Chapter 37


    The Counselor Concubine


    Kairen was ring at his mother, visibly annoyed by her words. Cassandra, however, was hesitating.


    She was reluctant to part from Kairen, but for the sake of their baby, wouldn’t it be better for her to stay


    here? How was the Concubine Mother so sure she would be safer in the Diamond Pce instead of


    the Onyx Castle?


    Seeing her uncertainty, Kareen rolled her eyes.


    “Enough! I haven’t seen my children in a while. All three of you will stay here for a few days and I am


    not asking! Krai too.”


    Hearing its name, the dragon turned its head to the Concubine Mother and purred softly in her direction


    as she smiled.


    “That’s right, I missed you too, little one.”


    Cassandra wondered if Krai’s attitude towards her meant Kairen loved his mother more than he let on.


    The Imperial Concubine turned to Cassandra again, frowning as she looked at her ve cor. She


    pointed it out with her finger, displeased.


    “This! We need to get rid of this as well when we go to the Imperial Pce for the New Year


    celebration.”


    Hearing this, Shareen almost choked on her wine. Kairen seemed shocked too.


    “Mother, you will be going back? To see Father?”


    “Who said anything about seeing that old man? I am going there to attend the celebrations, and to


    show off my future grandchild to all those whores at the Imperial Pce.”


    “As if,” said Shareen. “If you show up without going to see Father, he’d send the entire army to fetch


    you!”


    Her mother shrugged, not phased at all. Cassandra was speechless! Their mother was so strong-


    willed, she would even dare to ignore the Emperor himself! She then instructed them to eat, essentially


    closing the topic. While eating her little bites, Cassandra tried to remember how much longer until the


    New Year celebrations. She felt like her time at the camp had been months, longer than the couple of


    weeks it actually was. As she took the time to count exactly how many days had passed, she realized


    the celebrations would be held only two months from now. How big would her baby be in two months?


    And the dragon’s egg? Cassandra wondered if the Baby Dragon would look like a miniature Krai.


    As they ate silently, Cassandra felt a bit more at ease. The Concubine Mother was a very strong-willed


    woman, scolding her children for bad posture, and was cold towards the servants. She was nice to


    Cassandra though, as if she respected her from the start, and ignored her ve statuspletely. She


    urged Cassandra to eat more though; insisting she consume more of the dry fruits as they were,


    ording to Kareen, very nutritious for babies.


    “Don’t Southerners eat meat?” she asked, noticing Cassandra had barely touched it.


    “No, Concubine Mother. I’m more used to eating fish…In small quantities, though.”


    “Hmpf. That exins your good skin, thin build, and character. It is said eating fish helps with all those.


    Too much meat makes children stubborn. Just look at these two.”


    Right as she said that, both Kairen and Shareen, who happened to have meat in their hand or mouth,


    sent res back to their mother.


    Kareen sighed. “Anyhow, just let me know what you want to eat, I’ll have servants go fetch it for you.”


    “Actually…could I go buy it myself?” asked Cassandra, a bit embarrassed.


    The Concubine Mother looked at her, confused.


    “Why?”


    “I just…I like going to the markets. Looking at the stalls, and all.*


    After a few seconds of contemtion, Kareen chuckled.


    “You really are a new kind of concubine, aren’t you? Fine, we’ll goter. A little outing will do me some


    good as well. But first, dessert!”


    Cassandra wondered exactly how much she was expected to eat! More delicious food was brought out


    – so many fruits, nuts and cakes that she had to drink some tea to help it all go down. She would


    definitely get plump if she spent her pregnancy in the Diamond Castle!


    After she was done eating, Concubine Kareen stood up, elegantly wiped her lips, and turned to her


    children.


    “I’m going to take a walk in my garden. Don’t any of you even think of leaving. And anyway, I’ll be


    taking Krai with me.”


    Under Cassandra’s surprised eyes, Kareen walked over to Krai’s head, caressing its snout. The dragon


    closed its eyes, growling softly like it usually did with Cassandra. It really seemed to like the Concubine


    Mother. She walked out of the Garden, using an opening between the stones to meet with the Dragon


    behind the wall. Though she couldn’t see Kareen anymore, Cassandra watched Krai as it bounded


    down from the wall, its big back turning around to follow her.


    “This ce is so boring,” sighed Shareen. “I’m going to take a nap in my room until Motheres


    back.”


