Page 272 of The White King's Favorite

He laughed. Indeed, with the months their citizens had all spent witnessing the Princess’ pregnancy for themselves and congratulating her, no one in the Kingdom was unaware of their daughter’s existence. Cessilia smiled, and quickly kissed his lips.

“We are already married in my mind,” she said. “We’ve literally done everything but the ceremony, and we even have a beautiful daughter together. In fact, I’m happy we will have our little girl witnessing our wedding someday!”

Ashen brushed his hair back, a small smile gracing his lips. His hair had grown out a little, but he didn’t seem to care, allowing his future wife to manage the length. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in for a long, gentle kiss. Cessilia gladly returned his kiss, caressing his cheek, her other hand moving toward his torso. He was wearing a thin shirt, which she hoped to take off soon... Indeed, they had such little time for just the two of them together. They kissed until her back leaned against the wall, unable to stop, their lips caught in a delicious spell between them. Ashen gently caressed her waist, hugging her along with that kiss, as if he was trying to hold all of her in his arms.

After a few more seconds, Cessilia reluctantly turned her head, leaving his lips on her cheek, to end their kiss.

“Ashen... we really should go. Tessa is going to make fun of us to no end if we’re really late.”

He groaned at the mention of her cousin, knowing this was definitely true. Cessilia chuckled at his grouchy face. Now that was something everyone was more used to, the dark and broody King. She put a quick last kiss on his lips.

“Come on, Your Majesty,” she said, pulling his hand. “The sooner we can finish that meeting, the longer we will have to ourselves...”

Ashen’s faint smile reappeared, and he obediently followed his future Queen.

They had stopped very close to their destination, just a couple of corridors away. In fact, it was surprising that no one had seen the two of them kissing. Luckily, only they used the corridor they had come from, the one that led to their apartments. All of the other guests had come from outside the castle, and thus, from the main entrance. As soon as they stepped in, Naptunie jumped in front of Cessilia, smiling from one ear to the other, Darsan right behind her.

“How is she?” she asked right away.

“She’s sleeping,” Cessilia chuckled, “and she’ll probably sleep for a few more hours.”

“Is it alright to leave her by herself?” she asked, worried.

“Didi is sleeping with her, she’ll find us right away if there’s an issue.”

“My dragon used to chew our dad’s toes every time I was hungry!” laughed Darsan.

Next to him, Tessandra stepped forward, grimacing.

“That explains the bad breath,” she grumbled. “Dran should really stop eating everything...”

“He’s made progress,” frowned Naptunie. “At least now he’s fishing and hunting for himself, and only twice a day too!”

“Twice a day?” Cessilia repeated, surprised.

“W-well, he was getting a bit too heavy and all the hunting scared the cattle and fish away, so now I make sure he is more reasonable...”

“...A dragon on a diet,” Tessandra rolled her eyes. “She managed to put dumb Dran on a damn diet, and Darsan the Destroyer is now building houses and furniture... Nana, your taming talents will never cease to amaze me!”

“I already told you, he’s really not dumb! He’s just... very stubborn...”

Behind them, a lot of the people present were waiting to greet Cessilia, so she quickly left Tessandra and Naptunie to argue as always, walking away to greet their guests. Everyone invited to this council had a huge part to play in the future of the Kingdom. There were over a dozen representatives from various clans and tribes, as well as scholars, architects, doctors, guild leaders, and merchants from all corners of the Kingdom. The room itself had only a few seats for the elders who needed it, but the main feature was the gigantic table at its center. On that table, all sorts of maps, plans, detailed accounts, and other reports could be spread out and shown to the others. It had been one of Cessilia and Ashen’s wishes: an open council room, not restricted to a handful of people anymore, but open to literally anyone who had something to say. Aside from the fact that only adults were allowed in after a quick security check upon entry, any citizen of the Kingdom could come and partake in this council. After the first few councils where only a dozen people had shown up, they had waves of curious citizens who had come to see if the rumor about the councils being entirely open was true, sometimes completely filling the large room, but now they only had the most interested ones. There had been a few arguments, but Ashen didn’t need a throne to impose his authority. Just him standing at one end of the table was usually all they needed for everyone present to be on their best behavior with their neighbors.

Right now, though, the whole Council was already busy chatting, some arguing over a plan, or re-reading some accounts, but the King himself didn’t have eyes on the table. When Cessilia spotted him, he was standing a couple of steps behind his usual spot and chatting with Sabael. She stared, but the two men seemed to be speaking in a low voice, so she couldn’t hear them. Ashen suddenly felt her eyes on him, and they exchanged a glance over the table.

“...What’s he talking with Sab about?” Tessandra asked.

“Who knows,” Cessilia shrugged. “They have gotten closer.”

“Yeah,” Tessandra groaned, putting an arm on her cousin’s shoulder, “but look at their attitude... Why are they acting so sneaky? Sab definitely avoided my eyes just now!”

Cessilia glanced again toward her fiancé and Sabael. After staring for a bit longer, she had to agree with her cousin. What were those two chatting about...?

“What was that earlier?”

He froze, trying hard not to look up. If his eyes met hers, he knew she would never stop interrogating him until she got to the bottom of it. He cleared his throat and continued to look down on the blade he had been polishing. Of course, it wouldn’t be so easy.

“What are you talking about?” he asked calmly.

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