The Woman in White
Sholin was in the kitchen with Grandma May, though, unlike her who was working hard to make a hearty lunch for the princess, he had his head on the table resting in his arms; pouting.
He knew he would always be 2nd compared to the princes, that's how history always was. She was an elegant dragon, and dragon princes wanted her; although unbeknownst to them since they were all collectively idiots. At least to him.
As a fairy, he knew more about being a dragon than the dragons themselves. He sighed. "The princess before this soul had always adored me, and now? I'm barely a thought."
"Now, now, Sholin," Grandma's warm, welcoming voice tried to comfort him as she was sweating over the hot stove; multitasking as always. "The previous princess, as you know, was not preforming according to Artrio's standards." She looked over her shoulder to see him still moping with his face deep within the folds of his arms. "She had no desire to take back her kingdom, and no desire to even be a dragon. You are mourning for the old soul, which is fine, but you have a duty to the new one, no matter how different she may be."
Sholin slowly raised his head from the table, though keeping his head down. "I think I love the princess, Grandma."
She chuckled to herself, "I know you do, but the princess now does not share the same feelings. While the previous soul was kind, she unfortunately saw her lineage as a curse instead of a gift. Now? As Artrio wanted, his daughter has opted to follow the path of a dragon." She finally plated the food, before serving Sholin a helping. As she placed the dish in front of his face, she joined him upon the bench of the table. "It seems you have forgotten the core parts of being a dragon in this world," she whispered to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to try and be reassuring, although she knew her words were mostly falling on deaf ears. "Sex, confidence, and power. The three things needed to be successful; but also, the same three things that have kept their kind from dominating the world.....I'm hoping the new princess will figure out her true duties as a dragon unlike the many before her."
Grandma listened carefully as she began to hear the steps of the princess approaching from one of the many spiral staircases with another person tagging along with her. They had skipped breakfast with everything that had happened this morning, so she made sure to make extras for lunch. "Straighten up," she whispered more sternly as she stood from her seat to pat the dust off her apron. "We can't tell her the path to take, we can only guide her."
Sholin wiped his eyes with his arm. He hated what May was telling him, but he knew she was right. But what if he made the princess fall in love with him like the old soul? He needed HIS princess back, and he was going to fight to have her.
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"So, are you really leaving after lunch?" Lola asked Raiden as they descended the stairs to the kitchen. They had spent most of their morning, after their fiasco, in the library discussing who she was and how she could become stronger.
She saw it in the princes' face that it was paining him to do so; she figured she would either ask Sholin as to why the princes truly can't resist their urges to keep her alive, or head back to the millions of books in the library to try and find the information she needed later.
"I have no business here if I'm failing to do my job," Raiden stated plainly. "I would've left already, but I used all of my energy trying to kill you earlier."
"Didn't work out for you, huh?" She quipped with a sly smiled. Not only did he fail to kill her, but he had saved her as well, when all he had to do was let her hit the ground.
He only grunted in his lack of amusement, but his steps remained steady with hers, in sync, and rhythmic like a metronome together.
As they neared the bottom of the stairs, they heard the faint voices of Grandma and Sholin, but couldn't make out what they were saying. She hadn't seen Sholin at all since Tomik had intruded, but perhaps he was merely embarrassed.
Raiden grabbed the handle of the door, almost like it was against his will, as instead of a smile, he had an evil glare pointed directly at her as he let her through into the kitchen before himself.
"Hello, my dearest princess!" Grandma cheered, ignoring the long, green-haired, shirtless prince at Lola's side. As May waddled up to the beautiful woman, she wrapped her arms around her waist in a giant hug, "I hope you're not too hungry. I know you skipped breakfast, so we made you an extra-large lunch, as well as for your friend, here." She informed the princess, averting her foggy eyes from the dragon prince.
Friend? Raiden thought to himself. He didn't want to be friends with his enemy, in fact, he barely considered the other 3 princes an ally.
He ruled his own kingdom unlike the others, dethroning the King whenever he's on the island, and yet he was weaker than his adoptive father at ruling, simply because of this woman in white.
Sholin stood up from the table, bowing to the prince and princess before excusing himself to check on the guards. The princess was oblivious to how Sholin felt, and she only smiled and thanked him for his hard work.
Without acknowledging him, Grandma simply asked the royal duo to head to the formal dining area and she would be in with their food shortly. Though, against her wishes, Raiden grabbed his own plate as well as one for the Princess, dished out their own food and started towards the dining room.
Taken aback, Lola simply apologized to May, before quickly making her way towards Raiden as he left her behind.
"It's alright dear," Grandma said cheerfully.
Lola watched as he left the room, allowing the door close behind him as he went through it.
"Nothing you or a prince decides shall offend me, Princess. You have a job to do," She added, watching the princess disappear into the same room Raiden was.