Ishira grimaced.

“She’s not one of us,” she immediately said, “if that’s what you want to know.”

“B-but she is p-part of the Rain T-Tribe too, isn’t she?”

Hephael let out a long sigh as if it cost him to talk about this.

“...We had no idea about her existence until a while ago, honestly. She wasn’t among the children my father bought back, she had... her own life, far from our family. But yes, she’s... part of the Rain Tribe, like us.”

“Then what is it you’re not telling us?” frowned Tessandra. “You don’t like her either, it seems.”

“Not really. She was never a Hashat, and she sided with the King ever since she appeared... When we tried to reach out to her, that’s when we learned of her background, and we immediately cut ties.”

Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a glance, surprised.

“...What is it?”

“She... she was born out of a rape,” said Hephael. “Not here, but on the Dragon Empire’s side. Because of that, she... that girl was loathed by her mother, and raised by her father. Her father... eventually killed her mother from too much abuse, and was left alone with his daughter, abusing her next. She... freed herself by killing him, and fled here, to the Eastern Kingdom. That’s when we met her, among a group of refugees. But that woman, she’s still... very much damaged.”

“No wonder... But she killed her abuser of a father and avenged her mother. I get the twisted part, but if you couldn’t rescue her, couldn’t you have... I don’t know, at least helped her? I’m by no means fond of that woman, but her father was the monster, not Jisel!”

Ishira and Hephael exchanged a very awkward look. Cessilia understood there was something more to this story.

“We would have,” muttered Hephael, “but...”

“...Her father was the one from the Rain Tribe.”

A long, heavy silence followed his words. Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a look, both completely stunned. They had never imagined they would hear such a thing today.

“...Her father?” muttered Tessandra, shocked. “Holy fuck...”

“Yeah, that was a lot for us too. But after that, we understood she would not be... very fond of our family, no matter what we did. For her, the Rain Tribe is her cursed heritage, so... she went on her own.”

Tessandra combed her hair back, still in shock. She and Cessilia exchanged a glance, appalled at what they had heard. They knew war was the cradle for a lot of horrible and tragic stories, but this one was truly unexpected. They were even a bit glad their mothers weren’t present to hear this.

“...Is that it?” finally muttered Tessandra.

“Pretty much. It’s not like she welcomed us with open arms, we barely… exchanged a few words before she made it clear she did not want our help. She was still young the first time we met her.”

“I don’t think she... hates the Rain Tribe, per se,” muttered Ishira. “From what we understood, it’s more like she has a strange fascination for it. She did learn the same knowledge as we did about medicine and plants.”

“Well, I guess Daddy taught her a thing or two between beatings,” grumbled Tessandra. “Great. Father of the year.”

Cessilia frowned. She was still preoccupied with a lot of things Jisel had said, especially her mentioning she was a dragon’s daughter… Did she mean her heritage from her father’s side or her mother’s? Something was still making her uneasy about all of this.

“You said she had always b-been by His Majesty’s s-side…”

“Well, that is after she reappeared,” said Ishira. “We met her once, years ago, probably right after she had run from the Empire amongst refugees, but before we could find out more, she fled from us, and the next time we saw her, she had somehow become the King’s right hand… and his mistress.”

“In any case, she refused our help,” declared Hephael. “She is not… someone we’d trust. We suspect she has interests with the stronger clans more than the likes of us.”

Tessandra scoffed. They had noticed the same, and they probably wouldn’t trust that woman either. Despite her underhanded attempts at befriending this duo of cousins, Cessilia just could not shake off that negative feeling she had toward that woman… even if they somehow looked alike. Tessandra was the same; something in their instincts was constantly warning them about Jisel, something they couldn’t quite put their fingers on just yet.

“All you know about her might be a lie as well,” muttered Tessandra. “It’s hard to know if that snake ever spits out anything real…”

“In any case, we don’t consider ourselves involved with her,” nodded Hephael.

That was about all Cessilia wanted to know. Anything else she wanted to know, she would have to sort out with Jisel herself, since it was clear that the woman’s origins were still a mystery. Had she suggested they ask the Hashat just so they would hear about her father and be less wary of her? A part of Cessilia did believe that story to be true, but she also thought some things just didn’t match. She let out a long sigh and shook her head.

“Th-thank you for t-telling us what you kn-know,” she finally said.

“I’m sorry it’s not much. …At the very least, if you wish to visit the remains of the Rain Village, let me know. I’ll accompany you there. I owe you that much…”

“You don’t owe us anything,” said Tessa. “Your father took care of the few survivors on this side of the border, it’s already more than we hoped for. …Do you think you found them all?”

“Sadly, yes. Our family has been roaming this Kingdom for long enough, I don’t believe there is a village or city we haven’t visited twice…”

“Even th-the ones occupied by b-bandits?” Cessilia said, surprised.

Hephael sighed and grabbed a piece of meat to chew a bit before answering.

“Yes. Our family has managed to arrange some… understanding with those bandits. A lot of them are soldiers who have resentment against the King or the clans, but they don’t have any interest in attacking healers, so we make sure they recognize us from afar, and let us in. We heal the sick among them for free if they don’t attack us and let us through. It may sound surprising, but we are careful not to carry anything of value, only medicinal herbs, and our knowledge. We make sure to hunt or fish and eat far from them, we don’t take any risks.”

“Some do try to attack,” said Ishira, “but we have the means to fight back too.”

“…Like poisons?”

“No. Some of our men have learned how to fight, and we also tamed falcons so they could hunt down an enemy. In short, we made sure there is more to risk attacking us than to win for those bandits. …It’s not like a lot of them are simply lying in wait to attack us, either. The truth is, many of them are struggling to survive. Ransacking a village provides short-term relief, but without anyone to take care of the fields and produce the food… money runs out eventually.”

“B-but it has b-been five years since your K-King… came b-back. How c-come those b-bandits haven’t g-given up?”

Ishira and Hephael exchanged a look, almost looking surprised.

“Well… It’s not like all those men took those villages five years ago. They gradually left the Capital once it became clear their master hadn’t won and there would be no one to pay them. Some have only arrived in those villages up to a few months ago.”

“It’s not something that can last, though,” said Tessandra. “We saw one of those villages the King freed, and it was already a wreck before.”

Hephael nodded, putting his hands on his knees with a very serious expression.

“I know. I happened to stop by the Muram Village on my way here, and we heard about a little group who had come with a dragon… What you did there also helped convince me Lady Cessilia might be exactly who we need to fix what can be fixed in this Kingdom. I will be speaking as the Hashat Family’s leader now. We will align ourselves behind Lady Cessilia, from now on. It was important for me to meet you and confirm your intentions.”

“You say that, but isn’t your father still the leader?” frowned Tessandra. “He did not give us the same impression.”

“My father is the leader in title only,” the young man retorted. “This helped me stay away from the Capital and the King’s eye. People of our tribe will listen to me, I promise. Ishira is like my younger sister as well as my representative in the Capital. You may ask her anything in my stead, and she will provide you with anything you request if it is within our power.”

Tessandra glanced at her cousin, waiting for her. Although she had been the one speaking the most, no one was mistaken as to who was the Princess. Cessilia was quietly listening, but she was the one making the decisions.

“What if the K-King is under th-threat?”