ONCE IN DRAKONWELL, NOW IN ORODEN

Naomi really wanted to drag her feet in misery.

Having to constantly wait on a stressful princess was one thing. It was another thing, however, when said princess was about to impose her burdensome character upon someone of similar importance as she.

The royals of Drakonwell had finally arrived at the Oroden palace, and although exhausted, Naomi had been skittish from the start of their journey. And why not? She was about to come face-to-face with the half-Shade prince who was going to change everything!

For her, of course. Only her.

Naomi's mind had been swimming in schemes from the moment they'd left Drakonwell, completely lost in them.

However, the only thing that had managed to divert her attention from the constant daydreams of her first encounter with the half-Shade was the kingdom itself. Oroden was indeed the most beautiful kingdom she'd ever seen, and she wasn't ashamed to gawk like a lifeless fish at what she beheld.

Gold, gold, and even more gold! Bloody freaking everywhere!

It was mostly all Naomi had seen as soon as the carriage she'd shared with the princess had crossed the kingdom's borders. She had been immediately bombarded with the striking colour, blinding her while she stared out the carriage window. She knew she might have looked like a dumbstruck fool, but damn it all she couldn't stop looking.

Oroden was indeed a rich kingdom, she'd realised then. Naomi had been literally staring at a kingdom of gold. Even some of the village and townhouses had a portion of their structures made out of the same bewitching element. Naomi just couldn't believe it. She could live there and never be poor a day in her life.

With that much gold to steal, or even perhaps, dare she think it, to earn, Naomi could live like a princess. Or even better, a queen. One with a thousand armies ready to kiss her sodden feet.

But one thing bothered her.

Why hadn't any of the Shades back home witnessed this luxury? No one had spoken about it, and no one had bothered to experience it for themselves. That had been the main reason why Naomi hadn't trusted to migrate to Oroden in the first place. There had hardly been any stories, and she hadn't been willing to get caught up in a kingdom poorer than hers.

No bloody way.

But she regretted it. Oh, how she regretted not having someone who had returned to tell the tale. Really, was it that hard to travel three days to Oroden and another three days back to share what a glorious kingdom it was? She didn't understand why some Shades were so selfish. That decision could've saved her three torturous years of Princess Laya's overwhelming presence and overbearing attitude.

Although, she couldn't deny that the gossip was worth it, so she felt it unfair to deny the princess the honour of being one of the best sources of information Naomi had ever had. What a gem Princess Laya could be in times of need. What a gem.

But seriously, Naomi could've spent the whole carriage ride through the kingdom gaping at its scenery, but then all her excitement went up in flames when the dragon princess waited for the precise moment to tell her it was all an illusion.

Naomi hadn't believed it at first, but when she'd entered the palace and had seen how different the interior was from the outside, all her plans for the future concerning Oroden had reduced to nought.

Though she had to admit, that was some damn good-

"Naomi!" Jumping slightly at the mention of her name, Naomi blinked back to the present.

They were standing in front of Oroden's only princess' bedchamber, having just returned from the Great Hall where they'd officially met the royals of Oroden, save for the one they were about to intrude upon.

Naomi followed in masked displeasure and impatience as Princess Laya barged through, not bothering to knock.

Fully stepping in, Naomi could feel the warm glow of the princess' bedchamber. The peach walls encompassed a large room with simple interior designing. So simple that she wondered if the princess was not aware that she wasn't going to run out of riches anytime soon.

Until Naomi remembered that she was blind.

Startled into rising from her bed at the sudden intrusion, Naomi immediately held her breath when she gazed at Princess Kora for the first time. Beautiful was only a subtle word to describe her.

However, it was instantly obvious that the Oroden princess was not at all pleased to have anyone barge into her quarters. She was standing by her bedpost, holding the wooden frame in her hands and frowning a certain way in their direction, as if she knew who they were.

The dragon princess must have noticed, but it seemed as if she was bent on fueling the other princess' annoyance even further.

"Kora, darling! You obviously don't know who I am but believe me when I tell you that we're going to be sisters very soon."

She sauntered towards the Oroden princess before presenting herself. "I'm Princess Laya of Drakonwell. You might already know the name, but since you weren't in the Great Hall to find out exactly who I am, I just wanted to stop by and be rest assured that you would recognise my voice by making you more...familiar with it. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Goodness, Naomi mentally groaned. Make it stop.

Ignoring the clear signs that they were unwanted in that bedchamber, Laya placed a hand on Kora's hair and smoothed it like it was a weird layer of slime.

"You look more beautiful than I ever imagined!" she exclaimed with so much enthusiasm that Naomi would've naturally assumed that she was exaggerating. But she knew better.

"Naomi, come closer and see how-no, stop, that's enough." She held out a hand after Naomi had taken one step forward. One! "Just stand there and look at how beautiful her eyes are! And this, well, white hair on her-"

"It's silver," Kora's cool voice interrupted, her frown still prominent. "And don't touch me again."

The air quickly became thick with tension, and Naomi couldn't help her eyebrows from rising a fraction. Someone was apparently not in the mood for visitors nor compliments, regardless of whether it came from her future sister-in-law or not.

Princess Laya, sensing that she could not charm her future sister-in-law, maintained a pleasant smile on her face and carefully withdrew her hand from the little witch's hair. But Naomi could see the temper in those blue eyes. The temper, and the will to put the younger princess in her place.

"And take your maid out of this room," the little witch continued, looking towards where Naomi stood as if she knew exactly where the Shade was positioned even though Naomi hadn't uttered a word. "I don't like strangers in my private chambers."

Laya tensed at that, but forced a smile and opened her mouth to suggest otherwise when Kora suddenly snapped her head to face her, stopping whatever she had been about to say.

"I said she leaves. Now."

Naomi cleared her throat. She knew she wasn't in a position to speak, but unbeknownst to them both, she had more important matters to attend to.

"I'll take my leave now, Your Highnesses," she bowed quickly, but not too hasty. Turning to the witch princess, she said carefully, "I'm sorry I caused you discomfort."

There was no response, but Naomi took that as a go-ahead and left the bedchamber. Sighing in relief when she realised that the guards who had escorted them there had disappeared, she quickly drew out an envelope from her dress pocket.

Seeing as no one was around-surprisingly, but she wasn't complaining-Naomi opened the envelope and took out a rough sketch of the palace from it, placing the folder and its top-secret contents back in the safety of her dress pocket.

She kissed the paper with a grin. Finally, she was doing something!

Not wasting any more time, she quickly followed the directions that Baeron had drawn out for her and stopped directly in front of the room she was looking for. Everyone was busy with the wedding preparations, so she encountered no one, luckily.

Testing the lock, Naomi inwardly squealed when it made a click sound. At that moment, she could've sworn that the Supreme was well in her favour.

She couldn't stop grinning. Naomi had only just begun her action plan, but she couldn't care less. Sooner or later, she was going to be stupendously rich!

But before the Shade could fully pry the door open, thick hands clamped over her mouth in one fluid motion.

"Don't move."