The War God’s Favorite

Chapter 32

The Pink Dresses

The winter storm lasted two nights and two days. During that time, Cassandra and Kairen spent all their

time together in their tent. It was cold, but their bodies were enough to warm each other up. Evin and a

couple of other Imperial Servants showed up from time to time to bring in food, and disappeared just as

quickly as they appeared.

It was like they were in their own cocoon, far from the troubles their difference in status brought, far

from any concerns about the camp or the Capital.

Though as soon as the storm calmed down, they were both ready to resume their duties. After a long

kiss goodbye, Kairen and Cassandra parted. The Prince left to see his men, and Cassandra walked

back to the hospital. She had some company on the way.

“Good Morning, Madam.”

“Morning, Evin. Are you okay?”

“We are used to storms such as this, Madam.”

As usual, the Imperial Servant was a man of few words. The black dragon following her every step was

more noisy though. Maybe because it had been alone outside for a while, Krai was literally beside her

every step, and

g a bit whenever Cassandra ignored it for too long. However, she was glad Krai walked next to her, as

she had to hold on to the dragon to make her way through the snow. It was soft like powder, but so high

sometimes she would stumble or have a hard time stepping into it. Thankfully, Krai’s hot body made

most of the snow around them melt under its steps, though it soaked Cassandra’s dress. It took a long

time for them to reach the hospital and Cassandra was a bit anxious. Were the men alright? How many

of them would have suffered during the storm?

As soon as she stepped in though, it seemed like everything had been fine, despite her absence. The

volunteers present were doing great following the instructions she had left on some papers and actually

didn’t notice her before she stepped into one of the rooms.

“Lady of the Mountain! Welcome back!”

“Lady Cassandra!”

A few men ran to her, asking many questions at the same time until Evin ordered everyone to calm

down. Cassandra was mostly needed to instruct how to treat complex injuries, which disease they were

dealing with, and how to make new ointments and serums. It didn’t take long though. Sadly, as she had

feared, the cold brought by the winter storm had killed the men who were already sick. Some who had

been injured by falling trees or other accidents had come in too, but nothing major. Cassandra did her

best in a few hours, but she was supposed to depart with the Prince before nighttime.

Hence, she left after giving some more instructions to the volunteers present. She was still hoping to

find real apprentices, but for now those men were doing great on their own.

To her surprise, when Cassandra walked out of the hospital the Prince was already there putting some

bags on his dragon’s back. Krai was calmly resting in his presence, though its eyes followed

Cassandra.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes, My Lord. Are we leaving now?”

“Get on,” he said with a nod.

Cassandra could now climb Krai by herself, but Kairen still helped her. Evin watched the two take their

places on the dragon’s back. The black beast probably already sensed what was happening since it

stretched his wings and got up. Kairen held Cassandra, as the dragon moving around caused her to

lose her balance.

Then as usual, the dragon took off, shortly flying high in the grey sky. It was colder than the previous

time, and Cassandra felt the bitter wind despite her thick cloak and the Prince holding her. Her cheeks

were red and she covered her mouth as her throat started to ache a bit from breathing the cold air.

Kairen looked fine, as usual, although he did put on a winter cloak as well this time.

The black dragon had to make double the effort to fly due to the strong wind and the snow. It wasn’t as

bad as during the winter storm, but Cassandra couldn’t see any of the landscape below or far away.

She even wondered how Krai knew where to go when they couldn’t even see the ground. However, the

dragon didn’t seem to mind. It was flying confidently, not even bothered by the snowfall, or the winds

challenging its wings.

Yet, it took a bit longer for them to reach the castle, or so Cassandra thought. Maybe it was because of

the cold, but she was glad when Krai finally landed on the white coat in the Onyx Castle grounds. Just

like before, Patrina hurried out to welcome them, followed by the other servants. Though they did not

dare to say a word in front of the Prince, the young girls’ eyes were shining bright in Cassandra’s

direction. She could tell they were holding back from running to her.

Patrina stepped forward, bowing to the Prince.

“Welcome back, My Lord. I hope you had a pleasant trip. Several deliveries from the palace have been

made.”

“Where is it?”

“It was put in your room, as ordered, My Lord.”

Kairen nodded and walked into the castle. Cassandra thought he didn’t need her, but just when she

was parting ways with him to go greet the girls, the Prince turned around.

“Cassandra. Come.”

A bit surprised, she followed after him. Did he need her to unpack or something? She wished she could

have greeted the others before going upstairs. The Prince seemed impatient though. He climbed the

stairs up to his room so fast she could barely follow in his footsteps. When they finally arrived, five large

chests were in the room, as Patrina had said. Kairen walked up to the closest one and opened it.

“Cassandra.”

She walked up to him to look at the contents. She found herself speechless. Jewelry! So many

emeralds, diamonds, other gems, and gold she could have gone blind. What was all this? This was

worth so much! Kairen frowned upon seeing her shocked expression.

“You don’t like those?”