    They watched as Shareen retired, leaving Cassandra alone with her Prince. So they couldn’t take the


    egg and leave while she was away, Kareen had locked it in the chest and had the servants take it back


    inside while they were dining.


    Cassandra walked up to Kairen, who pulled her down to sit on his leg.


    “We will get it back soon,” said the Prince, holding her by her waist.


    “It’s okay. As long as it’s safe with Concubine Mother.”


    Kairen nodded, caressing her long hair down her back.


    “Do you want to stay here?” he asked softly.


    “I’m not sure. I want to stay here, for our baby’s safety, but… I also want to take care of the hospital,


    and I know I’ll miss the girls at the Onyx Castle.”


    He didn’t reply to that and instead gently kissed her shoulder, lost in his own thoughts. Since his mother


    had insisted that they stay a while, they could always decideter. She wouldn’t be able to keep Kairen


    here much longer and Cassandra would have to make her decision before then.


    They stayed like this for a while, gently caressing and holding each other, lost in their own little world.


    Kairen seemed gentler and more caring since her pregnancy had been announced, and Cassandra


    was feeling a bit more confident too. She even wondered if she could find people to teach medicine to


    here.


    “Were you here often?” she asked, looking at the garden around them.


    “When I was younger… My father gifted it to my mother after my birth.”


    “This castle?”


    “This city. It’s the ce where she was born.”


    The Imperial Family’s standards were truly too extravagant for her to grasp! Cassandra was once again


    speechless. So not just a castle, but a whole city was their mother’s? Shareen and Kairen had probably


    spent most of their childhoods here in that case.


    “How did your mother be a concubine?”


    “She worked as a servant for one of my father’s counselors. He noticed her. She was smarter than


    most, and not afraid to voice her opinion. She actually became his counselor for a while, before


    bing his concubine.”


    Cassandra nodded. The story suited his mother’s impressive character and also exined why she


    didn’t care much about Cassandra’s ve status, since she had been a servant herself. She truly was


    an admirable woman.


    “Can we take a walk? I’d like to see the rest of the Castle.”


    Kairen silently agreed and stood up, still holding her around her waist. Cassandra ventured back into


    the Castle, noticing two female servants silently following them from a few steps back. Had Kareen


    given instructions for the pair to attend to them? They strolled around for a while and the more


    Cassandra saw, the more she liked it. She had thought upon their arrival that it felt like this ce had


    been abandoned for years and left to the wild. Few rooms were entirely enclosed and most had spaces


    where stones in the walls were missing or parts of the roof were open so that they were bright and airy.


    Ivy ran through the walls freely and trees grew up against the walls, their branches recing missing


    sections of roof to provide some shade. Unlike the Imperial Pce, there weren’t many signs of wealth,


    except for a few richly decorated rooms. There was nothing else on disy and even the furniture was


    very basic, made of just wood andfortable fabrics.


    To Cassandra’s surprise, Kairen pushed arge door open and they walked in.


    “This is my room.”


    It was rather empty despite all the avable space, but had arge bath carved out in a corner with aContent is ? by N?velDrama.Org.


    fountain that had dried up. Kairen’s old bed was very much like the one at the Onyx Castle,rge and


    with furs on it.


    In another corner was what looked like a veryrge nest that was well worn out and tattered, and


    Cassandra guessed that this might have been Krai’s bed when he was younger…and smaller. Aside


    from those, there was only a wardrobe and a chest on a carpet in the other corner. It was even emptier


    than his bedroom in the Onyx Castle.


    Cassandra ventured further inside, still more curious, while Kairen stayed a few steps back, watching


    her.


    “So this is…where you grew up?”


    “I liked it better than the Pce.”


    “Why?” she asked inquisitively.


    “Less people. Only Mother and us.”


    She could easily picture how different from the Imperial Pce this ce was. Less people also meant


    less danger for the Imperial Children.


    Cassandra turned around and walked back to the War God. He put his hands on her shoulders, feeling


    her skin was a bit colder than usual.


    “Don’t get sick.”


    “I won’t.”


    Kairen pulled her into his embrace, warming her up instantly. Cassandraid her head against him,


    closing her eyes and tenderly holding on to her Prince.


    “I wish our child coulde into this world safely,” she sighed.


    Unknown to her, Kairen frowned. Cassandra rarely opened up about her insecurities like this, but if she


    was already concerned about their childing into the world… He held her a bit tighter. He would


    definitely make sure both of them were all right.