Page 113 of The White King's Favorite

“Yes, and no. Putting that aside, you’re also someone who’s not allied with any of the clans but is still a strong contender. If I may say so, you’re a big hope for many of us. It may sound strange, but many of the tribes would rather have a foreigner on the throne than a corrupt queen.”

A lot of things were beginning to make more sense to Cessilia now. The other candidates tolerated her because she was an alright option for the King, and because she was essentially one of the only possible alternatives to the worst, the Pangoja and Yekara candidates...

“...Have you t-tried reaching out t-to the Cheshi C-Clan?” Cessilia asked.

“We tried, but I have no idea what they are thinking at the moment. They have closed the doors to their residences and won’t appear at all. From what I know, they refused to meet the other tribes as well... They might be watching the competition as well, and waiting for the outcome.”

“They are cowards then,” scoffed Tessa.

A silence followed her statement. Hephael and his cousin exchanged a glance, but obviously, they had nothing to answer to that. They didn’t know what was going on with that tribe, and it did feel like they were somewhat hiding from the current events... The question was, when would they finally get involved?

“C-can I ask...” muttered Cessilia. “What ab-bout th-that woman... The K-King’s mistress.”

“That woman...” Hephael frowned. “I guess you’ve met her.”

“She said t-to ask you about her p-past.”

Ishira grimaced.

“She’s not one of us,” she immediately said, “if that’s what you want to know.”

“B-but she is p-part of the Rain T-Tribe too, isn’t she?”

Hephael let out a long sigh as if it cost him to talk about this.

“...We had no idea about her existence until a while ago, honestly. She wasn’t among the children my father bought back, she had... her own life, far from our family. But yes, she’s... part of the Rain Tribe, like us.”

“Then what is it you’re not telling us?” frowned Tessandra. “You don’t like her either, it seems.”

“Not really. She was never a Hashat, and she sided with the King ever since she appeared... When we tried to reach out to her, that’s when we learned of her background, and we immediately cut ties.”

Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a glance, surprised.

“...What is it?”

“She... she was born out of a rape,” said Hephael. “Not here, but on the Dragon Empire’s side. Because of that, she... that girl was loathed by her mother, and raised by her father. Her father... eventually killed her mother from too much abuse, and was left alone with his daughter, abusing her next. She... freed herself by killing him, and fled here, to the Eastern Kingdom. That’s when we met her, among a group of refugees. But that woman, she’s still... very much damaged.”

“No wonder... But she killed her abuser of a father and avenged her mother. I get the twisted part, but if you couldn’t rescue her, couldn’t you have... I don’t know, at least helped her? I’m by no means fond of that woman, but her father was the monster, not Jisel!”

Ishira and Hephael exchanged a very awkward look. Cessilia understood there was something more to this story.

“We would have,” muttered Hephael, “but...”

“...Her father was the one from the Rain Tribe.”

A long, heavy silence followed his words. Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a look, both completely stunned. They had never imagined they would hear such a thing today.

“...Her father?” muttered Tessandra, shocked. “Holy fuck...”

“Yeah, that was a lot for us too. But after that, we understood she would not be... very fond of our family, no matter what we did. For her, the Rain Tribe is her cursed heritage, so... she went on her own.”

Tessandra combed her hair back, still in shock. She and Cessilia exchanged a glance, appalled at what they had heard. They knew war was the cradle for a lot of horrible and tragic stories, but this one was truly unexpected. They were even a bit glad their mothers weren’t present to hear this.

“...Is that it?” finally muttered Tessandra.

“Pretty much. It’s not like she welcomed us with open arms, we barely… exchanged a few words before she made it clear she did not want our help. She was still young the first time we met her.”

“I don’t think she... hates the Rain Tribe, per se,” muttered Ishira. “From what we understood, it’s more like she has a strange fascination for it. She did learn the same knowledge as we did about medicine and plants.”

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