The Dragon Bride | ✔️

Chapter Thirty-One

Kora's POV

Nothing is better than seeing the sun set over the gleaming Capital City from the balconies of the Ignatian palace.

At least, that's what the author Harneld Lench said in his book Two Fairies and a Human, a book about a pesky and lecherous human man chasing after two defenceless fairies.

In the end, they get "rescued" by some Elf. It was absolute rubbish and a shame to call literature. I sit back, squinting at the sunset before me, coming up with a million better things than watching this. Executing King Isin. Curing Azura's illness. Giving Synn a goddamn break. Any of these options would be ten times better than watching this sunset.

"Bad day?" a voice says.

I turn to see Synn, sitting beside me. I shift away slightly, hoping he doesn't notice. He does, and winces, making my cheeks burn. "I guess so,"

"You don't seem happy here. You haven't, not for the past few days," Synn sighs before continuing his sentence, "Since Azura was diagnosed, all you do is stay by her side twenty-four seven,"

I shrug, "Well, what do you expect me to do? It's my fault she has pexoyusl in the first place,"

"What? How is it your fault?" Synn asks me incredulously.

"I'm the one who caused all the controversy in the castle, who tipped Crowned Concubine Aria over the edge, who made her poison Velia's tea and caused her to lose the baby, also resulting in not being able to warn Azura in time, landing her in prison, where she caught the disease and here she is now!" I began to ramble near the end, mixing my words up as I went along.

Synn shakes his head at me. "It amazes me how little you think of yourself and yet have such ego at the same time, you know. It's like you have both an inferiority and superiority complex at the same time. Kora, you're the only reason she's alive in the first place,"

"Maybe I should have just let her be hanged. Quicker death than this, isn't it?" I snap.

That shuts him up. I know it all comes down to me. The assassination, the hatred, the tension, the poisoning, Azura's disease.

"Everyone's saying you have it now. Pexoyusl,"

I roll my eyes, "I don't care what they say, and I don't care if I catch it. Her contagious period is over, they're only pretending as if it's still going on as an excuse to lock her up for as long as possible. You can't convince me to move rooms,"

"I'm not trying to,"

"Good."

Azura's banned from exiting the room at all costs, and everyone is banned from going in. Word's spread that once she dies, they're going to lock up the room until disinfection workers come to clean it properly, with something called "munditia magiks".

Ha. Not if I can help it. Everyone knows what disinfection workers mean – anything in that room has to be either disinfected or burned. And if Azura really does die of pexoyusl, there's no way I'm letting her things be burned or washed out of her earthy scent.

"Didn't you ever have the pexoyusl vaccine?" Synn suddenly pipes up. I turn to him and can tell it's a question he's been meaning to ask for a while.

"I don't think we can get all of those vaccines?" I choke out. "Magiks only,"

"Oh," he whispers, after a very long pause. "That's going to change once I'm king."

I raise an eyebrow at him. The sky is darkening properly now, and lights are beginning to turn on all around the city. "What happened to hating humans?"