Today is my birthday, so 3 chapters to celebrate it with you all... XOXO

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After the delegation from Griven and Abetha left the Royal Palace of Megaris, it was time for the couple to separate and attend to their individual duties. Drayce had to head over to the Grand Palace to oversee important royal court matters while Seren had to start her duties as? Queen in the royal harem, which was being controlled by Lady Clarisa till now.

The Queen's royal carriage soon reached the Vermillion Palace. Lady Tyra and the rest of her ladies-in-waiting accompanied Seren to visit the royal harem. Unsurprisingly, the entire harem was ready to welcome her this time, unlike her previous visit where no one seemed to welcome her presence. Everyone had witnessed the kind of affection the King of Megaris had for the Queen.

With Drayce's reputation, no one would dare to mess up with his queen. Of course, at least on the surface. The politics in the palace was never simple, and there were many crafty ways to show dislike or hostility to anyone. Especially for the people who formally entered the palace under the grace of the former king, the shift of power held no exceptions, but there were still people who didn't want to give up on the power they once held.

Lady Xena helped Seren to get out of her carriage. In addition to the female guards in red and black uniforms lined up, all the ladies in the harem were standing at the entrance of the Vermillion Palace to welcome her.

"Welcome to the Royal Harem, Your Majesty," Lady Clarisa beamed as she welcomed her with a perfect curtsy, carrying a practiced smile few could detect to be fake. The rest of the ladies also curtsied in front of the Queen. Their beautiful appearance and manner could all be said to be nothing short of elegant.

Seren simply nodded as Lady Xena guided her way inside the main building. "Your Majesty, this way please."

With Seren and her group in the lead, the concubines of the former king and the other members of the royal harem entered the main building.

This was not the first time Seren had entered Vermillion Palace, but she still found the decorations within the main building to be pleasing to the eye. It ought to be because the main residents in this palace were females, every painting and figurine along the way were chosen with great care. The aesthetic was still mainly minimalistic, which seemed to be the general preference of the people of Megaris, but the inside of the palace—from the soft color choice of the curtains and carpets to the antiques and flower vases—showed a more feminine vibe.

They reached the central hall which had a throne placed at the opposite side of the entrance. Now, Seren recognized that it seemed to be a replica of the throne room in the Grand Palace, albeit on a smaller and less luxurious scale.

Lady Tyra then gestured for Seren to walk forward. "Your Majesty, please have a seat."

After Seren sat on the throne, Lady Tyra turned to look at the ladies standing in front of the throne. The old lady studied everyone's reactions as the Queen, the official owner of this throne, finally took her place. However, even for her, it was hard to spy the true feelings of the smiling females who had trained themselves to always look perfect in order to survive the infighting within the harem.

King Theron's First Concubine, Lady Clarisa, in particular, had the warmest smile on her beautiful face despite inwardly gritting her teeth that a young girl from another kingdom, a witch, had taken her place.

After everyone settled within the central hall, Lady Tyra announced, "As you all know, regardless of seniority, the queen of the reigning king is always in charge of all the affairs of the royal harem. From now on, everything that will happen within the walls of the Vermillion Palace ought to be reported to Her Majesty Queen Seren. From small things like the approval of the budget to grow new flowers in the garden to managing disputes between you ladies,? things will be decided by Queen Seren. Any act of disobedience would not be appreciated. Anyone, regardless of their status, is bound to get strictly punished according to the rules of the royal harem.? Within the royal harem, the order given by the Queen is absolute—even His Majesty's influence is lesser here—and I highly doubt His Majesty would even bother intervening in the first place…"

While Lady Tyra was making her announcement, Seren studied the people looking at her with either curiosity, awe, or veiled envy. Seren's attention was captured by one girl in particular. It was the same female servant who got a beating from Lady Clarisa on the day of Seren's first visit to the royal harem. The girl looked happy as she was smiling at another girl wearing more luxurious clothes next to her. She seemed to like her new master who seemed to be of the same age as her. Looking at the two, Seren could see they were on good terms. Seren found herself relieved that the servant girl was safe and content now.

Seren noticed a few more new faces, ranging from shy young girls which she guessed to be the youngest princesses of the Ivanovs, as well as a handful of boys no older than ten, still clinging to their mother's skirts. Of course, there were no adult males. From what Lady Tyra told her, the royal harem was the place where the wives and concubines of all the kings stayed in addition to the other unmarried ladies belonging not only to the main branch but also to the side branches of the Ivanov Family, like daughters of King Theron's deceased brothers. Princesses from other kingdoms used for diplomatic marriages were also sent here, regardless if they were favored by the king.

The only males—the princes born from the wives and concubines of the king—would be allowed to stay within the harem together with their mothers until they reach a certain age, where their father would either grant them a separate side palace as his own residence or if unfavored until he becomes old enough to train as an apprentice knight and join the military.

Lady Clarisa had one pretty-looking girl next to her who looked like her. The younger lady had the same long flowing dark hair and blue eyes, and she seemed to be only around Seren's age, give or take a few years.

Seren concluded, 'She must be her daughter, Princess Taisie.'

On either side of Lady Yavia, there were two young girls and one could see they were princesses as well. Compared to their mother, they seemed to inherit more of their father's appearance, with dark brown hair and equally dark eyes. 'Princess Coral and Princess Onyx. Difficult to tell which one is the older one and which one is younger.'

She then looked at Lady Saira. The girl standing next to her was exactly the master of the servant girl she saved last time. Upon closer look, she too looked similar to the former king.

'She must be Princess Ayira.'

After Lady Tyra concluded her opening remarks, Lady Clarisa expertly took the reins of the affair and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, seemingly perfectly exuding the air of someone used to being a leader.

"Lady Tyra is as great and meticulous as usual, and it surely brings joy to Her Majesty to have you by her side."

Lady Clarisa's expression seemed to be praising the old lady, but a few sensitive ladies knew that was not the case. The First Concubine seemed to be hinting that Seren was incompetent without Lady Tyra, causing a few ladies from her side to hide their smiles. However, this was part of the palace sophistry, which Seren was not used to and thus, she had no reaction.

Lady Clarisa continued, "Your Majesty Queen Seren, as we, ladies, are overwhelmingly pleased and honored by your visit, each of us has prepared welcome gifts to our Queen. We hope you do not find offense in our meager gifts."

Lady Clarisa was the first one to gift the Queen. She stepped forward together with her daughter, Princess Taisie.

Lady Clarisa's servant followed her with a wooden tray in hand. On top of it was a well-crafted wooden box. Lady Clarisa bowed before the Queen as her servant opened the wooden box to display the set of gold jewelry sitting inside. "Your Majesty, this is a jewelry set I have specially ordered to be created for you. The rare gems embedded are imported from the west in your honor. I chose them thinking of Your Majesty's beauty."

'My beauty? But I'm wearing a veil…and the gems aren't even the color of my eyes…'

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