Page 128 of The War God’s Favorite

“Cassandra, what is it?”

The young concubine exchanged a look with the servant, who nodded, confirming her thoughts.

“It’s an abortifacient. A potion used to…induce a miscarriage.”

Instinctively, Cassandra put a hand on her belly and lost all compassion for the young Princess, who was clearly terrified. Her dark eyes went from Cassandra’s tummy to Shareen, growing wider and wider.

“No, no, no! Sister Shareen, I swear this wasn’t meant for the concubine! I swear! I would never dare to…”

“To try to harm my brother’s offspring? Is that it, Valeria?” said Shareen with a menacing tone, raising her wrist higher.

The young girl cried out in pain. Shareen was taller than her, the difference in strength was showcased by the calm and effortless way she hung her younger sister by her wrist.

“Spill it, Valeria. Who is that meant for, you little swine?”

The young Princess obviously couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her expression was tortured between pain and frustration, but Shareen was not going to let go until she heard what she wanted.

“I swear…I swear it wasn’t for her,” she cried repeatedly.

“For who, then? Talk, we don’t have all day!”

“Shareen,” whispered Cassandra, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the situation. “Maybe we should…”

“No, she will say it, now. Even if she doesn’t know who it was destined for, she has to know who asked her for it. Dressing up as a servant, leaving without an escort, and trying to evade me, too. You know how short my patience is Valeria, and I don’t think Father would mind much if I lost my temper with you.”

The threat was ice cold. Even Cassandra felt a chill. Was Valeria the daughter of a lower concubine of the Emperor? She probably didn’t have any of the brothers’ backing, from Shareen’s words.

However, she was only fifteen and defenseless like this. Cassandra sighed. She truly believed this potion wasn’t made for her. Valeria looked like she would have been much more terrified if Shareen had seen through her right away.

“Is it for one of the concubines?” asked Cassandra. “One of the Princes’ or perhaps one of His Highness’ women?”

Valeria turned her eyes to her, looking a bit surprised by the sudden questioning, but seeing her lack of response, Cassandra was pretty sure neither of those were right. Then there was only one option remaining.

“Is it for one of the Princesses?”

This time, Valeria went from red to white in a matter of seconds. Shareen saw it too, and smirked.

“So that’s what it is. One of our dearest sisters ordered you to get this. Now I’m wondering which one of those bitches was dumb enough to get pregnant.”

To Cassandra’s surprise, she let go of Valeria right after those words. The young Princess didn’t wait and ran away in a hurry. Cassandra turned to Shareen, confused.

“Is that it? Aren’t you going to ask her which one?”

“There are only a few who could get that child so scared. If it was the daughter of a low-ranked concubine, Valeria would have spilled the beans as soon as I caught her. She is an only child and her mother is of no importance now. Whichever Princess ordered her to get this potion is at least as scary as I am, and there aren’t many that can claim that title.”

Cassandra finally understood. Though they were all seemingly sisters, not all Princesses had the same status or power. Shareen, for example, was backed up by a favored mother and brother. Phetra also had a rather comfortable position thanks to her Imperial Brother, Vrehan. However, not all Princesses had the same luck. Unless they had a brother or a mother favored by the Emperor, they were probably just pawns for the others to use. Valeria was probably among the unlucky ones, fighting for her own survival just like many others.

Who could be pulling her strings then? Cassandra had an idea, but she wasn’t sure.

“Which Princess would want an abortion potion?” she wondered out loud.

“Don’t know. But we are not supposed to engage in sexual relations until our father marries us off.”

Cassandra turned to Shareen, surprised. She knew it was a rather basic rule for daughters in the Dragon Empire, but somehow, this brought out a completely different side of Shareen she had never thought about.

“Does that mean you are…?”

“Married? Me?” asked Shareen with a snarl. “Oh, hell no.”

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