She didn’t want to greet or thank them all excessively. She had already given them enough of her time, and the people whom she wanted to respect her already did and understood her actions. Cessilia turned around and left with her head held high, a silence behind her.
She waited until the doors were closed behind her to let out a long sigh.
“That cunning bastard,” said Ishira, appearing in the corridor. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Princess.”
“It’s f-fine, I expected a few th-things like this to happen. And p-please, call me Cessilia.”
“Understood. So? Did you need something from me?”
Cessilia briefly went on to explain the situation, and what she was requiring of the Hashat Family. Ishira listened carefully, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
“...I understand; it’s a great idea! I will go right away to prepare everything, and meet you outside. We also have honey, sugar, and many edible plants we don’t need and can give to people. But don’t you talk about money; we will donate it all for free and I’m sure my cousin will agree to this. But… why didn’t you mention this in front of the Council? I’m sure you could have gotten them all to help.”
Cessilia shook her head.
“I d-don’t believe so. They would have d-done it by obligation, p-probably unwilling t-to really help me out, and I d-didn’t want to cause more c-conflicts between the clans. It is already hard t-to have them all in one room. P-plus, if they are watching me enough t-to know about what happened b-between me and His Majesty last n-night, they will find out about th-this soon enough too. It’s up t-to them to come t-to help or not, b-but it would be less likely if I had asked th-them.”
Ishira was a bit impressed.
Cessilia hadn’t decided to ask for help; not because she feared the clans or wanted to pick which ones would help her. She had considered the current psychological situation between the Lords, and chosen to let them think they would help out of their own volition. She had raised the chances for them to actually help willingly, as opposed to if she had asked, they would have done it unwillingly because they didn’t like her, perhaps with fewer means or people, out of spite. Now, the Lords were going to see this foreign Princess winning over the people and were most likely going to intervene to even the score. Ishira smiled, relieved.
“...I think you’re right,” she nodded. “Good. Then I’ll leave a note for my cousin and get going right away. I’m sure he’ll relay the word too, in a subtle manner.”
“Th-thank you.”
“I should be the one to thank you,” Ishira shook her head. “It is disgraceful that the most powerful people of our Kingdom are bickering in a room while some of our people are outside in this horrible weather. Thanks for reminding us of that... Alright, I’ll get going now. See you there.”
Cessilia nodded and watched the young woman quickly leave to get a servant to send her note to her cousin. Meanwhile, Cessilia turned around, reuniting with Nupia who had been quietly waiting for her outside of the Council Room.
“My siblings, Lady Tessandra, and Lady Naptunie have left the castle already, Princess,” she said as they were rushing down the stairs. “I also asked for horses, they should be ready for us right outside.”
“G-got it. Let’s hurry and–”
Before she could finish that sentence, Cessilia felt a presence behind them on the stairs, and looked back. It was Ashen, who had rushed out of the throne room to catch up to her. Nupia bowed and respectfully went down to the floor below to leave them some privacy. Meanwhile, Cessilia and Ashen reunited, grabbing each other’s hands in this narrow spiral staircase. He was still breathing quickly and loudly, probably having just left the Council. His chest going up and down in front of her got Cessilia thinking about the previous night, and she stepped back, trying to control her emotions. She was still a bit high on adrenaline from her angry outburst earlier. Her heart just couldn’t settle down.
“Ashen, if it’s about earlier, I’m not g-going to apologize,” she said coldly. “I d-didn’t mean to implicate you, b-but–”
“No, no. I know,” he said, lowering his head a bit, although he was still significantly taller. “...I had it coming for a while, anyway. It was just... Well, I think I would have rather had you punch me.”
“You’re lucky I p-prefer words then,” chuckled Cessilia. “B-but… I’ll think about it n-next time.”
Ashen grimaced.
“Fine...”
He released one of her hands gently, caressing her cheek instead. He did have an apologetic look in his eyes, although he also looked a bit hurt and sulky from earlier. Perhaps the Lords had irritated him more than her remark had. He had remained mostly silent, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t mad about the Yekara Leader’s twisted accusations. Cessilia nodded, hiding a faint smile. She was glad this wasn’t going to damage their relationship. At least, he was finally owning up to his wrongs...
“...I had a talk with her last night,” he muttered.
“You d-did?” Cessilia exclaimed, shocked.
“Yes... When I got back after seeing you, I ran into her, and... I knew I had to do something about my relationship with her. For you. I can’t pretend... even if it has only been in name for a while, I didn’t want to have her still known as my mistress. So, I told Jisel that... she and I needed to put an end to this.”
“How d-did she react...?”
Ashen slowly shook his head.
“Not... well. Perhaps she saw it coming, but she was not crazy about the idea. We argued for a while... In the end, she just left, saying she wanted time to think about it. I don’t think she had realized what... how much you mean to me.”
So that explained why she wasn’t there this time... Cessilia felt a huge weight lifted off her heart. She hadn’t even realized how dark and ugly the veil of jealousy was on her feelings for Ashen, but just then, it felt like something had finally come off. She took a deep breath, a bit heavier than she had thought, and looked at him, as if under a new light.
“...I understand,” she muttered. “Th-thank you for t-talking to her.”
“Don’t thank me.” He shook his head. “I knew this should have been dealt with... a while ago. Perhaps I was also feeling sorry toward Jisel for... using her.”
She could understand Ashen wasn’t feeling good about suddenly ditching the woman who had been by his side for a while, but Cessilia couldn’t feel sorry for his mistress. She had a hunch that Jisel had used him at least as much as he had used her... and things wouldn’t be settled so easily, either. From what she had seen, Jisel was not one to let go easily.
Still, Cessilia shook her head. She didn’t have time to worry and get mad about her rival once again. She took Ashen’s hand off her cheek and stepped down.
“Sorry, b-but I have t-to go,” she said. “I’ll see you later t-tonight.”
After one last look at him, she quickly turned around, about to go down the stairs again. However, before she could take more than two steps down, Ashen’s hand grabbed her arm, holding her back with a worried expression.
“Wait, where are you going? Why are you headed downstairs?”
“Outside. T-to help the people b-behind the walls. The rain won’t s-stop until t-tonight, and Nana said they risk b-being flooded over there. P-people might get sick without p-proper shelter.”
“No, Cessilia, you...”
