566 Did He Trick Me Into Making A Deal?
Seren didn’t find anything odd about it. She was already married to Drayce and his dark side was him as well so it didn’t matter if she was a wife or mate.
“Furthermore, the mate bond is sacred and it cannot be broken. It is something that binds your souls together,” Drayce added.
Seren had never heard of something like this and it amazed her. “So Erebus and I are bound forever? When I married you, I became his mate as well?”
Drayce nodded. “Except for my mother, you are the only person in front of whom he wishes to show his presence.”
A question emerged in her mind. “Your mother has left for two decades. Are you saying that ever since then, Erebus never showed up?”
“He did appear from time to time, but it’s not for anyone but me. To protect me wherever there is something that is threatening me or something that angers me gravely.”
“That means he shows up to protect you?”
“This body belongs to him as well so it’s like protecting himself,” he answered idly, “but as you know, I also do not have a good temper. When someone crossed the line and dared to say something offensive about my mother, Erebus would also show up. She is his mother as well so it was obvious for him to get angry along with me.”
“Seems like both of you love your mother.”
“Hmm,” Drayce agreed. “The only word said by him that I remember is ‘Mother’. In the past, he often showed up in front of Mother and our mother loved him the same way she loved me. She taught me how to control him and communicate with him when I was determined to not accept him.”
As he said this, he let out a sigh.
“When I was young, my anger had caused too much trouble for our mother. I hated how I could not control my power as it would always end up hurting others when mother always told me to never hurt anyone. More like, I was desperate to be like other kids and not be called a monster.”
“After your mother left, it was probably a difficult time for you…”
“It was, but then, I realized she had taught me enough to let me survive without her. As she knew she would leave me one day, she made me aware of my true existence and my powers.”
Seren remained silent for a while as she digested the things she was hearing from her husband for the first time. On the other hand, Drayce continued to idly play with her hair, allowing her time to think.
She then asked, “Can you communicate with Erebus and understand his thoughts?”
Drayce let out a sound of affirmation. “Whenever he shows up, I can read his thoughts—or rather, share our thoughts. When I need him, I can call for him like how I called him to help you get rid of the black magic. Mother had taught me how to.”
Seren was trying her best to understand everything. As she processed everything that Drayce had told her, something came to her mind and her forehead creased in displeasure.
“What happened?” Drayce asked, startled by her sudden mood shift.
She looked at him with a gaze of dismay. “Am I understanding it correctly? To save me, you have to make a deal with him.”
“Yes.”
“And then you said that I am both your wife and his mate.”
“Exactly.”
“Then, if you had not made a deal, would he not come to help me? Doesn’t he care for me? Why did he need anything in return to save his own wife?”
Drayce blinked at her in disbelief. Even he had not thought about things that way as he always considered Seren as his, only belonging to him. It was only his responsibility to help her and he was ready to pay any price. He didn’t consider Erebus to share responsibility for her.
‘Did Erebus trick me into making a deal with him? Had he been expecting me to call for him and offer him a deal just so he could have an excuse to use our body?’
Even if he had not made a deal, Erebus would have marked her in the near future, but by making a deal with Drayce ahead of time, it made it easy for his dark side to the surface as now Drayce would not show up even if Seren calls for him.
“You didn’t answer me,” she said, prodding the silent man.
Drayce stared at his wife and wondered if her tiny brain was not as tiny as he initially thought. Perhaps she was smarter than he gave her credit for.
“You raised a valid point. When Erebus shows up next time, you need to confront him,” Drayce replied.
His serious expression made her tilt her head. “Won’t he be angry?”
“He won’t. You are his mate so he would treasure you and listen to everything you say. Didn’t he disappear the moment you called out his name?” Drayce asked.
“Hmm, he did as if I said something that scared him.”
“That means you can control him, Don’t give in to his demands if you don’t want to. Make him do what you want,” Drayce encouraged her as he thought, ‘Erebus, you tricked me into making a deal. I won’t let things be easy for you then.’
“I will,” Seren agreed.
Drayce chose to not be completely honest with her about the mate bond. He didn’t mention to her that there was a process involved—the first phase involving physically marking her as a potential mate—as he thought it might scare her.
He had bitten her once before and this made her afraid of him at that time.
‘I will explain it more once the opportunity arises.’
He believed things would be fine as it is for now. After all, creating a mate bond between them was something that Drayce could not stop from happening.
There was something else that displeased him— that he had to share Seren with Erebus.
Soon, there would be a time when his dark side would mark her and consummate the bond. Though that dark side was a part of him, when it came to Seren, he treated it as totally different from him.
Seren didn’t know what was going on in Drayce’s mind and she asked, “How do you know all these? Did your mother teach you the matter about mates?”
“She left plenty of books for me to read, and one of them talked about mates. Tyra is also there to tell me various things.”
“Lady Tyra is really so helpful,” Seren commented.
Seren was satisfied with spending a good time with her husband. Not only did she have a chance to see him interact with his siblings, they also had a meaningful chat afterwards. It made her feel like they took a step forward in their relationship.
As such, her curiosity grew. She wanted to know more about the other world where her husband also belongs.
“Dray, is it possible for me to read those books …the books your mother left for you?”
He agreed without hesitation. “I will send it to your study.”
Seren returned to her residence with a smile. As she had finished her work for the day, she was free to spend her time reading her husband’s books.
Not long after she went back to her study, she heard a knock. Her most trusted lady-in-waiting brought several books sent by Drayce.
‘The books are handmade?’
Seeing the stitched covers and the elegant but consistent handwriting within, Seren could guess that these books were personally made by the previous queen for the sake of educating her son. These contain information coming from personal experiences and knowledge of Esther.
‘They cover a wide range of topics.’
Seren felt thrilled. Not only what Drayce told her about mates, she was also curious about various things that she heard from the Great Lady when she was narrating to her the past of Drayce and his mother.
‘Dragons! I want to read more about dragons. Dray is the Red Dragon and that person I forgot the name is a Black Dragon. I wonder if there are other types of dragons.’
Other than Dragons, Seren was curious to know about the race of witches. According to her nanny, she was the daughter of a witch; Drayce’s mother was a witch as well.
With those thoughts as motivation, she started to go through the books which were about various supernatural beings. To her surprise, humankind was simply one of the newer races living on the continent. The other supernatural beings—the elves, the shapeshifters, the witches and so on—had civilizations even before kingdoms like Abetha or Megaris even existed, and thus, they bore longer histories and lores.
‘These books only cover basic introductions about their cultures.’
She noticed there was not much record about Dragons. From what Esther said, only one known Dragon existed on the continent, and that was the Black Dragon – Draven Aramis.