The Incredible Queen Luna

Chapter 17 Princess

The old man didn’t follow them.

When Leona arrived, the whole palace looked empty and quiet like nobody was living there.

The moonlight was magnificent though. The whole place was illuminated by the purest silver like it had just been washed out by the water. Leona breathed quietly, fearing to disturb the beautiful tranquility here.

In front of her were three flights of white stairs connected by wide, flat landings which were made of the same white stone. The steps here weren’t as steep as those in front of the throne palace. Leona could see the quiet, but elaborately designed wooden building at the end of those steps without lifting her eyes.

She put Eric down on the ground, and then started to ascend those steps without making any sounds. There were leafless peach trees blooming at both sides of those stairs. Those little pink flowers made this place as beautiful as in a dream.

She stopped in front of the closed wooden door with Eric together, and then raised her hand. Before she could knock on the door, she heard a very soft, and sweet voice say, “Please come in.” And then the double door just opened ajar in the middle as if someone controlled it remotely.

Leona locked her eyes with Eric and then nodded her head to him before she went inside.

There wasn’t any electric light, even candles in the palace. After stepping in, Leona vaguely saw a huge space with little furniture but many semi-transparent pink silk straps hanging down from the roof like curtains.

She pushed aside those silk straps with her hands in the gentlest motion, following the direction where that voice came from.

Soon, she saw the Princess in her flaming wedding dress sitting on the floor beside a window that was as wide as a door. A short, square tea table was placed in front of her, and there was a pottery teapot and two pottery cups on it.

Beside her, the moonlight was really bright. Leona didn’t need any artificial lights to see what the princess looked like.

She was just beautiful, gentle, and surprisingly shy.

Feeling Leona coming closer, the Princess raised her eyes and then met Leona’s purple ones. She then quickly turned her head away as if she had just been shot. And her ears burnt red.

“Damn,” Leona exclaimed to herself, in her head, “She really has a crush on me!”

Eric noticed it too. He growled annoyedly beside Leona’s feet, staring at her with anger.

Leona smiled. She petted the wolf’s neck, telling him to stay, and then went to the Princess on her own.

She walked beside the short square tea table and asked, “May I?”

The Princess nodded her head without looking at Leona. Leona then sat at another side of the table, facing the Princess.

The Princess still kept her head away to avoid eye contact, but Leona could see her cheeks were now red too.

She was acting like a teenage girl who had just been spotted by her secret crush. Leona felt it was strange.

It was said the Princess was now 21 years old. She couldn’t be that inexperienced in relationships, but Leona just had this feeling that the Princess had never been in a serious relationship.

“Thank you for your…invitation,” Leona thought for a while before she said anything. She had planned to come here to reject the Princess, but after seeing how shy the Princess actually was, she decided to put it in a subtler way.

“I am very flattered to be here, Princess,” she said with a gentle smile, and then asked the shy princess, “But may I ask why you chose me to be your partner?”

The Princess’s cheeks turned redder. She kept her face away, but she replied, “You look like a very nice person, beautiful, mature, and polite,” she paused, and then continued, “I am sorry to drag you into this, but it’s my first time… to be with someone. I thought if it were with a woman like you, it would be … less scary.”

Leona widened her eyes. Now she was sure that the Princess had never been in any relationship.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Haven’t you ever dated anyone before?”

The Princess blushed even more, but this time, she turned her head back and looked at Leona.

“No,” she said, looking into Leona’s eyes in shyness, “But I will learn and be a good …wife, I promise.”

Leona widened her eyes even more. She couldn’t imagine how the princess could be 21 years old, but had never even dated anyone. She was beautiful, and wealthy, and seemed like a really, really nice person. It was just abnormal.

“May I ask the reason?” Leona couldn’t help but ask again. She wasn’t gossiping here, but simply curious.

Back when she was still the princess, guys who tried to hit on her could literally line up from the capital city to the borderline.

Males were crazy about her, craving the power she stood for.

She was sure the Dragon Princess had her pursuers too. Then why didn’t the Princess date anyone?

“I mean, you are a very attractive girl,” Leona added, without realizing it could be easily misunderstood.

The Princess blushed again at her compliments. She quickly averted her eyes to the tea table to hide her shyness, and then answered in her soft voice. “Uncle Yao asked me not to tell you until after the wedding, but I guess it’s only fair to let you know in advance. I want us to be honest with each other,” she said.

