Chapter 45: The Elusive Hamster Princess

Dante returned to Dracona promptly after making sure Laina was in safe hands. He made sure to cover his tracks in Kinshearth so that no one knew he had been there.

"Back so soon, my King?" Marius teased as he caught up with Dante.

Dane was deep in his own thoughts so he did not respond to Marius. He walked in front of Dante and waved his hand in the King's face.

"Your Majesty, you there?" He asked as he clicked his fingers a few times in front of Dante.

Dante shifted his gaze to Marius. His initial look of shock soon turned into annoyance as he saw Marius clicking his fingers in front of his face.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked coldly.

Marius stopped doing it immediately.

"Oh! I thought your heart and mind had gone elsewhere. But looks like I was wrong ha ha…" he jest.

Marius materialized the spatial storage box in his hands.

"What would you like to do with it, your Majesty?" He asked Dante.

Looking over to the box, Dante remembered Laina's words.

'That's for me to know and you to find out!'

He remembered her warm awkward smile, her mesmerizing eyes, and dark red hair. Though she clearly looked like she had not slept well in days, she was still the most beautiful woman in the universe.

She was his ray of sunlight.

"Hmph, we shall see what I can find, my sundrop," Dante muttered to himself.

He took the box from Marius and headed in the direction of his personal quarters. Caught completely off guard, Marius was left behind. When he finally came to his senses, he quickly caught up with Dante.

"But...your Majesty, we still have the evening court session to attend," Marius reminded him.

Dante waved his hand without turning back to look at him.

"I have more important things to attend to. I will be retiring to my room for the evening. Have them bring my dinner to me. I want a medium-rare fillet mignon with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus."

"As you wish, my King," Marius replied as Dante continued walking away.

In his mind, Dante already made a few guesses as to what Laina might have chosen to keep. But he wanted to be sure that he made the right guess. He did not want to guess wrongly.

Upon returning to his room, Shadow came up to him and nudged her soft fur against his leg. She meowed at him while kneading at his pant leg. Seeing her round bead-like eyes, Dante picked her up with his free hand snuggled his face close to hers.

Shadow closed her eyes as she gently licked the tip of his nose. When she caught sight of the box in his hand, she grew curious. She stretched out her paws, wanting to touch the box.

"Did you smell her scent on it too?" He asked Shadow as he walked over to the sofa.

He placed Shadow gently onto the sofa before taking a seat himself. She quickly made herself comfortable, curled up on his lap as Dante fiddled with the box. Using an incantation spell, he was able to find out what was inside it.

Seeing how snug Sadow was, he gave her a chin scratch which she thoroughly enjoyed. She purred as he continued to do so.

"Shadow, what do you think she kept? Could it be that painting?" He whispered to the cat as he continued to scratch her chin.

Shadow meowed as she nudged at his hand before curling up again. He stroked her from forehead to tail as he looked through the contents of the box. There were many items listed so it took him a while to get to the bottom of it.

When he got the answer he was looking for, Dante could not help but smirk.

"Looks like I was right."

Back in Kinshearth, Margaret called for the doctor to come and check on Laina. She did not trust Dante's words. But when the doctor confirmed his explanation, she had nothing to say. Laina soon woke up on her own after, but she was very groggy.

"Where… where am I," she mumbled as her eyes began to adjust to her surroundings.

The last she could remember was walking towards the portal gate in Dracona. Then everything went blank. She looked around, flustered. Margaret noticed Laina was awake. She quickly rushed to her side and held her hand.

"Laina, I'm here. You're in your room, in Kinshearth. You gave me quite the scare, princess." Margaret reassured her.

"Margaret? What happened? How… how did I end up back here? I was…"

"Dante brought you back here. You passed out from exhaustion, your Highness," the handmaiden explained.

Laina was shocked to find out that it had been Dante who sent her back. She vaguely remembered him cradling her. Her cheeks flushed red as she thought about it. It was so embarrassing!

Laina's eyes widened as she grabbed hold of Margaret's arm tightly, "Did anyone see us?"

Margaret shook her head as she gently patted Laina's hand, "King Dante used a cloaking spell. So no one saw him carrying you back here. Don't worry."

The princess heaved a sigh of relief as she leaned her head back into the soft pillow. The handmaid left the princess's bedside for a while, returning with a table tray of food. There was also a mug of hot chocolate.

"You've not eaten anything today, Your Highness. Now, eat up, so that you can get your strength back," Margaret chided.

Laina smiled, "Thank you, Margaret, what would I do without you?"

The handmaid smiled as she watched the crown princess eat her meal. She was so hungry, that she was practically wolfing down the bread. Did she even chew it before swallowing? Seeing Laina's cheeks stuffed full of food like a hamster's puffy cheeks stuffed with rations, Margaret could not help but laugh.

Was there ever a princess that ate like a hamster?