The Dragon Bride | ✔️

Epilogue

Bianca's POV

Guardsman Chalf reaches into the cupboard, his hand rummaging around it as he tries to locate the claret weed powder. Claret weed is highly irritable, and the powder causes severe itching, rashes and blotches on the skin. Our royal physician usually uses it to treat deep wounds as it stops bleeding if applied with alcohol.

Guardsman Chalf pulls out a small pouch of it and hands it to me.

"You better hold up your end of the deal, Your Grace," he whispers lowly, his eyes shining with lust as he gazes me up and down.

"Of course. I will be back at sunset to... Give you your deserved reward," I give him a small smile, before walking away altogether.

Empresses of the king aren't allowed to be promiscuous with any other man, and if I'm caught with Guardsman Chalf we'll both be beheaded. But this is worth it. Chalf said he would only get me the claret weed powder if I laid with him. So of course I obliged.

Soon, I will destroy Kora Moons, earn the Queen's trust, and secure my place as a Noble Regina, bearer of the Azure Tiara.

The claret weed powder was Concubine Penelope's idea. But I didn't tell the Queen that. So what, I took all the credit for it?

I'm the Regina now, after all.

One of the most powerful women in the palace... And once the Queen supports me, I'll be known throughout the realms for my wealth and beauty.

House Marino will be respected greatly, not because of wretched Catania, but because of me.

I'll have everything I ever wanted. And all I need to do is have Kora Moons apply some of this claret weed powder onto that precious little face of hers. The Prince will be disgusted by her ugliness and have her executed. And then the Queen will thank me.

It seems the perfect plan. But I did wonder; how do I get that stupid dragon bride to put on this powder? Simple. Penelope said it all.

"All you have to do is mix the claret weed powder in with some makeup, or something of the like. Rouge, for example. Then make more of that rouge, but powder-free. Apply the safe one to yourself and hand out the rest of the safe ones to all the other empresses," she explained.

I nodded, making a mental note of her instructions.

"Send the powdered one to Kora. It will seem as if the maid who delivered it had tampered with it. The blame will be put on them, and you will get away with it, unscathed," she'd said.

See? Simple. But me giving free rouge to Kora would still seem suspicious, so I thought of an even better idea. Have that meddling little dragonfly faerie in the room when I show the King and Queen the rouge I made.

I'll say I'm handing it out to the empresses, and no doubt that Azura will insist on me giving one to Kora. And that's when it'll all go downhill. Or, well, uphill for me!

Oh, joy! I shall be Noble Regina for many more years to come, just you wait and see, you old bat Alexandria!