Page 141 of The War God’s Favorite

Cassandra finished brushing her hair and picked some accessories with Dahlia’s help, before kissing her Prince goodbye. With Shareen right behind her, she walked up to her herbal garden and took the potion from Dahlia’s hands. The bottle was green, a bit more expensive than the usual apothecary goods. It had no other indication about any manufacturer, however. Dahlia and Cassandra spent some time studying the potion’s content, during which Shareen had to wait. The Princess wasn’t too good with patience, however, and started grumbling after only twenty minutes or so.

“Aren’t you done yet?” she growled.

“Almost, actually. There’s this scent I don’t recognize,” said Cassandra, frowning.

“I don’t smell anything else, My Lady,” admitted Dahlia with a sorry expression.

To Cassandra, whose sense of smell was enhanced, there was definitely something else, but she couldn’t point it out. Nothing had come out of analyzing the potion’s thickness or color. However, whatever it was that she was smelling felt strangely familiar, something that went back to her farthest memories.

“Could it be…petrichor?”

“What the heck is that?”

“It’s… the smell of the rain,” said Cassandra, still baffled.

Shareen exchanged a look with Dahlia, both a bit doubtful.

“You’re telling me rain has a smell?”

“It’s more like the smell of the earth after the rain, actually. But the soil’s smell after the rain smells exactly like this. I just haven’t smelled that in a long time.”

It wasn’t surprising, considering how rare rainy days were in this country. The Dragon Empire’s Capital was hot, humid, and suffocating, except for a short rain season, it was as arid as a desert most of the year. They had to go to further cities, like Kareen’s city or the Shadelands, to see something other than dry soil and sand. The Capital relied mostly on the large wells and few rivers that came all the way down from the sea, but the water came from the earth or the sea, not from the sky.

“That potion probably came from outside the Capital,” said Cassandra. “If they didn’t make it in the Capital, the only reason would be that they must have found a better price having it imported from the outside. Someone must have bought a larger stock.”

“It actually makes sense. Valeria bought this potion in the Red District, where they probably use that kind of potion often, for the prostitutes. If Phetra only asked her for an abortion potion, that child probably just went to the first place she thought of getting one.”

“So this is a dead-end?” sighed Dahlia.

Both women stayed silent for a while. Cassandra felt like they were missing something, but she couldn’t say what. After a few minutes, her eyes fell once again on the green bottle, which she grabbed.

“Not necessarily. Why would they have put this potion in a fancy container like this one?”

“You’re right,” said Shareen. “If it’s from a large stock, the seller wouldn’t bother putting it in a green jade container. It’s like they knew who they were selling it to.”

“The order was placed beforehand,” concluded Cassandra. “Valeria was made to retrieve the potion by Phetra, but the seller knew it had been ordered from the Palace.”

“So, the seller knew the buyer,” said Shareen with a grin. “Now, we just need to find them. I’ll send one of my girls to see who sells those in the Red District.”

Once Shareen was done giving orders, she and Cassandra agreed it was time they left the Palace to look for Missandra in the upper neighborhood. There was no reason for them to go back to the Red District to investigate the potion, but Cassandra was adamant about looking for her younger sister as soon as possible. Krai was nowhere to be seen, for now, probably hunting somewhere far away from the current ruckus at the Palace.

As they left the Palace, Shareen couldn’t help but think about their earlier talk over and over again. Cassandra had taken her by surprise. Though she knew about her brother’s concubine’s exceptional knowledge in medicine, she was shocked to hear her talk so well about the usual trading habits of the Capital merchants. What kind of life had she lived, exactly? Common slaves didn’t get that much knowledge just by some observation. Under her weak and quiet appearance, that woman actually turned out to be even smarter than most of the concubines. No wonder their mother had taken a liking to her.

When they finally reached the neighborhood Cassandra had set out to target first, the young concubine was a bit lost. Where to start? This wasn’t like the Red District, where everyone knew pretty much everything that happened next door. She tried to think of what to ask, and as soon as she found a shop, she walked straight up to the merchant.

The old man was speechless upon seeing the three women that had appeared, but Cassandra was now used to this kind of reaction.

“Excuse me, Sir, could I ask you a few questions?”

“Of course, Your Highness! Anything, Your Highness!” said the old man, immediately bowing as low as he could.

“Please get up, Sir. You don’t need to bow. I wondered if you had seen any new shops opening in the neighborhood recently? Like an apothecary, or perhaps for southern medicine?”

“No, Your Highness, not that I know of. Many merchants come and go, Madam.”

Cassandra sighed, thanked the old man, and then left. Shareen, with her arms crossed, looked bored already.

“Why does it feel like this is going to take forever?”

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