Solara had conveyed us back to the palace under the cover of night, cradling us delicately on her back as we slumbered. The guards recognized her and allowed her to pass without question. She settled us in a lavish bedroom, one I had never seen before, belonging to the royal family. Upon awakening, I saw Freya standing by the mirror on the left wall, adorning herself with jewelry. She had risen before me and was already preparing for the day. Catching my gaze in the mirror's reflection, she paused.

"Good morning, Freya," I greeted, smiling. "Good morning to you too, Raphael," she responded, returning my smile. Attempting to lessen the tension between us, I initiated a light conversation. “Are you preparing for the day?” “Yes, as usual. Did you sleep well?” she queried. “Yes, I did, but I don’t recall how we ended up here.” I confessed. "Neither do I. We must have been carried back," she assumed. “By whom?” I inquired. “Most likely Solara. She used to do that when I fell asleep outside,” she reminisced, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “That sounds comforting. Did you spend a lot of time outdoors?” I asked, intrigued by her past.

“After losing my soulmate, nature provided me solace. Solara was my only companion then. She would stay with me until late, and then bring me back here,” she clarified. “So this is your royal bedroom?” I asked, taking in the spacious, elegant room. “Not exactly. This is the royal chamber. It was designed for a couple, not for a single dragon,” she corrected, her face shadowing momentarily.

I felt a wave of sympathy. “It’s a beautiful room. It has character. I wouldn’t mind living in it,” I complimented. “Thank you. It was crafted with love,” she replied softly.

As I studied our reflection in the mirror, I noticed a new mark on my scales. It matched the one on her chest and also on her head. It was on the side of my head too now, replacing another mark that used to be there. I leaned in to examine it more closely, and she noticed it too. She smiled and said, “Oh, look, you have the same royal mark as mine. It’s a sign that we’re meant for each other.”

I frowned, “I didn’t have it before. It’s new. I don’t know what it means.” She hypothesized, “Maybe it’s because we bonded.” I felt a surge of suspicion and asked, “What do you mean by that? We only slept in the same bedroom, almost accidentally.” She said, “Maybe more than that.” I said, incredulously, “What? Sorry what do you mean?,” she said. “We had our first true kiss and close embrace.” That was a lie. I said, “We haven’t yet. Do dragons even kiss… in the same humans couples do?” She tried to persuade me: “You don’t remember? We had fun.” I said, “Not in this reality. Are you confusing a dream with reality? I didn’t wake up at all until now,” she said. “You were sleepwalking then.” I felt a pang of fear and said, “What? No, I wasn’t,” she replied. “Hey, it was nice.”

I then said, “So you’re telling me that while I was asleep, you kissed me or something without my consent and used me for things?” She said with an evil tone, “You bet I did. And it was great.” I shouted, “No, I don’t believe you. That’s wrong. It’s impossible, and it doesn’t work like that. I would have woken up. I feel violated!” I was starting to take it seriously and added, “I’m still a human soul inside! I’m not supposed to do that, even if I’m not in the body of one now. It’s wrong! It’s sick!” She burst into laughter and then said, “You are so naive. I was joking. Nothing like that has happened yet.” With relief, I said, “Oh, thank goodness!” But she quickly added, “Anyway, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. You’re not a human anymore. You’re a beautiful dragon. Just accept that.” I said, “I don’t know. I can’t accept that. I’m sorry.” She said, “You will, eventually. You’re still alive. You have instincts.” I said, “Yeah, but even if you’re right, they’re buried deep inside. I’m not a wild animal. I’m an intelligent being.” She then challenged me: “Whatever you say, you’re starting to sound like a weirdo.”

I was about to retort, “I’m not,” but then realized that maybe I was sounding like one. I had to think like the adult that I was, but it still didn't justify her pretending to have done something or what had transpired. We dropped the subject and soon after, I decided to leave the room. "I'm going to see if Kira needs any help, thank you for everything." I told her, but she stopped me, asking, "Aren't you joining me for breakfast?"

Caught off guard, I responded, "I'd love to, but I'm not hungry. I can still keep you company if you like." She then observed, "Now that I think about it, I've never seen you eat anything while you were here." She was right. I never had. "That's because I don't need to eat. My powers sustain me. But sometimes, I do get thirsty," I explained. She teased, "Never thirsty for love?"

