Page 61 of The War God’s Favorite

That was another reason why she wanted to keep herself busy.

Cassandra wasn’t totally unhappy in the camp. She was discovering many things she had never seen before, and was basically free to go anywhere she wanted. Her red dress, and the imperial servant following her, were enough of an explanation for the men who had never seen her before, and even a few high-ranked soldiers took time to salute her politely when she crossed their paths. It was clear that no one really knew how to interact with her, though. For the Third Prince to actually have a Concubine was already surprising enough; no one really wanted to ask more. The rumors about the Palace concubines’ legendary attitudes and willfulness was enough to keep most men at bay.

Cassandra was actually able to enjoy her walk all the way to the mountain, as soon as she had stopped thinking about the Prince’s request that morning.

Once she got to the Red Room, however, quite a surprise was waiting for her. About three times more men than the previous day were all helping around the room, and there was obviously a lot going on, with people moving the injured in or out of the room. She stayed at the entrance, a bit surprised, when four of them rushed to her.

“Good Morning, Madam!”

“Good Morning…Excuse me, but... how come so many people are…volunteering today?” she asked, a bit unsure, while Evin took off her fur cloak.

One of the men stepped forward. Cassandra recognized him as one of those who were present the previous day.

“Actually, once we got back to our units, we talked with some others about what we had done, madam, and many wanted to come and help. The word kind of spread quickly, and even the men who had punishments asked to be sent here.”

“I see…”

Cassandra was at bit of a loss. She didn’t expect so many people to show up after only one day!

“Madam, we are almost at the end of your notes, and we have counted everyone and reported their status, as you said,” the man announced proudly. “We already asked for permission to use the closest rooms and started moving some people, following your notes. Do you want to check?”

“Yes, uh…”

It took a few minutes for Cassandra to get a hold of the situation and move forward, while the men were apparently waiting for her directions. Taking a deep breath, she took a look at the full list that they had done their best at completing while she was gone.

“All right, I will… Wait, everyone stop what you’re doing!”

Every man in the room looked at her, surprised. Cassandra, remembering this morning’s conversation with the Prince, couldn’t leave things as they were.

“I want everyone to get out of the room and go wash your hands and faces with clean water. Only come back once you have some tissue on your face, like I did yesterday.”

They all exchanged glances, surprised by her strange request. As Cassandra suspected, these men didn’t know the basics of hygiene and self-protection while handling the wounded or sick people. And unlike her, they had received no form of protection against diseases. If things went on like this, she would do more harm than good, as the volunteers would soon fall sick too.

Hence, the first part of that matinee was focused on Cassandra showing them how to properly wash their hands and wear fabrics over their mouth and noses to protect themselves. She also checked their hands before they walked back in.

“What are you looking for, Madam?” asked one of the men.

“Little cuts, open skin…Any kind of opening can let the disease into your own body, I want to avoid that. Thankfully, most of you have thick skin thanks to combat training, but…”

If she had any kind of doubt, Cassandra asked the men to do something that wouldn’t involve touching the injured people, like gathering clothes or herbs for her. The others kept moving people to the different rooms following her notes.

By noon, all the people had been moved to different rooms, and following Cassandra’s request, the men had gathered a lot of herbs in various baskets that she intended to keep in a storage room. Two of the men looked at the now empty red room in disgust.

“I can’t believe almost two hundred men were here. Damn, there are even insects!”

“That’s why we need to clean it.”

They both turned to Cassandra, shocked. She wanted to clean that? The blood had stained the ground, some remnants were clearly from human defecations, and it had smelled so bad for months! But as the Prince’s concubine began bringing in clear water and brooms, it was apparently decided.

“Are you sure, Madam? This place is really…”

“Disgusting? Yes, but this is the largest room here, and we will need it. Nothing here is uncleanable, and we need to make use of any resource we can.”

Actually, no one was really enthusiastic about cleaning that room. Saying it was awfully dirty and disgusting was still an understatement. However, as soon as Cassandra started cleaning, three of the men rushed to take it all out of her hands.

“Madam, do you want us to lose our dignity as men? We can’t let the Commander-in-Chief’s woman dirty her hands while we watch!”

“We would lose our heads for sure!”

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