“Wow. That sure saves some paperwork...” scoffed Tessa, putting her blades back. “If I had known, I would have cut their hands off, or at least a finger or two. It’s the usual judgment in the Dragon Empire.”

“You guys are barbaric...” muttered Sabael.

“And you’re lazy,” retorted Tessa.

While the two of them bickered some more, Cessilia smiled, amused by their banter. All these men were alive and would survive this. She sighed. In fact, she didn’t feel too good about what had happened. Those men had attacked them although they couldn’t have missed the presence of a dragon nearby. They had to be really desperate for money... and lured more by the gold than their own lives’ values. She knew her home country wasn’t responsible for this Kingdom’s misery, but they sure hadn’t done anything to help, either. Cessilia stood back up and walked back to their little group, one less gold ring in her hair.

“We should head back quickly before something else happens,” said Sabael, glancing around with a frown. “I wouldn’t be surprised if more people noticed your presence here.”

They all agreed to hurry back with the cart to the gates. Cessilia noticed how Nana stayed close to her, instead of her older brother, all this time. In fact, Sabael had some blood on his armor, as his fight had been messier than Tessa’s. He wasn’t injured but certainly didn’t look as well put together as previously.

Luckily, with the passes from the Dorosef Tribe and Sabael vouching for them, they had no issues crossing the gates to get back inside. The Royal Guards didn’t even dare go through the Princess’ belongings as soon as Nupia stepped up to forbid them from it. It seemed like a Royal Servant’s words could outweigh a Royal Guard’s authority... Once they stepped on the bridge and were on the way back to the Greater Capital, Nana looked a bit more relaxed and smiled again. It seemed like the fight from before had really frightened her, but now, she felt safe enough to glance up at the sky, as if she was hoping to spot a dragon flying.

“Nana,” said Cessilia. “C-can you show me around your favorite b-boutiques later? I really like your b-bracelets.”

“Oh, of course! I can show you the best ones in town and even where to get the prettiest dresses, jewelry, and shoes! One of my cousins also just began her collection of shell boxes, they are so pretty! I’m sure you will love it!”

“We need to drop by the castle to put all that in our room,” sighed Tessa, pointing at their cart, “and I guess we need to send the cart back to your family.”

“If you stay within the Inner Capital,” said Nupia. “My younger siblings can take it back to the castle for you, ladies. Is the Royal Guard going to stay with us...?”

She glanced at Sabael, strongly hinting that he should. Tessa jumped on the occasion to get next to Sabael with a bright smile.

“Of course, he will! Two guides are better than one, right?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered, trying to step away from Tessa. “I had hoped to train today...”

“You can train as a princess’ bodyguard,” she retorted. “From what I saw earlier, you could get better at it and it’s not like we will be completely safe in the Inner Capital without a proper escort, right?”

Sabael blushed, but despite his pride being a bit hurt by her words, he had nothing to answer to that. In fact, he felt a bit defeated that Tessa’s fighting skills were obviously better than his and he couldn’t beat a girl against ruffians after all he had said previously. Hence, he decided not to answer and just nodded, a frown between his eyebrows.

“It’s settled, then!” said Tessa, obviously the happiest about his decision. “By the way, can you get me a room too? I get Cessilia’s place is grand but I only saw one bed, and I could use some privacy too. Like, without you three around.”

“I understand,” said Nupia, visibly impervious to Tessa’s snarky remarks. “We will make sure the closest room to the Princess is ready for you.”

Then, they separated from two of the triplets, who left on their own to get back more quickly to the castle. While they weren’t yet at the Inner Gate, Nana had begged them to make a detour by another of her cousin’s shops for food again. While they walked up to the said spot, Cessilia discreetly got closer to her cousin.

“D-didn’t you p-plan to st-tay with me?” she asked in a whisper.

“From what I’ve seen, not everyone will be as welcoming as Nana. I don’t like the idea of someone staying next door to us, namely those other candidates, when that castle is so freaking tiny. Also, what if that King does get closer to you? I don’t want to have to close my eyes and ears!”

Cessilia chuckled at her cousin’s exasperation, but Tessa did have a point. It would perhaps be better to make sure no one could wander to her apartments and she knew the triplets would find a close room for Tessa, as they had seen a couple of doors on their way there. However, she did have a hunch that Tessa’s sudden interest in getting her own room wasn’t about her cousin’s relationship with the King but about her own interest in a certain Royal Guard...

Still completely unaware of Tessa’s vivid interest in her brother, Nana showed them where to get some smoked fish rolls with cream and that seaweed they had already tried before. Once again, the tastes were completely new to their palates, which made the young ladies happier. In fact, more than the food, Cessilia was deeply intrigued by all the uses those people had for seaweed. She had even seen shops selling different varieties, some dried or not, even as flakes and powders. She interrogated Nana about this while they were waiting to pass the Inner Gate.

