Chapter 43: Independent, Intelligent, Beautiful.

Since sending his gift to Laina, Dante found himself restless. He ate little and slept even less. Rumors started to spread that the Dragon King was ill or he might be poisoned.

But none of it could be further from the truth. Marius, on the other hand, knew too well what his King was inflicted with. But he knew Dante would never admit it.

The liquor he usually drank to help him sleep was no longer working. The splitting headache that came afterward was even worse. A knock on the door pulled Marius out of his thoughts as he went to open the door.

A messenger had arrived.

"What is it, the King is…" Marius paused. He could smell a familiar scent lingering around the messenger.

Dante sensed it too. He walked over to the door. Seeing the Dragon King up close, the messenger cowered and shivered in fear. He immediately got onto his knee and kept his eyes on the ground. Dante looked down at him.

"Is someone here to see me?" He asked.

"Ye… yes… your Majesty. Princess- "

Before the messenger could even finish his sentence the door swung open and Dante walked out. Even Marius did not have enough time to react.

"Lead the way," Dante ordered the messenger as he buttoned the sleeves on his shirt.

"Right away, your Majesty," the messenger swiftly replied as he got up on his feet.

Marius grinned as he trailed behind closely, followed by four knights of the King's Guard. Soon, they arrived at the Sapphire Drawing Room. Upon seeing King Dante, the guards saluted him before opening the door. As soon as the door creaked open, Laina turned over and got up from her seat.

She curtsied, "King Dante, it's good to see you again."

Her heart was racing. She prayed that he could not hear the waver in her voice as she greeted him.

"It's good to see you too, Princess Laina. Spare the formalities and have a seat," Dante replied as he walked over to her side.

But there were other people in the room with them, so Dante decided to seat across from her instead. He asked for another teacup to be brought to him. Marius was about to instruct the messenger to fetch it when Dante stopped him.

"Marius, you go and get it," he ordered.

As his close confidante, Marius understood his intentions immediately. Without any delay he bowed and exited the room with the messenger, leaving the Princess and King alone.

After the door closed, silence hung in the air. None of them knew what to say. Laina stole a few glances at Dante, she noticed that he looked like he had not been sleeping well.

Was Dracona in some form of crisis? She wondered. This reminded Laina why she had come all the way to see him. She tapped her spatial ring twice and the box materialized on the coffee table before them.

She cleared her throat before she spoke, "King Dante- "

"Just Dante is fine," he reminded with a smile.

"Oh umm alright, Dante. I appreciate your gift but I cannot accept it. So I am here to return it to you."

Dante folded his arms, as he leaned back. He thought she was here to thank him for it.

"Was it not enough? I can send more…"

"No, no. That's not it, your Ma… Dante. I appreciate it, I really do. It's a really kind gesture and it's definitely far better than an offer of a marriage alliance," all her thoughts were swirling in her mind, Laina could barely get her point across.

She took in a deep breath.

"What I am trying to say is, I want to solve this issue on my terms. I don't want a handout."

Dante smiled. This was the Laina he knew.

Independent. Intelligent. Beautiful.

Though he was a little upset that she returned his gift, he kept that to himself. It was his one ticket to get closer to her. Now he needed another plan. Marius soon returned to the room with another teacup as Dante had requested.

He did not stay for long either, quickly letting himself out of the room as soon as he had placed the teacup down. He noticed the box on the table and the silence between the both of them.

-Don't mess it up this time, Dante.- he chuckled to himself as he left the room.

Marius could not help himself from finding out what went on inside. So he placed his ear near the door, hoping to hear the conversation that went on inside. After he left, Laina poured Dante a cup of tea.

After taking a sip of the tea, Dante replied, "I don't usually accept gifts that I give out, but this will be an exception. Would you consider a trade alliance instead?"

Laina looked up, surprised by his offer. She had not expected him to do so. After all, Dracona did not need any of the items Kinshearth produced.

"But what would we trade? If I did not recall wrongly, Dracona's main export is gemstones, minerals, metal works. I am quite certain agriculture is not something you require either," Laina pointed out.

Dante smiled as he put down the teacup on the table.

"That would be for you to figure out, Laina. Sorry, I hope you don't mind me calling you Laina," Dante replied sneakily.

"Alright, I will think about it. Since I'm calling you by your name already, I don't see anything wrong with it. Oh, Dante, before I forget. There is one more thing."

If only she would call him by the pet name she had given him, everything would be perfect. He could not wait for that day to arrive.

"What is it?"

"I did keep one of the items you sent," Laina explained, "I'm keeping it as your apology for what happened the other night."

Dante was caught off guard by Laina's mention. How could he have forgotten the night he had embarrassed himself?

"I must apologize for what happened that night, Laina. It was never my intention to enter your room unannounced like that, I was drunk, and…" he stumbled and stuttered while trying to explain himself.

Laina could not help but laugh at his clumsy reply. The famed Dragon King whom people feared on the battlefield was stumbling over his own words. Seeing her light-hearted laugh brought a smile to Dante's face.

"Don't worry. I suspected you were under someone's spell. We probably shouldn't have drunk that much that night either."

Seeing as it was getting late, Laina realized it was time for her to leave. She did not want to accidentally stay overnight in Dracona again. The last time it happened, she was lucky to have Margaret cover for her.

This time, she might not be so lucky. Seeing that she was getting ready to leave, Dante wanted nothing more than to ask her to stay. They both got up from their seat and were walking towards the door.

There was one more thing he wanted to ask.

"Before you go, there has been something I have been meaning to ask."

"Speak your mind, Dante," she replied without much thought.

"Why did you come to return the items to me in person? You could have sent a messenger to do so."