Leona smelt secrets here. She waited patiently, looking at the Princess, and then heard the Princess say, with her head still lowered, “Actually, I can’t leave this palace until after I have a baby of my own. That’s why Uncle Yao rushed me to marry someone.”

That was something even more abnormal. Leona felt confused, but she hid her surprise, just stared at the princess quietly, waiting for the explanation.

But the princess said no more. She just raised her head and then smiled at Leona.

“But don’t worry. Unlike me, you are free to go anywhere, even leave the kingdom once the wedding ceremony is complete. You are completely free,” she said.

It was now weird. And it took Leona a while to realize what the Princess was suggesting.

She was only marrying someone because she needed a baby. And the reason why she needed a baby was that she couldn’t leave the palace until she had it.

It wasn’t just weird, but even kind of cruel.

Still, Leona kept her tone gentle and asked the Princess carefully, “May I ask the reason for it? Why can’t you leave the palace until you have your own baby?”

The Princess lowered her head again after hearing that, and her smile faded.

Leona knew she was asking a question hard for the Princess to answer. She thought for a few seconds, and then persuaded the Princess gently, “You said you wanted us to be honest with each other, right? If you want me to marry you, you have to tell me the true answer. And I promise I won’t judge and I won’t tell anyone.”

And it wasn’t a lie. Even if Leona wasn’t going to marry the Princess. She was entitled to know the truth, since the Princess had chosen her as her future child’s legal parent.

The Princess thought for a while with her head lowered, and then gently nodded her head in agreement.

She looked at Eric a few steps away first, and said, “He can’t be here.”

The wolf growled with disapproval in his throat.

Leona shook her head at him. The wolf then let out a reluctant groan, and then turned and wen out the front door.

Once the front door closed behind Eric, the Princess finally looked back at Leona. She smiled at her first nervously, and then stressed, “You must promise me you will keep it a secret no matter what, or Uncle Yao will kill you.”

Leona nodded her head, and said, “I promise.”

The Princess then explained, “Nobody outside the palace knows, but the last Dragon Alpha, my mother, actually had passed away 11 years ago.”

Leona pressed her lips. It was the same year her own mother died. She had never heard about the Dragon Alpha’s demise before. Now she knew about it, it seemed to be such an unfortunate coincidence.

She said, “I am sorry for your loss,” to comfort the Princess.

The Princess shook her head, and then replied, “It’s okay. It has been 11 years. I’ve gotten used to it.”

Leona thought of her own mother. She kept silent and listened, and then heard the Princess ask her, “You are not an ice dragon, right? I mean, I can usually identify one kind simply by looking at it, especially facing powerful Alphas, but I can’t see through you.”

Leona smiled. She had the same ability as the Dragon Princess. And she knew it was her resurrection that caused the obfuscation of her identity.

“No, I am not a dragon, but a wolf,” she replied, knowing it was only fair to let the Princess know.

The Princess nodded her head. Leona then said, “But I’ve never heard such things as ice dragons before. I thought dragons were just … dragons.”

The Princess smiled, and then explained, “To most people, yes, indeed, there is only one kind of dragon. But actually, dragons can be divided into seven species. Metal, Wood, Ice, Fire, Earth, Wind and Snow. We are the earth dragons, and only we and ice dragons have formed our own kingdoms. Only ice dragons live underwater. Their kingdom is deep in the ocean, near the north pole.”

Leona widened her eyes. That was something absolutely new.

“I’ve never heard there are other shifters living under the water except for the mermaids,” she said.

The Princess explained with a smile, “Well, ice dragons don’t want to be disturbed by others. They have been low-key for centuries. And … they hate earth dragons for historical reasons. But 11 years ago, before my mother passed away, the ice dragon’s Alpha, Walton, proposed to my mother’s sister, Dalia. My mother forbade them from getting married. She thought Walton must have been plotting some evil scheme behind us. Dalia refused to listen anyway. One night, she eloped with the ice Alpha, and took our national treasure, the dragon ball, with her. You may haven’t heard it before. But the dragon ball was what supported this palace to float. Without it, the dragon Alpha, my mother, had to stay in the palace all the time, using her own power to keep the palace in the sky. But soon, my mother passed away, and it became my responsibility to stay here and keep the palace high.”

Leona listened to it attentively. She was a bit confused.

“Why do you have to keep the palace in the sky?” she asked, “I thought it was just a building.”

