Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

While enjoying tea, Seren listened to the various stories her lady-in-waiting, Lady Xena, experienced as she travelled around the kingdom. Lady Xena was a noble lady of a marquis house, and given her interest in commerce, she had many entertaining bits of knowledge about various places, not only within the mainland Megaris but in the islands of the coast as well.

An hour idly passed by with them sitting under the shade, and soon, Seren felt the need to stretch her legs a little. She was about to stand up when it just so happened that she spotted Drayce talking to Captain Benett on one side of the deck, the two men walking towards the frontmost part of the ship.

Just as she was admiring her husband, she saw him jumping at the edge of the ship--

"What--"

--only for his feet to land with ease at the railing on the bow, his body steady, akin to that of a cat's immaculate balance.

Seren could not help but gasp in surprise, but as Drayce held long binoculars in front of his face, seemingly looking ahead to check something from a distance, she swallowed the rest of her words.

'I thought he was jumping off the ship!'

Seren felt worried for a moment, her heart racing at the thought of her husband falling off the ship. After all, the ship swayed together with the waves, but the longer she watched him, the more she was convinced that there was no real need for her to worry about him.

'Look at how easy it is for him to stand.'

He kept perfect balance without holding a rope, even though from time to time, the ship would rock due to the surging waves.

Under the bright sunlight, Drayce's tall form looked more like an artwork than anything, his form-fitting black clothes and equally black hair fluttering along the strong wind, but nothing could shake him out of focus. And as a large wave splashed near the bow of the ship, causing water droplets to sprinkle into the air like diamond dust, it made him appear like that of a god of the sea, emitting a divine aura around him.

'So handsome!'

Her female companions said nothing at the Queen's distracted state. When they realized how  Seren's gaze was stuck on Drayce, they merely shared meaningful gazes with each other, though they failed to hide the smiles on their faces. Seren noticed their reaction and forced her eyes away from Drayce as she felt a little embarrassed. She didn't know why she always acted like this whenever she saw him. She simply could not stop herself from staring at her husband.

With her blush thankfully hidden by her veil, Seren stood up. "I will walk around a bit." Her servants stood up as well to accompany her on her stroll but Seren stopped them. "I wish to be alone. You three can do whatever you prefer."

Though they listened to her order, none of them left the deck of the ship. They merely stood in their places, their eyes following her as they could not be careless while serving the Queen. They wanted to make sure they were ready to respond to her at a moment's notice.

Seren walked towards the side of the ship, stepping close to the railing as she found herself growing curious at the seemingly peaceful waters. She had read various books before that sometimes, schools of fishes would swim along a ship.

"Your Majesty, be careful."

She heard the familiar voice and looked to her right side. It was Slayer who spoke. The knight bowed to her and then pointedly looked at the tangled ropes on the wooden floorboards near her feet. Seren followed his gaze and only then noticed why he stopped her.

"Let me clear it for you." Slayer approached her and kneeled on one knee, pulling away the ropes to clear the place for Seren.

Seren simply stared at the knight collecting the bunch of the ropes, wondering at how silently he moved. She did not hear his footsteps; she didn't even realize he was nearby. Not that she found it uncomfortable.

Other than Drayce, she didn't interact with any man within the royal palace outside of work and didn't feel the need to do so. She preferred to stay away from them as much as possible, but with Slayer, she didn't find his presence any different from her own servants. It was as if he was just meant to be nearby, like that of a person's shadow.

'Maybe because he is close to Dray, I don't find his presence bothersome. I don't mind having him around me.'

Meanwhile, the Queen's servants waiting nearby felt excited upon seeing Slayer at such close range. Though they often see the King's guardian knight whenever Drayce and Seren were together, as people who were trained by the strict Lady Tyra, they had enough decorum not to ogle at him within the palace. However, those young women felt more relaxed this time since they were all outside the palace on a trip together.

Especially for a palace servant, given the difference in their status, the young Commander of the Royal Knights was like a faraway mountain that they could see only from a distance.

Marie was chuckling to herself as she patted the shoulders of the two women younger than her. "If you two are interested in Sir Calhoun that much, why don't you just go and talk to him?"

Xena, who had always been calm and well-behaved, the exemplar of a noble lady, immediately shook her head like a little girl. "No need."

It was Eva, who was the youngest, who looked like she grew more brazen with Marie's teasing., "S-Shall I?"

"Go ahead," the two permitted.

Just as Eva took a step forward, she gulped and froze as she realized what she was about to do. "I...maybe next time."

"Both of you are so cowardly," Marie teased.

Xena didn't comment while Eva mumbled in protest "You married woman cannot understand us single women."

"Shall I ask your grandmother to set you up so that you will be  married soon?"

"No, I am happy like this."

Drayce lowered the binoculars in his hands when his ears caught the sound of his wife's voice. He turned to look in the direction of her voice and found Seren and Slayer were together, his knight on his knees and collecting the ropes on the floor. With Slayer around to keep an eye on her, there should be no accidents on board so Drayce turned his head back and resumed his work to check the surroundings of the ship with the binoculars.

'All clear.'

As they were in the middle of the sea, where the weather is volatile and subject to change and strange incidents like pirates or large creatures could appear without warning, it was a safety precaution to check for any possible dangers from time to time. He resumed talking to the captain who was handling the ship wheel.

They talked about weather, direction and the expected changes on the determined seat route. Although there was a separate navigator, Drayce opted to personally oversee this to ensure that his Queen would have a smooth journey.