Midas was sitting on an armchair in her bedroom, dark and devoid of life if not for her looking out her large, arched windows, with the chess plate empty before her.

The door burst open with a violent crash, disturbing the eerie silence that filled the room just moments before, and the empress turned her gaze to study what dared to disturb her in the night.

A knight stood tall, his armour glinted in the dim light, his helmet covered most of his face, but his presence was heavy and unwieldy, his heavy boots echoing on the stone floor as he strode forward, toward Midas.

The gleaming sword at his side was raised slightly, its blade caught the faintest light of the moon, his gauntlets were worn and the very little skin showing on his face was scarred.

His gaze met the small figure in the room, the knight's sword lowered so that his resolve faltered and his eyes softened as he stepped forward. His voice, trembling and urgent, cut through the silence.

"Princess," he said, "at last I found you. Fear not, for I have come not to harm you but to save you."

He moved closer and for a moment a silence filled with tension was between them, he lowered himself placing a knee on the ground. "I'd give everything to keep you safe, I intend to ask your hand in marriage and make you a honest woman."

The words hung heavy in the air. The Empress had her eyes wide with disbelief.

With another earnest glance, the knight rose slowly, standing tall once more with an expression that spoke of desire and expectation. Thinking that the lady may have been far too shocked to speak, he decided to voice his thoughts once more. "There's no time to waste now, take my hand and follow me out of here, before the vicious beast awakens."

Her eyes narrowed in an instant, she could smell the blood from the knight's injuries on his face, which went straight to her brain.

For a moment, time seemed to slow. He extended his hand towards her, heart still full of emotion, as the Empress gave him a barely perceptible smile whose intentions were far from benevolent.

"You want to make me an honest woman?" Her expression hardened while she steadied herself. "What a valiant knight!"

Before any word could leave his lips, she grabbed her trusted mace and with brutal efficiency hit the knight's head from below, where his helmet was not protecting him. The shock of the strike was instantaneous, eyes widening for a brief moment before his bloody helmet fell to the floor far from him.

He collapsed to the ground with a loud thud as the light faded from his eyes.

Midas stood over him, her heart devoid of mercy and her brain tattered with her thirst for blood, her gaze cold and distant.

She turned away and scraped her nose, without a second glance, dragging along her heavy mace dirtied with blood. "Vicious beast? Which mediocre kingdom spit out this idiot?"

The heavy door fell open again, this time slightly and timidly as Dubhra was the one to enter the room.

They were wearing a long and candid nightgown, full of intricate laces and folds that softly complemented their long and slender figure, on their head a sleep mask pulling lazily their black tentacles back.

"What happened here? Did you call for me?" As their half closed eyes got used to some light again, they immediately caught the lifeless body of a knight, with his head spattered, lying on the floor. "Uhm- I am not less confused."

Midas turned to look at them and took quick steps towards the creature, which was still clearly half asleep, she was red as war.

"Someone broke into the castle again?!" She bursted with fury.

Dubhra didn't falter, they gave her a soft and awkward smile. "I was taking a nap."

A moment of silence between them as she tried to find the words to express at best her disappointment. "Someone was breaking into the castle and you were taking a nap?"

"Yes, I mean, I went to bed early as I usually do, so it only makes sense they would break into here during the night."

The creature kept looking straight into her icy cold eyes, but the fire that burns behind them now, the heat of passion and anger, hit something in their blazing heart. And when Midas placed her golden hand on their shoulder, they felt as if it may catch on fire.

"Yes, come on, it's fine." Her words echoed and woke Dubhra up from their deep rooted feelings. "You can eat all of it if you'd like, just leave out the heart and run me a bath."

"I- yes, give me a minute"

Dubhra didn't know if the Empress could see the faint blush on their cheeks or deliberately chose to ignore it, as it had already happened many times, but she seemed to give them a little playful smile that they couldn't tell if it was in their imagination.

"Don't fall asleep in the process, vicious beast."

Vicious beast? Did she just call them a vicious beast?

They tried to shake off the awkwardness, to try and react. But as they did, they were met with Midas' clearly amused face and a smug smile, waiting for an answer.

"Uh? Why am I the vicious beast?" They tried to reply.

"Because you look kind of unsettling," she immediately responded.

"What? Is that a way to say I'm ugly?!"

Oh, Dubhra! Midas always played with their pride like that, when they least expected it, so that they would wear their heart on their sleeve. And it would always work. The playful accusations hit precisely to target as Dubhra felt the need to spill out any word that would come to mind to try and sedate their discomfort.

"Say it to my face, then, that I'm an ugly beast to you!"

But that was just meant to be a game between them, so as Midas had provoked them, after being satisfied by what the creature tried to blurt out, she also knew how to take back the accusations. "Hahaha oh, come on, it was the knight that called you like that, it wasn't me."

Dubhra tried, "Really? Or are you making that up just to have an excuse to offend me?"

But that was futile, they couldn't manage to stay with any hard feelings for her, as tall and scary as they may look, their heart always melted in between their arguments and they couldn't manage to hold a grudge.

"I would never make something up to offend you, Dubhra."

That was the final blow to their resolve, the short lady slightly tilted her head and looked back at them with not so sorry eyes, but expressive and playful, a sight that they were not granted to indulge often.

Dubhra let out a little "mhhh" as their face softened again and the very light annoyance left their heart completely.

Midas omitted the continuation of her sentence "because I don't have to make it up, you light up just like a match"

Even though that was what she thought and what her expression left hanging in the air, Dubhra caught it, but by that point, any kind of fuse that had lighted them had suddenly been acquitted.