“Don’t start treating me like a child!”
Sulking a bit, she grabbed some of Cassandra’s breakfast, biting into one of the cheese cubes hungrily. The older sister chuckled. Actually, she was happy whenever Missandra acted her age. She was obviously a lot more comfortable now that they were in the Diamond Palace, enough to befriend Anour at least. The rain probably raised her younger sister’s spirits, too.
After bickering a bit more, all three young women headed out of the room. Cassandra only had to follow Dahlia, who had apparently been woken up early too to prepare for the Ceremony.
Finally, they reached a large room. Cassandra recognized it instantly. It was one of Lady Kareen’s favorite salons, one with an open roof and lots of green plants sprouting wildly from all sides. This time though, all the furniture had been taken out as the rain was pouring in. It was alright though; the floor had some crevices where the water would flow in, as dozens of little rivers headed towards the outer parts or the fountain on the side. Cassandra had always wondered how the Diamond Palace could have so many open rooms, but now, it was obvious that most rooms were properly conceived for the water to be expelled one way or another.
This one was actually rather perfect for the Ceremony. It had a square shape, was letting the downpour in, and yet the floor wasn’t completely flooded, only a thin layer of water remained under their feet.
“How is it, dear?” asked Kareen, walking up to her in one of her gorgeous magenta dresses.
“It looks perfect, Lady Kareen. But do we have everything?”
The Imperial Concubine clicked her tongue.
“Don’t you dare underestimate me, young lady! Dahlia, take her to the other bedroom where we have everything. And someone go wake up that sleepyhead daughter of mine!”
Cassandra was swiftly pushed to another room. She had thought she would get ready in her room, but once she walked inside, she understood why she couldn’t. In front of her, a gorgeous green and gold dress was displayed. It was the first time in years she saw what looked like a real ceremonial outfit from her tribe, and tears came to her eyes right away. There was even the veil, and all the golden embroideries had obviously been handmade!
“Do you like it,Hinue?” asked Missandra, excited. “Dahlia and I stayed up late last night to finish it!”
“We had some help from other servants, of course,” added Dahlia. “But we all followed Missandra’s instructions down to the letter to have it as close to your real ceremonial outfit as possible. Do you like it?”
“It’s gorgeous,” whispered Cassandra, unable to find any more words to describe it.
Indeed, the dress was divine and just as beautifully made as her usual pink dresses. The gorgeous green silk was of the best quality, shimmering with several shades as she touched it, and the gold threads had been embroidered so well, to retrace the traditional arabesques she remembered all over it. The piece of cloth didn’t have a single gem on it, but it was shining and glowing better than any treasure.
The girls had even prepared, with Lady Kareen’s help, some jewelry to add to her outfit.
“Hinue, look! We couldn’t find borean ink, but I made something similar. I tested it, so your skin should be able to bear it just fine!”
Indeed, the blue ink in the little pot she was handing her looked very similar to proper borean ink. Cassandra put the pot aside, and took the two girls in her arms to hug them.
“Thank you so much... Dahlia, Missandra... Thank you for preparing all this for me.”
Both Missandra and Dahlia were surprised by this sudden hug, but happily responded to it. After that, all three of them chuckled, excited, and it was high time they helped Cassandra get ready.
A while later, Kairen was waiting outside, wearing a similar green silk piece of clothing. For the tall warrior, the girls had only made a large cloak, which he was wearing over his shoulders, with some black pants. Kairen wasn’t very familiar with anything about the Rain Tribe’s ceremony, but when Missandra came up to him, he listened to her.
“Could you just stand there? Right there, please. Alright, and if you can wait a bit, my sister is coming!”
She ran back inside and suddenly, Cassandra appeared. Everyone was completely speechless. The young concubine was more beautiful than she’d ever been. The long green dress was tightly wrapped around her body, showing her curves more than the usual pink dresses. It was only covering her chest, belly, and legs, so her back and arms were nude, only her hair running down. The visible pieces of her skin were actually shining with a strange light, like some thin silver shimmer. Anyone in the room could see that the emerald dress was absolutely gorgeous on her, and with that flower crown and the painting on her skin, she looked like she had just stepped out of a large painting, like a nature Goddess. Several male servants had their mouths wide open in surprise and even the girls were blushing, shocked by how pure yet sensual she looked at that moment.
However, the most stunned of all was Kairen. The War God was looking at his young concubine with such a deep expression on his face. His deep black eyes were mesmerized by the vision before him. He was struck; not shocked by how beautiful she was, but how even more beautiful she could be. For maybe the first time, he wasn’t just quiet. He was speechless.
Cassandra had always been a gorgeous young woman, a flower that bloomed in adversity, but that day, for the first time, she was able to shine in all of her glory. The War God, behind his impassible facade, was properly stunned. In terms of natural beauty, Cassandra was indisputably beautiful. All the jewels and attires of the concubines of the Imperial Palace couldn’t beat such a natural beauty.
Though they were of different shades, the deep green of her dress was complimenting her eyes perfectly. Her brown hair was falling in natural curls on her shoulders and down on her back and belly, with that crown they had bought together on top. Several of the servants whispered about her looks, but the rain covered any sound, and the War God wouldn’t have been able to hear them anyway. All of his senses had gone numb as he could only focus on the holy vision in front of his eyes.
Cassandra gracefully walked up to him, like a nymph, with a gentle smile on her face. He could barely recognize the woman he held in his arms every night. There was something unspeakably different about her, as if she was from another world, another realm. She took his hand.
“Kairen? Are you alright?”
“...You’re beautiful,” he whispered, as if saying that truth would release him from this trance.
Cassandra blushed, as always, feeling a bit proud. She hadn’t thought she would be able to cause such emotion in her usually undecipherable War God. The rain was falling around them, but they didn’t care. It was just as if the two of them had been alone. The green clothes were slowly getting wet, but they were still very pretty to observe.
Missandra walked up to them.