“Oh, we use a lot of seaweed!” exclaimed Nana. “Well, we have plenty of it and some families have specialized in seaweed farming too!”

“You have farms of seaweed?” repeated Tessa, surprised.

“Yes! They are used for food like here, but a lot of people also buy them to make other things like nets, fertilizer, soap... Oh, I heard they use it in some beauty products too, but those are expensive. Ah, and there are some medicinal uses too!”

“In m-medicine?” repeated Cessilia, immediately intrigued.

“Yes! I don’t know too much about it, though, and medicine is heavily regulated... but we can go to one of the apothecary shops and ask around! I’m sure they’ll know plenty!”

Cessilia nodded in agreement, very interested to hear more about this. Her undying love for knowledge was easily triggered by information such as this, and since seaweed wasn’t common in the Empire, she was twice as curious as usual.

Although, since Nana wasn’t particularly knowledgeable on the matter, they agreed to find an apothecary to visit later. It wasn’t like they had to do everything the first day after all, but Nana did seem pretty enthusiastic about taking them everywhere she could. In fact, as soon as they were back inside the Inner Capital, she guided them for a long, long shopping tour around the streets. It was as if she really knew each and every citizen living there, and the products they sold in their shops. Some she only showed them, and some she insisted they tried. A lot of those were food, though, so both Cessilia and Tessa had to soon beg her to not feed them anymore, for they were already very full.

Luckily, there was a lot more than just food offered among the many shops. Aside from all the delicacies, the shops had many choices of jewelry, pottery, woodwork, embroideries, fabrics, plants, skins and furs, and clothes. Nana proudly introduced them to all the elite craftsmen of the Kingdom, for the greatest ones were inevitably selling their best products in the Inner Capital, where the wealthy population was. As soon as they spotted Cessilia and Tessa and their attire, a lot of merchants were trying to have them visit their shops, delivering their best sales speeches in hopes to get some of that gold. In fact, this was when Nana proved to be the most helpful. She would get upset as soon as she heard of how the sellers were inflating their prices to trick the two women or lying about their products, and she didn’t let anything through.

“You lying old trout!” she shouted after hearing one man’s speech to Cessilia. “Brand new what? That pattern was already outdated three years ago! You’re only good at copying other popular patterns from the best shops! Come on, Lady Cessilia, let’s get out of here. You should be ashamed, you smelly whelk!”

“What in the world is a whelk...?” muttered Tessa to Cessi as the young woman pushed them both outside.

“I can’t believe it!” Nana kept groaning once they were back in the street. “This is the eleventh time I’ve caught one of them lying to your faces! Cunning sharks! Just because you’re rich strangers, they are multiplying their prices by two or three times what they’d normally sell it for and selling you those bad products! What kind of image does it give you of our Kingdom? So annoying!”

“It’s not that b-bad,” said Cessilia.

“No, Nana is right,” said Sabael. “Your outfits and gold are bringing too much attention, a lot of people here are desperate for any money they can make.”

“Nana, c-can you have some nice c-clothes made for us?” asked Cessilia. “It would p-perhaps make th-things easier...”

“I don’t like this,” grumbled Tessa. “I like my clothes, I don’t want to have to change...”

“We will have less t-trouble that way. For Nana t-too.”

Although she was still upset, her cousin shrugged, not wanting to oppose Cessilia on this. Next to them, Nana nodded.

“For sure! If you want really pretty dresses, I know exactly which shop we should go to! They work fast, and are renowned for their work too! If we get your measurements to them today, I’m sure they can have something ready in just a few days.”

“Alright,” sighed Tessa. “Let’s go there to get them done as soon as possible, and then go back to the castle. If someone tries to scam us again, I might really take a finger or two...”

Nana grimaced, probably wondering if Tessa would seriously consider amputating someone, but she didn’t dare ask. Their little group went to the shop Nana had mentioned, which, fortunately, seemed much more honest and welcoming. While Sabael stood guard outside and refused to enter, the three girls were all treated like princesses. The shop workers were visibly used to prestigious customers, and their attitude became twice as polite when they saw Cessilia’s jewelry. They offered them tea while Tessa stood first on the little stool for her measurements to be taken, two young girls jumping around her with their rulers and announcing numbers while an older lady took notes.

“I want something pretty,” declared Tessa. “...Nana, does your brother have a favorite color?”

“Sab?” said Nana, looking surprised. “Uh... I don’t really know... Why?”

“Nevermind,” sighed Tessa. “Just make it comfortable to move around, please. Nothing too tight or impractical.”

“What is this?” a voice suddenly came from the entrance of the shop.

“Lady Safia, I’m very sorry, but since you didn’t come at your appointed time, we thought–”

“Excuse me? Are you pretending this is my fault? I had an appointment, and it turns out you gave it to someone else? Who the heck dares to…?!”

The woman vociferating abruptly walked into the shop, glaring at Tessa where she stood. Then, her eyes went to Cessilia and Nana. Immediately, her expression changed into a scornful look.