No one in the room believed that. She had been grumbling and beating a poor pillow for a while now, retreating to the end of Cessilia’s large bed and blushing constantly. When Cessilia had come back late the previous night, her cousin was nowhere in sight, and this morning, she had barged into the room after Naptunie, complaining about her headache and what a drunk idiot she had been.

“At least Lady Cessi looks happy about her evening!”

Cessilia nodded a bit shyly, but still smiling, and grabbed another little piece of fruit, their breakfast laid on the pretty vanity table. Then, remembering something, she took out the pretty shell, which she had placed in a box the previous night.

“Nana, c-can I ask you something? D-do you think this c-could be made into a... a necklace, or a b-bracelet?”

She showed her the seashell, and Nana immediately nodded.

“Of course! But you should ask Lady Bastat, I’m sure her people will make something gorgeous out of this! They can varnish it and polish it, and make it into any jewelry you want! ...Is it a special seashell?”

Nana looked a bit curious, her eyes going to the seashell that had nothing special about it, and Cessilia’s fond gaze on it. She could definitely tell this seashell had a significant story behind it, and was curious to hear it, but the Princess simply nodded once again. The meaning behind this seashell was something she wanted to keep to herself. Despite not getting back too late, she had a hard time sleeping the previous night, her heart beating fast the entire time and her head full of steamy memories from the cave with Ashen. She regretted they hadn’t been able to at least sleep together, but they were both very aware of all the eyes on them. They had even gone back separately to the castle, and went directly to their bedrooms, as if nothing had happened, their thoughts full of each other...

“If only this rain would stop soon,” sighed Nana.

The downpour outside was even more impressive than the other night’s storm. It had been raining an alarming volume of water, constantly for the past few hours. It was already like this when Cessilia had woken up, and the usually beautiful views from the suite’s balcony were completely blocked by the heavy curtains of rain. She noticed how Nana looked a bit worried.

“D-do downpours like this n-not occur often?”

“Not this much,” she shook her head. “We’re used to the wind and rain, even the storms, but I haven’t seen such a bad downpour in a while.”

Indeed, it was the heaviest rain Cessilia and Tessandra had ever witnessed. They weren’t used to much rain at all in the Dragon Empire. The Capital and most of the Empire were too far south to get more than what they usually did in the rainy season. Cessilia’s family’s castle in the north had mostly snow, except for the warmest months. Only their grandmother’s castle, located half-way between both, had some rain, but it was hot and humid, and certainly never this cold nor heavy.

“Is it really b-bad?”

“...It should be fine,” muttered Naptunie. “The Capital is on a mountain anyway, so even if the streets are flooded a bit, the water will only fall far below, by the river. ...I’m more worried about people at the entrances of the bridges, on the shores of the Soura... but there are evacuation systems, so it should be alright. I think.”

For a second, Cessilia was confused about why people on the other sides of the bridges would have an issue, since they were on the same level as Aestara, and the Soura far below, until she remembered the wall. If the walls meant to protect the city were keeping the water from draining properly, then the areas near the Capital could get flooded.

“...How long d-do you think it c-could hold?”

Nana’s hands stopped moving, and she frowned, obviously doing the calculations in her head.

“If it keeps going like this, then... it could start accumulating in a few hours. ...By midday, if it hasn’t stopped or slowed down, the water will start being retained...”

Cessilia frowned. A few hours was a really short time, and acting too late could become really problematic. Although her experience there the previous time hadn’t been the best, she could still remember the many, many people outside of those walls, waiting for a chance to get in. She couldn’t even imagine anyone outside in this weather. It was cold, humid, and only a proper roof could shelter them, but many were homeless, even within the Capital. And they hadn’t seen many examples of people helping each other out...

She suddenly stood up, and walked to the wardrobe, opening it wide.

“...Cessi?”

“D-do I have something that c-could protect me from the rain?” she asked Nupia, who had been standing by the door this whole time.

“Yes, two of your coats are made of water-proof material, but... Princess, I’m not sure you should go out in this weather.”

“C-call your siblings, we’re g-going out,” Cessilia retorted. “It’s t-time you three p-prove your worth. Nana, c-can you ask your family t-to help us out?”

“We’re going to the bridges?” exclaimed Nana, running up to her. “To help out?”

“Yes. I c-can’t stand here knowing those p-people are in danger.”

“But... maybe the rain will stop soon!”

“No, Cessi is right,” said Tessa, staring outside. “This is going to last for a while.”

Naptunie glanced out the window, baffled, but she was incapable of seeing whatever Tessandra was staring at. She hesitated for a few seconds, fidgeting, but as Tessandra sighed and got up, she stood up too.

“...How do you know?” she finally asked, while Tessandra put on the other coat.

“Our eyes,” said Tessa, pointing at her dark irises. “We can see much better and farther than normal people, to be able to ride our dragons. And with how far I can see this rain, I can tell you, it’s not going to stop before tonight at the very best...”

Naptunie went a bit white. She didn’t doubt the two young women a single second, and if Tessandra said it was going to rain until the evening, she fully believed it.

“Oh no,” she muttered. “What are we going to do? All those poor people...!”

“Nana, d-do you have a raincoat?” asked Cessilia, putting on another pair of shoes while preparing to leave.

“Yes, it’s upstairs in Uncle’s apartment...”

“G-go get it. Then, I will need to b-buy some buns from your family, d-do you think they can p-prepare large quantities of b-buns like the ones you s-sold us?”

Nana’s chest inflated, as if her family’s pride was on the line.

“Of course! We can have them made at the storehouse near the bridges, in the west part of the Capital! We may not have much fresh fish left, but we have a lot of stored food, and vegetables too! We can even fill them with sweet potatoes!”

“G-great.” Cessilia smiled. “C-can you ask your family to p-prepare them to d-distribute? If you c-can do as much as p-possible, I promise I will cover the c-costs.”

“I’m sure my family will refuse to let you pay, Lady Cessilia, it’s our people after all! But I will be going now!”

“Thank you, Nana. We will c-catch up with you later.”

While Nana ran out ahead, very determined and happy to help, Cessilia and Tessandra left right after her.

“What about us?” asked Tessandra.

“Let’s b-buy tea from the Hashat Family,” explained Cessilia. “We c-can ask for their help, and Lady B-Bastat too. We will need a p-place like a shelter, and a lot of p-people to distribute warm t-tea and food.”

“Alright.”

“We c-could use some soldiers’ help, T-Tessa...”

Her cousin stopped right in the middle of the corridor and frowned, turning to her. She progressively went redder.

“Cessi, you’re not–”

“Nana is already g-gone,” said Cessi with a faint smile, “and I’m sure her b-brother will be working t-today too. B-but if you g-go and ask...”

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you!” exclaimed Tessa, literally stomping her foot down. “Cessi! You knew you wanted to ask Sab, and you sent Nana ahead on purpose to set me up!”