Chapter 88


    #88 The Green Gown


    Cassandra had no problem falling asleep that evening. She was soothed by the sounds of the


    downpour outside, the wind shimmering in the leaves, and the slow breathing of her Prince against her


    ear. A peaceful sleep after a nice evening outing and a long, warm bath was just the best. (022)


    When she woke up, the next morning, her senses immediately picked up the sound of the downpour,


    still ongoing outside. She smiled and turned around to face Kairen. However, she was surprised to find


    her Prince still deeply asleep. This was a first! He would usually wake up the second she moved. Yet,


    Kairen was still obviously sleeping, with his slow, steady breath, and serein expression. Cassandra bit


    her lip, only too happy to secretly witness such a precious moment.


    He was looking a bit younger when he wasn’t frowning, or ring with those dark obsidian eyes of his.


    She loved being able to scrutinize him from up close… She often forgot their age difference. He was a


    grown man, while she had just barely gotten into adulthood. She brushed his beard with her fingertips.


    He hadn’t cut it in a few days, but she liked it. His hair, too, was steadily growing to get down his nape.


    (10)


    As Cassandra was still caressing his beard as gently as possible, Kairen swiftly moved to wrap his arm


    around her, his eyes still closed. The young concubine pouted a bit.


    “So you were awake after all…


    “Hn.”


    She chuckled and came a bit closer to gently kiss his lips. Kairen smiled, but for once, didn’t give in,


    letting Cassandra spread her kisses on his lips, on his beard, on his cheekbones. He could tell she was


    just having fun teasing him. He let her do until she got bored, and pushed him over, to get on top of


    him. Only then did the War God consent to open his eyes, to see the face of his smiling concubine.


    “Good morning, my Prince,” she whispered.


    ‘Good morning.”


    “It’s still raining,” she said with a smile.


    “I hear that…”


    Cassandra chuckled. She knew his faint answers were part of his character, not ack of interest. She


    kissed him once more, and got out of the bed. She was a bit more excited than she thought about this.


    The gentle music of the heavy rain outside was making her happy, and the thought that they could


    finally do the Ceremony…


    As always, the servants came in shortly after they had woken up, bringing some new set of clothes and


    disappearing as soon as possible. Cassandra wondered how they always knew. She put on the new


    dress and tried to sort out her messy curls. The rain had done no justice to her chocte brown hair…


    She had to spend some extra time taming it, and left it untied, knowing it was no use with that humidity.


    “Lady Cassandra?”


    Dahlia was gently knocking at the door, bringing in anotherrge tray of food, for breakfast surely. The


    young girl smiled upon entering.


    “Lady Kareen sent me to give you your breakfast! Did you sleep well?”


    The young servant was apparently only too happy to be back to her old habits of assisting Cassandra.


    She even helped her arrange her hair a bit and put on the flower crown they had bought the previous


    day. As they discussed,’. chatting about the previous evening, behind them Kairen was getting up and


    getting ready too. He walked to Cassandra’s side to give her a quick kiss and grabbed some of the


    meat on the tray before leaving.


    Dahlia’s shoulder rxed a little as soon as the War God was out of the room, making Cassandra


    chuckled. (1)


    “Are you still scared?” Asked Cassandra.


    “It cannot be helped, Lady Cassandra. I’ve been raised to always fear the Imperial Family. I understand


    that Imperial Concubine Kareen, and the Third Prince and Lady Shareen are different, but still…”


    “Old habits die hard.”


    Cassandra understood that better than anyone else. It had taken her weeks to fully trust Kairen, his


    sister and mother, and even now, she was unable to approach any member of the Imperial Family


    without that fear automatically growing in her stomach.


    She had no idea where he had gone, but Cassandra enjoyed the bit of time she had alone with Dahlia.


    Apparently, she and Missandra had gotten quite close, and stayed togetherte in the night to chat. Her


    sister was still asleep, but the rest of the inhabitants were all up already. Most couldn’t sleep well


    because of the storm from the previous night. The thunder had only calmed downte in the night, but


    Cassandra was among those few people it hadn’t bothered at all. (1)


    “Lady Kareen has been very busy preparing everything for the Rain Ceremony!” Exined Dahlia, her


    hands busy braiding some of Cassandra’s hair. “She said she wants to have it done before the rain


    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    stops. I don’t think it will stop so soon, but…”


    Cassandra nodded while eating breakfast. She didn’t think so either. She could recognize when a


    downpour was going tost, and this was definitely one of those. The actual storm was over, and the


    wind had calmed down, leaving only regr sounds of heavy rain.


    She closed her eyes, letting Dahlia finish her hairdo and eating in silence, just listening to the rain. This


    sound was so familiar… She was born during a storm like the one of the previous day. Now that she


    thought about it, her baby had mostly been conceived during a snowstorm. This was such a cute


    coincidence… Maybe it would take another of those for him to be born. 6


    “Lady Cassandra? What are you smiling about?” Asked Dahlia.


    “I was just thinking a bit. Are we finished?”


    “Just a little bit more! I want to see if I can adjust this…”


    “Hinue!”


    Missandra showed up at the door, looking tired but tightly wrapped in a big fur cloak. She looked a bit


    cold, but her cheeks were of a rosy shade. She walked up to them, looking happy.


