Page 189 of The White King's Favorite

“But... then, how do the Cheshi people know so much?” asked Nana, tilting her head. “If you’re not... you know, neither the sister’s nor the brother’s descendants...”

Elder Olea smiled, and turned to Cessilia.

“Can you guess who we are, then, Princess?”

“...You’re all th-the others,” she said confidently. “The Cheshi p-people are the rest of the siblings’ t-tribe. The f-first humans who c-came and befriended the Dragon G-Gods...”

Aglithia smiled and nodded proudly.

“Exactly! Therefore, we don’t usually meddle in the affairs of the Eastern Kingdom... Our people decided to stay where they had always been, near the area they first arrived. During their conquest, the heirs of the Earth Dragon went to the west, but we decided to remain here, as our tribe’s history is here. The Sea Dragon was also last spotted here, on the beach of the Soura... The history of this continent is so deeply rooted into the legend that we treasure so much, our tribe decided to remain here forever, regardless of who the ruler of the land was. We are much older than any of the tribes here, and more familiar with dragons too. That’s why we couldn’t help but to observe you from afar...”

“What a-about Ashen?”

Cessilia’s angry tone gathered their attention, even cooling down Naptunie’s enthusiasm. Behind her, Darsan crossed his arms with a scowling look. Cessilia stepped forward, visibly upset.

“Th-thank you for t-telling us the history of our d-dragons, but as we s-speak, the Yekara C-Clan is still trying to t-take over your homeland. They t-tried to kill Ashen t-too. I c-can’t simply sit here and listen t-to your stories if you’re not g-going to help us at all. I d-don’t understand what your intention is here.”

Aglithia exchanged a look with her grandmother, the two of them giving a quick nod. Then, the young woman stepped forward, calmly.

“As I said, Princess Cessilia, the Cheshi have never gotten involved in the wars of this Kingdom. To us, the legitimate rulers of the Eastern Kingdom are the Earth and Sea Dragons’ heirs. We vowed to never get involved, unless one of the Dragons–”

“The D-Dragons are gone!” Cessilia suddenly shouted.

Her fists clenched, she stepped forward, furious, running out of patience.

“The dragons you were t-talking about are b-both gone,” she said, “and my family did not t-take back the Eastern K-Kingdom either! We may b-be the descendants of those Dragon G-Gods, but this is a story from d-dozens of centuries ago! You c-can’t just ignore the p-people living here now and k-keep living in the past! This is something that is happening n-now, and you are s-staying aside for the sake of a centuries-old t-tale? You c-can’t do this! This K-Kingdom needs your help, now! Ashen n-needs you to side with him to t-take back his home! He is the only K-King these people need!”

A long silence followed her words, where everyone stood perfectly still. After a few seconds, though, a faint smile appeared on Aglithia’s lips, and she turned to her grandmother.

“...See? I told you she was a great princess, Grandma.”

Elder Olea chuckled, nodding.

“Indeed, indeed. Ah... It makes me so proud of what our venerated dragons’ blood has become. Princess Cessilia, I am sorry for the lengthy explanation, but I am happy with your response.”

“You are?” Darsan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. See, our Cheshi Clan has sadly become very divided over this precise matter and the current situation. Some of us fully agree with what Princess Cessilia said. We cannot stand idly by and be passive forever... this may no longer be the home to the dragons’ offspring, but this is still our homeland. Some of us would like to support King Ashen the White, but others were more mitigated. We have pondered for a while whether to help him out or not, whether that blood of his was enough for us to finally get involved in the Kingdom’s succession.”

“...What? His b-blood?” muttered Cessilia, confused. “What are you t-talking about?”

Aglithia put on a dampened smile, caressing one of her tattoos with her fingers enigmatically.

“See,” said Aglithia, “there is something about King Ashen the White that makes him a bit different from all of the other kings our clan has seen on the throne of the Eastern Kingdom. For a long time, we cared little about other tribes fighting over this throne, as we knew none of them to be the real heirs to this land. But King Ashen... might be the first one in a while to have us recognize him as the real heir.”

Cessilia’s eyes went back and forth between Elder Olea and Aglithia, confused. What was it about Ashen’s blood that made him different from his predecessors? They wouldn’t recognize someone who wasn’t related to the Dragons’ heirs, and they had been against his father too... Suddenly, Cessilia understood.

“...His m-mother.”

“Yes,” nodded Aglithia. “...She was a Cheshi.”

Chapter 23

Cessilia was rendered speechless. Ashen’s mother belonged to the Cheshi Clan... She would have never guessed. Yet, it made a bit of sense. His mother had to belong to a clan for a single woman to be able to live in the Capital in such troubled times, and even be able to raise three boys by herself.

“I d-don’t understand. If she was a Ch-Cheshi, then why d-didn’t you help her when…?”

“That woman had chosen a way of life different from our own,” sighed Elder Olea. “She was trained, educated, and raised like any child of our clan. However, when she came of age, she refused to marry her fiancé within our clan and left. Soon enough, she was carrying another man’s child... Little did we know, she was to conceive the Tyrant King’s heirs.”

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