The War God’s Favorite

Chapter 76

The Punishment Kareen and Shareen were almost smiling as if Phetra’s screams had been some pleasant melody.

Cassandra couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for her on the inside. From the way she was piercing their

ears, she must have been in such horrible pain…

The Emperor’s mouth was still open, as he was still processing what had just happened, staring at the

window. He finally turned to Kairen, angry.

“Kairen, when I ordered for Phetra to be taken to the Imperial Prison, I actually meant for her to be

taken there through the door, the damn door!” He exclaimed. “Why is it that you children are always

only thinking of fighting and killing each other!”

His yelling had no effect on his son. Kairen turned around and walked back to Cassandra, looking

almost satisfied. At least, his murderous look in his eyes was gone.

“Well, from what we can hear, Father,” said Shareen. “She is still pretty much alive.”

The Emperor glared her way, not amused by her antics this time. He sighed, massaging his temples

and looking truly exhausted by all this ruckus.

“Anyway, someone goes grab her from… wherever she is now, and get her an Imperial Physician

immediately. She’s still going to the Imperial Prison. Now I have to find someone who’ll be willing to

marry this pest… Ah, what a headache… Those children…”

While the poor Emperor kept rambling, the guards subtly glanced Cassandra’s way for a second, but

after thinking about it twice, figured it would probably be better to find another Imperial Physician. With

the current state of things, the Imperial Concubine probably wouldn’t even have agreed to treat the

Princess’ rashes…

Once the guards had left, Cassandra let out a little sigh of relief. Things weren’t over, though. Vrehan

turned to their father, looking very serious.

“Father, we still have an issue to solve.”

“What? What now?”

When his eyes surreptitiously went Missandra’s way, Cassandra’s heart sank. She knew this wasn’t

good. She had thought that man had been too cold, watching his sister being thrown out of a window

without saying a thing, but now, it was clear he had been waiting for this moment all along, and not

caring about Phetra…

“The servant. She still insulted an Imperial Princess.”

“She did it to defend me!” Said Cassandra, immediately standing in front of her sister in a protective

stance.

“The Imperial Law does not care about the reasons for her actions,” hissed Vrehan. “No servant, slave

or anyone else outside the Imperial Family can be forgiven for insulting an Imperial Family member.

Isn’t that right, Father?”

The Emperor sighed, visibly annoyed by the situation. He knew the law, of course, but he could tell that

servant had only acted to protect the young concubine.

“Whatever,” he said. “Bring this servant forth.”

“Your Highness, please!” Claimed Cassandra. “She isn’t an Imperial Servant, she is my family!” (1

It was her last resort. Maybe, if Missandra couldn’t be considered as part of the staff in the Imperial

Palace, the Emperor would forget about punishing her. However, she could see Kareen frowning, and

that didn’t announce anything good…

“What is that now? Your Family, my dear white lily? How so?”

Missandra, trembling, stood forward and took out the veil she had been using to cover her face outside

of Kareen or Cassandra’s place. Her appearance was revealed, and she bowed lowly, acting docile for

once.

“She is my younger sister, your Highness,” explained Cassandra. “We have reunited not too long ago.”

“I invited her as my guest,” added Kareen.

“Oh, is that so…” Started the Emperor, but Vrehan interrupted him.

“Guest or not, father, no one in the Dragon Empire is allowed to defy a Dragon’s family. Those who do

should be punished regardless of their rank. Wasn’t my sister just punished for insulting the

Concubine? Why should the Concubine’s sister get away with insulting my sister then?”

Cassandra was going whiter with each word. No matter what, she didn’t want Vrehan anywhere near

her sister, or able to do her anything. She couldn’t stand that man, his rat face and his cunning words.

Kairen moved his position, putting himself between Cassandra and Vrehan, and Krai’s anger was now

directed at the Second Prince

However, it was clear that the Dragon wouldn’t be able to injure him in any way from his position, and

so, the Second Prince ignored him completely. Vrehan kept his eyes on his father, with an accusatory

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“Are you going to let everything go my Brother’s way, Father? If you are so tired of seeing us fighting,

how about showing some equity for once? That favoritism of yours for the Concubine has to stop,

father.”

The Emperor had nothing to answer to that, and for once, Kareen and Shareen had nothing to retort,

either. It only worried Cassandra more. She had to hold on to Kairen’s arm not to fall, as her heart was

running crazy.

After a long while, the Emperor, who seemed hesitant, eventually sighed and nodded.

“That’s right… I need to go by the rules. Sorry, my white Lily, but Vrehan is right, I cannot let it go so

easily. A punishment seems befitting of the situation.”

“May I suggest, Father,” said Vrehan.

Whatever he was about to say, Cassandra knew she wasn’t going to like it. Something in that horrid

face of his told her he was about to come up with something she didn’t want to hear.

“I think… Being whipped for… let’s say five hundred and six times should do it.”

“Five hundred and six? Why would you come with such a ridiculous number!” Said the Emperor.

