528 Has She Fallen for me?
Seren innocently blinked at her husband’s words.
“Flirting?” she asked.
Drayce gazed into her beautiful eyes. “What you said just now is referred to as flirting.”
“But…I said it because I wanted you to…” she stopped, feeling a little shy.
“… to accompany you in bed?” He finished her sentence in her stead.
She nodded hesitantly while peering at his face.
It made him smile at how she didn’t try to hide her thoughts. “Shall I then?”
She nodded immediately but…
As if on cue, her stomach growled in hunger, betraying her in front of her husband. Seeing his amused expression, she felt like hiding herself.
“I think it’s better if you eat first.” Drayce could not help but smile at her embarrassment.
Seren didn’t say ‘no’ and nodded lightly to show her agreement. Drayce called for a servant and had them bring over a meal for her. Moments later, they arranged porridge and a small serving of side dishes on a footed tray so that Seren could comfortably eat in bed.
Once the servants left, Drayce looked at his wife. “Eat comfortably. You can remove your veil since I will be sitting in the lounge.” He gestured at the armchair where he was going to sit.
She looked at him, feeling puzzled. ‘Remove my veil?’
Drayce knew what she was thinking, so he replied to her silent question. “I won’t look at you. Rest assured.” He then walked towards the chair where he sat with his back facing the bed. “Make sure you eat well.”
A small smile blossomed on Seren’s face. She removed her veil and started eating, knowing she didn’t have to worry when he had given her his words.
Meanwhile, Drayce resumed his work—or rather, he tried to, but he could not make himself focus on the parchment in his hand. His wife was in the same chamber as him, and she was now without her veil. Though he wasn’t openly showing it on his face, his curiosity was piqued. He could feel his heart beating faster at the thought of finally seeing her face without her veil.
‘I wonder how she looks.’
He had a strong urge to turn and look at her face but…He took a series of deep breaths to calm his thoughts, and he managed to stop himself from doing something that would break her trust in him.
‘I will wait,’ he told himself. ‘I will wait till the day she allows me to see her of her own volition.’
Not knowing what was going on inside Drayce’s mind, Seren continued to eat peacefully while peeking at him from time to time. Once she was done, she put her veil back on her face and servants were called in to clear the footed tray.
After a while, Seren stepped out of bed and went towards Drayce. She peeked at the parchment in his hand and it seemed to be a document regarding the security around the royal palace. Knowing she was nearby, he acknowledged her presence by silently tilting his head towards her. She responded by sitting in the empty chair next to him.
“Did you have a good meal?” he asked as he put down the parchment.
She nodded and then asked slowly, “If it’s not much of a bother…That man…I mean, the winged man who saved me…”
“Do you want to go see him?” Drayce asked, knowing his wife well. She was a kind person and would not ignore anyone’s good grace to her.
She nodded. “Is it fine?”
“Of course, you can see him,” Drayce assured and stood up. “I will take you to him.”
Seren seemed surprised. “Aren’t you busy?” She deliberately glanced at the parchments on the table.
Drayce merely offered her his hand to help her stand up. “I am never too busy for you, my Queen.”
When they reached the chamber where Aureus was being kept, they saw Lady Tyra sitting on the chair next to the bed. The young man with golden hair was still unconscious.
Seeing the royal couple, Lady Tyra stood up to greet them with a small bow. She then looked at Seren with a concerned gaze. “How are you feeling now, Queen Seren?”
“I am fine, Lady Tyra,” Seren replied and walked towards the bed. She looked at the young man lying in bed. Due to the stressful situation that night, she didn’t get a good look at her saviour’s appearance. She could mostly remember that he had the most beautiful golden wings. “Thanks to him, I am able to return to the palace. Did we figure out who he is?”
“His name is Aureus, Your Majesty. He is a friend of the previous queen, Queen Esther,” Lady Tyra vaguely answered, not going into details.
Seren was surprised but then she recalled that the man introduced himself when he saved her. “No wonder he told me he’s the King’s friend.” As she said those words, she didn’t realize that Drayce flinched beside her. “Is he still not well? Is he badly injured?” she asked, feeling worried despite not seeing any visible wounds or bandages on the man.
Lady Tyra sighed. “The impact of black magic is more severe on him compared to yours, Your Majesty, and the internal injuries will take time to heal. It will take more time for him to recover.”
