The Dragon King's Heart

The Duchess smiled. She had picked the right person to shop with today. 

"Are these not to your fancy? We have-" before Melrose could finish, Laina stopped her. 

"The last I checked, you had a collection of ruby diamond pieces. Do you still have them?" she asked without skipping a beat. 

"Ruby diamonds?" the Duchess gasped in surprise. 

She had only heard rumors about them. Their exclusivity meant it was usually reserved for the highest tier of clientele. Perhaps only royals would have the ability to own some. 

Melrose, unlike Alron, was a much steadier manager. She knew what Laina was talking about. 

"I\'ll have them brought over at once for your viewing," Melrose responded with a bow before leaving the room. 

She returned shortly with a chest of drawers. Two assistants were needed to put them on the table. Melrose opened the top lid of the set of drawers. As if on cue, each layer of drawer pulled open on its own. 

Resting on black silk satin were individual pieces of jewelry made from ruby diamonds. Duchess Ophelia took a closer look at herself. She was mesmerized by how they refracted the light from the chandelier. The deep shade of red was unlike anything she had seen before. 

Melrose and her two assistants put on white silk gloves and picked up the pieces individually for the ladies to take a closer look. Laina took a closer look at a beautiful heart-shaped necklace she had her eye on for a while. 

She turned to the Duchess. 

"If my sources are to be believed, Duchess, you\'re a fire dragon, is that accurate?"

"Yes, that is true."

Laina held up the necklace next to the Duchess, "I think this matches your eyes really well, don\'t you think?"

The Duchess took a closer look. As much as she adored it, she knew full well even with all her wealth she would not be able to afford it. The encrusted diamond in the center alone was likely to work more than twice of all her assets combined. 

"It is very beautiful but-"

"Awesome, it shall be my gift to you then," Laina declared as she turned to Melrose, "Please have this wrapped for the Duchess."

Shara\'s jaw might as well have fallen on the ground. The Duchess herself could not believe her ears either. She placed a hand on Laina\'s arm. 

"Laina, you don\'t have to. That\'s too expensive of a gift." 

Laina smiled as she placed her hand on hers reassuringly, "You\'ve been a great help to me, Duchess Ophelia. Consider it a token of my appreciation."

Laina went on to pick out a few more pieces. They enjoyed one another\'s company very much and promised to meet again some other time. 

"You must allow me to invite you to my home, Laina," The Duchess said as they left the store with their purchases. 

It was a day well spent and Laina was overjoyed, "I will be waiting patiently for your invite, Duchess. I\'ll invite you over to my home too."

Although they had not known one another for very long, the Duchess had grown fond of her,"I have to say, Laina, you\'re unlike anything I had expected you to be. You\'ve continued to impress me at every turn. I look forward to seeing you again."

She turned to take her leave before Laina could reply. But just after two steps, the Duchess paused in her track and turned back around. 

"Who knows? Perhaps the next time we meet, you might be a royal again."

With that, the Duchess and her handmaid departed from the store entrance. Laina was left standing there alone. She was flattered by the Duchess\'s praise and a little amused by her prediction. 

"Perhaps you might be right, after all, Duchess Ophelia," Laina muttered to herself as she looked up to the sky, "Only time can reveal the answer."

That night over dinner, Laina told Dante what had happened during the day. Needless to say, he was furious to learn what had happened to her in the store. He slammed his fist down on the table in anger. 

"Such despicable behavior! I should have been there to teach them a lesson!" he roared in anger as he gritted his teeth. 

Laina could not help but chuckle a little to see him so worked up. 

"What\'s wrong?" Dante asked as he reached for her hand with a softened expression. 

She shook her head, "I\'m just amused by you that\'s all. While I appreciate your call for revenge on my behalf, it\'s all taken care of."

She continued her story of what happened next. She also included her time with Duchess Ophelia. Dante was surprised. The Duchess had mostly taken a neutral stance amongst the nobility during altercations. 

"It is rare for her to step up like that and come to your aid," Dante commented as he cut into his steak. 

"Is that so?"

He nodded in response, "She will only move for those whom she believes in. There were times I requested for her aid and she refused without a reason." 

Laina was surprised. Nobility in Kinshearth, no matter how much they liked or disliked their ruling monarch, would never disagree with authority. They might hold resentment, but they would do as they were asked. 

When she relayed that to Dante, he explained that for dragons, it was the same in some cases. But most of the time, the dragon nobility supports who they like or who they ally with. 

"Rumor has it she\'s great at judging character. I can see why she likes you," Dante commented. 

"Why is that?" Laina asked out of curiosity. 

He smiled as he cut a piece of steak from his plate and fed it to Laina, "Because you\'re amazing and I like to believe I too have a great judge of character."

His praises never failed to add a bit of color to her cheeks. Not wanting to lose out, she too gave him praise. 

"I think I have a great judgement of character too. I think I picked the right person to spend the rest of my life with…" as the words left her mouth, Laina realised what she had said. 

There was no turning back now!

Dante put down his fork and knife. He had that cheeky grin on his face that she liked so much. Sometimes, she hated herself from liking it. 

"The right person to spend the rest of your life with?" he echoed her words, "That is high praise.. I am honored."