The Dragon King's Heart

Laina stretched out her arms and let out a yawn. Her royal duties were never complete. Even when she tried her best to finish as many as she could, moments later there would be another set of tasks waiting for her to do. 

She got up from her seat and walked over to her dressing table. She sat down and looked at the single stalk of blood rose Dante had given to her. Though it has been quite some time, she was surprised to find that it had not wilted. 

"It must be different from regular flowers," she muttered to herself as she took it out of the glass vase and brought it close to her. 

Laina liked the sweet light fragrance of the blood rose. As she gently touched one of the petals, fearful that it might tear if she exerted too much strength. The petal was silky smooth. 

"Your Highness," Kol called out to her. 

Laina placed the blood rose back in its vase and turned around to face Kol. 

"Yes?"

"Grand General Tobias is here to see you," he informed her. 

She had not been expecting to see the general today, but since he had come all this way, she decided to see what happened next. 

"Let him in."

Moments later, General Tobias entered the room. He bowed deeply in respect to Laina. 

"Your Highness, thank you for granting this audience."

"Grand General Tobias, is something the matter?" Laina asked. 

"Crown Princess Laina, I am here to apologize."

"Apologise?"

"Yes."

"What for? General Tobias, as far as I am aware, you've committed no crime. Unless there was?" Laina asked, confused as to the general's sudden apology. 

The general bit his lip. He cleared his throat and explained, "It's for doubting your brilliance, your Highness."

In the last few months, Laina had implemented reforms and changes to the way Kinshearth managed her finances and her citizens. Though some reforms were met with resistance, the country had seen growth in almost every sector and industry. 

The success of the Yellow Villa was growing steadily, quickly becoming a symbol of pride for Kinshearth. 

"Though I may not understand some of your actions and decisions, I have come to realize that I lack the faith and foresight you had. I'm sorry for doubting you, your Highness," General Tobias explained. 

Laina smiled, she was glad to see that General Tobias acknowledged her efforts. She knew of the growing displeasure amongst the nobility in Kinshearth. Previous incidents had spread gossip amongst the high society circles, claiming Laina wished to topple the hierarchy of the nobility. 

She had never considered that as a reform to change the way Kinshearth was managed. But hearing about it did make Laina think. What would Kinshearth be like if that happened?

Just then, a knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts. A messenger entered the room and came up to Laina. 

"Your Highness, King Dante of Dracona is here to see you," the messenger informed. 

"Dante? Send him in at once," Laina declared. 

Seeing as the King of Dracona was here to visit Laina, General Tobias decided to take his leave.

"Thank you for your honesty, my General. I am pleased to know that my work has been acknowledged. I hope that more people in my court will share your views as well."

"It will take time, Crown Princess. But I'm sure you'll be able to win over their hearts, as you have with mine. I will take my leave," with that, he left the room. 

A short while later, Dante entered the room. 

"King Dante, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Laina greeted him with a smile formally. 

-She's being so formal with me? Hmm…- Dante pondered to himself as he entered the room. He decided to tease Laina a little.

Marius had already informed Dante of his plans for the day with Margaret. Knowing that meant Laina would be alone, he came over to see if they could spend some time together. 

He also wanted to make up for the time he was away. 

"Your Highness, have you seen Marius?" Dante asked as he pretended to look around. 

Thinking he was here to look for Marius and not to look for her, the smile disappeared from Laina's face. It pained him to see her smile disappear, but he pretended not to notice. 

"Oh, he came by," Laina replied nonchalantly as she returned to the paperwork in front of her. 

If he wanted the information out of her, he was going to have to work for it. Dante immediately knew what Laina was trying to do. He did not protest, choosing to play along instead. 

"Ah I see, did he say where he was going?" Dante asked as he walked over to Laina's side. 

He was standing right behind her, overlooking her shoulder. He could tell she was pretending to work. 

"He did."

Dante leaned down. There was no distance between them. Laina's lips curled upwards. She caught herself smiling, quickly turning to face the other side to avoid Dante. 

He rested his head on her shoulder as he wrapped his hands around her shoulders. 

"I see… It seems like I need to work for the answer. Is that right, my princess?" He whispered seductively. 

Laina could feel his breath against her ear. Her heart was palpitating. She did not know what to say in reply.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Dante added, seeing as Laina was not replying. 

Dante tilted his head, gently kissing Laina on the nape of her neck. She felt as if her entire body was on fire. She remained as still as a rock as he slowly kissed the length of her neck. 

Finally, Laina could no longer take it anymore. Her face was burning red with embarrassment. She surrendered.

"Okay okay! I'll tell you where he went. He went-"

Dante cupped Laina's chin and tilted her face to face him. 

"He went off for a date with Margaret," he finished her sentence for her with a cheeky grin on his face. 

"You knew…" that moment of shock on Laina's face, priceless, "You're here because…"