The Rose Garden appeared out of nowhere one day. The three fairies who raised the slumbering princess came to the dream of everyone in the kingdom that night and warned them of the cursed thorns. They urged brave young men to traverse the danger and save the princess.

The king of Stachel announced, the person who can save his daughter will be crowned as the next king and rule the land together with her. One may be a peasant or nobility, the bloodline did not matter to the current king and queen as long as they can see their daughter awake once more.

It was another foolish decision in the eyes of the Stachel aristocracy. While it may be beneficial for the peasants, the nobles thought it would downright become disastrous for someone of poor background to become royalty. What will the neighboring countries think of them when their new monarch was illiterate and had no knowledge of high society’s etiquette? 

What would happen if they were to insult leaders from other Kingdoms? Their diplomatic relationships would crumble to dust. They would need years to teach a peasant to become king. Even a puppet king would prove to be less of a headache to have than a member of the peasantry.

The aristocracy was already miffed at the current king for ordering all spindle machines to be destroyed for the safety of his newborn daughter, who was later on whisked away by the three fairies in a far away land anyway.

What was the point of destroying the spindle then, aside from damaging their economy? Thanks to the king’s rash decision, they now heavily rely on trading yarn with their neighboring kingdoms.

The full moon was shining brightly when they finally got close enough to the Rose Garden. Danico could see it spread out before him. The name was indeed very fitting, even from afar, he could glimpse blood red roses peeking in the darkness. The wind carried with it the strong scent of the flower. It was sweet and cloying to a dizzying extent. The Rose Garden was only a couple hours away by horse, but because it was night time, the prince decided it was best to camp, than face whatever wildling was hiding amidst the bushes.

“Are you excited? You’re close to meeting the princess!” Danico said as he prepared to sing the prince to sleep. “Since this will be our last night together, I suppose I can sing you your favorite songs. Which one will it be, your highness?”

“We still have the three trials to clear,” the prince said, sounding subdued as he remembered the fairy's explanation in his dreams when he was but a young man training to handle the sword. One of the trials involved fighting a dragon, the other two were never explained as the evil sorceress disrupted the message.

“Of course. Hey, is it true that once you save the princess, the two kingdoms will get united?”

“I suppose it’s true,” the prince said quietly. “We are to be wed after I save her.”

“You don’t sound very happy,” Danico pointed out.

“I guess I’m not,” the prince stated. “Bard, what are you going to do once we reach the princess?”

“I’ll get back to traveling on my own until I meet someone interesting.”

There was a quiet murmur from the prince that Danico would have missed if he hadn’t got enhanced hearing. “Oh, I guess I’m not interesting enough for him.”

Danico pointedly ignored what the prince said under his breath. It wasn’t the first time someone got attached to him during his travels and it certainly won’t be the last time either. He’s used to people harboring some sort of attraction towards him. After all, he was a gorgeous man. It was hard not to fall in love with a face like his.

“What song should I start with tonight, your highness?” Danico asked once more.

The prince clenched his fist as resolve flashed in his eyes. Danico did not like that look one bit. 

In one swift movement, he grabbed Danico’s hand and pulled him towards him. Their lips crashed together in a painful kiss that was over before Danico could even blink.

For a moment Danico considered murdering the prince and everyone in this camp. It would be so easy.

They’ve done their roles, they led him to the Rose Garden.

“I-I really like you! In fact, I love you!” The prince said, his face as red as a large ripe tomato. “It would be great if you came back with me to Märchen, but I won’t stop you on your travels! J-Just know that once you’re ready to settle down, I’ll be waiting for you with open arms!”

Danico had never seen the usually composed and sarcastic prince like this before. Suddenly, he seemed less like a threat and more like a young man who made a mistake. A huge foolish mistake that could have cost him his life. Danico unclenched his jaw and offered a smile. The prince was still young with a fleeting fancy like all young adults do. He’s not bad enough yet for Danico to murder in cold blood. 

“Thank you for the offer, your highness. Now, which song should I sing for you tonight?” It was professional and to the point. He hoped the prince would get the hint, Danico did not care for his fantasy of becoming his paramour in the future.

As if sensing the mood, the prince shook his head and looked away. His hands shook as he said, “No it’s alright. You should sleep early tonight, we’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

Danico nodded his head. “In that case, I wish you a good night, your highness. Sleep well.” He gave a swift bow and left, nodding at Sir Faris who was looking pointedly at a dark spot on the tent. They really need to clean that up. 

The bard stopped as he held up the flap of the tent. “A word of advice, ask permission first before kissing someone.” He ignored the feeling of dejected eyes on his back. “Good bye, your highness.” The flap of the tent closed before the prince could say anything.

That night Danico snuck into the makeshift stables where the horses were tied on fences and stakes. He spied the white stallion the prince rode on and gave it a gentle pat on the head. It nuzzled into his hand and nudged at him for some apples. “I’m sorry dear boy, but I don’t have anything for you right now.”

The horse watched him with soulful eyes as he headed for a plain brown horse he tended to often when he did odd jobs here and there. It was the gentlest horse from the stable and was a very trusting creature who let anyone ride him. He saddled the horse with practiced ease and rode off into the night as fast as he could.

Danico should have done this the moment the wind started smelling like roses and followed their scent instead, but he decided to stay with the prince out of his own laziness. Perhaps if he left sooner, the prince wouldn’t have grown attached to him and he wouldn’t feel guilty at leaving the young man heart broken.

It was one thing to flirt around with sleazy men at random taverns, it was another to lead on an innocent young man. He tricked enough shady men that he didn’t feel shame or guilt anymore. However, the prince was a kind and trusting person despite how he acted on their initial meeting. Danico often felt bad whenever he had to trick or use a person like him, even more so when he’s relieved that he felt guilty in the first place.

Guilt meant he’s still got some sort of morality in him. That was good.

Shaking his head, Danico cleared his mind from such thoughts and looked forward to finally see another dragon.

Danico wondered what it would be like. Would it be as large as a mountain or be disappointingly small as a house? Perhaps it will be white with beautiful shimmering scales or it could be fiery red. So far Danico has only ever met two dragons. One was a rude fucker with transparent scales of permafrost glittering in the sunlight that hoarded gold in his cold icy cave. The other was an ever changing color of veridian scales and was dumb as a rock. 

The dumb dragon was harder to kill than the one who spat icicles at him, but somehow Danico managed.

Did several people die in the process and turned him into a wanted criminal? Yes.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Killing dragons was something Danico enjoyed doing. Not only could he help himself with whatever wealth they hoarded, he also used their remains to decorate himself with.

Danico was filthy rich thanks to the ice dragon’s wealth and he’s gotten several compliments over the jewelries he created with their scales. Refining the permafrost scales made them shimmer like diamonds and pearls. The innate magic within them kept their wearer cool in the summer heat. He made several matching jewelries with the scale, one of them were the earrings dangling from his ears and a necklace on his chest. He still had several left overs scales he didn’t know what to do with.

As for the other dragon he slayed, he was lucky there were scales that were ripped off the viridian dragon during their fight, because Danico completely destroyed the dragon in the end. He collected the stray scales and crushed it into fine dust and gave it to a weaver. The incredibly talented weaver mixed it with the finest of wools and created the fabric used for his cloak. He was grateful the weaver was also a tailor and was able to create the fabric without cutting it. The added dragon scales made the cloth impossible to cut. It was like wearing a flashy green chain mail.

He can’t wait to find out what sort of dragon he’ll face this time. He wondered what he could make with its scales? He could use a new pair of shoes.

With that in mind, Danico excitedly rode through the night, not looking back at the camp of panicked soldiers searching for him.