The Dragon Princess shook her head. “No, it’s not just a building, but a symbol,” she said.

“The palace has been here in the sky from about thousands of years ago, when the kingdom was first founded. It is the symbol of the Kingdom’s everlasting power. If the palace fell off the sky, everyone, no matter our own people, or the kingdom’s enemy would think some fatal disaster had happened to the dragons. Our people would lose faith in their own country, and our enemies would launch attacks on us. It would bring real catastrophes. Thus, I can’t let the palace fall. Even if I died, I can’t let them think the dragons are weak now. I won’t let anyone bully my people for that,” the Princess said, with her soft voice, but a pair of determined eyes.

Leona was impressed by her. The Princess’s mother died 11 years ago when the Princess was 10. It wasn’t easy for a 10-year-old girl to stay in the same place for 11 years. It wasn’t easy for anyone. Not to mention that the Princess literally sacrificed her own life for it.

She thought for a while, and then asked the Princess, “Wouldn’t you be happier if you went out and met someone you actually loved to have a baby with? I mean, you only chose me because I am suitable, not because you love me, right?”

The Princess blushed again.

“Yeah,” she admitted, and then explained, “I know that, but we are in kind of a paradox here. I can’t leave the palace to meet anyone until after I have my own baby and let it stay here in replacement of me. On the other hand, according to the kingdom’s rules, I can only have a baby after I’ve already married someone. It’s just not an option for me to marry for love.”

She paused, and then added, “But don’t worry, as soon as I give birth to the baby, I will go to the ice dragons and get the dragon ball back. Even if I fail, I will keep staying here, so our baby will be free to go anywhere she wants. She will be happy, and so will you,” she said, looking back at Leona with a shy smile, “Once the ceremony is complete, you are free to leave anytime or go anywhere you want. You don’t have to stay.”

There were little sparkles shining in the Princess’s beautiful brown eyes, suggesting she meant what she had just said. But Leona knew she wasn’t happy about it.

Nobody would be happy to marry someone she didn’t love or even know about, not to mention have a child with it.

She looked at the Princess for a while, and then asked, “Can’t you send others to get the dragon ball back? Why does it have to be you?”

The Princess explained, “The ice dragons are very powerful. And they live under the water. My mother left me a piece of red coral that could help us terrestrial… to breathe and walk under the water. But it needs a really powerful Alpha to activate the power inside it. That is to say, I am the only one who can use the coral and go under the water. It has to be me.”

“Then how about the Wolf Queen?” Leona asked. She knew she was being overenthusiastic here, but, what the hell, except for transforming Eric and getting back at Austin, she didn’t really have an aim. And it sounded fun to go under the water and slay some dragon thieves. You just didn’t get that chance much even if you were the Queen.

“Will the Wolf Queen be powerful enough to activate the coral?” she asked.

The Princess was kind of confused by the question, but she nodded her head after hearing it.

“I guess so,” she said, “I’ve heard the Supreme Wolves are among the most powerful shifters on earth. She shall be able to go under the water with the coral.”

“Then if I somehow get the Wolf Queen’s help and help you get your dragon ball back, will you renounce me being your fiancé?” Leona asked with a grin.

The Princess widened her eyes.

“How could you do that?” she asked, and then said, “I’ve heard the Wolf Queen has just ascended her throne a few days ago, right now she must be really busy. And it’s dangerous even to have a meeting with ice dragons. They are really powerful, sly, and cold-blooded. She could get hurt.” Her tone was filled with worries.

Leona shrugged her shoulders, asking the Princess not to worry.

“Just tell me if I help you get your dragon ball back, will you free me from being your fiancé and go out to meet someone you actually love to marry?” she asked.

The Princess smiled, but with sadness in her eyes. She thought Leona was finding excuses to get rid of the marriage.

She said with her head lowered, “You are free to go if you don’t want to marry me. It’s okay. Uncle Yao will find someone else for me. I just need someone to be officially married to have the baby. It can be … anyone. I am … okay,” her voice was low and her tone was really sad and heartbroken.

Leona frowned. It was annoying to see such a sensible and beautiful girl as the dragon Princess accept her unfair fate like that.

She thought for a while and then leaned forward to hold the Princess’s hand, asking the Princess to look her in the eyes.

She then said, “Just give me some time, tomorrow morning, I will show you I can fight these ice dragons and get your ball back.”