The next morning, I woke up to the smell of jasmine tea.
For a few seconds, I forgot where I was.
Then I opened my eyes.
The ceiling was unfamiliar.
The curtains were different.
And a tiny blue dragon was sleeping on my pillow.
I stared at it.
It opened one eye.
“Why are you here?”
The dragon chirped.
“You have your own bed.”
It rolled onto its back.
I sighed.
“Fine.”
I carefully moved it aside and sat up.
The door opened.
Ravenna stood there with a tray in her hands.
She stopped when she saw me.
Then she looked at the dragon.
Then at me.
“Blue again.”
“I told you. He likes me.”
“He likes your pillow.”
“That is still affection.”
Ravenna walked into the room.
“I brought tea.”
I immediately became more awake.
“Jasmine?”
“Yes.”
She placed the tray on the small table beside the window.
There were two cups.
And two small plates.
One contained pastries.
The other contained sliced fruit.
I looked at her.
“Did you bring breakfast?”
“I thought we could eat here.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
There was nothing unusual about her answer.
Yet somehow, my heart reacted as though she had said something much more important.
“That's nice.”
Ravenna looked slightly relieved.
“Good.”
We sat beside the window.
Morning light poured across the room.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
I drank my tea.
Ravenna drank hers.
Blue slept between us.
It was peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
I looked at Ravenna.
She was staring out the window.
“What are you thinking about?”
“The garden.”
“The Black Roses?”
“Yes.”
“You're worried about what we found yesterday.”
“I don't know whether worried is the right word.”
“What word would you use?”
“Curious.”
I smiled.
“You really are curious.”
“So are you.”
“That's true.”
She looked at me.
Then her eyes moved toward my cup.
“You like the tea?”
“I love it.”
“I thought you would.”
“Did you choose it?”
“Yes.”
I smiled.
“You remember everything.”
Ravenna looked down.
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“I remember important things.”
I tilted my head.
“Am I important?”
She froze.
The silence that followed was almost comical.
I watched her ears slowly turn red.
“You are my wife.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Ravenna took a sip of tea.
“You are important.”
She said it so quietly that I almost missed it.
My smile softened.
“Thank you.”
She nodded.
Then she suddenly stood.
“I have work.”
I laughed.
“You're running away.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I have responsibilities.”
“Of course you do.”
She reached the door.
Then stopped.
“Would you like to come with me?”
I blinked.
“To work?”
“Yes.”
“What does a Demon Queen actually do?”
Ravenna looked at me.
“A great deal.”
“I'd like to see.”
She nodded.
“Then come.”
I quickly learned that being the Demon Queen was not nearly as glamorous as the title suggested.
Ravenna spent the entire morning reading documents.
Trade reports.
Village requests.
Construction plans.
Food supplies.
Military reports.
Tax records.
A complaint about a broken bridge.
A request for more medicine.
A letter from a neighboring lord.
And three separate reports about dragons stealing apples.
I watched her read everything.
She didn't simply sign papers.
She asked questions.
“How many families live there?”
“What happened to the old bridge?”
“Why has the shipment been delayed?”
“Has the village healer received the medicine?”
“Send more.”
She remembered names.
Places.
Numbers.
Even tiny details.
At one point, an advisor placed a document in front of her.
“The western village has requested additional guards.”
“Why?”
“There have been attacks.”
“From humans?”
“No.”
Ravenna's expression hardened.
“Then investigate.”
The advisor bowed.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do not send soldiers until we know what we're dealing with.”
“Yes.”
“And make sure the villagers have enough food.”
“Of course.”
The advisor left.
I stared at her.
“What?”
“You're different when you work.”
“How?”
“Serious.”
“I am always serious.”
“No.”
I smiled.
“Not always.”
She gave me a suspicious look.
“What does that mean?”
“You smiled at breakfast.”
“I did not.”
“You did.”
“I was drinking tea.”
“You smiled while drinking tea.”
“That proves nothing.”
I laughed.
Ravenna returned her attention to the documents.
“You are very troublesome.”
“And yet you invited me to stay.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
She didn't answer.
I waited.
Eventually, she said,
“Because the castle feels quieter when you're not here.”
My heart stopped.
Ravenna seemed to realize what she had said.
She immediately picked up another document.
“I mean that the castle has become quieter.”
I smiled.
“I understand.”
“No, you don't.”
“I think I do.”
She refused to look at me.
Her ears were red again.
I decided to let her escape.
For now.
At noon, we went to the courtyard.
The sun was bright.
Several children were playing near the fountain.
Blue immediately ran toward them.
“Wait!”
The dragon ignored me.
A little boy picked him up.
“Blue!”
The dragon chirped happily.
“You named him?”
“Yes,” I said.
The boy looked at me.
