Page 213 of The White King's Favorite

“They could have used her as a hostage all the same… Frankly, I’m surprised my sister got caught. She’s smart, if she wanted to flee, she wouldn’t have been caught so easily!”

“No time for that, Sab, we have to go in… Should we split up? You distract them and I climb up the side? They won’t think of you as much of a threat compared to me, no offense. That could leave me the time to climb over, grab Nana, and get out of there.”

“That could work, but like you said, you have no idea how it is inside!”

“Damn it... If only we had a dragon here,” groaned Tessandra. “We could have a view from the top!”

“Let’s just go with your plan,” Sabael shook his head. “I don’t like leaving my sis in there any longer, so let’s–”

Before he finished his sentence, a huge explosion blew out behind them. Both ran out of their hiding place, their eyes on the vivid column of fire coming from the Yekara residence. Their people were pouring out, many of them screaming or shouting in utter panic, but Tessandra was most shocked by the fire itself. It was a bright blue color.

“Don’t tell me...”

“Tessa! Sabael!”

To their own surprise, they suddenly spotted Naptunie herself, running out of the crowd, her dress a bit burnt but the rope and her gag gone. She looked out of breath, with soot on her face and one of her buns undone.

“Nana, what the heck?!” exclaimed Tessandra.

“I did it!” she said proudly. “I did it! I-I told the Cheshi that were with me about the plan, and they agreed to help me out! I knew that if I managed to get inside the Yekara residence, I could trigger an explosion that would drive them out and cause panic in their ranks! I know you told me not to, but the second I realized their residence was made of the same type of stone I used to–”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” exclaimed Tessandra. “Have you gone mad? You could have blown yourself up with them! Nana, what the hell were you thinking?!”

“I-I just wanted to help,” muttered Nana, suddenly vexed. “I couldn’t just stand on the side when I knew I could help!”

“...Told you,” sighed her older brother.

Tessandra’s eyes went back to the huge fire behind her. It was even more mind-blowing to see the culprit’s small silhouette against the raging fire behind them. She sighed.

“Oh, Nana. I’m starting to think you and Darsan really are one hell of a dangerous match...”

“M-me and Prince Darsan?” Nana blushed.

“Yeah. Your destructive power is quite a match, at least,” scoffed Tessandra.

“B-but I did a useful thing, right? This way, we can push the odds toward our side and get their attention away from the castle!”

“We came with the exact same idea, only you beat us to it... At least we got what we wanted.”

Things were indeed getting a lot more heated where they stood. The three of them were almost standing in plain sight, but their enemies didn’t even have the luxury to bother with their presence. The Yekara were, just as they had predicted, completely thrown off by their main residence being attacked. Many were running inside or out, trying to save some of their belongings, while others were trying to find ways to tame the blue wildfire created by Naptunie. In fact, they might even have been more scared by the impossible colors of this fire, which kept burning despite the rain. Not only that, but several smaller explosions were following at irregular paces, the fire probably finding its way through the building for more things to combust... Sabael sighed.

“I’m thinking that’s your influence doing scary things to my little sister,” he whispered to Tessandra.

“Don’t blame it on me, I don’t push such ideas onto our Nana!”

“I just wanted to help!” insisted Naptunie, visibly getting embarrassed. “It’s not that complicated either, really, only basic geology applied to some chemistry, and a bit of... well, anyway, I can take care of myself! S-so, is Lady Cessilia alright? And His Majesty?”

“They left for the castle a while ago, and I sure hope so,” nodded Tessandra.

All three of them turned their eyes toward the castle, witnessing the exact moment when Jinn the Red Dragon suddenly wreaked havoc on one of the towers. Several large stone bricks fell to the side, destroying more of the castle or the island it stood on before loudly splashing in the surrounding body of water. Tessandra grimaced.

“Fucking untamed dragon... That beast might become a serious problem if he keeps going.”

“Wait, that dragon is not one of yours?” exclaimed Sabael.

“You just realized that now? It’s not, that bitch Jisel is the owner of that one. No wonder he’s such a pain in the arse... Teenage dragons are the absolute worst, they have no self control, and this one doesn’t even have a proper master either. A real nightmare. If something happens to that bitch and he goes on a rampage... But don’t worry, I’m sure Cessilia will be able to handle it. She grew up with eight dragons around, this one is just a brat waiting to get his scaled butt kicked!”

“Shouldn’t we go and help?” asked Nana, sending anxious glances at the castle.

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