The Dragon King's Heart

Dante described the ideas he had of the lives they might have had if they were ordinary people. Laina listened carefully in silence. In her mind, she pictured the visions Dante described. 

A smile appeared on her face. In every idea he had, there was a constant. Both of them were together in every scenario. 

"Have you ever wondered, what if I was not in that picture?" Laina asked. 

As soon as the words left her lips, she felt a surge of emotion overwhelm her thoughts. Her heart ached as if someone had plunged a knife through her heart. Why was this happening? She had no answer. 

Dante took Laina's hand into his. He gripped her hand tightly and kissed the back of her hand. 

"I… I cannot imagine a life without you, Laina," he replied solemnly. 

For just a split second, as they were looking into each other's eyes, Laina felt as though Dante had gone through something. Something significant that changed him. Those words he spoke, bearded a heavyweight. 

"I can't imagine a life without you either," she reciprocated his feelings. 

Laina did not know why she said it. But she knew she meant it. She cupped his cheek in her hands, their eyes still fixed on one another. At that moment, Laina felt as if she wanted to say something to Dante. 

Dante could see it in Laina's eyes. She wanted to say something to him. Deep down he already knew what she wanted to say. It was the exact same thing he wanted to say to her for the longest time. 

As she parted her lips, Dante's mind was flooded with memories. Memories of the past, memories of the times they had shared with one another. The moments they missed. The moments they cherished. 

"Laina, I love you."

At first, Dante thought everything was simply a fever dream. He did not even realize he had said it out loud until he saw Laina's eyes widen in shock. Realizing what he had done, Dante knew the consequences. 

For the longest time, he had been running away from it, trying to avoid it. But now that he had declared his love for her, he would face the consequences head-on. 

Realizing he stole the words right out of her mouth, Laina knuckled Dante on his arm. 

"Hey! That's not fair, I wanted to say it first and you stole the show!" She exclaimed. 

Dante smiled, "Well, you were too slow, who asked you to wait so long?"

"Slow? Slow? I was the one who was going to say it first the other time and you stopped me, remember?" She pouted with her arms crossed. 

Dante wrapped his arms around Laina, drawing her closer into his embrace. He nuzzled on the nape of her neck, causing Laina to blush as her entire body heated up. 

"It doesn't matter who said it first, if we both feel the same way, right?" Dante asked with a smile as he kissed her on the nape of her neck. 

Laina could not help but let out a sigh, "Well, that is true…"

Little did Laina know, a curse had been ignited in Dante. From the moment he declared his love for her, the seed of an ancient curse began to sprout within his heart. 

Dark veins began to spread across Dante's chest. At that moment, he felt a shiver overwhelm his entire body. Laina noticed the drop in his body temperature immediately. 

"You feel so cold," Laina muttered as she attempted to wrap her arms around Dante instead. 

She hoped her own body heat, coupled with the blanket, would help to warm him up. 

"It's probably just the drop in temperature, that's all," Dante reassured her as he held onto her hand tightly. 

"Maybe it's time for us to head to bed then," Laina suggested. 

"Sounds good to me."

Dante got up from the solar and picked Laina up in his arms. For a short moment, Dante felt as if his entire world was spinning. He stumbled a little, quickly regaining his vision.

"Woah! Looks like someone had too much to drink," Laina teased. 

But when she saw the look on Dante's face, she grew a little worried. 

"Dante, is everything alright?" Laina asked as she looked straight into his eyes. 

Dante smiled. He replied reassuringly, "I'm alright, probably just tired."

He carried her to bed and placed her down gently before tucking her in. Instead of getting in bed himself, he walked away towards the bathroom. 

"Dante, where are you going?" Laina asked, confused. She was expecting him to get in bed with her as soon as he placed her down. 

"Don't worry, I just need to use the toilet, that's all," he replied before heading into the bathroom. 

Dante carefully locked the door behind him. He looked over to his reflection in the mirror. He nervously ran his hand through his hair as he walked up to the mirror. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his bare chest. 

From the left side of his chest, small black veins formed from a single spot, spiraling outwards like vines. He gritted his teeth as he placed both hands on the basin. Everything happened so quickly, he did not have enough time to think it through. 

Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, Dante knew what he had to do. Lucky, or unlucky for him, the curse would take time to take its full effect. If he was in the Celestial Realm, the effects of the curse would spread a lot quicker. 

In Gaeia, the effects were slowed down a lot more. It worked in his favor anyway. Dante had no intention of leaving Gaeia anytime soon. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with Laina. 

Right now, there was nothing more important. Not even his own life mattered. Dante cast a series of spells upon himself, one of which was to hide the black veins across his chest. 

That way, no one would know. 

No one, except for him. 

"No one can know about this," he muttered to himself.