#93 The New Project
After Kairenâs departure, Cassandra was a bit sad for a couple of days. However, she knew she
couldnât stay like that forever. Once she was done crying, she tried to spend time with Kareen,
Missandra, and Dahlia, and keep herself busy. Somehow, they all cooperated to keep her occupied.
Lady Kareen was used to her children being gone and having to find hobbies for herself. As it turned
out, she was rather busy as the Cityâs owner and mayor already, but she still found time to have other
hobbies. She liked painting and tried to talk Cassandra into it. Though the young concubine wasnât fond
of it, the young Missandra was interested, and even proved herself to be a good student. Eventually,
Cassandra was used as a model a couple of times, as it allowed her to rest yet spend time chatting
with them.
There was something else Lady Kareen did for her, however. Somehow, the Imperial Concubine was
well aware of Kairenâs present for Cassandra in the Imperial Palace, and decided to gift her a little
garden in the Diamond Palace, too. This was probably the most successful attempt at cheering
Cassandra up.
Once she started taking care of her plants, studying the books she was given about them or writing
herself, Cassandra didnât see the hours pass. Missandra would join her often, too, and study from her
as well as exchange her knowledge on the matter. Somehow, the two sisters started working on new
hybrid species, trying to grow sprouts that would survive in the Shadelands. This little project was
keeping Cassandra busy, and also helping her remember that, sometime soon, she would be able to
go back there with Kairen. Anything was good to keep herself busy. Sheâd write, chat with Kareen and
Missandra, work on her plants, write about new medicines, go to the local markets, study more books,
and find more to keep herself busy with.
That workaholic behavior of hers started worrying Kareen and Missandra a bit, as it never seemed like
the young concubine took a break, despite her belly growing quickly. Cassandra was busy, too busy.
Sheâd spend all day working on one thing then another, only stopping to eat. The Imperial Concubine
was starting to dislike this workaholic behavior and insisted on Missandra and Dahlia watching her from
even closer.
However, one day, Kareen found her unexpectedly napping in the garden, in the dragon eggâs garden.
Cassandra was wrapped up in a warm blanket and had fallen asleep with some of her notes, right next
to the egg. The discreet Dahlia was watching her from afar, making sure she wouldnât get sick, and
silently smiled to Lady Kareen when their eyes met, meaning she already knew about Cassandraâs little
naps. After that, the Imperial Concubine Kareen decided to not be so much on Cassandraâs back.
When she wasnât constantly watched, Cassandra would eventually take breaks by herself, always
agreeing to Dahliaâs suggestion for some tea or a stroll to the gardens.
Unknown to Kareen, however, the hardest times for Cassandra were at night. The young concubine
hadnât imagined she would have so much trouble falling asleep by herself. The perspective of going
back to an empty bed haunted her every day after dusk. She would drag on the time to go back to her
bedroom, find excuses to stay up late with Lady Kareen or her notes, and when she had no choice but
to go, sheâd turn sad and silent. Dahlia had set up a little routine for her, where the young concubine
would take a long hot bath in her bedroom, and chat with her about her day. Helping Cassandra bathe,
wash her hair, and brush it before bed, somehow helped her get sleepy and fall asleep more easily.
The weather was getting a bit colder, too, so Dahlia brought in little scented candles, finding the ones
that supposedly helped with insomnia. (2)
Her pregnancy was also a big help in keeping Cassandra from tiring herself out. Somehow, reaching
the seventh month got her more tired than ever before, and she started taking naps by herself.
Moreover, her big belly was incapacitating her in several ways, giving Dahlia and Missandra more
excuses to stay around and help her.
Eventually, Cassandraâs sadness passed. She wasnât over Kairenâs absence, but at least, she reverted
to her old self and didnât look as sad or on the verge of crying anymore. Truth was, Cassandra had
spent many nights crying silently, but she couldnât take it anymore. She couldnât stand being a shadow
of herself. She was even more worried it would impact her baby negatively. From then on, she started
every day with a big breath, something to
look forward too, and did her best to live her days eating well and resting well, as she had promised her
prince. When she missed him, sheâd caress the little bracelet of hair around her wrist, or go to see the
dragonâs egg. Somehow, Cassandra got a bit better by herself, and life went on for everyone at the
Diamond Castle.
After a few more weeks, however, Cassandra could tell something was wrong. There was no way
Kareen hadnât gotten any news about the eastern war yet. It had been more than two months already.
When she mentioned it to her, the Imperial Concubine always pretended like she was going to ask
about it soon, or was waiting to hear from some of her spies. Cassandra couldnât take it anymore. After
a while, she had even received the answers from the people at the Onyx Castle and the North Army
camp by a normal message-carrier service. There was no way Kareen had absolutely no news from
the war against the Eastern Republic!
That morning, she insisted once again, and this time would persist until she got the truth, with
Missandraâs support. After half an hour of arguing, Kareen was exasperated.
âYouâre so stubborn!â
âI need to know the truth! I know my Prince is out there fighting! I can wait but I canât stand not having
any news, and I know you must have some information! That is all I ask, Lady Kareen!â
The Imperial Concubine looked about to throw her cup of tea across the room. Instead, she slammed it
on the table, and rolled her eyes.
âGosh, I didnât think you could be as stubborn as my children! Fine, I will tell you!â
âReally? So you know something?â
âOf course I do! Who do you think I am? There isnât a city in this Empire I donât have a spy in! Anyway, I
did get some news half a month ago. While Shareen is perfectly fine in the north, on Kairenâs side, the
Eastern Army somehow got further into our territory than we thought. The Capital was actually notified
of the attack very late, someone there didnât do their job correctly or couldnât. By the time Kairen got
there, the situation was very messy, and you canât have a Dragon simply burn everything down when
your enemies are spread in your own city, among our people.â
âOh God, noâ¦â whispered Cassandra, shocked.
