Page 126 of The White King's Favorite

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine,” Cessilia muttered, a bit embarrassed. “You d-don’t have to ask so much...”

“Sorry, I’ll stop now. ...Then shall we bathe a bit?”

“C-can we?”

“This water should be fine, it’s not deep at all and surprisingly clean. As long as we don’t fall asleep.”

Cessilia glanced back and, indeed, the water was rather clear, for seawater. Plus, she had been intrigued by it for a while now. With Ashen’s help, she got up, surprised by the lingering sensations in her body. She didn’t think her insides would feel so strange after sex, but she didn’t mind it much. It was like proof she wasn’t a virgin anymore...

Ashen went in the water first, carefully stepping on the bed of seashells and shivered. Then, he forced himself to dip his whole body in, although it wasn’t that deep. He looked surprisingly good with his white hair wet. Cessilia joined him quickly, trying to ignore how naked she was in front of him. After all, it was too late to hide, and she didn’t want to act shy. She bravely stepped in after him, finding the water at a good temperature thanks to her natural body heat.

“I love this p-place,” she said with a smile.

“I knew you would... I’m happy I brought you here.”

For a while, they swam around and teased each other, playing with the water. However, just as Ashen had said, it was rising rather quickly. Cessilia noticed the water that was previously at their waist was soon almost to their shoulders, and the path was already under a couple inches of water when they went to retrieve their clothes.

“Let’s go,” said Ashen, taking her hand after they both got dressed. “I don’t want to have to call your ride to get back...”

Cessilia chuckled, amused. She could only imagine what Ashen would risk if Krai found them there... She glanced one last time around the cave and carefully put one of the seashells she had collected in her pocket. It wasn’t the largest or probably even the prettiest she could have found, but it was intact, in good condition, and she liked the size of it. She had taken just one, for memory. If this cave was their secret she could only visit once in a while with him, at least she’d have a memento until the next time...

Chapter 16

“...Cessi, if you keep making that face, I’m really going to have Krai stick to you like the stench behind an old dragon’s butt.”

She bit her lips, glancing at her reflection in the mirror and noticed she had begun smiling again without even thinking about it. In the mirror, Nana, who was helping her brush her hair, exchanged a smile with her.

“...Well, Lady Tessa, I think you’re just a bit upset over last night.”

“How could I be?!” protested Tessa, blushing. “I... I barely remember anything!”

No one in the room believed that. She had been grumbling and beating a poor pillow for a while now, retreating to the end of Cessilia’s large bed and blushing constantly. When Cessilia had come back late the previous night, her cousin was nowhere in sight, and this morning, she had barged into the room after Naptunie, complaining about her headache and what a drunk idiot she had been.

“At least Lady Cessi looks happy about her evening!”

Cessilia nodded a bit shyly, but still smiling, and grabbed another little piece of fruit, their breakfast laid on the pretty vanity table. Then, remembering something, she took out the pretty shell, which she had placed in a box the previous night.

“Nana, c-can I ask you something? D-do you think this c-could be made into a... a necklace, or a b-bracelet?”

She showed her the seashell, and Nana immediately nodded.

“Of course! But you should ask Lady Bastat, I’m sure her people will make something gorgeous out of this! They can varnish it and polish it, and make it into any jewelry you want! ...Is it a special seashell?”

Nana looked a bit curious, her eyes going to the seashell that had nothing special about it, and Cessilia’s fond gaze on it. She could definitely tell this seashell had a significant story behind it, and was curious to hear it, but the Princess simply nodded once again. The meaning behind this seashell was something she wanted to keep to herself. Despite not getting back too late, she had a hard time sleeping the previous night, her heart beating fast the entire time and her head full of steamy memories from the cave with Ashen. She regretted they hadn’t been able to at least sleep together, but they were both very aware of all the eyes on them. They had even gone back separately to the castle, and went directly to their bedrooms, as if nothing had happened, their thoughts full of each other...

“If only this rain would stop soon,” sighed Nana.

The downpour outside was even more impressive than the other night’s storm. It had been raining an alarming volume of water, constantly for the past few hours. It was already like this when Cessilia had woken up, and the usually beautiful views from the suite’s balcony were completely blocked by the heavy curtains of rain. She noticed how Nana looked a bit worried.

“D-do downpours like this n-not occur often?”

“Not this much,” she shook her head. “We’re used to the wind and rain, even the storms, but I haven’t seen such a bad downpour in a while.”

Indeed, it was the heaviest rain Cessilia and Tessandra had ever witnessed. They weren’t used to much rain at all in the Dragon Empire. The Capital and most of the Empire were too far south to get more than what they usually did in the rainy season. Cessilia’s family’s castle in the north had mostly snow, except for the warmest months. Only their grandmother’s castle, located half-way between both, had some rain, but it was hot and humid, and certainly never this cold nor heavy.

“Is it really b-bad?”

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