“That is a boring name.”
I gasped.
Ravenna covered her mouth.
I turned toward her.
“Are you laughing?”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I am not.”
The boy looked between us.
“Does the queen always lie?”
Ravenna stared at him.
The boy immediately hid behind another child.
I burst out laughing.
Ravenna sighed.
“Apparently, everyone in this castle has decided to disrespect me.”
“No one disrespects you.”
“You just laughed at me.”
“I did.”
She looked at me.
Then her expression softened.
“I suppose I don't mind.”
That sentence surprised me.
I stopped laughing.
Ravenna looked toward the children.
“They're not afraid of me.”
“No.”
“I want to keep it that way.”
Her voice was quiet.
I understood.
Being feared was easy.
Being trusted was much harder.
Perhaps that was why she worked so hard.
Perhaps that was why she remembered every village and every child's name.
Perhaps that was why the people here smiled when she passed.
She wasn't trying to become loved.
She was simply trying to protect what had been entrusted to her.
I looked at her differently after that.
Not as the Demon Queen.
Not as my political husband.
But as Ravenna.
A woman who carried an entire kingdom on her shoulders.
And suddenly, I wondered who carried her.
That evening, I found her alone in the garden.
She was standing beneath an enormous Black Rose bush.
The moonlight touched her hair.
For a moment, she looked almost unreal.
I approached quietly.
“You're here again.”
She turned.
“Elara.”
“Can't sleep?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She looked at the flowers.
“I come here when I need to think.”
I stood beside her.
“What are you thinking about?”
“The future.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is.”
I waited.
After a moment, she spoke.
“I don't know what will happen now.”
“With the treaty?”
“With everything.”
She looked toward the distant mountains.
“For a hundred years, my people have lived with war.”
“So have mine.”
“If this peace fails…”
“It won't.”
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“But I know that I'm willing to try.”
Ravenna's eyes softened.
“Why?”
“Because I don't want children to grow up learning how to hate people they've never met.”
She was silent.
I continued.
“And because I don't think you want the war either.”
Ravenna looked at me.
“No.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because you offered to let me leave.”
She looked away.
“That was the right thing to do.”
“Maybe.”
I smiled.
“But it was also kind.”
Ravenna said nothing.
The wind moved through the garden.
A Black Rose brushed against her shoulder.
She reached out and gently touched one of its petals.
“I don't know how to be kind.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I don't know how to be kind.”
She looked at the rose.
“When I was young, everyone told me that a queen must be strong. Never hesitate. Never show weakness. Never let anyone see fear.”
She paused.
“So I learned.”
Her fingers curled slightly.
“I became someone people could rely on.”
“That isn't a bad thing.”
“No.”
Her voice became quieter.
“But sometimes I don't know how to be anything else.”
I looked at her.
“You don't have to be the Demon Queen with me.”
She turned.
“What?”
“You can just be Ravenna.”
Her crimson eyes widened.
“You can laugh.”
“I don't laugh.”
“You do.”
“I rarely do.”
“You can be embarrassed.”
“I don't get embarrassed.”
“You're blushing right now.”
“I am not.”
I laughed.
She looked away.
I stepped closer.
“You can be tired.”
She was silent.
“You can be afraid.”
Her expression changed.
“And you can ask for help.”
Ravenna looked at me for a long time.
Then she whispered,
“I don't know how.”
“Then learn.”
“With you?”
I smiled.
“If you want.”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at the Black Rose beside us.
Then she carefully reached out.
She took my hand.
Her fingers were warm.
I stared at our joined hands.
She did too.
Neither of us moved.
“I think,” Ravenna said slowly, “I would like that.”
My heart beat faster.
I squeezed her hand.
“Then we'll learn together.”
For the first time, Ravenna smiled without trying to hide it.
It was a small smile.
A little uncertain.
But beautiful.
And somehow, that smile felt more precious than any crown.
That night, I returned to my room.
Blue was already asleep on my pillow.
I smiled.
Then I noticed something on my desk.
A single Black Rose.
Beside it was a small piece of paper.
I unfolded it.
There were only five words.
For when you miss home.
I stared at the note.
Then at the rose.
I didn't know whether Ravenna had left it there herself.
I didn't know whether she understood what the gesture meant.
But I knew one thing.
For the first time since I had left the Holy Kingdom, I didn't feel quite so far from home.
I placed the Black Rose beside my White Rose.
The two flowers stood together in the moonlight.
Black and white.
Different.
Yet somehow, beautiful beside each other.
And far beneath the castle, the ancient seal pulsed once more.
Something was waking.
Something that had been waiting for these two flowers to meet again.
But upstairs, beneath the quiet moonlight, neither of us knew.
We were too busy learning how to hold each other's hands.