She left quickly on her horse, and meanwhile, next to her, Tessandra chuckled, leaning toward her cousin.

“...Is it me or... is this a fourth family supporting you already?”

“...M-maybe?”

“Maybe? You barely said a thing and the Yonchaa Tribe is now lending a hand! And she talked to you, of all people! You’re making your mark around here!”

“I wouldn’t say that t-too fast,” sighed Cessilia. “You d-didn’t see all the g-glares I got at the c-council earlier. I was not p-popular with everyone...”

“Four out of seven is already pretty good!”

Cessilia nodded, but she didn’t want to think too much about that for now. In her head, the Yonchaa Tribe Leader had agreed to help her own people and her King. This may not have much to do with Cessilia at all. She kept serving the food to a few more people, but after a while, she felt someone staring at her. It wouldn’t have been too surprising given the situation, but her instincts were telling her to be cautious... She raised her head, and after a glance around, she found her. A woman with the dots and line tattoos she had noticed earlier was leaning against a wall. She wasn’t in line, and Cessilia was pretty sure she hadn’t received food or tea yet. Who was she? She was wearing a raincoat and half of her face was hidden under her hood, making Cessilia a bit curious to see her fully.

Someone coughing loudly in the line brought her back to the current situation. People were definitely falling sick. Cessilia glared at the water, still up to their ankles. That downpour was too much...

“T-Tessa, Sabael, I will be back.”

She ran through the rain until she found Ashen, still in front of the doors. He was actually helping one of the Dorosef Tribe’s carts that seemed stuck in the mud. Cessilia rushed to help them out, and after a few minutes, the cart was free to go. She turned to Ashen.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, b-but we need to d-do more. Ashen, p-people are getting sick. We n-need more water t-to go away. We need t-to tear the wall down.”

“...No. We can’t.”

“Ashen, we d-don’t have a choice! If we don’t d-do something–”

“I can’t!” He shook his head. “Cessilia, I can’t take down this wall! Do you realize how long it took to make the Capital secure? If we tear it down, people will be in danger! Raiders, thieves, criminals, they will all rush in! You don’t understand what it’s like, I just can’t! I don’t have a dragon to establish peace like your family does!”

Cessilia suddenly pushed him away from her furiously.

“You don’t need a dragon!” she shouted back. “What do you want a dragon for, look around you! Your people are already in danger! They don’t need a dragon, Ashen! Your people need their King!”

It was as if she had slapped him. He remained stunned for a few seconds, staring at her with a speechless expression.

Cessilia was really mad, glaring at him with her pouty lips and rosy cheeks. She hadn’t stuttered to shout at him, as if her anger had kept the stutter away, but it seemed like she had been too mad to notice it herself. She was drenched, her lips a bit blue and her wet hair stuck against her face, but that clear, bright light in her eyes seemed to wake the King up.

After a long while, Ashen sighed. He combed his white, wet hair back again, looking around as if he was seeing this crowd for the first time. It was more accurate to say he was seeing it with new eyes. There were many people still waiting in line, trying to catch a glimpse of the small tent and the warm food and tea waiting for them. Some children were crying continuously, having not been fed yet, and people were starting to cough and sneeze more and more. Most barely had anything decent to cover them and keep them warm at all. After gazing around for a short while, his eyes fell back on Cessilia.

The young Princess looked just the same as before. Soaked to the bone and mad at him. Despite her serious and furious expression, he found her adorable. He broke into a nervous chuckle, suddenly feeling much better.

“Ashen, it’s n-no laughing matter!”

“...I know,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

Before she could protest, he grabbed her cheek gently and put a quick kiss on her wet lips.

“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t need a dragon... I only need you.”

Despite still being a bit angry, those words melted her anger quite effectively. She glanced to the side, a bit embarrassed, notably because there was still a large crowd behind them.

“W-what are you d-doing... Th-there’s still a lot of p-people...”

“We basically announced our relationship already.”

“N-not to these p-people! And it’s n-not the moment, either...”

“Sorry, you were too cute, I couldn’t help it. You were right, Cessilia. Thank you for reminding me.”

