Page 133 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

“I’m sorry,” he broke down, tears streaming down his cheeks for good this time, even as he covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking.

“Kassein,” Cessilia whispered again, her voice breaking as she moved to hug him.

“I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t realize where your pain had stemmed from.

Let it go, baby brother. You’re fine. You’re good.

You are a kind man. You’re only as wild as the pain you allowed to hurt you, and it ends now.

Now, you have a woman who loves you, who trusts you so much that she left her baby with you.

You’re a protector, Kassein. Gods, you’re so much like Dad.

You deserve to forgive yourself and be happy, baby brother.

If not for you, then for that young woman and her baby girl.

They need you, and you deserve to let them see the best of you. ”

She kept gently rubbing his back as he sobbed and until he calmed down, whispering words of comfort like only his older sister, who had been through equal pain, could.

After he had calmed down a bit, they stayed in a quiet, tired silence for a little while.

It took Kassein a few seconds to realize Kein had stopped his angry growls. Instead, if he focused, he could sense his dragon flying calmly above the mountains, no longer a threat.

He forced himself to take a deep breath in and exhaled it. He opened his eyes again and caught his sister smiling at him.

“What changed for you?” he asked.

“...Same thing as you,” she whispered. “I found someone I loved more than I hated myself. That was all I needed.”

Kassein gave her a slight nod because, again, his older sister was right. He felt like that statement perfectly summed up his relationship with Alezya.

He didn’t know how or why, but that woman had just lit up an entire world for him. He felt like he could break the chains of the “Wild Prince” title and be whatever she needed of him.

A friend, a protector. A devoted lover, if she’d allow him.

By the gods, he was ready to worship that woman to the end of his days if she let him.

“I wish you could meet her,” he finally told his sister, clearing his sore throat. “Alezya.”

“I will, I’m sure. One day. When you two finally come to visit.”

“Or you could come back. I’ll make sure the Onyx Castle can welcome you anytime. Anyone.”

“...That would be nice,” she said. “That old castle needs a fresh start, like you. This whole area does, actually. You did good, Kassein.”

“Not yet,” he shook his head, getting up and offering a hand for his sister to do so as well, “but I promise I’ll try my best.”

“I know you will.”

Just like that, they slowly walked back together, enjoying the companionable silence until the Onyx Castle was back in sight, and Cessilia switched the subject to ask what he’d planned to do with it and gave her approval for Kassein to do as he saw fit.

“I have good and bad memories there, but I’ll be happy if you make happier ones. My heart had already taken residence far away in the east a while ago. I doubt Kiera will care, either... How about Sadara?”

“I’ll write to her later.”

“Or you could visit her more often,” Cessilia said with a pointed look. “She writes often, but I get the sense that she isn’t very happy in the Capital. You know how reserved she is, she’ll never admit something’s wrong if she can help it.”

“I don’t think any of them are,” Kassein admitted, thinking about their siblings in the Capital.

“I guess I know where I should stop next, then. After visiting our parents, of course. Please, you have to come to Mother’s birthday celebration.”

“I will.”

“Bring your lady then,” his sister winked, “and her child too. Mom will be delighted.”

Kassein gave a noncommittal nod.

That was months away, but he sure hoped he and Alezya would be together then. And visiting his parents together suddenly seemed like a much more enticing idea for the future.

He and his sister returned to the Onyx Castle, and they found Kiera waiting outside, arms crossed with a disgusted expression directed toward the castle.

“Why the long face?” Cessilia asked.

“Dran’s evil spawn is absolutely wreaking havoc inside,” Kiera grunted. “Lorey might be more patient than I am, but I am not going anywhere near those little monsters. No wonder their mother was so happy to lend them.”

“She sure was quick to say you could keep them as long as you’d like,” Cessilia chuckled toward Kassein.

“Lumie?” he asked.

“She’s inside too, with Lorey. I think Nebora is doing the laundry or something... What’s with your eyes?”

“Nothing,” Kassein said, walking past her and inside the Onyx Castle. “Get ready to leave; we’re launching the second attack on the mountains.”

“Finally,” Kiera rolled her eyes. “Might as well unleash that miniature mayhem onto our enemies... Hey, pipsqueaks! Get out of there! Time to go to war, all of you rascals! You’ll get to chew something other than the furniture...”

