The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 149. Curiosity smothers the cat.

Chapter 149: 149. Curiosity smothers the cat.

Neriah had sent an invitation to Regina the previous day.

"You have been invited to share an afternoon tea with the Crown princess... P.S, I believe you will be discreet about this and not go telling everyone about this. And by everyone, I mean the prince in particular."

That was the content of Neriah’s letter. She really hoped and prayed that Regina was not a loud mouth. Barak was not to find out about her scheme until after she had completed her mission.

And seeing that he had not spoken anything about that, it meant Regina had not told him.

Her plan was very simple: bring Regina to her place, slip some sleeping potion into her tea, knock her out for the needed amount of time and steal her face with the help of an unwilling and angry fairy.

After that, she’d go down to the dungeon wearing something that covers every other part of her fair skin and dyeing her hair black.

Simple plan.

"’Tis fine. I should be done before he returns in the evening." Neriah nervously pinched her body. Her plan was to take place in the afternoon, but the fact that Barak suddenly suggested an outing was thrilling and unnerving at the same time.

"Just do as you had planned and practiced, everything will be fine." She continued telling herself. "He won’t find out. Even if he does, you would have been back by then." She wasn’t so scared of him finding out she defied his orders before. But all of a sudden she could not help the nervous feeling that kept creeping up her spine. She knew she would never hear the end of it, if he caught her. His anger... Could she take it? She wondered.

"My Lady," She heard Aria call from behind the door. Ever since that morning that Aria walked in and found what seemed like a nude painting made live, she never entered the room without receiving a go ahead from Neriah. Poor woman was saving her eyes from any further trauma.

"Come in Aria." Neriah said.

Neriah walked in with three small bottles in her hand, "Do you have it?" Neriah asked while still pinching her arms.

Aria breathed heavily before taking closer steps to her mistress, "My Lady, I really think this time you should listen to His Highness. You do not know what you will be getting yourself into. You have heard the saying, right? Curiosity smothers the cat. You know I will readily do anything for you, and no matter what you decide, I shall be on your side as your loyal subject, but I just hope you think about this again."

The moment Neriah had told Aria about her desire to see the orcs with her own eyes, Aria had been against it. But Neriah’s stubborn mind remained steadfast.

And even now, coupled with the nervousness she was already feeling, Aria’s words sank into her head, but Neriah chose to shake it off. She was not changing her mind.

"I guess it is a good thing I am an elf and not a cat. Hence, I will be fine." She said the words and Aria sighed tiredly.

"This is the sleeping potion, from what I heard, it is a very potent one. Just a teaspoon is said to be enough to keep a horse down for two hours." Aria handed the first bottle to Neriah, "This is the dye, and this is the dye cleanser."

"Are you certain it will turn my hair completely black? Will this amount suffice?" She asked.

"Yes, they say it is the most potent hair dye." Aria nodded.

"And the cleanser? Will it effectively wash the black from my hair and return it to its original color?" She asked and Aria sighed, turned her head to the side and muttered some things to herself before turning her head back to her mistress.

"Aye, it will cleanse your hair and restore it to its original color." She nodded and so did Neriah.

She was going to do it and nothing was going to change her mind.

...

The invitation from the princess had reached Regina’s hand through a little red head fairy who seemed rather annoyed about her delivery job. The content of the invitation letter was rather interesting that Regina knew not what to do with it.

They never talked, they barely greeted each other and it was evident that the princess clearly didn’t like her, so it made Regina wonder why the princess would suddenly want to have tea with her.

Nevertheless, Neriah was royalty, and Regina was ready to be loyal to her if this was the princess’s attempt at trying to get to know her. Hence she accepted the invitation and prepared herself for her meeting with the princess.

Still, she wondered what the discussion would be like, and what exactly was going to pass between them. According to Barak, his dear wife seemed to be a little different lately and if Regina was to decipher his words, it would seem Neriah was a little closer to her husband lately.

Was she probably doing this to get to know more about her husband’s friend, or her husband? The questions in her head were numerous, but she concluded that she would get the answers to each one of them when she met the princess.

...

"Are you sure this thing has no scent?" Neriah asked for the umpteenth time.

"Your Highness, you can smell it yourself. It has no scent whatsoever." Aria replied.

"I know, "tis just I have heard she is a remarkable knight and has a great sense of smell. If she detects the possibility of even a drop of something foreign in her tea, my plan might end." Neriah Panicked.

Once again, Aria muttered some words that Neriah just could not hear, then she spoke aloud, "She will not detect it." She simply said.

Neriah nodded and looked in the mirror yet again. After applying the dye on her hair and drying it, Aria styled and wrapped up her hair in a scarf... Every single strand. Regina was not to see the dyed hair.

...

When Regina arrived at the palace, she was welcomed by Aria and led directly to a small hall she had visited quite a number of times, but never without the knowledge of Barak. It was somewhat strange that she was entering that same hall with exclusive instructions not to inform Barak of her visit.

"Your Highness, Commander Regina Alnar has arrived." Aria called from behind the door but Regina paused her...

"Please, the princess invited a lady, not a commander." She said and Aria mouth a silent oh.

"Lady Regina Alnar has arrived." Aria corrected herself.

The guards pushed the door open, revealing the crown princess looking like a sun goddess spotted in front of a round table with a small cup of tea in her hand.

The first thing Regina noticed other than the beautiful princess, was the strange scarf that was wrapped around the princess’s head... Funny.

Taking soft yet bold steps that in no way diminished her status as a proper lady, Regina made her way toward the crown princess, and when she got to her side, her head and back bowed graciously.

"I greet the beautiful half of the empire’s small sun. May the peace of Narcissus be upon you." Regina greeted and lifted her head. She watched as Neriah’s head moved slowly, graciously... Too graciously. And when those green eyes met hers again, Regina could not help but see why her friend was lost in the shadows of this woman. Even her blinking was beautiful.

A little too dramatic... but beautiful still.

"Greetings to you too, Lady Regina." Neriah smiled. "Please, sit down." Her smile grew brighter... And suspicious.

...

Neriah’s eyes instantly scanned Regina as the woman stepped into the room. No matter how many times she saw her, she loathed to admit it, but the woman was beautiful. Too beautiful!!! She had thought about it once, but seeing her out of her usual commander attire, dressed in a beautiful black body-fitting tragonian attire that matched with her hair that was let down—it was the first time Neriah was seeing her with her hair down— but the woman was beautiful.

It made her wonder; if Barak had such a woman by his side, why then did he agree to marry her? They were close enough, she had seen how they interacted, so they were close enough. He could have chosen Regina, who was his close friend to be his wife... Why then did he agree to marry a stubborn princess who hated him?

Yes the matter about the deal between both their nations was there, but after her actions back in Avelah, he had plenty of reasons to refuse the proposal. So considering that, and the fact that he had a female friend who would have made a marvelous wife, why did he still marry her?

"I must say, Your Highness, I was quite surprised by your invitation." Regina spoke as she took her seat in front of Neriah. "Also considering the fact that I have not made a very good impression on you and you do not like me. Indeed I was beyond surprised."

Neriah pulled in some air into her lung, and as she let it out again, she used it as a medium to let go of all the thoughts she had, save one, "Well, ’tis true that I do not like you, however it is also true that my husband holds you dear, so I would like to know you." She had a mission to complete.

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