she has to cook for too many so she only does the simplest recipes. She always says it’s better to fill a stomach with a nourishing and simple meal rather than half-fill it with something too fancy! We always eat fish too, so I think she’s just mastered all the ways to cook it...”
“The recipes my mom gave me are more with meat, actually. I’ll probably need to do some hunting, but I do want to get better at cooking fish, it’s the main staple over here.”
“My mom would happily teach you!” said Nana. “She’s the best at cooking fish the simple and easy way!”
“With herbs, you can make it even better,” added Cessilia.
Tessandra nodded excitedly, and they walked a bit longer through Cessilia’s garden. It wasn’t as big as her mom’s herb garden back home, but Cessilia was a bit proud of the one she had grown from scratch over here. It was actually open to anyone who came to the castle, so any visitor could come and request some herbs. For now, she didn’t have enough that anyone could come and freely pick, but it was her goal to eventually. At the moment, Cessilia was more interested in growing as many herbs as she could, including the new ones she wasn’t familiar with before. Her cousins from the Hashat Family had been quite helpful with that. She had gotten much closer with Ishira, who was always happy to give her new herbs when their family got some, or to help her out when one flower was causing Cessilia trouble. It was just a couple of rooms in the castle that she had modified to use like a greenhouse, but there was a lot more Cessilia hoped to do to make everything there sustainable and abundant. Since she and Ashen had decided to open the lower floors of the castle to the public, she wanted to make sure everything there would be helpful in some way. So far, most citizens were too intimidated to come all the way here, but with time, she knew they would come.
“This one?” Tessandra asked, looking at a plant Cessilia had just described.
She nodded.
“The fresher, the better. It has a very faint sour taste and will go well with your fish or in any sauce. This plant is safe to use in any meal, and if you cut it very thinly, it makes a nice decoration.”
“I see...”
In her arms, Neridie suddenly made a little happy cry, her big green eyes attracted to one of the big and very colorful flowers in the greenhouse. Cessilia chuckled, and kissed her baby’s chubby cheek.
“Princess Neridie is so cute!” Nana exclaimed. “I can’t wait until she’s big enough to chat with us! Oh, I’ve found more children’s books to read to her!”
“She’s just three months old, Nana,” sighed Tessandra. “You’re lucky if she even recognizes your voice.”
“I really hope she does,” Nana frowned. “I just hope I will be a good godmother for her! I’m going to make sure she’s a very cultivated girl, and I’m confident I’ll be able to support her in any discipline!”
Tessandra rolled her eyes.
“Nana, Neridie won’t sit on the throne for at least a couple more decades. Let her breathe until then, you’re going to stun her with piles of books at this rate.”
“Oh my gods,” Nana panicked. “What do I do if she doesn’t like reading? What if she hates books because of me?”
“Nana, it’s going to be alright,” Cessilia chuckled. “Plus, Neridie loves it when we read to her. I’m sure everything will be alright.”
“...As long as you don’t overdo it,” muttered Tessandra. “Talking about stunning people, Nana, how is it going between you and Darsan? He’s proposed for the... what, eighth time already? I’m impressed, he won’t give up.”
“I just don’t want to have a fiancé yet!” Nana protested. “This is my first relationship, I’m trying to take it slow... Plus, I’m not really sure Prince Darsan realizes what he’s asking, you know. It’s probably not much for him...”
Tessandra and Cessilia exchanged a surprised look.
“Nana... I think you underestimate my brother’s feelings,” gently said Cessilia. “He’s never been with a girl either. In fact, he’s never shown interest in anyone romantically before. He’s really in love with you, but he might be a bit too... bold with his attempts to demonstrate his feelings.”
“Brazen should be his second name,” scoffed Tessandra.
“I-I understand... but I’m happy to simply date for now,” Nana nodded. “We have a very good relationship, but I feel that... marriage might be a bit too much for me right now. I want to stay a Royal Counselor, and we’re still preparing the public library too, and then there’s the building of the new city taking a lot of my time!”
Tessandra laughed.
“For once, I might feel sorry for Darsan! Nana, I’m pretty sure none of that will have to change even if you get engaged or married to Darsan! He’s not asking for a stay-at-home wifey! It’s Darsan! He’s a caveman, he could feed himself with raw meat every day and be completely fine too! He probably just wants to be able to call you his fiancée or his wife, and boast about it, but I bet he’ll be absolutely fine even if you have him do all the house chores! You already have him wrapped around your little finger. Trust me, the only risk you’re taking is to be called every time he breaks something. But then again, that’s already pretty much the case...”
Naptunie lowered her head, visibly thinking. Cessilia smiled while stroking her daughter’s head. Once again, Nana was overthinking things. She would always be the one to put her responsibilities first, but to Cessilia’s knowledge, her older brother would never have an issue with that...
Cessilia’s eyes shifted to Tessandra with a little smile. Her cousin blushed.
“What’s that look?”
“It’s cute, you’re the one giving relationship advice now...”
“I’m at least more experienced than Nana,” she protested in a whisper, “and I know Darsan too. Things are a bit more complicated with Sabael...”
“You make them complicated.”
“Stop teasing me!”
Cessilia chuckled and turned back to Nana, who seemed a lot more serene. She took a deep breath, followed it with a little nod, and then turned to Cessilia.
“Thank you, I feel a bit better now.”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t do much...”
“Speaking of your man, do you know where they all are?” Tessandra frowned. “Sabael disappeared right after his shift this afternoon, and this is the first time I’ve seen His Majesty not come to check on his daughter for longer than three hours... and since nothing has collapsed yet today, I suppose Darsan’s busy with something too?”