She hadnât imagined the situation was that bad! All this time, Shareen and Kairen had made it sound
like this would be an easy task, that would be solved easily. Cassandra had no idea the frontline was in
such a bad situation even before Kairen had gotten thereâ¦
âThatâs why things are complicated. He has to wipe out the enemy and push them back to the frontier,
but those imbecile republicans have understood that Krai wonât attack, or at least fire, while they are
still inside the Dragon Empire, and all of their strategies seems to focus on staying inâ¦â
âSince when does the Eastern Republic knows so much about Dragons?â Asked Missandra. âEven
those tactics donât look like theirs at all.â
âI know,â sighed Kareen. âThat is what worries me. I wouldnât be surprised if a little rat had gone ahead
to give them those bad ideasâ¦â
âLady Kareen, do you think⦠The second Prince could haveâ¦â
However, the Imperial Concubine raised her hand to stop Cassandra.
âLetâs be careful and keep what we think to ourselves for now. I already wrote to the Imperial Palace,
but that snake Vrehan hasnât left his apartments there since we left, apparently on the pretense of
looking after his sister.â
âHe definitely has people to do it for him!â Said Missandra. âEveryone knows the Imp⦠I mean, people
like me never dirty their hands themselves.â
Kareen smiled, but this was more of a scary smile than a heartfelt smile and nodded.
âThatâs right, dear. Just like me, he probably has people working for him. Vrehan is much smarter than
Phetra. Sheâs the type who will dirty her own hands if sheâs pushed over the limit. However, Vrehan
learned a lot from his snake mother. He loves to scheme and get rid of people who annoy him without
leaving traces. You can never, ever
be alone with him or his people. I donât believe heâd stay locked up under the Emperorâs nose only for
his sisterâs sake, either. This sounds too much like some play heâd be pulling off.â
âCanât we do anything?â Asked Cassandra.
âI have sent people to watch him, but he probably knows that too. In any case, Vrehan wonât move until
heâs sure he can win, and I donât see how he could do that. No matter what, my son is the War God. He
wonât lose a war just because it started late.â
Cassandra slowly nodded, but she didnât feel reassured. Kairen wasnât like Vrehan, someone whoâd
plot in peopleâs back and use underhanded methods. She tried to think of several scenarios. Somehow,
she felt it was unlikely her prince would die in this war. What could Vrehan do? Send an assassin, or
worse, find some way to poison him? Cassandra knew the Dragon tamers like Kairen were more
resistant to poison, but no matter how strong his body was, there was only so much a man could doâ¦
Moreover, Cassandra hated not doing anything for him.
She suddenly stood up, surprising both women in the room. Kareen sighed.
âWe are not done with the brunch, dear.â
âIâve had enough, Lady Kareen, thank you. Do you think you could have something delivered to the
front if I was to give it to you?â
âOf course, dear. What are you thinking about now?â
Cassandra took a deep breath. The idea had just popped up in her head.
âIâll prepare so first aid kits for the military.â
âFirst aid kits? For the front? Those men in the imperial army arenât trained to do any medical
procedures, dearâ¦â
âItâs fine, they wonât need training, just common sense. If I taught the men in the North Army camp, I
can have those men in the Eastern front learn too, even without being there at all.â
Missandra, smiling wide, got up too, excited.
âI love that idea, Hinue! Iâll help you!â
âOh, you young ones are so full of energy,â sighed Kareen. âAnyway, Cassandra, I gave you young
ones to work for you before, didnât I? They have learned how to write and calculate already. Just have
those girls come over and help you.â
âThank you, Lady Kareen. Can I entrust you with the transportation part?â
âOf course, dear. As if that old lady would sit on her arse while my children fight here and there!â
Cassandra smiled. Only at times like this, Kareen would be even nicer than usual and hinting at
treating her and Missandra as her own daughters. The two sisters then left the garden they were eating
in, though Dahlia packed up some more food for Cassandra to snack on later, and went to the little
room next to Cassandraâs garden, which had pretty much become her office. Behind her, Missandra
was excited. (2)
âDo you already know what we will do?â
âWe need to list all kinds of injuries, diseases, and other health issues the soldiers in the front could
have to face, how often, and find a way to answer to any of them in a short amount of time.â
âAlright,â said Missandra, grabbing what she needed to write down. âWe can start by listing all of the
most common diseases in that part of the Empire, common infection, and also some basic injury
treatment they should use. Should we make some sort of notice to put in those kits?â
âItâs a battlefield, Missandra, they donât have time to read, and it may even be possible that some of the
soldiers donât even know how to read. So we need to make it as simple as possibleâ¦â
âWe can make drawings or use colors. When I worked in brothels, some of the girls werenât literate, but
they knew which medicine to take based on their stamping or colors.â
âRight, we can use that. Do you still remember them? We need to think about how we can pack them in
light, easily transportable waysâ¦â
Just like that, both women started working together. Once they were done planning and compiling
information, they brought their project to Kareen, who gave her own opinion on it, and called in some of
her personal soldiers, military as well, for them to give their input. Within a week, Cassandra,
Missandra, and several more people started working hard on this. Kareen had more than enough
money to support their project and ship it to the front in record time. Not only the young concubine got
her hands and money full with this project, but the whole Diamond City became aware of the efforts
made at the Diamond Palace, and offered to contribute to show support to the soldiers in their own
ways, an unprecedented event in the Dragon Empire.