Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

"What happened, Seren?"

"I thought they would throw my things out," she admitted. "I even expected them to burn everything, thinking they\'re evil items belonging to a witch but...my chamber looks as if I never left."

This was surely King Armen\'s handiwork again. By now, Drayce understood how that man was the type who treasured the belongings of his daughter without saying anything.

"Isn\'t it a good thing?"

"It is."

"Won\'t you introduce me to this place?" he asked, changing the subject. "How did you spend your time here?" he asked.

Seren let out a shaky breath and approached her husband to pull him close.

"Hmm, all these books, I have read them at least twenty or thirty times from cover to cover, to the point that I remember each and every line within their pages, even the page number." She pointed towards the wooden desk and chair on the side. "That is where I used to study and..."

Seren continued to explain how she passed her boring days to him, from reading to gardening to daydreaming, with Drayce quietly immersed in the images painted by her soft voice, imagining the lonely sight of a little girl living in her own quiet world.

----

With the King and Queen of Megaris resting in the Queen\'s old bedchamber, their servants also settled down in their respective rooms inside the tower. The tower had plenty of empty rooms, more than enough to house not only the direct servants of the couple but even the royal knights. The chamber that belonged to Martha was given to Seren\'s lady-in-waiting, while the two maidservants were assigned to the empty rooms next door so it would be easier for them to attend to their master\'s needs.

Meanwhile, Slayer and Azer were given a single chamber to share on the floor below. Both the knights were tired and needed to freshen up and rest as well.

The two men were changing out of their ceremonial uniforms into a more comfortable one when a sigh echoed within the room.

"What are you sighing at?" Slayer asked.

"I was thinking about the situation a few months ago, back when we came to Abetha for the first time. At that time, our kingdoms had nothing to do with each other and now we are allies."

"That is not something you will sigh over like this."

"Well, I am in fact thinking about Her Majesty and the situation she used to be in. Can you imagine what kind of state she grew up in as a princess?" At that, he placed his sword in the stand.

Slayer was busy unbuckling the straps of the leather gloves in his hands. "Everyone has their own destinies. Her Majesty\'s destiny led her to our King."

"Hmm, she is the luckiest woman in the world to be chosen by His Majesty," Azer said as he started to remove his leather gloves as well. "By the way, Commander, when will you be someone\'s destiny?"

"First you worry about yourself. If your father once more comes to me complaining about you not agreeing to get married, I will drag you to your wedding hall myself." He threw the heavy leather glove at Azer\'s stomach. "Got it?"

"Ah, yes." The lower-ranking knight placed the heavy glove on the bedside table, slightly rubbing the part of his torso where he was hit hard. "I mean, Commander, please protect me from this marriage thing. I don\'t wish to get married. Father is just..."

"Yeah?  I see you catching glimpses at Lady Xena frequently. I shall tell your father you found someone."

Azer looked like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "What! N-No, Commander. You got it wrong! She is like a sister to me. I admire her for being so good at her work. I just look at her thinking how you and she will look together. I think you should--"

"One more word, and I will make sure you won\'t get to rest even for a moment as long as we are in Abetha." Slayer threw his shirt aside as he glared at his vice commander before leaving towards the side chamber for a bath.

Azer, who dared not say a word more, finally gave out a sigh of relief. "I almost dug my own grave."

-----

After talking for a long with his wife and getting updates about her past, both Seren and Drayce had a bath and changed into a fresh clothes. Drayce straightaway went to the Queen size bed which was enough to comfortably accommodate the two people and he lay on it.

"Seems like you are tired, Dray," she said as she walked towards the bed.

He shook his head, "I am just trying to get a feel of your life here," he then held her hand and pulled her on the bed, only to make her fall on his body, "Ah, Dray." She tried to get up but he held her firmly, "...and trying to feel how will it feel to be in this bed together with you."

"This bed is a little smaller ...."

"Enough to accommodate both of us. If not, you are free to lay on me like this, the entire night."

"Won\'t it be uncomfortable?" she asked.

"It sure will be but I am sure my Queen will manage to comfort me."

Seren understood he was talking about something else and immediately moved away from his body to lay next to him, as she smiled under her veil.

"The last time I came to this chamber, I didn\'t have time to pay attention to anything."

"The time when you saved me from here?" she asked.

"Hmm, at that time all I had in mind was to get you out of here as soon as possible."

She turned her head to look at him, "Thank you for coming to save me, Dray."

He turned his head to look back at her, "You don\'t have to, Seren."

"Let me say it, Dray" she insisted and Drayce as usual obeyed his wife\'s wishes.

She continued, "Thank you for marrying me and taking me away with you. Though I was nothing but a nuisance back then, thank you for being patient with me, for accepting me when everyone had long back given up on me. Thank you for being there with me when I really needed someone to understand me, listen to me, guide me. Witch or not, thank you for considering me a human and taking care of me. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for being my home, my shelter. Thank you for being my husband...."

She had many more things to thank him for, but it was not easy to say it all. "Thank you for everything, Dray."

Drayce turned to his one side to face her and pecked on her forehead. "Thank you for being born. Thank you for surviving though it was difficult and then coming into my life, Seren."

Seren simply looked at his eyes while his eyes noticed something, "The flower on your forehead is shining, Seren," and he looked at her with a teasing gaze, "Are you craving for me, at this hour of the day?"

Seren gulped and moved away, "N-Not at all. This flower mark is strange. Don\'t pay attention to it."

He offered her gaze full of doubts, "Are you sure?"

"Of course, I am sure," she sat up in the bed, "In fact I am hungry. This flower must be indicating that I need to stuff my stomach with a food."

Before Drayce could say a word, she pulled the rope next to the bed to ring a bell to call for the servant.

Drayce continued lay in bed while he enjoyed his wife\'s flustered reaction as if she was caught red handed. But he chose to not tease her. There was something else that came to his mind after he remembered the that day once again when he saved Seren.

\'Dusk....Aureus, he was here when Seren hid herself inside her wardrobe after she was scared and she was there for two days. Why didn\'t Aureus transform into his human form and saved her? He is a divine beast who could have passed through that spell barrier, then why? Why didn\'t he help her himself and instead chose to wait for someone to help her? Was it so important to hide his real identity over Seren\'s life?\' Draven frowned inwardly as his red eyes looked displeased. He needed to get answer from Aureus when he would return from Agartha.