“It’s all because of me,” Seren mumbled. “It is because he saved me.”
“Your Majesty, do not blame yourself. The ones at fault are those who harmed both of you. Do not worry much,” Lady Tyra tried to assure her.
Seren studied the unconscious man for a while, but then one could see she looked more and more puzzled the longer she stared.
“Is something wrong?” Drayce asked.
“Nothing, it’s just…” Seren hesitated. “I swear I saw wings. He swooped in to save me and we were flying…”
“You didn’t see anything wrong, my Queen,” Drayce clarified. “This man has wings, but they have taken a different form now. You can see that cloak-like thing over his shoulders as well as those scar-like tattoos on his face? Those are symbols of his clan. He is a shapeshifter from the feathered race.”
“A shapeshifter?” Seren repeated. She had read about them in story books but she had always thought they were a myth.
Drayce briefly explained to her about shapeshifters the way they were described in the books left by Esther to her son. But he didn’t tell her who Aureus really was—their pet eagle, Dusk.
“Lady Tyra, please take good care of him. I hope he gets well soon so that I can thank him,” Seren said. The more she looked at him, the more she felt subconsciously attached to this shapeshifter as if she already knew him.
“Why do I feel like I’ve already met him?” she mumbled under her breath.
Drayce and Lady Tyra only looked at each other, debating whether they should tell her the truth now or delay it until she had sufficient time to recover from the shocking incident with the hooded figures. Drayce then shook his head towards the older lady; he decided that it was better to leave this matter to Aureus himself. After all, this was his secret and whether he wanted to tell his identity to them or not should depend on his will.
“Shall we leave and let him rest?” Drayce suggested, which brought her out of her thoughts.
Seren nodded and followed Drayce out of the room, not without taking one last look at the unconscious shapeshifter.
As they closed the door behind me, Seren sighed. “Grandmother must also be worried because of me.”
“She was, but I already had the servants inform her you’re better. She must be glad and relieved that you are fine,” Drayce replied as they walked along the quiet hallway. “She came to see you a few times but you were sleeping.”
“I think I should go see her.”.
Drayce had no reason to stop her. “She is in the hanging garden out front.”
“How did you know?” Seren asked as she remembered Drayce was by her side all the time.
“I can hear her talking to her servant,” Drayce replied.
Only then did Seren remember the old lady telling her before about Drayce’s sharp hearing senses. “You can hear her at this moment, right?”
Drayce nodded. “Grandmother must have told you lots of things about me.”
“Hmm, she did,” Seren said and held his hand.
It surprised Drayce as he looked at their hands swinging along with their footsteps. Her fingers were entangled with his and he could feel her squeezing his hand when he looked at her.
Within those purple eyes, he could see the change in the way she looked at him. Her gaze was softer, gentler…
Even before he could say a word, she tugged at his hand so that they would stop walking. She then let go of his hand and wrapped her slender arms around him, leaving him speechless.
What happened to his wife?
It was a strange yet welcomed change. Ever since she woke up, she didn’t miss any chance to show her affection towards him. She had never done all these things on her own before. Was it the effect of the incident where she was scared by those who planned to abduct her? Did this make her realize his importance in her life?
“What happened?” he asked as he hugged her back, enjoying the warmth of having her in his arms. Somewhere inside him, he knew the reason but still asked.
“I just felt like hugging you,” she replied. Seren had grown up without much interaction with people, that’s why she’s never been vocal and mostly struggled to share her honest thoughts through words, and she’s more comfortable using gestures and actions to show her sincerity. “You are a good person, Dray, and I am glad that I am with you.”
Not just with her actions, but even her simple yet honest words made the young man speechless. A gentle smile appeared on his normally cold face as he was happy with everything she was doing—her actions when she held his hand and hugged him, her sweet words when she said she missed him, especially when she said she didn’t want to go away from him and wanted to be with him. He liked every bit of it.
‘Has she finally fallen for me? Is it love she is feeling, or just gratitude that she has safely returned? I wish it is the former…I really wish it is the former…’
===
Note Regarding plot.
I have shown the past in detail for you all to know what exactly happened but there are things that Grandmother and Seren don’t know though it was shown that the Grandmother was narrating it to Seren.
For example- they don’t know about Dusk being a shapeshifter.