Marius bid Laina goodnight and left her room. After closing the door, Laina walked over to the bed. Before Marius left, he helped her to move Dante so he was sleeping on the right side of the bed.

Laina sat down on the right side of the bed. She looked over Dante as she laid down on the pillow. For a moment, she entertained the idea of sleeping next to him. But the more she thought about it, the weirder it felt.

She quickly sat back up and was about to leave the bed when she felt a hand grab onto her. Laina was surprised to see Dante’s hand on her wrist. She looked over to him, wondering if he was awake.

His eyes were still shut but he seemed to murmur in his sleep. Laina leaned in closer, hoping to catch what he was trying to say as she tried to remove her hand from his.

But the more she struggled, the tighter his grip.

“Where are you going… stay by my side…” Dante mumbled in his sleep.

Just as Laina attempted to move away from him, he pulled her into his embrace. Laina was surprised by the sudden movement. She was caught completely off guard. She froze as Dante wrapped his arms around her and snuggled his face close to hers.

There was no distance between them. Her head was resting on his bare chest. She could hear his rhythmic heartbeat. The more she listened, the sleepier she got. Laina let out a yawn as her eyelids grew heavy.

Just like that, she fell sound asleep in the king’s embrace.

That night, Laina dreamt of something she had never seen before. It felt as if it was a memory from a different life. The faces of the people in the memory were blurred so she could not tell who they were.

She did not recognize their voices either. But she knew that the young woman in the dream was her. She and an unknown young man were having a picnic in a garden filled with beautiful glowing flowers.

She was seated upright, while the young man had laid his head on her lap while she fed him a fresh strawberry. They looked happy and seemed to be enjoying themselves very much.

The young man looked up to her, “I wish this moment can last forever, my sundrop.”

He caressed her face and she held onto his hand as she smiled and replied, “One day, my moonkiss. One day, we will be together.

She leaned down to kiss the young man on the lips.

“Forever”

“And always.”

When Laina next opened her eyes, she was back in the room. The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon, bathing the sky in its warm light. Laina carefully got out of the bed and walked out onto the balcony.

As she watched the rise of the sun, she felt the cool morning breeze swirl around her. Laina bit her lip as she thought about Margaret, who must be worried sick looking for her. She turned back to look at Dante’s sleeping figure.

She bit her lip.

Laina returned to the room. She began to search for writing paper and a pen. When she did, Laina quickly penned down a message. Once it was complete, she began to pack up her belongings, ready to leave.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, scarring Laina out of her wits. She went to open the door, heaving a sigh of relief to see that it was Marius. Seeing that Dante was still sound asleep, she crept out of the room to speak to Marius in the hallway.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Your highness, I thought about it for the entire night and I think it is only right that I help you to get back to Kinshearth or Everfree, wherever you wish to go. It isn’t right to keep you here against your will,” Marius explained.

Laina was thankful for his honesty and willingness to help. She was worried that Dante might punish him, should he find out that Marius helped her to escape. Marius chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about me, princess. I will be alright,” he reassured her.

With that, their plan was put into action at once. Marius gave Laina a black hooded cloak to put on. After making sure that Dante was still sound asleep, they gathered the last of Laina’s things before leaving the room.

But there was one thing Laina could not leave behind. It was Titan. Titan was at her heel, following her around. He seemingly knew that they were tiptoeing around and hence had kept quiet the entire time.

He even managed to sneak out of the room as Laina and Marius reinterred the hallway after gathering all the things they needed. Titan sat at Laina’s fit gently rubbing his soft fur against her leg.

She looked down at him, and Titan gave his cutest sad puppy eyes he could give to her. Laina crouched down to meet him at eye level. She ruffled his fur and scratched his chin.

“Do you want to come with me, Titan?” She whispered to him.

Although he could not bark in excitement, the solar mastiff was already wagging his tail as he nodded. Titan placed his front paws on Laina’s shoulders as he tried to lick her face.

Laina looked up at Marius, “Would it be alright if I kept him with me for a period of time? I promise to take good care of him.”

Marius chuckled, “Sure, I don’t think King Dante would mind. This old pupper had been kept in the stables long enough. At least by your side, he wouldn’t be cooped up.”

With everything settled, Marius guided Laina through the winding hallways. He led her to a portal gate that was situated in the King’s Quarters. It was Dante’s personal portal gate.

Marius set up the portal gate to teleport Laina back to the Golden Gate Hotel in Everfree, as per her request.

“Alright, everything is set,” Marius declared as he clapped his hands together.

Laina smiled, “Thank you for your help, Marius.”

“You’re most welcome, your highness. Till we meet again,” Marius replied in kind.

With that, Laina and Titan walked through the portal gate together. When they emerged from the other side, they were meters away from the mansion Laina was staying in at the Golden Gate Hotel.

-How did Marius know where my mansion was?- she wondered to herself.