Fiona stood speechless, her mouth slightly open at the sight of the enormous red dragon in front of her.
But her silence wasn't due to fear of the fearsome creature—rather, it was because the dragon was nuzzling Puss like a needy puppy.
"Easy, easy." Puss smiled and gently patted her nose, and the needy dragon pulled her snout away and looked at him, fluttering her long lashes in a charming way.
Puss looked at the two of them and introduced them, gesturing with his hand.
"Dragon, this is Princess Fiona. Princess, Dragon," he introduced them simply.
The dragon looked at her and smiled gently, but her massive fangs made Fiona feel like she was about to be eaten, rather than greeted.
Still, she felt the dragon was just being polite and meant no harm.
"Hello, I'm Fiona." She waved politely back with a smile.
"Hrrmmm…" The dragon rumbled softly at her.
"Well, with introductions done, let's decide. Señorita Fiona, I'm leaving the tower with Dragon. And I want you to come with me," he looked at her firmly, inviting her seriously.
Fiona hesitated, but soon, she made her decision… and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Sir Puss. I can't go. I've waited so long in this tower, and I can't leave now without meeting my true love." She shook her head resolutely.
Puss furrowed his brows slightly—not because she refused, but because he felt she wasn't considering everything.
"Princess, I'm taking the dragon with me. What proof will you have that the next knight who arrives is your true love, if he doesn't defeat the dragon?" he asked firmly.
Fiona frowned uncomfortably.
"Well… facing Blistering Cold and Scorching Desert should count for something, right?" She crossed her arms, slightly pouty.
Puss rolled his eyes.
"Then congratulations, Princess, you're surrounded by true loves. Pick one and kiss him," he pointed at several skeletons on the ground, each at varying degrees of charred, with a mischievous smile.
Fiona's eye twitched, and a bit of anger rose on her face.
"What do you mean by that?!" she demanded, her teeth clenched slightly.
"Isn't it obvious? Defeating a dragon or enduring harsh conditions doesn't mean someone is your true love. If it did, your true love would be very cheap," he also crossed his arms, declaring it without a hint of doubt.
This time Fiona bit her lip, and her eyes filled with hurt—and suddenly, she exploded.
"Then what do you want me to do?! Live with this curse that was forced on me?! Do you think I enjoy being locked up in the damned highest room of the tallest tower?! Do you think I don't want to just leave and see the world outside, and smell grass instead of sulfur?! I do, okay?!"
She shouted in anger, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her heavy breathing, her fists clenched and her eyes now red.
Puss and the dragon leaned back a bit at the outburst, their ears lowering—even if Puss's were hidden beneath his hat.
Fiona looked at them sadly, calming herself.
"I just… I can't…" she said in a quiet voice.
She had waited a long time. And today, with Puss's arrival, hope had bloomed in her chest like never before—until she saw that he was a cat. And this same cat didn't believe her curse would be broken by the kiss of the one who had rescued her—whom she had waited for a decade, alone and locked away.
Puss looked at her, feeling sorrow for her—and even more determined to get her out of there.
"Fiona," he called her name directly for the first time, his voice firm. "You've already lost a decade of your life trapped here, fearing a curse… do you really want to lose more decades? Come with me. I promise that if I'm not your true love, I'll help you find him."
His husky voice carried a softness that was rare even for Puss to hear from himself.
For some reason, he truly felt extremely drawn to Fiona, and he didn't want her to keep suffering there. And even if she didn't fall for him, he could always introduce her to Shrek… although he wasn't sure if they'd fall in love again without the journey they experienced in the movies.
She, hearing his words, had a rare moment of blushing, and looked at him with hesitation and uncertainty.
"I…" Her eyes became unfocused.
'Father, mother… what should I do?' she asked in her heart, distressed.
Her gaze shifted to the orange cat who looked at her with concern, and her heart stirred.
He was the one who had saved her, and ever since she met him, he had already made her heart race more than once. Beyond that, she saw sincerity in his eyes when he said that if he wasn't her true love, he would help her find him. Such a gesture wasn't just kindness—it was care and valuing her as a person.
He was willing to forgo any inheritance he might gain from her, as a princess of a kingdom, just to honor her choice. And she trusted her instincts enough to believe there were no lies in his eyes.
