The Dragon King's Heart

"Why me, why now?\' Florin could not help but ask. 

If he was going to do this, he wanted to know why. Kalfina had no intention of hiding the truth either. Her reasons were clear. 

"He\'s not fit to be King," she replied. 

"He\'s a brilliant general on the battlefield, well-liked by the people-"

"Well-liked? More like feared," Kalfina muttered in response. 

Just then, the door to the Drawing Room swung open and a small figure rushed in. 

"Lady Arabella! Lady Arabella!" A maid rushed into the room, following the small figure, calling her name. 

"Mummy!" The young child exclaimed with glee as she leaped into Princess Kalfina\'s arms. 

"Bella my little doll, what are you doing here?" She exclaimed in surprise as she embraced the child, "Didn\'t I tell you mummy has to work to do?"

The maid who followed the young child in was down on her knees trembling in fear, "Your Highness, I tried to tell milady you were busy but…"

Kalfina let out a sigh as she stopped her from continuing to speak, "It\'s alright."

The princess turned back to her child and said, "I will be with you as soon as I am done, alright? Won\'t you be a good girl and wait for me?"

Arabella pouted as she folded her arms. 

"Oh pretty please? I just need to finish up a conversation with these two lovely gentlemen who came to see me. Then I will be with you, alright?" Kalfina coaxed with a loving smile. 

The young child glanced over to Kol and Florin. They both gave the child a smile and waved at her. Arabella smiled back at them too, blushing as she had never met them before. 

"Okay," she sighed as she gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek, "I\'ll see you later."

Feeling a little dejected, the child hung her head low as her mother placed her down. Kalfina instructed the maid to bring her back to her room and that she would attend to her shortly. 

After they left the room, there was a short moment of silence that hung in the air. Kalfina cleared her throat as she apologized for the intrusion into their conversation. As she attempted to get their conversation back on track, Florin could not resist the urge to ask. 

"I never knew you had a daughter."

Kalfina gritted her teeth, "That\'s because no one was supposed to know."

Just as she was about to continue their conversation, Florin interjected again with another question, "She… Arabella was it? She\'s not a va-"

Kalfina slammed her hand down on the table. Florin and Kol both jolted in their seats. The vampire princess glared at the both of them with a menacing look in her eyes. One wrong move from them and she would not hesitate to kill them in their seats. 

"If you two tell anyone about this, I will personally end you," she threatened both of them, "Did I make myself clear?"

Kol and Florin nodded in response, only easing up a little when Kalfina leaned back in her seat. But Florin still had questions. After all, the child was not a vampire. How could that be possible? Unless…

Kalfina anticipated his question. She could see it from the look on his face. 

"Yes, she\'s not a vampire." She explained with her arms crossed. 

"A human for a mate? That is certainly unexpected," Florin remarked as he put the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind. 

Kol looked at both of them with a look of confusion. The young child who walked in earlier was clearly a hybrid, were they unaware?

"The child is a vampire," Kol blurted out. 

Both of them stared at him in confusion. 

"Are you blind? She\'s clearly human," Kalfina rebutted. 

Kol shook his head, "She\'s a hybrid."

Kalfina and Florin nearly had their jaws on the ground. 

"But I don\'t feel the aura of a hybrid from her. From the moment she was born…" 

"A hybrid child\'s aura is identical to that of a human child. They will only awaken their abilities after the age of 10, before the age of 18," Kol explained. 

He looked over to Kalfina and asked, "She\'s only about three, right?"

"Yes…"

"There will be signs. Just keep a lookout for them."

"I see, thank you. That was insightful," Kalfina replied with a smile, "Love is truly a marvel."

"Is that the reason you\'re so desperate to keep the throne out of Callister\'s hands? If he became King, he would have waged war on the humans across Gaeia," Florin asked.

"How about the fact I would like to be Queen?"

After conversing further, they ironed out all of the details. Kalfina already had everything prepared for Florin. The castle was less populated due to the Festival of the Felines. 

A number of royals and nobles were attending the event, but not Callister. With the Crown Princess missing, he was making preparation to crown himself king. No one knew Florin was back in Sanguim, so he was a great candidate to carry out the assassination. 

Callister would not know what had hit him. 

"Well then, I guess that\'s everything," Kalfina declared as she clapped her hands together. 

She reached out her hand to shake Florin\'s as she said, "I look forward to hearing from you, brother."

"I hope you hold up to your end of the bargain," he replied. 

Just as both Florin and Kol got up from their seats to leave, Kalfina called out to them. 

"Hold on."

She pointed to Florin, "You can go," then at Kol, "But he stays."

"What? That\'s not part of our deal!"

As they tried to leave again, Kalfina clicked her fingers. In the blink of an eye, a puff of black smoke revealed three assassins dressed all in black blocking their exit. They drew their weapons at Florin and Kol, ready to strike on the princess\'s orders. 

"I am keeping your friend here as collateral," she explained as she signaled her assassins to bring Kol to her. 

Florin gritted his teeth. He should have seen this coming.