Soon Lady Tyra reached Seren’s bedchamber as the other three ladies in waiting followed her.
Seren and Marie stepped out of the wardrobe room once she was ready.
“Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Everyone bowed to her to which Seren just nodded.
“Your Majesty, the breakfast has been prepared for you,” Lady Tyra informed and led Seren’s way towards the dining room, and her ladies in waiting followed her.
Lady Xena pulled out a chair for her and Seren sat in it. Today, Seren found new additional dishes to what food she was used to seeing in front of her during the past few days.
“Is there something special today?” Seren asked.
“No, Your Majesty. But May I ask, why do you feel so?” Lady Tyra replied.
“There are additional different and new food dishes,” Seren replied.
Lady Tyra nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty! You are right. These additional dishes are made as instructed by the royal physician.”
“Why?” Seren asked, “I don’t feel sick at all.”
“Your Majesty, for the past two days you ate nothing much. And after all the blood loss, you must feel a little weak. These are meant to nourish you properly as you will be having your monthly cycle every month. That’s why we call it like that. From now on, Your Majesty has to eat more healthy food which will help you to be healthy always,” Lady Tyra explained.
Seren nodded and her ladies in waiting started to serve her food.
Lady Tyra pointed towards one bowl, “Your Majesty, this soup has rare medical herbs that Great Lady has sent for you. The great lady had asked you to have it daily.”
Seren nodded as Lady Tyra explained about other newly added dishes, “Your Majesty, You need to finish this entire portion. It not only has nourishing nutrients but also will help you keep warm in the cold weather of Megaris.”
Cold weather was what Seren could not get used to easily and really wished to have something that could keep her warm without wearing heavy warm clothes all the time. Everyone around her was wearing normal clothes but she was the only one covered in layers of warm clothes. Moreover, she was not used to wearing them and found them uncomfortable.
“Then, can I bear with the cold without wearing these clothes?” Seren asked as she looked at Lady Tyra with her eyes full of hope.
“It will help you a little, but as Your Majesty is from a warmer part of the continent and your body is not used to the weather of Megaris, it will take time for you to adjust to this changed weather,” Lady Tyra informed.
“Oh!” was what she said as the disappointment took over her mind.
Seeing her disappointment, Lady Tyra consoled, “But with all these rare medicines, it won’t take much time, Your Majesty.”
This sounded a little better to Seren. As usual, after serving the food, everyone left the dining room, leaving their Queen alone who preferred to eat peacefully with no one around her.
—–
Meanwhile, Eva, who had been sent out by Marie, returned to the bedchamber where she saw Marie was fixing their Queen’s bed.
“Sister Marie, I bought the flowers you asked me to,” Eva informed.
Marie smiled at her, “Keep it there and help me fix the bed.”
Eva did so and immediately started helping Marie.
Marie looked at the young girl who was busy doing her work dedicatedly and called her, “Eva!”
Eva looked at her, “Yes, sister Marie?”
“I believe you understand why I sent you out,” Marie said while doing her work.
“I understand it, sister Marie. Don’t worry about it. If I was you, I would have done the same,” she assured.
“Thank you for understanding,” Marie said, smiling lightly.
Eva smiled back and said, “But, sister Marie can trust me with anything. My grandmother, who had served the Great Lady, had always taught me when I was a kid that one should always be loyal to their master. I understand the responsibility of serving the Queen of this Kingdom.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Marie assured and said, “I have always known you are such a nice girl, that’s why Lady Tyra and I had selected you to serve Her Majesty.”
“Thank you so much, Sister Marie, I will never disappoint you and Lady and Tyra.”
——
After the breakfast, Lady Tyra asked as Seren stepped out of the dining room, “Your Majesty, would you like to take a stroll inside the garden?”
“Yes,” Seren replied and Lady Tyra led her way through the corridor.
While passing through the corridor, Seren looked towards the long corridor of the adjacent residence that was meant for Drayce. She continued walking while looking at it as if she was expecting to see him.
‘I wonder what he is doing at the moment?’ she thought and the next moment frowned at herself, ‘Why am I thinking about him?’
