Page 164 of The War God’s Favorite

Chapter13

Cassandra had been utterly exhausted by the whole day. She had a peaceful, dreamless night, surrounded by warmth and the soft scent of the verbena plants that had been put in their room for a good night’s rest.

Kairen made sure to position his arms in the most comfortable arrangement for her before falling asleep himself. He was even more cautious than usual, as his concubine was recently struggling to get a good night’s sleep, often waking up throughout the night due to her nausea.

Cassandra slept straight through until the morning, no one daring to wake her from the much-needed respite. When she finally awoke, she was feeling well-rested and refreshed. Her body was still a bit sore, but nothing unbearable. She sat up and stretched a little. Feeling the Prince’s side of the bed was a bit cold, Cassandra confirmed she had been alone for some time. How long had she slept?

Outside, music from the ongoing festivities flowed through the window and, judging by the accompanying warmth from the sunlight, Cassandra guessed it was quite late in the morning.

She grabbed her robe and walked to the window, glancing down. Indeed, she could see the lake and the garden flooded with people again. Some had probably been there all night, but she was too far away to recognize anyone.

“Lady Cassandra! Did you sleep well?”

Dahlia had just walked in carrying a new dress for her, while two other servant girls entered right behind her with hot water and some oils. They started preparing her a bath, which immediately filled the room with a refreshing citrus smell.

“I did, thank you. I slept late, didn’t I?” Cassandra said with some concern in her voice.

“His Highness insisted we let you sleep, my Lady. It’s almost midday now, but Imperial Concubine Kareen said she would like to have a late breakfast with you.”

“She’s been waiting for me?” Cassandra was a bit embarrassed.

“She knows you were sleeping, my Lady. She said she was fine with waiting as long as you got some good rest. His Highness the Third Prince agreed to it too, and insisted we wait on you to wake up.”

“My Lord is with his mother?” asked Cassandra while undressing to get into her bath quickly.

“Yes, My Lady, Princess Shareen, and Lady Missandra as well.”

Cassandra felt a bit flustered at the thought of everyone waiting for her. Moreover, they weren’t even attending the celebrations, but just waiting to have breakfast at Lady Kareen’s apartments? She wondered if Shareen was still implicitly banned from them, or if Kareen was the one who refused to go again. Both mother and daughter definitely shared the same fiery blood.

As she didn’t want to keep anyone waiting much longer, Cassandra asked the servants to help her get ready after the quick bath. She let Dahlia pick the jewelry for her and put on her diadem before walking out hastily. Only Dahlia followed her, as the two other servants stayed behind to clean up the room.

Cassandra was grateful to be spared of her usual nausea as she hurried to Kareen’s apartments, not quite running but still not walking too slowly. She arrived only a few minutes later and walked in as she knew Kareen didn’t need her to be announced.

It was a large room with panels on one side that opened onto a large garden for them to admire and allow the sunshine to come in. However, unlike the warm sunlight, the atmosphere was icy inside. She walked up to the large table where Kareen, Shareen, Kairen, and Missandra were all seated and strangely quiet. To her surprise, the young Prince Anour was seated with them too, though he had obviously just arrived as his plate and cup were empty and clean.

They all raised their heads when she entered and Cassandra noticed both Missandra and Kairen were unhappy, while Kareen was pointedly ignoring them, drinking her tea.

Shareen rolled her eyes. “Finally!”

“Good Morning!” said Anour, who was apparently the only one not sulking or upset.

“Sorry, I’m late…” muttered Cassandra, confused by what was going on.

Kareen stood up and walked to her, gently smiling and taking her hand.

“It’s fine, my dear, a pregnant woman needs a good night’s sleep. I’m glad you rested, you look better than last night. Now, come. You must be hungry.”

Indeed, she was. Her baby and his dragon stomach were already starving, and the large display of food on the table made it worse. She sat next to the Imperial Concubine, greeting everyone as she was served some of her favorite lemon tea.

“What’s going on?” she finally dared to ask.

“Oh, well,” said Shareen. “That dearest brother of mine is fighting with our mother and your just-as-stubborn sister. For the record, I’m on their side as well, but it’s been like this for over an hour, so I do hope you can talk some sense into him.”

“A fight? About what?” asked Anour, curious.

“Their wedding.”

Cassandra was speechless! Their wedding? He had already discussed it with his family and Missandra? She suddenly remembered! She said she wanted his mother’s approval. But she hadn’t really thought he would go ahead and ask her straight-out, or so soon! It wasn’t exactly a breakfast topic. Anour too, had his mouth open, visibly shocked. He was about to say something, but Kareen gestured for him to be quiet and eat, like a child.

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