“Nana, where’s the nearest window? She just needs to breathe fresh air.”

“Oh... Th-this way!”

Happy to have something she could help with, Nana jumped on her feet and led them to the closest window she could find, a large one at that. As soon as they were close, the two cousins rushed there, and Cessilia leaned forward, her eyes closed, trying to take a deep breath. Next to her, Tessa was whispering gentle words to help her calm down, rubbing her back and pushing her long curls out of the way. It lasted for a while, and Naptunie could only stand to the side, a bit jealous of the two young women’s bond. If anyone else had seen them, they would have thought they were sisters, even if their appearances were a bit different. Tessa’s dark eyes and shoulder-length hair made her look a bit more intimidating, while Cessilia had the grace of a delicate princess. Both of them were beautiful in their own way, but next to them, Nana felt like an unrefined little girl... She bit her lower lip and walked away to get some water for Cessilia, a bit ashamed of her own thoughts.

“Th-thank you,” Cessilia finally mumbled after a while, slowly taking deep breaths.

“What happened?” frowned Tessa. “He upset you? I thought I heard some shouting, but the door was so thick, and that annoying servant wouldn’t let us in...”

“It’s f-fine,” her cousin shook her head. “It just d-didn’t g-go like I wanted...”

“His Majesty refused to free Counselor Yassim?” asked Nana, bringing back the cup of water. “My uncle went to see if it could be negotiated with the guards, but...”

Cessilia took the cup of water with a faint smile and leaned against the window, almost calmed down by now. Naptunie was a bit worried for the Princess. She was paler than usual, and her eyes seemed very sad too. For a few seconds, Cessilia simply drank the fresh water in silence, as if each drop helped her regain her composure. After a while, though, all traces of panic and sadness had disappeared from her face; she stood back up, brushing her curls back.

“We will f-free Yassim th-the Wise,” she declared.

“What? But the King–”

“Alright,” said Tessa, a bright smile on her face as well. “I was a bit upset after all that crap and those vixens from earlier, but I guess this will be a lot more interesting. Nana, do you know where they put him?”

“My uncle mentioned the dungeons, downstairs but–”

“The dungeons it is, then. Who doesn’t like a good jailbreak?”

“But...!”

It was no use; Tessandra was already walking down the nearest flight of stairs, excited as if they were going to do some fun activity. However, she was going to the dungeons! Naptunie turned to Cessilia, worried, but the Princess looked just as serene as her cousin. She even put a gentle hand on Nana’s shoulder.

“D-don’t worry, we will free the C-Counselor.”

Naptunie was in shock. The Princess didn’t receive permission, so she was going to free the Counselor herself! There were a million reasons she could think of as to why this would be a very bad idea right now, but Cessilia looked so confident, Naptunie didn’t even dare name one. The Princess turned to Nupia, giving her the empty cup of water.

“D-Don’t you t-try and st-stop us,” she coldly told the servant.

“I won’t, Princess.”

Cesslia gave another cold stare to the young servant but didn’t add anything, and instead, she followed her cousin’s path, taking Naptunie with her. Nana was still completely at a loss. One part of her enjoyed the two young women’s company and boldness, but sometimes, she wondered if it was really alright for her to be involved in all of this. She was no princess and she had no dragon... What if the King took his anger out on her or her family instead? What if the Princess was then accused of treason, and war with the Empire was triggered? Naptunie was conflicted internally, and she couldn’t help but let Cessilia know as they reached the lower floors of the castle. She had been holding her hand all this time, feeling like a younger sister following her elder sister, borrowing some of Cessilia and Tessa’s dazzling confidence.

“D-don’t worry,” said Cessilia with a gentle expression. “We will p-protect you t-too. You’re our p-precious friend.”

“You really think I am your friend?” Naptunie exclaimed, surprised. “But... I only just met you yesterday!”

“You’d be surprised,” said Tessa. “We don’t have many friends outside of our family. In fact, I can count them on one hand. But you’re a nice girl, and you welcomed us even though we are foreigners, which I can’t say has been the case for many people here. Plus, Krai likes you, and dragons are pretty good at guessing people’s real nature.”

“Oh... Thank you,” mumbled a blushing Nana.

