The Dragon King's Heart

From the plaque at the front door of the mansion, Laina realized her entourage was still in there. That gave her a sense of relief. But just as she was about to openly enter through the main door, she realized what a horrible decision that would be.

Knowing Margaret, she would have thought of a plan to cover up her disappearance while trying to find Laina on her own. That means the other members of staff likely did not know that Laina had in fact gone missing.

Just then, the main door swung open. In a state of panic, Laina quickly ran off to hide behind the corner of the building. She kept a keen ear, hoping to gather any information she could get.

A pair of maids walked out through the front door, carrying woven baskets in their hands. They were chatting and whispering to one another as they walked away from the mansion.

She did not manage to hear what they were saying. Not ready to give up just yet, Laina decided to try her luck with those who were still inside the mansion. She pressed the side of her face against the wall of the building in hopes of hearing any conversation that might be going on inside.

After a while, she overheard a butler speaking to a chef.

"Poor Princess, she's been sick for days," the butler sighed.

"Days? Oh dear, has Lady Margaret called for the doctor yet?"

"No. Apparently, it's one of the princess's recurring illnesses. She's on bed rest and barely eats anything. Poor thing. Hopefully, she gets better soon. If not, who knows how long we're going to be stuck here for."

The chef was perplexed, "Wouldn't it be better if we moved the princess back to Kinshearth? Then she could get better treatment there. Whatever this illness is."

The butler shrugged his shoulders, "Well, the decision is in Lady Margaret's hands. While the princess is ill, she calls all the shots. It is her call to make."

Laina looked up at the third floor of the mansion. She could see the balcony to her room from where she stood. All she had to do was to get up there without being seen and sneak back into the room.

While she could easily get up there on her own, what about Titan? She could carry him but it would be almost impossible for both of them to get up there together. She leaned her back against the wall as she folded her arms.

Laina tried to come up with a feasible plan. If she wanted to bring Titan with her, they had to go through the main door. But with so many staff in the mansion, she would most certainly be caught red-handed almost immediately.

"So I just need a big enough distraction that would get all of them out of the mansion. That way, I can sneak in and enter the room."

But what sort of distraction would it take to get all if not most of the staff out? It was almost impossible. She peered through the glass window. Laina realized she had an advantage. Her small entourage meant there weren't that many people in the mansion, to begin with.

"If I can stealthily move through the mansion, then it just might work."

Determined, Laina gave herself a pep talk to boost her confidence. She took in deep breaths of fresh air, psyching herself up ready to go. When she was ready, she peered into the mansion again.

Once she was certain the area was clear, she quickly made her way over the main door and opened it carefully. Titan scurried behind her, as quiet as a mouse. Laina peered in, viewing every corner she could see.

The staircase leading upwards was right in front of her. Once the coast was clear, she dashed forward on her toes, as Titan scurried alongside her. Laina could hear footsteps growing louder and louder coming from the hallway.

She sped her way up the staircase and hid behind a pillar to catch her breath. She held onto Titan to hold him in place, before making it through the hallway. With a bit of luck and lots of courage, Laina finally made it to the room.

She made a final dash towards the door, thankful that it was not locked. Titan quickly squeezed himself into the room, just as Laina carefully closed the door behind her. As soon as she closed the doors, Laina dropped to the ground.

Stealth was a skill she needed to learn and perfect.

Laina scanned the room, everything seemed pretty much the same. But as her eyes glanced past the bed, she noticed there was a sleeping figure. She was back on high alert. Titan was baring his teeth in an attack stance.

Laina peered over to the dressing table. She quickly went over and grabbed hold of the dagger that was there. Armed with a weapon, she crept over to the bed to see who or what it was.

The figure was covered in a blanket, with only its head sticking out. For some reason, the figure remained Laina of herself. As she got closer, there was still no movement from it.

Laina tightened her grip on her dagger as she got closer. She leaned forward and picked up the corner of the blanket. On the count of three, she pulled away the blanket to reveal who or what was hidden underneath.

Upon seeing the sleeping figure, who looked like an exact replica of herself, Laina stood there dumbfounded for a few moments. She could not believe what she was looking at.

"What… on earth is going on," she gasped in shock.

Just then, the figure seemingly stirred awake. It tilted its head towards Laina. It was like staring at herself in the mirror, at a version of herself that was more like a puppet. Before Laina could say anything, the figure began to phase out of existence.

Within a matter of seconds, the figure completely disappeared into thin air. Only the imprint of the sleeping figure was left on the bed. Laina tried to distract herself by looking around the room.

It was at this point that Laina realized she had not seen Margaret either.

Where had she gone?