The Dragon King's Heart

Ethan sighed. He recalled the reason he had made this trip alone. Everything was going well at the start. Until the representative of Galatea Bank came and gave him a rude wake-up call. Businesses he thought belonged to the crown, did not. 

The crown had revenue streams, but they were not as many as he had thought. Most of them were Laina's private businesses. The Yellow House was one of them. While it might have seemed that she had done this for her own benefit, It was not. 

In fact, she had been supplementing the Royal Coffers with the profits she had made. 

"You doomed me from the start," Ethan still did not see the error of his ways, "If I knew..."

"If you knew all these things you thought belonged to the crown belonged to me, what would you have done?" she turned the question on him. 

"Were you going to arrest me and take what rightfully belonged to me?" she asked. 

Everything she had, Laina built it from the ground up on her in. For every piece of gold she borrowed to work on her investments from the Royal Coffers, she paid it back threefold. 

"The revenue streams the crown owns is more than enough to sustain Kinshearth as a whole. 

Heck, there's even enough for you to spend on multiple lavish parties if you wish."

But when Ethan allowed the Nobles to retake what they claimed to be rightfully theirs, everything came crumbling down. Laina knew there was more than what Ethan was leading on. From the look on his face, she could tell he was coming to his senses. 

He buried his face in his hands at the realization. He was not fit to be King. He might have learned how to act like one, but he did not know what takes to manage a Kingdom. He still had much to learn. 

"You're right, Laina. I'm not fit to be King," he sighed in defeat. 

It hurt his ego to say it, but he knew he had to. He took off the crown on his head and handed it over to Laina, "You should be Queen, Laina."

She did not reply. 

"I'll abdicate and return to you what's rightfully yours," he declared. 

Everyone who was listening had smiles on their faces! Surely this was the outcome Laina had hoped for. But to their surprise, it was not. 

"No. Absolutely not," Laina declared as she pushed the crown back to Ethan while shaking her head. 

"What?" he gasped in shock and confusion, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Laina burst out laughter. She could not believe he would think that. At the start, Laina wanted it back. She had been waiting for quite some time. Becoming Queen meant no one would ever dare to question her authority ever again. 

But when Ethan took it away from her, she realized she had so much more to live for. Spending time with Dante and her friends, made her realize that. There was more to life than the crown.  She was carefree. She did not have to worry constantly about what others thought of her. 

"Please Laina, please," he begged, "I know you won't do this for me, but do it for the sake of the people."

Laina shook her head, "The throne is yours, Ethan. Is that not what you wanted all along?"

"It is... but I've come to realize I am not the ruler I want to be," he admitted. 

Laina shook her head, "No. You're just doing this so you don't have to deal with this mess."

Laina spoke the truth. Ethan knew it. But for a long while, he could not accept it. The truth was often too difficult to accept. 

"If you want to learn and become a good  King, you'll need to start by fixing your mistakes."

"But..." all the odds were against him. How was it going to be possible?

She could see how defeated he looked. There was a part of her that told her not to help him. After everything that he did to her, she was not obligated to do so. But Laina knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to help him. 

"To tell you the truth. The crown was in a lot more debt before," she shared with him. 

Ethan widened his eyes in disbelief. 

"It's true," she reinstated, "About... ten times worse."

Ethan dropped his jaw. He could not believe it. 

"But I managed to pull us out of it and so can you." 

"But...I..." he did not even know where to begin. 

The Royal Coffers were empty. The Galatea Bank demanded payment. It was as if he was drowning in the open sea. He even tried asking the Nobles of the High Court for help. But they all turned their backs against him. 

"Let's make a deal," Laina said with a smile. 

"A deal?"

She nodded as she explained, "I'll give you enough money to tide you over for the next two month, plus a little extra. The last month of the year is important in Kinshearth, I don't think I need to explain that to you."

"I know," he replied. 

"Good. Survive for another month and I will return to Kinshearth. If you can turn things around by then, then great, you can continue being King. I will spend my time there and be on my way. 

If not, I'll take over. But I have a condition."

Ethan gulped. He wondered what would she want of him. Perhaps she wanted him to promise that he would never contest against her ever again. It would be a reasonable request. 

"What would that be?"

"I want you to remain in the capital and take up the role of Crown Prince of Kinshearth," Laina explained. 

Everyone was floored. Laina was full of surprises. None of them were able to predict her moves at every turn. Dante grinned. He listened intently as the conversation continued. 

"You want me to be Crown Prince?" Ethan asked. 

"Yes, that's right." 

Laina did not know what the future had in store for her. Life was unpredictable. Her recent close encounters with death were proof of that. If anything were to happen to her while she was Queen, Kinshearth would fall into chaos. 

Ethan, though inexperienced, was a great candidate. All he needed was guidance and pointers in the right direction. With a few years of experience under his belt, he might even be a better monarch than Laina. 

But Ethan could not understand, "Don't you hate me? After everything I did?"

Laina grinned, "Oh I do. So don't expect me to go easy on you."