With total seriousness, I replied, "Not now. Thanks." Pretending to be hurt, she said, "Oh, come on, you wound me like this." I urged her, "Please act like the mature queen that you are and stop behaving like a needy girl seeking attention." She took this somewhat seriously and said, "Alright then, weirdo." I was more than ready to reply to that and said, "I see that you really love this weirdo, don't you?" She replied sarcastically, "Oh yes, very much." We then walked to the dining room together, as we were becoming a couple. A waiter greeted us, "Breakfast is ready. We hope you enjoy it. Please take a seat, your majesty," allowing me to join her.

The dining room was humbling, with just us and the servants, who were awaiting any requests. A lavish spread of food tempted our senses, offering delicacies I had never imagined in this world. Sweets and cakes of various shapes and flavors, as well as savory dishes of meat, cheese, bread, and fruit. The only thing missing was eggs, which were taboo here. They considered them akin to killing a child. I wondered how they managed to bake a cake without them. Could it still be called a cake? It didn’t really matter. After a long time, I found pleasure in eating something real. It was excellent. I had no complaints, and if felt an human act eating such kind of food, I didn’t expect to ever see something like a dessert there.

Freya accompanied me everywhere and offered advice on what to choose, sharing her favorites with enthusiasm. She was genuinely nice and treated me well. When we returned to our table, she asked me, "Isn’t it romantic to eat together?" I replied without much thought, "It feels good rather than romantic. Maybe a dinner together would be." I felt a bit shy at that moment. If we were to be a couple, I wanted it to be real. We needed to be honest and equal with each other. She pondered my answer and started scheming. Even while we continued talking about different subjects, she kept pausing, thinking, planning.

After finishing my breakfast, I went to visit Kira, wondering if he needed my help. Once we met, he nodded and gestured for me to follow him. I hastened to his side, eager to replenish the dwindling supply of crystals. I marveled at how swiftly I could manipulate them, turning them around in a flash. I didn’t have to touch each one individually. As long as they were in contact with each other, I could transform them with ease all at once.

But then something went wrong. As I was working on a basketful of crystals, I felt a surge of energy and heard Kari exclaim, "Oh no, not again!" I looked down and saw that I had created more of the mysterious crystals that had caused me so much trouble before, dark crystals surrounded by shy spirals of black smoke. "Holy shit. I swear I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry." I apologized, frantically trying to undo my mistake. I managed to extract their element, but it came at a cost. A wave of pain swept over me, and I feared that I was about to shapeshift again. I grabbed a health crystal and held it to my chest, hoping to ease the agony. It worked, but the crystal changed as well. It transformed into another dark crystal, but this one was different from the others: it was constantly smoking a dark tone of celestial blue and felt hot to the touch. It was a powerful crystal.

I quickly dropped it and picked it up with some forging tongs. I placed it in a jar and sealed it tightly. Kari looked at it warily and asked, "Are you sure that’s safe enough?" I shook my head and said, "I don’t know. I think we should try to get rid of it." He concurred, "We should destroy it." He reached for a shredding tool that he kept nearby. It was made of shiny crystals that resembled diamonds. I said, "Wait, what do we do with the dust?" He said, "Just don’t breathe it, and we’ll keep it in a jar. It’s less dangerous than a sharp crystal." We proceeded to pulverize the crystal and collect its dust in another jar. We labeled it with a warning sign and put it in a metal box marked "Danger".

As we were finishing up, Kari noticed something else about me and said, "Your wings have changed." I twisted my neck to get a better look at them. They had small, glowing, light blue dots on them, like stars in the night sky. I sighed and said, "Why do I keep changing? Come on. I’m sick of this.” He said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know.” I knew he wasn’t to blame. I was just venting my frustration. I said, “Don’t worry, it’s only aesthetic, luckily. It doesn’t hurt or anything.” We exchanged a stunned look and then parted ways as if nothing had happened.

I made my way back to the throne room, where my soulmate, the queen, was waiting for me. I had to tell her about this incident and also learn something new. She had told me during breakfast that if I wanted to stay as her potential mate, I had to be worth of that, her love wasn’t enough, so I had to take on new responsibilities. And those included avoiding accidents like this one. I had to be careful and royal.