The Dragon King's Heart

Countess Victoria and everyone who were there gasped in shock by Dante's gesture and words. Their King had almost never been seen in close contact with a woman before this. Laina could see all of their eyes on her.

They were whispering amongst themselves, wondering who she was. All of a sudden, Laina felt out of place. Everyone around her was a dragon, she was not. Not to mention, their stares and whispering made her feel uncomfortable.

The Countess was shocked by how things unfolded. She tried to apologize to the King profusely but he would not hear any of it. Instead, he ignored her completely and turned to examine Laina.

"Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" he asked with a look of concern.

Laina was surprised by the change in his mannerisms. One moment he was cold and harsh yet to her, he was warm and affectionate. Something about it felt familiar to her but she could not figure out what it was.

Dante cupped her chin, tilting her head from side to side to check for injuries or wounds. His action caused her to blush. She quickly took a step back and brushed his hand away. It was not proper for an unmarried princess to walk so closely to a King.

"Thank you for your concern, King Dante. I am fine," Laina quickly replied.

Feeling as if she had made a mistake coming down to the beach, she excused herself and quickly walked away. Titan looked up at Dante for a quick moment before he scurried off to catch up with Laina as she walked off into the distance.

With the commotion over, the crowd dissipated. Dante looked over to see Laina's back view, slowly disappearing into the distance. He wanted to give chase but he did not want to look desperate.

Marius, who was with him, was amused by Dante's indecision to follow Laina or not. The King had never thought twice when it came to battle tactics or negotiation. Yet at this moment, looking Laina leave his side, he was hesitating and crippled by indecision.

He could not bear to see this go on for any longer. Marius nudged Dante and whispered to him, "Go after her."

It was as if he had heard the voice of his heart. Dante immediately went off to catch up with her.

Duchess Ophelia, who had watched the entire scene play out from the sidelines was smiling to herself. This development proved to be more exciting than she had originally anticipated. She knew this mysterious young woman was someone special.

But she did not expect her to be this special. Shara, on the other hand, was dying to know what the Duchess thought of the events that transpired.

"Milady, who do you think that woman was?" Shara asked with anticipation.

Ophelia smiled as she replied, "I don't know for certain. But whoever she may be, she is not as simple as she looks."

The handmaiden was confused. She was clearly not as smart as the Duchess. Shara could not see what Ophelia had seen. Seeing the confused look on her hand maiden's face, the duchess could not help but laugh.

"No normal woman would have such reflexes as to catch someone's hand like that. That's one. That dog that trailed her is no normal mutt either. And, the nail in the coffin..." she paused for suspense as she took a sip of her champagne.

"Our King graced us with his presence and openly admitted her to be his guest. Now that is truly intriguing."

This was someone to watch, someone to take notice of. Duchess Ophelia was excited to see how things would play out. She was also dying to find out who that mysterious young woman was.

"Milady, you're truly brilliant," Shara praised her mistress.

"It's called being observant, Shara. You'll understand it eventually," she said in response.

Back in the castle, Laina was walking down the hallways of the castle. But it soon dawned upon her, that she did not know where she was going. After all, she had leaped out of the window to get to the beach.

Every hallway she walked into looked almost identical to the next. How was she going to find her way back to her room?

"Maybe I should just take this opportunity to leave," she muttered to herself as the idea surfaced in her mind.

Just as she turned to retrace her steps to leave the castle grounds, she noticed a pair of familiar feet not too far ahead from her. When she traced her eyes upwards, she was stunned to see that it was Dante.

Laina gulped as she took a few steps back.

"Princess Laina, what were you doing at the beach?" he asked her with a smile.

She was caught red-handed. Laina did not know how to respond.

When she tried to form whatever words she could, she stuttered, "Well... I… I umm wanted to… to… to bring Titan out for a walk. Yes, a walk."

She remembered why she had wanted to go to the beach. It was not to escape but to play in the water with her dog.

"Right.." Dante replied.

He had this whole conversation planned out but looking at how flustered Laina looked as she was trying to form a reply, he forgot. The awkward silence between them was growing ever more obvious. Dante did not know what else to say and neither did Laina.

Seeing the both of them in a standstill even made Marius uncomfortable.

"Well, glad that was cleared up. Princess, allow me to escort you and Titan over here back to the room," Marius said as he walked over to Laina.

He paused for a moment and continued, "Oh before I forget. My King, I believe there was something you wanted to ask the princess?"

Marius hinted at Dante. For a moment, the Dragon King could not recall what his right-hand man was referring to. There was just a blank look upon his face.

Marius bit his lip as he tried to probe him, "Something about dinner?"

"Ah yes," Dante turned to Laina, "I would like to invite you to a dinner party later tonight."

She could not believe her ears. He was asking for her permission?

"A dinner party?" Laina echoed his words.

She looked down at the outfit she was wearing.

"But I don't have anything appropriate to wear…" she commented.

Dante smiled, "I take that as a yes on the invite. Don't worry about attire, I will have it send to your room."

He turned to Marius, "Marius, escort the princess back to her room. I have some matters to attend to."

Dante lifted Laina's hand and gently kissed it. He looked up at her with a coy smile.

"I will see you tonight, Princess."