Such kindness, such courage and strength—it was greater than the knight she had dreamed of.
Placing a hand on her chest, she felt her racing heart—and decided, just this once… to take a chance.
"You really... would do that for me?" Fiona murmured softly.
"Without a shred of doubt," Puss said firmly.
"Why?" She looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Because that's what I, Puss in Boots, do. I help those in need. Especially when it's a beautiful princess who has suffered a fate she didn't deserve, with her kind heart," he answered without hesitation, and there was no smile on his face this time, only solemnity and certainty.
His words seemed to be all the princess needed to find strength, allowing her to make a firm decision.
She held the sides of her dress and gently pulled them out as she curtsied gracefully.
"Please, my knight… help me be free," she whispered, pleadingly.
Her request seemed not only to be about leaving the castle but also about freeing herself from the curse that haunted her.
Puss smiled and took off his hat, placing it over his chest.
"I swear on my honor that I will make you happy, Princess," he vowed, looking into her eyes—and getting lost in her beautiful, light blue gaze.
"Hrrrmmm…" A growl came from behind, followed by a light nudge on Puss's back.
Turning his head, he saw that the one who nudged him was a red draconic snout.
Seeing Dragon's resentful and jealous look, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Haha… calm down, woman. I haven't forgotten about you." He gave her snout a gentle pat, which seemed to lift her mood.
Fiona watched the interaction with curiosity, but didn't think much of it.
"Well, time to leave. Ladies, do either of you want to bring anything? I've got a magic suitcase here that can help a lot." He smiled, and the two seemed to have something in mind.
…
After stuffing the frog full of piles of gold that the dragon had used as a bed—more gold than Barbossa and his crew had plundered in years—Puss headed to the secret storage room inside Fiona's tower, led by the princess herself. There, they found various stuffed animals, toys, and books, as well as sacks of food, pots, and firewood.
In the middle of the firewood, Puss noticed some broken pieces of carriage.
From Fiona, he learned that her kingdom had always sent carriages filled with various items here for some reason, and ever since his arrival, the number of carriages had doubled.
The only difference was that Fiona hadn't received any money in her carriage like the ones sent to the dragon.
But it wasn't because her parents were stingy—it was out of fear that the dragon might want the coins and refuse to deliver the rest of the items to Fiona. So, they decided not to send money at all.
As for the carriages, since they took up too much space, they ended up as firewood for the princess to cook her meals.
Soon, with the girls' help, everything of value—emotional or monetary—was packed into Puss's frog, which had grown significantly in size.
Mounted on the dragon, they finally departed and flew out of the castle.
Tornado, the black horse, was already sprawled out on the other side of the bridge, legs splayed in every direction and tongue lolling out, looking comically dehydrated.
Puss rubbed his forehead.
'That stupid horse… why didn't he just leave and wait outside the volcano if it was so hot…' he thought, mildly amused, but he knew the steed was simply being loyal—and he appreciated that.
"Girl, grab Tornado and take us to the nearby meadow, please," Puss asked with a small smile as they flew over the lava river.
"Hrrmmm…" Dragon rumbled softly, and with great agility, lowered her altitude and scooped up the horse in her front claw with ease before rising into the air again.
"Nearby meadow?" Fiona asked, confused. To her, there was only Scorching Desert surrounding the volcano.
Puss looked at her curiously.
"You don't know? There's a much calmer and easier path to get to the dragon's tower. Going through the Scorching Desert is just the fastest, most direct route from Far Far Away to here. Most knights who came to rescue you and died fighting Dragon probably took the longer, safer route—or brought carts loaded with supplies," he explained his reasoning.
After all, crossing a vast desert without preparation, with only a horse and a knight, was extremely difficult. Even supply wagons wouldn't handle the desert sand well.
Fiona thought for a moment and indeed remembered that when she was brought here, she traveled through forests, stone paths, and snowy woods, along a well-maintained dirt road, not across long deserts.
As they spoke, Dragon gained altitude, carrying Tornado effortlessly in her claw.
From up high, Fiona could see the vast desert stretching to the horizon north of the volcano—but in all other directions, she saw greenery, meadows, and distant forests.
Lost in thought, seeing the world again for the first time in a decade, Fiona didn't even notice that within seconds, they had already left the volcanic castle far behind.