Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 396

Chapter 396: Chapter 396 - Taming the Chaos - 9

The streets of Yino’s capital bustled with their usual superficial warmth.

Smiling merchants hawked their wares with honeyed voices, nobles exchanged courteous greetings while mentally calculating how to take advantage of each other, and children played in the squares under the watchful eyes of parents who smiled while secretly planning the next move in their families’ social ladder climbing.

Hedda walked through the commercial district with measured steps, her jumping spider extending subtle sensory hairs across the skin of her arms. At her recently turned eighteen years, she had learned to navigate this social dance with the same precision she used for her most dangerous missions.

"Good morning, young Hedda," a fruit vendor greeted her with a smile as bright as it was false. "Does our beloved Princess need something special today?"

"Just the usual, Mrs. Vera," Hedda responded with equal artificial sweetness, knowing perfectly well that the woman had already calculated the inflated price she would try to charge. "Fresh fruit for Her Highness’s lunch."

While inspecting the fruit, Hedda noticed how the small flying rat that monitored her perched discreetly on the roof of a nearby building. It was a constant reminder of her true position: not a common servant, but an asset under perpetual surveillance.

The transaction was completed with the expected smiles and courtesies, each party feigning satisfaction while mentally declaring victory over the other. It was Yino’s daily ballet.

This kingdom, in stark opposition to Yano, champions the ’black’ as its core belief: ’White on the outside, black on the inside. Everyone lies; be cunning to maintain your white facade, while remaining cold, calculating, and intelligent within.’

It was the philosophy they had instilled in her since childhood, so different from what she had heard about Yano’s "inferior view" or "wrong priorities" during her years of training.

Yano’s philosophy was, conversely, ’Black on the outside, white on the inside. Show your opponent a tough exterior, but maintain a calm and balanced mind within.’

To Hedda’s eyes, both philosophies of the rival kingdoms are two sides of the same deceptive coin, merely flipped.

Yino’s kingdom, however, truly embodies its tradition. Its society projects a warm and smiling demeanor, yet beneath the surface, individuals are constantly plotting their next aggressive move. This breeds a perpetually, if subtly, uncomfortable and unsettling atmosphere.

Being also ordered, watched constantly and knowing that Yino’s King was controlling his people quite directly unlike Yano’s... If Hedda knew the term, she would describe it as almost dystopian.

♢♢♢♢

Unlike her brother Han, who was receiving a complete education at the enemy academy, Hedda had had to make do with ’special’ training until she was seventeen...

Only the last year of her life had she received something, relatively, of the same educational quality Han enjoyed... and that only because she served as support for the care and monitoring of Princess Selthia.

She wasn’t like the special guards, children of other nobles, in Yano who could be students with priority when possible. Hedda was more like the princess’s errand girl, constantly moving through the city, learning to obtain unconventional goods and services.

’At least Han’s latest letters arrived on time,’ she thought bitterly while paying for the fruit.

Though she didn’t know they were reviewed and reformulated, often made almost from scratch because the originals carried some implications about their real work. The censors eliminated any reference to their true situations, presenting each sibling as a hostage of the other side to maintain their loyalty.

But how could they notice any strangeness or difference? Since, from the beginning... from her childhood, their communications had been like this.

The last errand of the day took her to the more... ’flexible’ sector of the commercial district. Here, the smiles remained bright, but the merchandise was considerably less conventional.

Master Vex’s shop nestled between an herbalist of questionable reputation and a jeweler who didn’t ask too many questions about the origin of gems.

The simple sign read "Specialized Articles", but regular customers knew that Vex could obtain practically anything if the price was right.

The bell chimed when Hedda entered, and the familiar voice greeted her from behind the counter.

"Ah, my favorite client," Master Vex emerged from the shadows with that fox smile he had perfected over decades.