Those words were the nicest thing she had heard in a while. She had many friends, but none she was very close with. Most of the time, she found people couldn’t stand her endless chatter, or understand her endless love for all kinds of books...

Although she felt comforted, Naptunie was still worried to follow the two girls into the lower depths of the castle. They had now reached an area without any windows or views of the outside. Only candlelights were lighting their paths, and no one was there, either. She guided them a bit reluctantly, wondering if things would go as smoothly as the two cousins made it seem. Luckily, they quickly spotted Counselor Yamino’s large figure, as he was loudly arguing with one of the guards.

“I’m telling you, this can’t be happening! Counselor Yassim left on a private matter this morning! He has been by our King’s side for all those years, and he wasn’t arrested when he came back with Princess Cessilia of the Dragon Empire! His Majesty agreed to leave him!”

“His Majesty may have agreed to let Sir Hemelion live, Counselor Yamino, but my Captain takes orders from His Majesty himself, and our King definitely ordered us to lock him away for treason!”

“You mindless monkey! Don’t you have any common sense? Counselor Yassim saved half this Kingdom by saving our King’s life years ago! Do you seriously think our King will...”

Before he could end his sentence, Yamino saw Tessa walk past him and into the dungeons’ corridors, followed by Cessilia and Naptunie. It happened so quickly, both the Counselor and the guard were speechless at those women that simply ignored them and walked past the checkpoint.

“Wha-... Hey, hey! Miss! You can’t go in there, it’s restricted access! No one can enter the dungeons without permission!”

“You should be more worried about who comes out rather than who comes in,” retorted Tessa with a smirk. “Although, it is definitely going to be a problem for you later... Damn, this place is a maze! Hey, Guard. Where is the old man?”

“We are l-looking for C-Counselor Yassim th-the Wise,” said Cessilia, as if they were just coming to visit a friend.

The guard was dumbfounded at the nerve of those women... This was a dungeon, not one of their drinking patios! This place was specifically designed underground and far away from the castle’s living and entertaining spaces so people like them couldn’t possibly land here by mistake. Yet here those three girls were!

“No, no, no,” he protested. “You should not be here. All four of you get out before I call the guards.”

“Oh, you’re so welcome to,” chuckled Tessa, taking out her twin swords. “I’d love to unwind with some physical exercise!”

“You fool!” retorted Yamino. “This is Princess Cessilia of the Dragon Empire and Lady Tessa, a mighty warrior as well! See if you little soldiers dare to stop two daughters of the Dragon Empire!”

“The D-Dragon Empire?” muttered the man.

He clearly had made the link to the two pretty young women who had just forced entry into the dungeons. His eyes went to them, and to Tessa’s swords, before he mumbled something about checking with his superior, and ran. Tessa chuckled.

“Thank you, Uncle Yamino. A mighty warrior, me?”

“I pulled what I could,” sighed Nana’s uncle. “If it can buy us some time...”

For a while, they ran down the corridors of the dungeons, looking for Yassim. The layout was rather simple, but Cessilia was astonished at how dark and crowded this place was. Dozens of people were in those cells, many glaring at their little group as they walked by. She could tell most of those men did belong here, but some were in a worrying state, skinny and unhealthy... From time to time, they would run into a completely empty cell, though, which made her even more worried...

“There he is!” exclaimed Nana, spotting him first. “Uncle Yassim, are you alright?”

The old man looked a bit sick, but even more surprised to see the little group that had come to his rescue. He was alone in a cell, luckily, but it didn’t solve the fact that they didn’t have anything to free him.

“...Do you think we can try asking the soldiers for the key?” grimaced Nana.

“What key?” scoffed Tessa. “I can just open it...”

She drew out her twin swords and suddenly began attacking the door’s lock. The sound of metal hitting each other was loud for a few seconds, but one could tell that the lock was old and wouldn’t hang on for long. Cessilia grimaced.

“You’re g-going t-to break my b-brother’s swords...”

“No, it should be fine. Just one more hit and then...”

They were both right. On the last hit, the lock gave up, but so did Tessa’s sword, breaking in two. The blade fell on the wrong side, cutting the sword woman’s hand. Tessa grimaced.