Missandra was appalled, but Cassandra was even worse. She knew what that number was for. It was

the number of times Phetra had whipped the Concubine she had tried to defend, months ago. 1

She realized Vrehan was doing all of this on purpose. While pretending he didn’t hold it against them,

he was clearly getting revenge for his sister. He was just not letting his emotions show at all as to not

seem revengeful.

“Father! This is too much!” Said Shareen, furious.

“Will you stop yelling! I’m thinking!” Replied the Emperor, annoyed.

Cassandra’s heart was beating like crazy. He couldn’t agree to that. If Missandra was whipped five

hundred times, she would die for sure! She exchanged worried glances with Kareen, but there wasn’t

much the Imperial Concubine could do at this point. With Vrehan’s words about the favoritism they

already benefited from earlier, she couldn’t say anything…

After a while, the emperor nodded.

“Alright, we will do this. The young servant will be whipped a hundred times. That will be enough.”

“Your Highness!” Screamed Cassandra, on the verge of tears.

She couldn’t believe it. Missandra would have to suffer the whip a hundred times! She didn’t even want

them to touch a hair on her sister’s head. She almost collapsed, but Kairen grabbed her before that,

holding her.

“Enough, enough,” said the Emperor, leaving the room.

As the Emperor left, Vrehan was staring at Cassandra. He didn’t seem happy or unhappy, his

expression was indecipherable, aside from his eyes as cold as ice.

“A hundred times…” cried Cassandra.

“Hinue, don’t worry!” Said Missandra, running to her side. “I can stand it. Don’t worry please, please.

Don’t cry. I… I did this to myself, Cassandra. Lady Kareen was right, I’ve been getting ahead of myself,

this is my punishment. Don’t cry, please?”

However, Cassandra’s tears wouldn’t stop. She felt horribly guilty for all this. Missandra had only tried

to defend her, and now she was being punished! Her younger sister had never been whipped in her

life!

Kareen came to her side, too, rubbing her back and consoling her.

“Don’t worry, dear, it will be alright. His Highness won’t allow them to go too hard on her…”

Meanwhile, Shareen was still standing still, on the side, glaring at Vrehan along with Krai. The Dragon

was still

growling after the Second Prince from earlier, even more frustrated to not be able to attack him.

“Are you satisfied, now?” Hissed Shareen. “Go and scrap whatever is left of your bitch sister!”

Vrehan stayed silent for a while and actually left the room without saying a word. Shareen clicked her

tongue, pissed.

As they were left alone in the Imperial Chamber, Kareen insisted that they go back. Cassandra didn’t

want to return to her apartments, so they headed once again to the Imperial Concubine’s apartments.

Missandra felt more sorry for her sister than she actually was for herself. She had caused this, and now

Cassandra was worried sick for her. She couldn’t even stand by herself, her Prince had to carry her all

the way back. She understood that she had to go through this, and how light the Emperor’s punishment

for her really was. Neither Kareen or her children had looked at her since it had been announced.

When they returned to Kareen’s garden, Cassandra had stopped crying, but she was still devastated

about what her sister would have to go through. Kairen gently put her in the deckchair, and Missandra

immediately sat on the grass next to her, taking her hand,

“Hinue, please, don’t worry, okay? You’ve suffered so much more than me already, I can stand this

much, trust me!”

No matter if she could stand it, Cassandra was already sick at the simple idea of her younger sister, her

flesh and blood, being injured.

A servant came running, bowing politely.

“Your Highnesses, Imperial Concubine Kareen, Concubine Cassandra, my greetings. His Highness the

Emperor has ordered for the servant Lady Missandra to be brought to the punishment cell for her

sentence.”

Cassandra almost broke into tears again, but Missandra confidently stood with a resolute look.

“I’m coming,” she announced, determined.

“I’m coming with you,” said Cassandra.

“Certainly not!” Roared Kareen. “You are already sick enough, you are not going to watch that too!”

“I don’t want to leave her alone through this!” She insisted..

“I will go with her, Cassie,” sighed Shareen. “Don’t worry. They won’t dare go too hard on her if I am

there. I promise I will bring her back as soon as it’s over. Just stay here with mother and Kairen.”

Cassandra wanted to protest, but no one would side with her. On the side, even Dahlia silently cried

too, feeling sorry for Missandra. She internally regretted she hadn’t been braver earlier and said

something to stop her or the Princess before things escalated.

She stood and hugged Missandra, holding back her tears.

“Don’t grind your teeth, and don’t get crispated”, she said. “It’ll only make it worse. T-take deep breaths,

and… and… I’ll heal you when you come back. I promise.” (5)

“I know. My sister is the best healer in the world.”

Despite her confident smile, everyone could tell Missandra was just trying hard not to break down and

cause her sister more pain. After a while, they let go of each other, and Cassandra stumbled back,

Kairen helping her sit back.

Missandra gave her a weak smile and turned to the servant.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.”