He put another quick kiss on her forehead this time, and took off his coat, putting it on her shoulders.

“Ashen? What will you d-do?”

“Exactly what my princess said,” he sighed, caressing her cheek. “I will tear down that wall. You were right. Walls or not, gates or not, I have the power to stop them now... and you’ve shown me the families are more than willing to cooperate as well. Maybe not entirely, but at least, you got them to change their positions. I knew most were only partaking in the competition for the sake of it, but... now, they really want to be serious about this. I’ve never seen them get involved with people that aren’t their own like they are now.”

He turned around, looking at the wall with a frown. His eyes were going down on the water level.

“Moreover,” he said, “we don’t need to destroy all of it, right? Just enough to drain the area...”

“Ashen, what are you g-going to do?”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re right. I may not be a dragon, but I’m still rather strong...”

He took out his large sword and began walking toward the wall, under the crowd’s shocked eyes. Cessilia stood there, unsure of what to do, watching him put his hand on several parts of the wall as if he was looking for something. The ground had to be steeper where Ashen stood, because the water was now reaching up to his mid-thighs. He had to use his strength just to fight his way through the water and kept walking next to the wall, touching it with his hand or the tip of his sword. After a while, she saw him freeze for a second, and he began stabbing his blade against the wall, using the tip to try and pierce his way through. The scrape of the blade against the rocks made an awful sound, and for a second, she feared his sword would break. But it withstood the impact, even after the second, third, and fourth blows. Ashen kept going, trying to dig with the only instrument at his disposal. It looked like a titan’s work, but against all expectations, he was really starting to carve in. The size of his sword made a considerable impact against the wall, and she could see the stones trembling at each stroke.

“...Is His Majesty... trying to break that wall?”

Cessilia looked to the side, surprised to see the large man from before standing there, his ax in his hands and a dumbfounded look stuck on his face. She nodded.

“To d-drain the water.”

“By the Gods! If I ever thought he’d take it down himself! ...Hey! You guys! Come and give me a hand!”

To Cessilia’s surprise, the large man walked past her, followed by several others, all with heavy tools in hand. All the men went to Ashen’s side, and after briefly talking with their King, they began striking against the wall as well. Cessilia’s heart skipped a beat. Seeing him side-by-side with all those men, trying to tear down that wall despite the flood, made her so incredibly proud of him. There was nothing left of the stubborn, wrongheaded man she’d argued with before. He was so focused on his task, with all the men around, if it wasn’t for his white hair and impressive musculature, he could have seemed like any common man out there.

Finally, the first breach appeared. All the men had to step back because the water was suddenly sucked into the thin gap with a strong force. The water level went down a bit, but it would take more. As soon as it appeared and the water flowing out had slowed down, they all resumed banging their tools against the wall, some with things such as hammers, trying to gradually enlarge the hole. Cessilia looked back. The crowd seemed mesmerized by the scene. There were even some gaps in the queue, some people were too shocked by the King’s behavior to think about the food for a few minutes. She smiled, feeling proud. Those people were finally getting to see their King, and what he was truly capable of. Cessilia turned around, leaving Ashen to his task. Far from the castle, the stares and schemes of the Lords, he could finally be what he had always been: a man of the people.

“...You don’t need to look that proud, you know,” chuckled her cousin.

Cessilia couldn’t hide her smile, though. She kept Ashen’s coat on her shoulders, joining her cousin still distributing the food under the small tent. She and Tessandra glanced at the crowd still waiting.

“H-how are we?”

“As you can see, people are still waiting, but many have received some food already,” nodded Tessa. “Most could use some more, though. The Dorosef have just brought another cart of food, and more of the Hashat people just brought in more tea, as well. We got new hands to help us out too, but… I’m afraid it might not be enough, though, Cessi.”

Her eyes were on the people in line, some of which were starting to sneeze and cough more. Despite the several hands working behind the large table set up to distribute beignets and tea, once the people were done eating, they were sent back into the cold. Cessilia’s heart dropped. It was a certainty now that people were going to get sick.

“We might need to set up an infirmary,” sighed Tessandra.