One by one, the small dragons raised their heads from whatever they were doing, which was indeed biting chairs for two of them, while the last one was on the floor playing with Lumie under Lorey’s surveillance.

Ignoring the young dragons’ high-pitched grunts, Kassein scooped Lumie into his arms, and the little girl squealed happily.

“I have to go find your mama, Lumie,” he whispered to her.

“ Ama? ” Lumie immediately said.

“Yes. I’ll find her, Lumie. I promise.”

Just like that, Kassein pressed a little kiss on the young girl’s forehead, making her squeal in delight, before he handed her back to Lorey.

He couldn’t help but note that Lumie seemed disappointed to not be in his arms any longer, her disappointed eyes following him, and that made Kassein a bit happy. To not make the heartbreak any worse than necessary, he quickly turned to Lorey.

“Watch her for me,” he asked with a tight throat.

“Of course. You guys stay safe. I hope you find Alezya soon.”

He nodded and turned around before Lumie’s sad eyes broke any more of his heart. He would never forgive himself if he couldn’t bring that little girl and her mother back together.

Luckily, it didn’t take too long to herd the young dragons outside, as they were all too excited to chase after Kiki and Cece and watch as Kein was coming back.

Cessilia, who had been waiting outside, wrapped her younger brother in a hug before he could protest.

“I have to go home,” she said. “Ashen and the kids will be worried. But I insist you visit me soon, once things calm down here. I’m sure you’ll be alright, Kassein. And remember, we’re always here to help. Alright? We’re your family.”

Kassein could only give her a choked-up nod, but that was enough.

Cessilia patted his cheek once more and then turned to say goodbye to Kiera and Lorey before they parted ways to go to their dragons. While he walked up to Kein, they watched as Cessilia took flight on her dragon.

“Leni, Bora, Vele!” Kiera called the small dragons. “Come on, you little twerps, time to break shit, run wild, and scare grown men; you’re going to love that!”

Whether they understood or not, all three of the smaller dragons took off after Kiki, happily chasing the older dragon, though they seemed just afraid enough of Kein to keep a distance.

Given that the orange dragon was considerably bigger than them, while Kiki was about twice the size of the three of them combined, it was understandable.

Still, the triplets seemed happy to give chase to their older peers, climbing up the skies while Cece was flying back toward their homeland in the east. As dragons had no predators, it was likely that the triplets were allowed to roam on their own because all three seemed very comfortable exploring a new area, happily teasing each other mid-flight and letting out high-pitched little growls as they played around.

Unlike them, Kiki and Kein were in no mood to play.

When their group landed in the North Camp, they were immediately greeted by rows of soldiers in full attire for combat, all three generals lined up with Tievin at one end, waiting for them.

“Welcome back, Commander in Chief,” Sazaran said first. “Our recruits spotted you and the Princess, so we got everyone ready for battle.”

“Are those young dragons really a part of your plan, Commander...?”

As soon as the triplets landed, they immediately pounced on Kein’s back, chased one another at full speed between the ranks, disrupting the tight lines of men and prompting horrified shouts here and there, and did their new favorite game of dive-bombing into piles of snow until there was nothing but puddles under them and everyone around was drenched.

Tievin was on the receiving end of one of the last waves, and the poor Intendant let out a long, tired sigh before wiping his face with his sleeve.

“...And they’re not even teens yet,” he groaned.

“Enough!” Kassein barked.

Immediately, all three of the young dragons froze where they were, and just as Kein let out a loud growl of warning, they all scampered in a line behind Kiki, heads and bellies flat on the ground.

“Gods save the Eastern Kingdom,” Kiera sighed.

“Anyhow, yes, those three terrors are the core of our plan. We unleash the brats inside the tunnels, let them force the tribespeople to flee, hopefully out of the mountains and into the open, and our army will be out there to greet them while we look for Kassein’s lady and do some cleaning. ”

“We will split the army here,” Kassein said, pinning all three generals with a stare.

“Herken, I’ll entrust you with the defense of the North Camp.

There’s a high chance that some tribe might attack down here once they realize two-thirds of our army have been gone for a while.

I’m counting on you to stand your ground here and ensure everything keeps running smoothly. ”

Herken gave a solemn nod to his Commander in Chief.