    “I love those flower crowns… Hinue, did you have your breakfast? Do you want more? Prince Anour


    showed us where to find the kitchens yesterday!”


    Cassandra chuckled.


    “Aren’t you close to Anour now? For him to show you around?” ]


    Missandra pouted.


    “Don’t start treating me like a child!”


    Sulking a bit, she grabbed some of Cassandra’s breakfast, biting into one of those cheese cubes


    hungrily. The older sister chuckled. Actually, she was happy whenever Missandra acted her age.


    Moreover, she was obviously a lot morefortable now that they were in the Diamond Pce,


    enough to befriend Anour at least. The rain probably had the same effect as on her in raising her


    younger sister’s spirits, too.


    After bickering a bit more, all three young women headed out of the room. Cassandra only had to


    follow Dahlia, who had apparently been woken up early too to prepare for the Ceremony.


    Finally, they reached arge room. Cassandra recognized it instantly. It was one ofdy Kareen’s


    Favorite colons one with an open roof and lots of green nts sprouting wildly from all sides. This time


    though all the forniture had been taken out as the rain was pouring in. It was alright, though, the floor


    had some crevices where the water would flow in, as dozens of little rivers headed towards the outer


    parts or the fountain on the side Carcandra hand always wondered how the Diamond Pce could


    have so many open rooms, but now, it was ob ous that thost rooms were properly conceived for the


    water to be expelled one way or another.


    This one was actually rather perfect for the Ceremony. It had a square shape, was letting theputin,


    and the the floor wasn’tpletely flooded, only a thinyer of water remained under their feet.


    “How is it, dear?’ Asked Kareen, walking up to her in one of her gorgeous burgundy dresses.


    “It looks perfect, Lady Kareen. But do we have everything?


    The Imperial Concubine clicked her tongue.


    “Don’t you dare underestimate me, young Lady! Dahlia, take her to the other bedroom where we have


    everything And someone goes wake up that sleepyhead daughter of mine!”4


    Cassandra was swiftly pushed to another room. She had thought she should get ready in her room, but


    once she walked inside, she understood why she couldn’t. In front of her, a gorgeous green and gold


    dress was disyed. It was the first time in years she saw what looked like a real ceremonial outfit from


    her Tribe, and the tears came to her eyes right away. There was even the veil, and all the golden


    embroideries had obviously been handmade!


    “Do you like it, Hinue?” Asked Missandra, excited. “Dahlia and I stayed uptest night to finish it!


    “We had some help from other servants of course,’ added Dahlia. “But we all followed Miscandra’s


    instructions down to the letter to have it as close to your real ceremonial outfit as possible… Do you like


    it?


    “It’s gorgeous,” whispered Cassandra, unable to find any more words to describe it.


    Indeed, the dress was divine and had nothing to envy her usual pink dresses. The gorgeous green silk


    was of the best quality, shimmering with several shades as she touched it, and the gold threads had


    been embroidered so well, to retrace the traditional arabesques she remembered, all over it. The piece


    of cloth didn t have a single ground in it, but it was shining and glowing better than any treasure.


    The girls had even prepared, with Lady Kareen’s help, prepared some jewelry to add to her outfits


    “Hinue, look! We couldn’t find borean ink, but I made something simr. Ah, I tested it, so your skin


    should be able to bear it just fine!”


    Indeed, the blue ink in the little pot she was handing her looked very simr to proper borean ink.


    Cassandra put the put aside, and took the two girls in her arm to hug them. 2


    “Thank you so much… Dahlia, Missandra… Thank you for preparing all this for me.”


    Both Missandra and Dahlia were surprised by this sudden hug, but happily responded to it. After that,


    all three of them chuckled, excited, and it was high time they helped Cassandra get ready.


    A whileter, Kairen was waiting outside, wearing a simr green silk piece of clothing. For the tall


    wantor, the girls had only made somerge cloak, which he was wearing over his shoulders, with some


    ck pants. Karen wasn’t very familiar with anything about the Rain Tribe’s ceremonial, but when


    Missandra came up to him, he listened to her.


    “Could you just stand there… Right there, please. Alright, and if you can wait a bit, my sister ising!


    She went back running inside and, suddenly, Cassandra appeared. Everyone suddenly gotpletely


    speechless. The young concubine was more beautiful than she’d ever been. The long green dress was


    tightly wrapped around her body, showing her curves more than the usual pink dress she was wearing.


    It was only covering her chest belly, and legs, so her back and arms were nude, only her hair running


    down. The visible pieces of her skin were


    actually shining of a strange light, like some thin silver shimmer… Anyone in the room with eyes to see


    found that emerald dress was absolutely gorgeous on her and, with that flower crown, and the painting


    on her skin, she looked like she had just stepped out of one of thoserge paintings, like a nature


    goddess. Several male servants had their mouths wide open in surprise, and even the girls were


    blushing, shocked by how pure yet sensual she looked at that moment.


    However, the one most stunned of all was Kairen. The War God was looking at his young concubine


    with such a deep expression on his face. His deep ck eyes were mesmerized by the vision before


    him. He was like struck, not shocked by how beautiful she was, but how even more beautiful she could


    be. For maybe the first time, he wasn’t quiet. He was speechless.