“What? My Lord, this is…”

“From my father. They said you would be rewarded, didn’t they? It came late.”

Cassandra suddenly remembered the very short moment when two servants had indeed mentioned a

reward, back at the Palace, for becoming the War God’s Concubine. However, she only expected a few

gold coins, not five big chests full of treasures!

A bit unable to process what she was seeing, she slowly took out a few of the items present, one by

one. There were so many, she could barely believe her eyes. She had a long necklace with emeralds in

one hand and something like a gold tiara in the other. She tried to count, but the numbers and the

thought of the overall price made her dizzy. There was every type of jewelry one could think of. From

bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, even toe rings, to tiaras, and hairpins. She had never seen so

much in one place. And all of these were meant for her?

Cassandra got up and opened another one of the chests. Unlike the first that she found full of jewelry,

this one was filled with dresses, Luxurious, warm, and deep red dresses, all aligned there. She got on

her knees and took one out, too curious. This dress had nothing in common with her current attire.

They were both red dresses, but

the one Cassandra was currently wearing looked very shabby and dull in comparison. The dress she

had taken out of the chest was a deep, beautiful red, and was very detailed too. There were

embroideries and thin little gems in it, making it shine subtly whenever it moved.

“It’s beautiful…” she whispered to herself, impressed with the craftsmanship.

“They are all yours. No more dirty dresses.”

He opened the last two chests for her to see. The fourth one was filled with dresses as well, in every

shade of red that existed. Apparently, she wouldn’t have to wear any white anymore. The last chest

contained little boxes and bottles, mostly perfumes, creams, and makeup. The kind her previous

mistress had by the hundreds, and abused everyday to keep herself pretty. Cassandra wasn’t too fond

of those, however. Some of the products in the Empire were expensive and not so useful, sometimes

having very strong smells but not much benefit to the skin. Maybe she could try to make her own, now

that she could access the herbs she wanted. 1

Kairen walked up to her, crouching down to her level.

“You don’t like those?”

“1… love them. They are very beautiful. Thank you, My Lord.”

A faint smile appeared on Kairen’s face, as he caressed her hair gently.

“They are from my father. No more dirt.”

Cassandra knew he was talking about the horrid state of the white dress she wore on their first

encounter. The young concubine could still vividly remember the terrible color the water turned when

she washed it. These dresses had nothing to do with the cheap white linen she had known for most of

her life. Cassandra couldn’t even recognize all the fabrics in there. She knew some master creators

held the secret to fabrics like the celestial silk or the heavenly wool.

She was completely impressed with how fast these had been delivered here, and in such quantity too.

There was plenty enough for one woman! She didn’t even know where she could put these. Was she

supposed to keep all those in the chests?

“Don’t you want to change?” asked Kairen, a bit impatient.

She nodded, yes. Those dresses were probably more befitting of the winter weather anyways. Was

that kept in mind when they sent those to her? She took a few minutes picking one, and noticed there

were both winter and summer dresses in there. She had so many choices! On a rough estimate, there

were about thirty dresses. She finally chose one that looked warm enough and not overly luxurious to

put on.

It was long and a darker red with extra layers to keep her warm, only showing off her shoulders and

collar line. There were embroideries and little gems around her chest, on the arms, and on the fur

around the skirt and wrists.

As Cassandra tried it on, it was obvious the dress was a perfect fit on her. Was it tailored? Moreover, it

was her first time wearing such a fine-quality item. The fabric was very soft on her skin, and the color

was beautiful. She really liked it, though she felt a bit shy wearing such an expensive dress. She turned

around to show it to Kairen.

But the Prince was frowning a bit. Cassandra felt a bit sad that he wasn’t too enthusiastic about her

outfit. She had wished that he would find her prettier in those.

“What is it, Your Highness? Don’t you like it?”

“This color. It doesn’t suit you.”

Cassandra looked down. Did he not like red? She couldn’t change though. All the dresses were red,

different shades of red, but still red. She looked at herself in the large mirror in the room. She could see

what he meant. With pale skin, green eyes, and brown hair, cold colours suited her more. This deep

red was a bit too much.

There wasn’t anything they could do about it though. The Empire was very color-coded when it came to

the official outfits. In the Empire, slaves wore white, common people wore colors from yellow to dark

brown, servants wore blue or green depending on their masters and statuses, and the Officials wore

grey or black according to their ranks. The Concubines could only wear two colors: red or pink.

Cassandra was only a low-ranked concubine, thus red was her colour. Pink would have complemented

her better, but it wasn’t something she could access for

now.

There were several ways to become a High-ranking Concubine: be of noble birth, do something that

would benefit the Empire and the Emperor could reward her for it, or bear Kairen a child. While the first

one was impossible for her, she couldn’t access the last two for now, either.

“Would you rather me keep wearing white, My Lord?”

This only made Kairen frown more. He shook his head, holding out his hand for her to take. She joined

him.

“It’s fine for now. We’ll work on making you a high-ranking Concubine later. “