Sabael frowned at her.
“You can’t do that...”
“Why not? We played by the rules and had our papers in order, and we couldn’t get in! I hate corrupt officials. If this was the Dragon Empire, they would–”
“This is not the Dragon Empire,” Sabael retorted. “Can you resolve anything without using your sword?”
“You’re the one with full-on armor right now!”
“I am a Royal Guard.”
“You’re off-duty, love.”
Cessilia and Nana exchanged knowing glances. They were now both used to those two arguing back and forth about Tessandra’s quick temper, and it was obvious Sabael was getting much better at handling it too. For a while, they watched as the two of them bickered about the laws and punishments for corruption while drinking their soup in silence. Cessilia loved this a lot. The four of them, like any group of friends in the bay, having breakfast in the open air and tasting new things. Leaving her brother and Tessa to their argument, Nana sat a bit closer to Cessi.
“I am just so glad that His Majesty arrived, Lady Cessilia. I don’t know what I would have done if anything really bad happened to you... I was a bit curious, ahem... You didn’t come back to the suite last night... Where, uh, did you...?”
Cessilia blushed a bit. It couldn’t be helped that she would get questioned, but unfortunately, Nana’s whispering didn’t escape Tessandra’s ears. She lifted a finger to interrupt Sab and turned to her with a frown.
“Cessi?”
“I was with the K-King all night...”
“Oh my!” squealed Nana, covering her mouth with her hands, excited.
Opposite her, both Tessa and Sabael’s jaws dropped, staring at her with blank expressions.
“Seriously, Cessi?!” her cousin exclaimed. “Are you mad? You spent the night with the King? After everything that happened, you really think that was a good time to–”
“We d-didn’t d-do anything!” Cessilia protested, blushing. “We really d-didn’t... We j-just slept t-together, nothing else hap-happened...”
She was even more embarrassed as her stuttering was made worse by stress, which felt like a confession in itself. Tessa clicked her tongue, a noise that made the siblings jump, but her eyes were on Cessilia, with a suspicious stare.
“...He really did nothing?” she insisted.
“N-nothing... I was hurt t-too... I j-just left th-this morning b-before anyone saw me. We th-thought it would b-be best t-to k-keep it a secret...”
“Oh my gosh,” squealed Nana, all excited. “This is like one of those romance stories! The Princess runs off through the window so no one knows she’s the King’s secret lover... So romantic!”
“No, no, Nana,” said Tessa. “That is not romantic, this is very dangerous and very bad behavior, Cessi!”
“I’m t-telling you we d-didn’t d-do anything!” protested Cessilia.
“You better not! I don’t want to have to explain that to those crazy, overprotective brothers of yours... Let alone your father!”
“I’m an adult n-now! P-plus it’s n-not like you c-can lecture me! Even if I d-did something, th-there’s nothing wrong with th-that!”
Tessandra rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
“I agree that the King gets brownie points for not touching you when you were injured. And I get that there is something between you, I’m not that blind. ...But he is still the King, with a major anger management issue and about a dozen harpies, all lurking around trying to get their claws into him! What if they find out that you’re his new mistress? We already almost died last night, Cessi!”
“T-Tessa, I c-can’t just b-back off and p-push him away b-because of th-those women. I d-don’t want t-to. Ashen and I t-talked a lot last n-night, and we c-cleared some th-things up.”
“Oh yeah, like the fact that he kept a woman, who just happens to resemble you, by his side?”
Cessilia glared back, annoyed to be reminded of Jisel. That was one topic both she and Ashen had avoided, and for good reason. From what they had heard and seen the previous night, she had understood those two had something more complex going on than a simple sexual relationship. Someone as cunning as Jisel probably didn’t really stay around with no prospect of becoming queen without expecting anything else in return...
“See?” said Tessandra. “You haven’t solved everything yet, so don’t trust that guy too soon, Cessilia. I know you’re an adult, and I can’t keep you from sleeping with guys either, but I want to warn you about sleeping with guys who will turn out to be douches.”
“I kn-know Ashen...”
“Are you sure about that? Because all I’ve seen so far is a self-centered King who can only make one facial expression, and it’s not an inviting one!”
Cessilia sighed and crossed her arms without responding. She didn’t like when Tessandra acted like this, lecturing her like an older sister. Next to them, Nana looked uneasy, nervously peeling off her bun’s layers while glancing back and forth between the two of them, before settling her gaze on Tessandra.
“Lady Tessa... D-do you mean you have experience with boys...?”
“I do,” said Tessa with a smile. “Not just with boys, actually. I mean, I was probably an early bloomer, mostly to piss off my mom... Not that I wouldn’t have done it either way though. Women in our family educate us pretty early on, but I just had to be the rebellious one of the bunch, I guess!”
“Oh my...”
“...You’ve n-never had a b-boyfriend, Nana?” asked Cessilia.
“No! I mean... I have had a couple of crushes, but I’m known as a boring dork... Besides, all my sisters and cousins are prettier than me, so I feel like I’m better off reading books and dreaming about romance than getting my hopes up in real life...”
“Th-that’s not t-true, you’re really p-pretty!” protested Cessilia.
“It’s nice of you, Lady Cessi,” blushed Nana, “but I’ve decided I should be patient and wait for someone who will really like me rather than be too hopeful... I’m fine marrying a nice man, really!”
