Page 138 of The White King's Favorite

“Sir Dragon!” exclaimed Naptunie, who had just run to Cessilia’s side. “When did he arrive?”

“I d-don’t know.” Cessilia shook her head. “He p-probably can’t fly in this weather, he must have b-been hunting in the c-countryside...”

As long as the dragon hadn’t been hunting unreasonably again, she didn’t mind much. Dragons weren’t too fond of downpours like this, as it stuck them to the ground. Especially for Krai, who, unlike her siblings’ dragons, didn’t have a body made for water...

“I hope he’s not hungry,” muttered Nana in Cessilia’s ear. “We are already very busy making food for the people...”

“He’ll b-be fine,” said Cessilia. “...K-Krai!”

The dragon immediately popped its head up, the red eyes finally finding the Princess amongst the crowd. With the rain covering the smells and pretty much everyone wearing cloaks and hoods, Krai was probably having trouble finding anyone. As soon as the dragon saw Cessilia, its large tail swung again, hitting and demolishing a small portion of the wall in one blow. Ashen rolled his eyes, exasperated.

Still, the dragon ran to Cessilia, its large snout releasing large puffs of hot steam. She patted it, happy to see the familiar large figure.

“K-Krai, I need you t-to stay still for now,” she said. “S-stay with Ashen, p-please?”

The Black Dragon growled softly against her, and its head then suddenly turned to Nana, the red irises growing larger. Poor Naptunie jumped.

“Later!” she promised. “L-later, I’ll give Sir Dragon tons of fresh beignets!”

She received a loud growl in response, and Krai turned around, crawling back to Ashen. Everyone else was completely shocked at the scene. Most were seeing a dragon for the first time, and the gigantic creature was just effortlessly tamed by a few pats and the promise of fish beignets...

“...I’ll go and share your plan with the rest of my family,” said Ishira. “The sooner we start seeing people, the better. We can send the worst cases to the Capital if there are any. I’ll tell them to sort out some space for us.”

She left and Cessilia turned to Nana.

“Is everything g-going alright?”

“We’re still distributing food, and the Yonchaa Tribe just came with more meat and people to help!” exclaimed Naptunie, excited. “But Lady Bastat is setting the tents to shield the people, and they could use more arms to help set it up! I was supposed to go ask His Majesty...”

Nana glanced toward the men now walking away from the wall. She was probably too intimidated by her King to go and ask for help, but she was now waving at one of the larger men, not the one with the ax, but a middle-aged man with a large hammer, and the round face shape characteristic of many of her family members.

“Uncle Yamam!” she said. “Are you alright? Can you come help? We need strong men to erect wooden pillars, they are heavy!”

“Coming right up!”

The man sighed, catching his breath, while Naptunie ran to talk to another of the men, a younger one this time. He shook his head.

“Ah, she’s a real beauty! I hope she doesn’t lose too much of her curves when she grows up!”

“Her c-curves?” said Cessilia, a bit surprised.

The man nodded.

“Ha... All the women in our family tend to be like that! They are all cute and well-rounded as children, and they lose it all when they grow up! I wish our cute little Nana would stay this adorable forever! Ha... Yes, coming, coming!”

Cessilia watched him go, a bit surprised. Thinking back, all the Dorosef adult women they had seen were quite slim and fit, while the younger girls were all round... Wasn’t it the exact opposite of their male family members, then? Cessilia chuckled. That was one interesting tribe...

“Cessi! Come help too!” exclaimed Tessa from the other side, grunting.

The whole group was indeed busy raising the large wooden pillars. They had been brought with carts, but they were a pain to put up, the wet wood adding to its weight. It took three strong people to raise each, and they had to act fast. Cessilia ran to help next to Tessandra and three other people, who were trying to get one of the largest ones up. After a bit of effort, they finally managed to raise it.

“...Ah!”

The sharp pain inside of her hand felt like something small had stabbed her, probably a splinter of wood. Cessilia looked at her palm, trying to find the cut. Something shined briefly.

“Cessilia!”

She raised her head, seeing Ashen run to her, alerted by her sharp cry of pain. She hadn’t realized she had been so loud, or he was near enough to hear. Looking worried, he took the log off her hands and grabbed her wrist to check for an injury.

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