They continued to walk and reached near the pathway that connected the Queen’s residence to the King’s. Subconsciously Seren stopped at the pathway’s entrance which was brightened by the sunlight entering inside it through the windows on both sides as the curtain floated along with the mild breeze.
With Seren, the others stopped too and saw their Queen looking at that pathway. No one dared to disturb her for a while and stood quietly.
‘Why do I feel like going to that side of the residence?’ Seren was busy thinking as she was about to take a step forwards towards that pathway.
“Your Majesty,” Tyra called.
Seren stopped and looked at Lady Tyra as if she had just come out of her dazed condition. Lady Tyra stared at Seren’s face for a moment as if she noticed something and then shifted her attention back to her Queen.
“Your Majesty, do you wish to go on that side?” Lady Tyra asked.
“Huh? N-No…I was just….” Seren didn’t know what to say as she herself didn’t understand what she was doing. “Can we just go to the garden?” Seren asked, feeling embarrassed inside.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Lady Tyra again led her way out and this time Seren followed her quietly, without looking here and there.
Upon reaching the garden, Seren turned normal and could think about nothing but nature’s beauty around her. That huge garden had so many beautiful flowers in different colors.
‘What makes Megaris so beautiful. Is it because it is a colder part of the continent and filled with so many pretty things? Everything here looks so neat and clean. Even the water in the lake is clear like a mirror so that one can see their clear reflection in it. Everything seems just so pleasant,’ Seren thought as she continued walking around the garden.
“Seems like, My Queen liked this garden.
Seren froze in her place as she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her which made her heart skip a bit. ‘It’s him,’ she thought and turned around to look at him while all the servants stepped away from them, leaving the King and the Queen alone.
She saw the handsome King standing there wearing his black royal clothes. She had seen him like this but still, she couldn’t move her sight away from him.
‘Was he always like this so beautiful or it’s just the weather of Megaris which is making me imagine the things. Is this cold affecting my mind? Why do I feel like I was just waiting for him? Am I really getting used to him? Why do I feel like getting closer to him? Can I? Will it be fine?’
When she was looking at him in a daze, Drayce observed the flower on her head shone momentarily as if the rays of light swept past it.
‘What is she thinking about to make this flower mark shine on its own?’ Drayce thought as he tried to understand her thoughts by observing her eyes.
‘Is she attracted to me? Is she finally feeling something more?’ Drayce could only conclude this much from the way she stared at him.
Her eyes were like a reflection of her thoughts which most of the time showed that she was curious but this time there was something else in them- more like how an adult woman looked at the man they felt attracted to.
“My Queen, do you have something to say?” Drayce asked.
It pulled her out of the daze. “G- Garden! This garden is so pretty” she said, hiding her actual thoughts.
“I am glad, My Queen liked it,” he said and asked, “Would you mind it if I walk with you for some time, My Queen?”
“Of course not, Your Majesty,” she replied, trying to be calm.
They walked together for a while as Seren could feel her heart beating faster. ‘Can he hear my heartbeats again?’ just as she thought, Drayce looked at her, “My Queen….”
“I know my heart is noisy but I can’t control it, Your Majesty. My apology!” she spurted out with her head lowered as she interrupted him before he could say an entire thing.
Drayce chuckled, seeing her embarrassed, “I was saying, if my Queen likes to make any changes in this garden, you can tell Tyra.”
Seren looked at him in disbelief as she felt even embarrassed. She again lowered her head and said, “My apology for interrupting, His Majesty.”
Drayce stepped closer as he stood facing her and held her at her hands. He leaned forwards to whisper in her ear, “I know my Queen’s heart beats faster whenever she sees her handsome husband. But you don’t need to worry, My Queen. I am getting used to this noisy heart now and soon we will find a solution to calm it down.”
He moved back and she looked at him to know what he meant. “Today, we will have lunch together and after that, My Queen will accompany me to my study.”
Seren could only nod to him and he spoke, still holding her at hands, “I need to leave now.” He left and the servants returned to accompany Seren. As she walked into the garden, what he said repeated in her mind.
‘His study? That means the other side of the residence. I wonder what it looks like? Must be filled with so many books everywhere.’
