The Dragon King's Heart

Marius explained how the liquors were switched. How the purple hair maid was trying to seduce Dante. Laina listened to all of it in silence. Marius carefully watched Laina for any change in expression, any signs of jealousy.

"That maid sure had a lot of guts to pull off something like this," Laina commented after hearing Marius's recount of what happened.

"Yeah, you're right," Marius replied, as the gears in his mind processed the information, "She probably acted on someone's orders."

Laina nodded in agreement, "You have a point there. I mean, trying to seduce a King and getting him drunk to do so? One of the oldest tricks in the book."

"Oldest trick in the book? What do you mean?"

Laina explained to Marius the tales she had heard, sometimes through the gossip grapevines. These were tales of the lower classes wanting a better standing in life. Sometimes, they will try to climb up in society through different means.

Falling in love and marrying into wealth sometimes took too much time. So some of them would opt for a shortcut instead. One night stand with a member of the royal family, followed by the rumor mill spinning things out of control.

If a child came into the picture, even better, for the person in question.

"People do that sort of thing?" Marius gasped in disbelief.

Laina shrugged her shoulders, "At least that's what I heard."

Stretching her arms out over her head, Laina let out a yawn. It was getting late in the night, and Laina needed to rest. Seeing as she was getting ready to turn in for the night, Marius decided it was also time for him to make himself scarce.

Looking over to Dante, who was still sound asleep, Marius let out a sigh. How on earth was he going to carry the King back to his quarters? Without being seen? Marius looked over to the balcony, he could certainly fly him back to his quarters.

But before he could do so, Laina could see the look of distraught on his face. Though it was not the best available option, she did not mind.

"Why don't you let him sleep here for tonight? He's already sound asleep. I don't think it would be wise to wake him up," Laina suggested as she got out of bed.

Marius's face brightened up with a smile as he looked over to Laina. She immediately knew what was going through his mind. She slapped him on the arm and pointed her finger at him menacingly.

"Nothing is happening tonight. Alright?" she warned him, also warning herself, "We won't be sharing a bed."

"What? Then where are you going to sleep, princess?" Marius asked out of concern.

Laina scanned the room. She pointed at the daybed, "I'll just sleep there."

He looked over to see where she was pointing. He rejected the idea.

"What? No no, you'll catch a cold. If that happens, he's going to be even more worried…"

Laina laughed as she patted Marius on the back, "I'll be fine! I never catch a cold. Besides, the cold never bothered me anyway."

Marius was still concerned, "Are you sure, princess? I can get something arranged for you."

"No no, it's quite alright. Really, Marius. Stop worrying. You've had a long night too, you need sleep too!" Laina reassured him as she pushed him towards the door.

"Just come and collect him tomorrow, alright?"

"I will do so, princess," Marius promised.

Just as Marius was about to leave the room, Laina could not help but ask a question. It had been on her mind ever since she heard Dante call her that. Something about it seemed familiar. But she could not pinpoint what or why.

"Marius,"

"Yes, princess?"

"Does King Dante have a lover?" she asked as she bit her lip.

If he already had someone in his heart, she did not want to overstep her boundaries. She was not about to involve herself with a married man either. But so far, she had not heard or seen the presence of a queen, so she was hoping it would not turn out that way.

Marius darted his eyes away for a second as he pursed his lips. Laina did not want to put him on the spot.

"It's alright if you can't say or don't want to. I won't force you."

He quickly shook his head and clarified, "Oh no no, it's not that, Princess Laina."

"Well, he had someone. Someone whom he really loved."

"Had?"

"The person passed away… but it was a long time ago."

This made Laina wonder just how old was Dante really? But she decided that that was a question for another day.

"How did she… die?" She was curious.

"I'm sorry, but that, I cannot say," Marius apologized.

"That's alright, you don't have to say. It's alright."

But her sudden question piqued his interest.

"If you don't mind me asking, princess. I have a question."

"Speak your mind, Marius."

"Why did you suddenly ask about that?"

"Oh well…" Laina paused for a moment before continuing, "He called me Sundrop…"

Marius grabbed hold of Laina's arm immediately, staring at her with his mouth agape.

"Did you… did you just say he called you Sundrop?"

Laina was surprised by Marius's sudden actions. Realizing what he had done, he quickly unhanded the princess and apologized profusely.

"It's alright, Marius. No offense taken. And yes, he called me Sundrop," Laina placed her hand on her chin, "For some reason, I find that sounded familiar. But I could not quite pinpoint where I've heard it before. So I was just curious."

"Ah, I see. As far as I was aware, that was the pet name he gave his lover," Marius explained.

"Oh, I see."

"His lover had a pet name for him too, I think it was-"

"Moonkiss?"

Marius feigned surprise.

"Yes, that's right. How did you know?" he asked, cheekily.

Laina was caught off guard for a moment. The word just slipped out from her mouth. She did not know how she knew this either. In all her interactions with Dante, they had never talked about this before.

"I… I don't know.. Lucky guess?" she tried to play it off, hoping Marius would not ask any follow up questions.