The Dragon King's Heart

Margaret leaned back in the leather chair and let out a sigh. She rubbed her temples with her eyes closed, trying to gather her thoughts and strength before re-entering the mountain of paperwork before her. 

Although Laina had already cleared most of what she had to do before going on break, she was now away for longer than she had originally planned. 

"Come on Margaret, if Laina can do it, so can we," she muttered to herself while slapping her cheeks. 

She cracked her knuckles before picking up a pen, getting ready to begin work again when she noticed something was amiss in the study room. Titan, who was seated at her feet, perked up and wagged his tail. 

The Solar Mastiff was looking specifically in a certain direction. When Margaret looked in the same direction, she could not see anything with the naked eye. But she could sense that someone was in the room with them. 

As she looked back down at the papers in front of her, she realized who it might be. 

"If you plan on remaining invisible the entire time you're here, you should have cleaned up your energy aura as well. Even Titan can sense you're here," Margaret said out loud as she flipped through the pages she was looking at. 

The invisible figure let out an audible sigh, before clicking his fingers to reveal himself to Margaret. 

"I was hoping to give you a surprise, but it seems like I have failed to do so," Marius said as he casually walked up to Margaret. 

Feeling a little brace, he casually gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he greeted her, "Good morning, sunshine."

Margaret was caught completely off guard by Marius's swift sleek moves. Though she was mildly annoyed that he got away with it, she could not help herself from grinning. 

"You need to get better at surprising people," she chided before reciprocating his greeting, "Good morning."

"Have you had breakfast?" She asked as she took a sip of coffee from the porcelain cup. 

Marius shook his head as he leaned over Margaret's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of what she was working on. 

"No, have you?"

She let out a yawn as she shook her head, "No. I'll just get the Royal Kitchen to prepare a little something for us."

"For us?" Marius echoed her words excitedly, "Like a breakfast date? Shall we have it in the garden then?" 

Margaret picked up the golden handbell and rang it three times before putting it back down. Marius's offer was tempting, but she had so much work to be done. Seeing the expression on her face, Marius understood immediately. 

"Or we can just eat here, that works too."

She smiled, "Thank you for understanding."

Sensing someone was about to enter the room, Marius quickly turned himself invisible once more. The door pushed open moments later and a kitchen servant walked in. 

"Lady Margaret, you rang?"

"Yes, can you get the kitchen to prepare a simple breakfast platter for me? Make it double the usual amount, I'm famished."

"Right away, milady."

"Oh and ah, get me another pot of black coffee and a pot of mocha while you're at it," Margaret added to her order. 

"As you wish, milady," the kitchen servant replied with a deep bow before running out of the room to get Margaret her food.

As soon as the coast was clear, Marius revealed himself to Margaret once more, leaning his back against the bookshelf behind her chair. 

"A pot of mocha? I wonder who it's for?" He pretended to wonder.

Margaret, thinking she had remembered his favorite drink wrongly, apologized, "Was that not your favorite drink? Oh dear, I must have remembered wrongly. I'll call for them to change it."

Just as she was about to reach for the bell, Marius stopped her while laughing, "No no! I was just joking, you got it right. You got it right!"

Realizing she had been fooled, she punched him on the arm as punishment. Marius winced in pain. For a dramatic flair, he collapsed onto the ground while grabbing onto his arm. 

His expression of pain was almost believable, if only he was clutching the right arm. Margaret caught on to that immediately. 

"You could at the very least grab the correct arm, Marius," she sighed while shaking her head with her arms crossed. 

His foolish display succeeded in putting a smile on Margaret's face. That was his goal and he successfully achieved it. He quickly got back up on his feet. Marius leaned in close to Margaret, surprising her. 

He squeezed both of her cheeks with a silly smile on his face, "There's that smile I have been looking for."

"Smile?… what are you-" Upon realizing what Marius had done, Margaret could not help but join in the laughter. 

When she finally regained her composure, Margaret praised, "I never knew you were this funny, Marius."

Marius grinned. He pretended to look all serious, placing his hands on his hips, and said sternly, "I can be serious too. Just like the Dragon King."

He continued by imitating how Dante spoke and his mannerisms, "Marius, I need you to do this immediately. Laina, I will protect you forever, don't you leave me."

Margaret burst out in laughter, watching Marius's attempts at imitating Dante. It was exactly how Dante would have been and she was so amused. She was laughing so hard, her stomach began to hurt. 

Marius, sensing that someone was about to enter the room, quickly cloaked himself with a spell again. He did not have time to warn Margaret, apart from a quick whisper to her. Any more, and he might raise suspicion. 

At first, Margaret did not realize someone entered the room. It was not until she heard the cling and clang of cutlery that she jolted back to her senses. The kitchen servants pretended as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

They continued to set up the breakfast that Margaret had ordered. Margaret's face turned beet red with embarrassment, not knowing how much of her laughter they had seen. 

She pretended to continue perusing through the paperwork she had set out on her table until the kitchen servant informed her that the food was ready. 

"Ah yes. Thank you," she said after she cleared her throat. 

"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lady Margaret?"

"No, that will be all. You all may go," she replied.